LIFE OF MUNGO PARK. 
liot climates; lie saw the opportunities which a new country 
would afford of indulging his taste for Natural History : 
nor was he insensible to the distinction which was likely 
to result from any great discoveries in African geography. 
These considerations determined him. Having fully in- 
formed himself as to what was expected by the Association, 
he eagerly offered himself for the service ; and after some 
previous enquiry into his qualifications, the offer was rea- 
dily accepted. 
Between the time of Park's return from India in 1793, 
and his departure to Africa, an interval elapsed of about 
two years. During the whole of this period (with the ex- 
ception of a short visit to Scotland in 1794), he appears to 
have resided in London or its neighbourhood ; being en- 
gaged partly in his favourite studies, or in literary or 
scientific society ; but principally in acquiring the know- 
ledge and making the preparations, which were requisite 
for his great undertaking. 
Having received his final instructions from the African 
Association, he set sail from Portsmouth on the 22d of 
May, 1795, on board the Endeavour, an African trader, 
bound for the Gambia, where he arrived on the 21st of the 
following month. It is not the intention of this narrative 
to follow him through the details of this journey, a full 
account of which was afterwards published by Park, and 
is familiar to every reader. But it may be useful to mention 
the material dates and some of the principal transactions. 
Having landed on the 21st of June at Jillifree, a small 
town near the mouth of the RiVer Gambia ; he proceeded 
shortly afterwards to Pisania, a British factory about 200 
