182 , INTERIOR COUNTRIES OF AFRICA, 



found that his real situation was distressful in the extreme ; he was 

 in the midst of a barren wilderness ; and, after travelling a long time, 

 exposed to the burning heat of the sun, reflected with double violence 

 from the hot sand, his suffering from thirst became so intolerable, 

 that he fainted, on the sand and expected the immediate approach of 

 death. Nature, however, at length resumed its functions ; and, on 

 recovering his senses, he found the sun just sinking behind the trees, 

 and the evening become somewhat cool. It soon after rained plenti- 

 - fully for more than an hour,. and he quenched his thirst by wringing 

 and sucking his clothes, by which he was sufficiently relieved to 

 enable him to pursue his journey ; and after travelling several days 

 more, he at length came in sight of one of the principal objects point- 

 ed out for his research ; the river Niger. " I saw," says he, " with 

 Infinite pleasure, the great object of my mission ; the long sought for, 

 majestic Niger, glittering to the morning sun, as broad as the Thames 

 at Westminster, and flowing slowly to the eastward. I hastened to the 

 brink, and, having drunk of the water, lifted up my fervent thanks in 

 jjrayer to the Great Ruler of all things, for having thus far crowned 

 my endeavours with success." 



He had now reached Sego, the capital of Bambarra, which he thus 

 describes : " Sego, properly speaking, consists of four distinct towns ; 

 two on the northern bank of the Niger, and two on the southern* 

 They are all surrounded with high mud walls ; the houses are built 

 of clay, of a square form, with flat roofs ; some of them have two 

 stories, and many ol them are white-washed. Besideb these build- 

 ings, Moorish mosques are seen in every quarter ; and the streets, 

 though narrow, are broad enough for every useful purpose, in a coun- 

 try where wheel-carriages are entirely unknown. From the best 

 inquiries I could make, I have reason to believe that Sego contains, 

 altogether, about thirty thousand inhabitants. The view of this ex- 

 tensive city, the numerous canoes upon the river, the crowded popu- 

 lation, and the cultivated state of the surrounding country, formed 

 altogether a prospect of civilization and magnificence which I little 

 expected to find in the bosom of Africa. Sego is situate, as nearly 

 as can be ascertained, in north lat. 14 deg. 10 min. : west Ion. 2 dego 

 26 min. 



From Sego, Mr. Park continued his journey along the banks of the 

 Niger to Silia, a large town about eighty miles to the east of Sego : 

 and here, the tropical rains being set in, his finances expended, and 

 various other difficulties concurring to render his farther progress 

 extremely dangerous, if not impracticable, he terminated his travels 

 to the eastward, " at a point (says major Rennell) somewhat more 

 than sixteen degrees east of Cape Verd, and precisely in the samo 

 parallel. The line of distance arising from this difference of longi- 

 tude, is about 941 geographical miles, or 1090 British, within the 

 western extremity of Africa ; a point which, although short by two 

 hundred miles of the desired station, Tombuctbo, the attainment of 

 which would unquestionably have been attended with great eclat, was 

 yet far beyond what any other European, whose travels have been 

 communicated to the European world, had ever reached." 



Mr. Park gives the following account of Tombuctoo and Houssa, 

 from the information he was able to collect concerning those cities, 

 at Sego, and in the course of his journey : 



" To the north-east of Massina (a kingdom on the northern bank of 



