Some Moors Had Persuaded The Major To Accompany Them To Tisheet, A Place In The Great Desert, Frequented On Account Of Its Salt Mines.

In alluring him thither, their object, as it appears from the result, was to rob him, for it was very much out of the direct route to Timbuctoo.

Of this in a few days he became sensible, and insisted upon returning, but they would not permit him to leave their party, until they had stripped him of every article in his possession. He wandered about for some time through the desert, without food or shelter, till at length quite exhausted, he sat down under a tree and expired. Mr. Park was shown the very spot where his remains wore abandoned to the fowls of the air.

A considerable degree of information respecting the country on the Senegal, was procured by a person of the name of Bruce, who had a large share in the administration of the affairs of the French African Companies. In one of his numerous journeys, he ascended the Senegal as far as Gallam, and established a fort or factory at Dramanet, a populous and commercial town. The inhabitants carried on a trade as far as Timbuctoo, which they described as situated 500 leagues in the interior. They imported from it gold and ivory, and slaves from Bambarra, which was represented by them, as an extensive region between Timbuctoo and Cassan, barren but very populous. The kingdom of Cassan was said to be formed into a sort of island, or rather peninsula, by the branches of the Senegal. Gold was so abundant there, that the metal often appeared on the surface of the ground. From these circumstances it may be concluded, that Cassan was in some degree confounded with Bambouk, which borders it on the south. It had long been the ambition of the French, to find access to this golden country, but the jealousy of the native merchants presented an obstacle, that could not be easily surmounted.

CHAPTER IV.

There is no Chapter IV as the following chapter was numbered Chapter V by mistake.

CHAPTER V.

The death of Major Houghton left the African Association without a single individual employed in the particular service, for which the company was originally established. On a sudden, Mr. Mungo Park, a native of Scotland, offered himself to the society, and the committee having made such inquiries as they thought necessary, accepted him for the service.

His instructions were very plain and concise. He was directed, on his arrival in Africa, to pass on to the river Niger, either by the way of Bambouk, or by such other route as should be most convenient; that he should ascertain the cause, and if possible, the rise and termination of that river; that he should use his utmost exertion to visit the principal towns or cities in its neighbourhood, particularly Timbuctoo and Houssa, and that he should afterwards return to Europe, by such route as, under the then existing circumstances of his situation, should appear to him most advisable.

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