with enthusiasm, but after the first novelty had worn off a period of forgetfulness set in. Park married, and settled down in Peebles as a medical practitioner. But in process of time the influence of the African Association filtered even into the stony heart of a Government department; and it was resolved by the Colonial Office (then a branch of the War Office) to send Mungo Park back to continue his exploration of the Niger. He was given £5000 for his expenses, and an ample outfit of stores and arms and other equipment. He held a Captain’s commission, and was allowed to select soldiers from the garrison of Goree. He took his brother-in-law with him as second in command, a draughtsman named Scott, and several boatbuilders and carpenters. At Goree he selected one officer, 35 privates, and two seamen. The party left the Gambia in 1805. They were soon attacked with fever, and by the time they had reached the Niger only seven out of the 38 soldiers and seamen who had left Goree were living. Descending the Niger past Sego, Mungo Park built a rough and ready kind of boat at Sansanding, which he named the _Joliba_. By this time his party had been reduced to five, including himself. On the 12th of November, 1805, they set out from Sansanding (whence they sent back to the Gambia their letters and journals) to trace the Niger to its mouth. Mungo Park was never heard from any more. It was ascertained, by the information subsequently gathered from native traders and chiefs, that his party met with constant opposition from the natives in its descent of the river, with the result that he and his companions were continually fighting. After Mungo Park entered the Hausa-speaking countries of Sokoto the enmity of the natives increased, apparently because he was unable to pay his way with presents. At last, at Busa, where further navigation was obstructed by rocks, the natives closed in on him. Finding no way of escape, Park jumped into the river with Lieutenant Martyn (a Royal Artillery Officer), and was drowned. After Park’s death, Major Peddie, Captain Campbell, Major Gray, and Dr Dochard all strove to follow in Park’s footsteps from the direction of the Gambia, but all died untimely deaths from fever, though Dr Dochard succeeded in reaching Sego on the Niger.