He Was
Fond Of Reading And Solitude, Often Wandering For Hours Among The Hills,
And Along The Banks Of His Native Yarrow.
The legends of border chivalry,
many of which still lingered in the district, had not been poured into an
Unwilling ear; they made a strong impression upon his imagination, and
probably contributed, in no inconsiderable degree, to fire his spirit,
and excite that love of adventure which so strongly marked his future
life. Moreover, occasional gleams of ambition broke forth from amid his
quiet thoughtfulness, which shewed, that beneath a cold exterior there
lurked a mind of no ordinary cast. This constitutional reserve made him
select in his choice of friends, but with those to whom he granted the
privilege of intimacy, he was all confidence and frankness.
The limited cost of an education for the Church of Scotland renders it an
object of ambition to many in the middle ranks of life; and the parents
of Mungo Park, judging that his peculiar disposition fitted him for the
ministry, were anxious that he should enter upon the initiatory course of
education. Park, however, manifested a decided repugnance to this choice,
and resolved upon qualifying himself for the medical profession.
Accordingly, at the age of fifteen, he was bound apprentice to Mr. Thomas
Anderson, a respectable surgeon in Selkirk, with whom he remained for the
space of three years, during which, at leisure hours, he continued to
prosecute his classical studies, and also acquired a knowledge of the
elementary principles of mathematics.
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