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who, being well anned and disciplined, might face almost 

 any force which the natives could oppose to them ; with 

 these to proceed direct to Sego ; to build there two boats 40 

 feet long, and from thence to sail downwards to the estuary 

 -of the Congo. Instructions were sent out to Goree that he 

 should be furnished liberally with men, and with every thing 

 else of which he might stand in need. 



Mr. Park sailed from Portsmouth in the Crescent trans- 

 port on the 30th January, 1805. About the 8th March he 

 arrived at the Cape Verd Islands ; and on the 28th reached 

 Goree. There he provided himself with an officer and 

 thirty-five soldiers, and with a large stock of asses from the 

 islands, where the breed of these animals is excellent, and 

 which appeared well fitted for traversing the rugged hills of 

 the high country whence issue the sources of the Senegal 

 and Niger. He took with him also two sailors and four ar- 

 tificers, who had been sent from England. But before all 

 these measures could be completed a month had elapsed, 

 and it was then evident that the rainy season could not be 

 far distant, — a period in which travelling is very difficult, 

 and extremely trying to European constitutions. It is clear, 

 therefore, that it would have been prudent to remain at 

 Goree or Pisania till that season had passed ; but, in Mr. 

 Park's elevated and enthusiastic state of mind, it would 

 have been extremely painful to have lingered so long on the 

 eve of his grand and favourite undertaking. He hoped, and 

 it seemed possible, that before the middle of June, when 

 the rains usually begin, he might reach the Niger, which 

 could then be navigated without any very serious toil or ex- 

 posure. He departed, therefore, with his little band from 

 Pisania, on the 4th May, and proceeded through Medina, 

 along the banks of the Gambia. With so strong a party, 

 he was no longer dependent on the protection of the petty 

 kings and mansas ; but the Africans, seeing him so well 

 provided, thought he had no longer any claim on their hospi- 

 tality ; on the contrary, they eagerly seized every opportunity 

 to obtain some portion of the valuable articles which they 

 saw in his possession. Thefts were common ; the kings 

 drove a hard bargain for presents : at one place the women, 

 with immense labour, had emptied all the wells, that they 

 might derive an advantage from selling the water. Submit- 

 ting quietly to these little annoyances, Mr. Park proceeded 



