396 Miinzo Parke. 



^ v 



and that when all its parts had united, it appeared all at 

 once as a very considerable globe of fire, taking a northerly 

 direction : it spread terror amongst the inhabitants of the 

 village, who believed their houses would be burnt, and they 

 themselves perish. This globe was accompanied by a fright- 

 ful noise, which was heard at the distance of more than a 

 league and a half, and sometimes resembled the rolling of 

 a rapid chariot ; at others, the noise of rain driven by the 

 wind. It was followed by a very thick fog, and carried up 

 from the ground every thing it met in its passage. In 

 crossing a river it absorbed water, which soon afterwards 

 fell in rain. It wandered for some time near the village. 



One thing certain is, that the roof of a house was thrown 

 down, which is the only trace it has left. It was accom- 

 panied and followed by an abundant rain, much lightning, 

 and loud claps of thunder. Continuing in the same direc- 

 tion, it suddenly turned into a column of fire, which, with 

 the fog, rose towards the heavens. This made many per- 

 sons believe the fog was smoke. It remained about a quar- 

 ter of an hour in this state, a quarter of a league to the 

 north of the village, and at a short distance from the forest 

 of Beaulieu. This column now sunk a little, and at last it 

 suddenly disappeared, leaving a thick fog which had no 

 smell. This phaenomenon lasted three quarters of an hour, 

 and travelled over the space of half a league* 



MR. MUNGO PAKKE. 



November 8, 1810. 



The painful incertitude respecting the fate of this adven- 

 turous character yet exists. An account has however been 

 received in town this week, which again revives the almost 

 extinguished spark of hope. It is stated by a very respecta- 

 ble gentleman, Capt. Davison, commander of a vessel of 

 Messrs. Anderson, lately returned from the Coast of Africa, 

 that on the 26th of July last a Moor arrived from the in- 

 terior at Bunce Island, in the river Sierra Leone, from whom 

 the following particulars were learned. — In January 1809 

 Mr. Parke was seen by the Moor, at a short distance from 

 Tombuctoo, in a state of very bad health, in one of the 

 natives' huts, after having been imprisoned by a native 

 chief. He was, however, all that time at liberty, and had 

 received permission to proceed on his route. Capt. Davison 

 interrogated the man frequently and minutely ; and, from 

 the consistency of his answers, entertains no doubt of the 

 correctness of his narrative. 



To 



