Park, Mungo

(born Sept. 10, 1771, Fowlshiels, Selkirk, Scot.—died c. January 1806, near Bussa on the Niger River) Scottish explorer of the Niger River. A trained surgeon, Park had traveled to the East Indies before being chosen by the African Association to head an expedition to find the source of the Niger River (1795–97). He lost most of his crew and supplies, was imprisoned and tortured for four months by hostile Arabs, and suffered severe illness, reaching Ségou (now in Mali) but not the river's source. His Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa (1797) became a great popular success. On a second expedition (1805–06) he reached Bamako, but he was killed on the return trip.

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