iv 
APPENDIX. 
Negroes ; which latter is the more interesting, as it may be termed a boun- 
dary in moral geography ; from the opposite quahties of mind, as well as of 
body, of the Moors and Negroes : for that physical geography gives rise to 
habits, which often determine national character, must be allowed by every 
person, who is a diligent observer of mankind. 
It must be acknowledged, that the absolute extent of Mr. Park's progress 
in Africa, compared with the amazing size of that continent, appears but small, 
although it be nearly iioo British miles in a direct line, reckoned from its 
western extremity, Cape Verd. But considered in itself, it is no inconsiderable 
line of travel ; being more extensive than the usual southern tour of Europe. 
But moreover, it affords a triumph to the learned, in that it confirms some 
points of fact, both of geography and natural history, which have appeared in 
ancient authors, but to which our own want of knowledge has denied credit. 
I allude more pardcularly to the course of the Niger, and the history of the 
Lotopbagi. That the Greeks and Romans, who had formed great establish- 
ments in Africa, and the latter in particular, who had penetrated to the Niger,* 
should have had better opportunities of knowing the interior part of the coun- 
try, than we, who hve at a distance from it, and possess only a few scattered 
factories near the sea coast, is not to be wondered at : but the proof of such 
facts should teach us to be less hasty in decrying the authority of ancient au^ 
ihors ; since the fault may arise from a want of comprehension on our parts, 
or from an assumption of false principles on theirs. 
Few geographical facts have been more questioned in modern times, than 
the course of tlie great inland river of Africa, generally understood by the name 
of Niger; some describing it to run to the west, others to the east ; but 
of these opinions, I believe the former has been espoused by the most nume- 
rous party, by far.* Although Mr. Park's authority, founded on ocular de- 
monstration, sets this question /or ever at rest, by determining the course of 
* Pliny, lib. v. c. 4. 
f M. J. Lalande, almost at the moment of Mr. Park's investigation, has determined its 
course to be to the west ; notwithstanding the forcible reasoning of his countryman D'An- 
ville. (Memoire sur Tlnterieur de I'Afrique.) Mr. Bruce was of the same opinion.^ Vol. 
iii. p. 720. 724. 
