Ixviii 
ACCOUNT OF THE 
to an accidental fire which was kindled in the confusion, 
the whole baggage was near being burnt. For half an 
hour it seemed as if the bees had put an end to the ex- 
pedition.* 
On the 28th of May, Park arrived at Badoo, where he 
mentions having had an opportunity of sending two letters 
to England by way of the Gambia. These letters were 
addressed to Sir Joseph Banks and Mrs. Park ; and are as 
follows. 
To Sir Joseph Banks. 
Badoo, near Tamhacunda, 
May 28th, 1805. 
" A Slatee is going from this place in a few hours for 
the Gambia, and I have hired him to stop his asses till I 
write a few lines. We have had as prosperous an expe- 
dition thus far, as I could have expected ; a short abridge- 
ment of our journey will serve to shew where we are. 
[Here follow the names of the places where the caravan 
rested each night ; the particulars of which are fully de- 
tailed in the Journal.] 
" We are going this evening to Tambacunda. You must 
not imagine, my dear friend, from this hasty sketch that 
I have neglected astronomical observations ; I have ob- 
served the latitude every two or three days, and have 
observed three eclipses of Jupiter's Satellites, which settle 
* A similar accident from an attack of bees, though much less serious than 
the present, was witnessed by Park in his journey with the caravan of slaves from 
Kamalia to the Gambia, and is described in his Travels, p, 331. 
