LIFE OF MUNGO PARK. 
xlvii 
Africa, one would naturally suppose that when the rains 
w^ere confined to the north side of the mountains, the 
Congo, like the other rivers of Africa, would be greatly 
diminished in size; and that its waters would become /jwre. 
On the contrary, the waters of the Congo are at all seasons 
thick and muddy. The breadth of the river when at its 
lowest is one mile, its depth is fifty fathoms, and its velocity 
six miles per hour. 
*' 5thly. The annual flood of the C6ngo commences 
before any rains have fallen south of the equator, and 
agree correctly with the floods of the Niger, calculating 
the water to have flowed from Bambarra at the rate of 
three miles per hour. 
" Mr. Park is of opinion, that when your Lordship 
shall have duly weighed the above reasons, you will be 
induced to conclude that his hopes of returning by the 
Congo are not altogether fanciful ; and that his expedition, 
though attended with extreme danger, promises to be pro- 
ductive of the utmost advantage to Great Britain. 
" Considered in a commercial point of view, it is second 
only to the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope ; and in 
a geographical point of view, it is certainly the greatest 
discovery that remains to be made in this world. 
(Signed) MUNGO PARK." 
The circumstance most deserving of attention in this Me- 
moir, is the opinion expressed respecting the course and 
termination of the Niger ; a geographical question of great 
difficulty and importance. In a treatise written by Major 
