Journal of a Mission to the Interior of Africa, in the Year 1805 (ed John Whishaw)

Journal of a Mission to the Interior of Africa , in the Year 1805 (ed John Whishaw) [with accents]

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Journal Of A Mission To The Interior Of Africa, In The Year 1805
by Mungo Park Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.
This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the header without written permission.
Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.
**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971**
*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!*****
Title: The Journal Of A Mission To The Interior Of Africa, In The Year 1805
Author: Mungo Park
Release Date: September, 2005 [EBook #8814] [This file was first posted on August 15, 2003]
Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE JOURNAL OF A MISSION TO THE INTERIOR OF AFRICA, IN THE YEAR 1805 ***

E-text prepared by Project Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders

THE JOURNAL OF A MISSION TO THE INTERIOR OF AFRICA,
IN THE YEAR 1805
Together with Other Documents, Official And Private,
Relating To The Same Mission, to Which Is Prefixed
an Account of the Life off Mr. Park.
BY
MUNGO PARK

Edited and Commentary by John Whishaw

The original documents relating to Mr. Mungo Park's last mission into Africa having been entrusted to the Directors of the African Institution by the Secretary of State for the Colonial Department, with liberty to publish them, in case they should deem it expedient; the Directors now avail themselves of this permission, by publishing the papers for the benefit of Mr. Park's family.
These documents, together with other papers furnished by Mr. Park's connections and friends, which also form a part of the present publication, consist of the following particulars:
1. The original Journal of the expedition, officially transmitted by Mr. Park to the Secretary of State; containing several of Mr. Park's drawings and sketches, illustrative of particular descriptions, which are copied in this publication.
2. The Journal, as translated from the Arabic language, in which it was originally composed, of Isaaco, a native African, commissioned in the year 1810, by the Governor of Senegal, to go in search of Mr. Park and ascertain his fate; which Journal was likewise officially transmitted to the Secretary of State.
3. A Memoir delivered by Mr. Park at the Colonial Office in the year 1804, relative to the plan and objects of the intended expedition into Africa; together with the Official Instructions which he received for his guidance; and two letters addressed by him to the Secretary of State, one, written shortly after his arrival at the Coast of Africa, and the other, at the time of transmitting his Journal, previously to his final embarkation on the Niger.
4. Several private letters of Mr. Park, principally written during the time he was engaged in this mission; which, together with the documents included under the last mentioned head, have been incorporated into the Account of Mr. Park's Life, which is prefixed to the Journal.
It has before been stated, that the official papers are published under the authority of the Directors of the African Institution. It may be proper to add, that the individual, who has undertaken to prepare this work for the press, is alone responsible for the publication of the private letters, and for whatever else is contained in this volume, besides the official documents.
Of the papers before enumerated, the most important, and the only one which calls for any particular observation, is Mr. Park's own Journal; respecting which, it may be necessary to apprize the reader that it was written without the slightest view to publication, being intended only (as he informed the Secretary of State, by his letter of the 17th of November, 1805) "to recall to his own recollection other particulars illustrative of the manners and customs of the natives, which would have swelled the communication to a most unreasonable size." The work, therefore, which is now submitted to the public, can be considered in no other light than as the mere outline of a much more extended and detailed narrative, which it was the author's intention to prepare for the press after his return to England.
A work, thus imperfect, and which the unfortunate fate of its author has prevented from being brought to a completion, is entitled to peculiar indulgence; and if those allowances are made, which candour