He left Pisania on the 2d of December, 1795, directing his course easterly, with a view of proceeding to the River Joliba, or Niger. But in consequence of a war between two sovereigns in the Interior, he was obliged, after he had made some progress, to take a northerly direction towards the territory of the Moors. He arrived at Jarra, the frontier town of that country, on the 18th of February, 1796. Pursuing his journey from thence, he was taken and detained as a prisoner, by Ali, the chieftain or king of that territory, on the 7th of March; and after a long captivity and a series of unexampled hardships, escaped at last with great difficulty early in the month of July. The period was now approaching when he was to receive some compensation for so many sufferings. After wandering in great misery for about three weeks through the African Wilderness, he arrived at Sego, the capital of Bambarra, a city which is said to contain thirty thousand inhabitants. He was gratified at the same time by the first sight of the Niger, the great object of his journey; and ascertained the extraordinary fact, that its course is from West to East. After a short stay at Sego (where he did not find it safe to remain), Park proceeded down the river to Silla, a large town distant about seventy or eighty miles, on the banks of the Niger. He was now reduced to the greatest distress, and being convinced by painful experience, that the obstacles to his further progress were insurmountable, he reluctantly abandoned his design of proceeding eastwards; and came to the resolution of going back to Sego, and endeavouring to effect his return to the Gambia by a different route from that by which he had advanced into Africa. On the 3d of August, 1796, he left Silla, and pursuing the course of the Niger, arrived at Bammakoo, the frontier of Bambarra, about the 23d of the same month. Here he quitted the Niger, which ceases to be navigable at this place; and travelling for several weeks through a mountainous and difficult country, reached Kamalia, in the territory of Manding, on the 16th of September. He performed the latter part of this journey on foot, having been obliged to leave his horse, now worn out with fatigue and unable to proceed farther.