Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa (Physician Travelers Series) [Hardcover]

Mungo Park (Author), Robert M. Goldwyn (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1971

Mungo Park (September 11, 1771 – 1806) was a Scottish explorer of the African continent. He was credited as being the first Westerner to discover the Niger River.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“In a time when the world has grown tame and we have to manufacture our adventures, Mungo Park’s Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa is both an education and a delight. The Africa he entered was uncharted and unknown, the farthest outpost of a truly wild and richly mysterious planet. He was the first European to go there and come back again, and he rewarded his society—and ours—with a geographical and anthropological marvel of a book, an adventure story to cap them all.”—T. Coraghessan Boyle

“Western Sudan . . . means for me an episode in Mungo Park’s life. It means for me the vision of a young, emaciated, fair-haired man, clad simply in a tattered shirt and worn-out breeches, gasping painfully for breath and lying on the ground in the shade of an enormous African tree (species unknown), while from a neighboring village of grass huts a charitable black-skinned woman is approaching him with a calabash full of pure cold water, a simple draught which, according to himself, seems to have effected a miraculous cure.”—Joseph Conrad, from Geography and Some Explorers

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Mungo Park (1771–1805) was a Scottish explorer who, at the age of twenty-four, travelled alone to Africa in search of the Niger River. A decade later, he returned to Africa on an ill-fated second mission, this time sponsored by the British government. Though there were no survivors of this journey, Park and the last few members of his expedition were reported to have met their deaths while attempting to follow the Niger to its end. Kate Ferguson Marsters is Assistant Professor of English at Gannon University.

Mungo Park (1771–1805) was a Scottish explorer who, at the age of twenty-four, travelled alone to Africa in search of the Niger River. A decade later, he returned to Africa on an ill-fated second mission, this time sponsored by the British government. Though there were no survivors of this journey, Park and the last few members of his expedition were reported to have met their deaths while attempting to follow the Niger to its end. Kate Ferguson Marsters is Assistant Professor of English at Gannon University.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 372 pages
• Publisher: Arno Press; Fine Facsimile Reprint edition (1971)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0405017189
• ISBN-13: 978-0405017186
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,547,392 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #91 in Books > Travel > Africa > Niger & Nigeria

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Intrepid Mungo Park, July 27, 2003

By 

events3 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa (Paperback)

Kate Ferguson Marsters' edition of Mungo Park's TRAVELS is an excellent example of the travel narrative - easily comparable with the Journals of Lewis & Clark or Francis Parkman's OREGON TRAIL. The book is broken into three parts: Park's travel narrative , Marsters' Introduction & Major Rennell's Geographical Illustrations Of Mr. Park's Journey (which is rather dry and dated).

The main work is a narrative of Park's travels from Barra, on the West African coast, to the town of Silla, just west of Jenne and his return to the western coast. Park provides many interesting details and asides, including that of Mumbo Jumbo (also mentioned by Francis Moore) for disciplining wayward wives. Park also spends a fair amount of time explaining local governments and social norms. Throughout, the account attempts some degree of neutrality while noting acts of kindness and avarice by various individuals and rulers; although, not surprisingly, he explicitly criticizes the Moors who continually interfered with his progress and those who robbed and stripped him. Perhaps his most disturbing account is of the female slave who becomes too sick to continue traveling with the coffle. The entire work puts black slaves and their families in a very sympathetic light and shows the slave trade at its worst; although, due to the continuing conditions of slavery and internal conquest pre-dating major European involvement in the trade, Park stated that the termination of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade would not provide as great a benefit to the populace in Africa as many hoped.

The Introduction is important in providing the history of Park's early years, the important role of the African Association and its leader, Sir Joseph Banks. More importantly the Introduction deals with the Bryan Edwards controversy. Richard Burton and Orlando Patterson's criticisms have held that internal African slavery and slave trading was not nearly so prevalent as suggested by Park. In light of this, Marsters' statement that Joseph Banks, a critic of slavery, had to approve every piece of Edward's editing becomes extremely important. In addition, it is made clear that the reason for the stylistic differences is that the original TRAVELS was a book derived from Park's notes whereas the published work of his second, ill-fated journey was merely a compilation of those notes retrieved from the dead man's party!

All-in-all, an excellent and informative read!

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mungo Park is one of the overlooked adventurers., July 20, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa (Physician Travelers Series) (Hardcover)

Mungo Park (1771-1806?) was the first European to visit the Niger River basin in 1796. He resolved, once and for all, a debate that had European cartographers and geographers confused for centuries.

His initial journey (1795-1797) was a tale of tremendous personal hardship and suffering, but triumph in the end. After returning to Scotland in 1798, he became acquainted with Sir Walter Scott. They became close friends, and it was Sir Walter Scott who convinced him to return to Africa to encover the secret of the mouth of the Niger River.

In 1805 he convinced the British government, in the middlle of a war against Napoleon, to send another expedition to seek out the mouth of the Niger. With 100 officers and men he set out, retracing his earlier steps. The journey was filled with personal tragedy and heroism. After arriving on the Niger, he built a boat, named the Joliba, and travelled down the river. During the course of his journey he met and traded with the many kingdoms that lined the river. However, he also incurred the wrath of many local kings and chiefs who believed that he was cheating them.

Near the town of Bussa (now covered by a huge dam), Mungo Park met his unexpected end. For many years it has been assumed that he was attacked by hostile natives seeking to rob him. In fact it may have been due to the fact that he just failed to navigate the river

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Good to see this available, be aware of quality issues with books from the Publisher (General Books LLC), July 15, 2010

By 

Kiwi (Mississauga, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa (Volume 1); Performed in the Years 1795, 1796, and 1797 Travels in 1795, 1796, and 1797 (Paperback)

The version of "Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa (Volume 1); Performed in the Years 1795, 1796, and 1797: Travels in 1795, 1796, and 1797" published by General Books LLC is an el cheapo version, created using OCR scanning and an automated scanning device which can miss complete pages. Typos are frequent due to the OCR software and there's no table of contents, also, there was absolutely no editing of the book nor any illustrations. This is all stated on the publishers web site (google them and read - you'll be as interested as I was when you see all the disclaimers).

That said, it's good to see some of these old books in print - just make sure you're aware of the possible quality issues. These books are also available in many cases from Project Gutenberg for free download if all you want is the text version.

If you have bought a paper version from General Books LLC by mistake (rather than an actual real edited version), you can return to Amazon within 30 days(but make sure you check Amazon's Return Policy for the details)