LIFE OF MUNGO PARK. xxxi 
character of Park forms a small part of his general repu- 
tation. This must always rest upon grounds altogether 
independent of the merits of his work as a composition ; 
and whatever may be hereafter thought of his claims to 
distinction as a writer, his fame as a geographical disco- 
verer, an explorer of unknown countries, and a man of 
courage and capacity in the most arduous and trying 
situations^ must ever remain undiminished. 
After the publication of his Travels, Park began to 
think of settling himself in life. During his last residence 
in Scotland in the Summer and Autumn of 1798, he had 
formed a matrimonial engagement with the eldest daughter 
of Mr. Anderson of Selkirk, with whom he had served his 
apprenticeship. He returned therefore to Scotland in the 
Summer of 1799, and was married on the 2d of August in 
that year. This union, which connected him still more 
closely with a family with which he had long lived in 
friendship, contributed in a high degree to his future com- 
fort and happiness. 
For more than two years after his marriage, he resided 
with his mother and one of his brothers, who lived toge- 
ther and carried on the farm at Fowlshiels. The reason 
of his continuing there so long a time does not very dis- 
tinctly appear, nor is any thing particular related as to the 
manner in which he employed himself during this period. 
The profits of his publication, and the liberal compensa- 
tion which he had received from the African Association 
