park's first journey. 93 



expected every moment the fatal spring; but the savage 

 animal, either not pressed by hunger or struck with some 

 mysterious awe, remained immoveable, and allowed the 

 party to pass unmolested. Real misery arose from a meaner 

 cause, namely, the amazing swarms of mosquitoes which 

 ascend from the swamps and creeks, and to whose attack, 

 from the ragged state of his garments, he was exposed at 

 every point. He was covered all over with blisters, and at 

 night could get no rest. An affecting crisis next acrived 

 His horse, the faithful and suffering companion of his jour- 

 ney, had been daily becoming weaker. At length, stumbling 

 over some rough ground, he fell : all his master's efforts 

 were insufficient to raise him, and no alternative remained 

 but to leave the poor animal ; which, after collecting some 

 grass and laying it before him, Mr. Park did, not without a 

 sad presentiment that, ere long, he himself might in like 

 manner lie down and perish with hunger and fatigue. 



He now resolved to hire a boat, in which he was conveyed 

 up the river to Silla, another large town, where his reception 

 was so inhospitable that the dooty reluctantly permitted 

 him to take shelter from the rain in a damp shed. Half- 

 naked, worn down by fatigue and sickness, and foreseeing 

 the approach of the rains by which the whole country 

 would be inundated, Mr. Park began seriously to contem- 

 plate his situation. All the obstacles now stated were 

 small, when compared to the fact, that, in proceeding east- 

 ward, he would still be within the range of Moorish influ- 

 ence. He learned, that at Jenne, though included in Bam- 

 barra, the municipal power was chiefly in the hands of 

 these savage and merciless fanatics, who, at Timbuctoo 

 also, held the entire sway. On these grounds he felt con- 

 vinced that certain destruction awaited him in his progress 

 eastward ; that all his discoveries would perish with himself; 

 and that his life would be sacrificed in vain. His only hope, 

 and it was but faint, of ever reaching England, depended 

 upon his return westward, and on his proceeding by the 

 most direct route to the coast. On this course he deter- 

 mined, — a decision which was fully approved both by his 

 employers and by the public. 



During his stay at Silla, he used every effort to obtain 

 information respecting the more eastern countries, particu- 

 larly the kingdom of Timbuctoo, and the course of tho 



