At the Mountains of Kong, Part 1

this video is dedicated to my backers over on patreon thanks to all of you folks for your support over the last couple of years in april of 1799 a new volume was published in london titled travels in the interior districts of africa it carried the account of a british adventurer who claimed to have been the first white man to reach the river nagir and live to tell the tale according to some overly enthusiastic reviews he had even journeyed as far as the semi-mythical cities of hausa and timbuktu the houses of the latter of which were said to be covered in gold the book became an instant bestseller going through six editions in just over a decade and counting amongst its initial subscribers his majesty king george iii alongside its vivid account of the peoples and countries of western africa it also laid bare the horrors of the slave trade of the region and the dim opinion of its residents towards europeans quote even the poor africans whom we effect to consider as barbarians look upon us i fear as little better than a race of formidable but ignorant heathens included alongside this account was an authoritative map of the continent based on the writings of the geographers of antiquity and revised in line with its author's account by far the largest of these revisions came in the form of a vast mountain range that dominated the region and stretched across the entirety of the continent there was only one problem they never existed despite this cartographers would faithfully copy them down for decades to come and beyond these mountains there were still vast uncertainties as to where the nazir arose what course it took and even the location of its final termination for more than 30 years this work would inspire one european adventure after another to follow in its author's footsteps to attempt to find the course of the niger and with it the city of timbuktu these attempts would lead these men to hardships beyond any of their understandings more than one of them would find his death there either through tropical illness the hostility of the people and nations that he met along the way or simply his own folly this is the story of the initial european exploration of western africa the peoples and countries that called that region home and of the men who are often willing to risk their lives simply for the pursuit of knowledge and lasting fame in the early 15th century european knowledge of the geography and peoples of western africa was virtually non-existent the last known expeditions along its coastline the semi-mythical voyages of the carthaginian explorer hano were nearly two thousand years old and the last organized attempt across the sahara dated to the roman period what little was known of the continent came by the way of ancient greek and roman authors such as herodotus pliny and ptolemy chief among their reports was the noise at a vast river known as the nazir flowed throughout the region south of the sahara though its source endpoint and even the direction of its flow was unknown other than this the known features of the region were largely limited to the commercial centers of gao and timbuk later known as timbuktu this was not the case in the islamic world however where the peoples and states of this region were well known due to the lucrative trade routes that stretched across the sahara from the muslim states of northern africa to the west african empires of the interior from these empires came a lucrative trade in salt gold ivory ebony pepper cola nuts and slaves whilst muslim traders would in turn spread islam deep into the niger river basin between the 9th and the 15th centuries knowledge of these regions would be spread by a number of moroccan and arabian travellers who published accounts of their travels that were widely circulated throughout the intelligentsia of the islamic world indeed it was known from these accounts that three major empires had risen throughout western africa during this period from the 9th to the 12th century authors such as al-bakri muhammad al-adrisi and the father of algebra himself muhammad ibn musa al-khwarizmi published accounts describing the ghana empire this powerful state was located in large areas of modern mauritania and mali and controlled much of the region's trade in both gold and salt these accounts also provided the first details of prominent settlements within the region including the thriving commercial centre of gao on the banks of the nijir by the early 14th century this state had in turn been largely conquered by the maui empire which came to dominate western africa from gao to the atlantic coast in 1324 the rulers of northern africa and the middle east had witnessed the extravagant hajj pilgrimage of the emperor of maui mansur moussa the first to mecca at the time maui controlled much of the gold trade of western africa due to its possession of the gold fields at bambook a region known to these early arabic explorers as wangara the resulting infusion of this precious material into the towns along moosa's pilgrimage route quickly resulted in its devaluation and led to widespread economic instability such was the wave of excitement created by this visit the event even made it onto a number of european maps particularly the work of the mayorkin school of cartographers on the celebrated 1375 catalan atlas an enthroned moosa is depicted in the regions south of the algerian coast alongside the centers of gao and timbuk a contemporary account of these two centers was provided to us by the 14th century moroccan explorer ibum batuta in his work the reela after visiting the maui capital in 1351 he made his way down river by boat to timbuktu finding little of no to what was then a small trading town he quickly departed for the larger center at gau maui itself would retain its hegemony over the region until the 15th century when a new power would gradually erode its territory by the end of the century the songhai empire had expanded to eclipse both of its predecessors with its influence stretching from the mouth of the gambia in western africa to the house of kingdoms of northern nigeria in the east as with mali and ghana before it much of this new state's power came from the control of critical trade routes across the sahara and along the nazir river basin in which the towns of timbuktu jinae and the city of gao formed increasingly prosperous hubs it was in rough with the same period that songhai was consolidating its power that the first european voyages down the coast of western africa in nearly two millennia began from the 1430s onwards a series of portuguese and venetian explorers in the employer prince henry the navigator would explore the coast southwards in 1444 denise diaz reached the mouth for the senegal and two years later the slaver nuno tristown may have reached the mouth of the gambia before his death at the hands of the local mandinka peoples in 1460 pedro de cintra observed the mountains of sierra leone naming them after the growling thunderstorms that lurked within their peaks these initial voyages were largely motivated by european observations of the lucrative trans-saharan trade of northern africa by exploring the western coast the portuguese hoped to circumvent this trade and to open a direct trade route with the interior after the death of henry the navigator in 1460 these efforts were continued by one for now gomez were captains in his employment reaching the bite of benin by the 1470s in the early 1480s however the increasing observations of the local gold trade in this region led the portuguese crown to intervene more directly in 1482 king john ii sponsored a major expedition to the bite the shores of which quickly became known as the gold coast through the seeding of garrisons along the shoreline the portuguese quickly established a monopoly by the early 16th century this system was sending over 110 for the world's gold supply back to lisbon during this period the portuguese also sent a small number of embassies into the interior in addition to an embassy sent to the then declining maui empire there may have been some portuguese presence in timbuktu the remains of portuguese canon have been found further west at gao however due to the secrecy of which these dealings were conducted whatever knowledge these embassies gained of the interior would remain unknown to the rest of europe in the early 17th century a small number of british explorers would also attempt to seek out the mysterious riches of the african interior in 1618 george thompson led a small expedition of the gambia in search of gold this effort quickly led to disaster after establishing a small trading post the expedition was stranded when the portuguese seized their ship another vessel did eventually arrive to relieve them but thompson refused to embark acting on rumors of gold in the region he took eight of his companions and set off to meet with a local slave owner and trader by the name of buko sano unfortunately for him the trader never arrived and thompson was murdered soon after by his own companions in 1620 a british explorer by the name of richard jobson made another excursion up the river as far as the baraconda falls where he succeeded in meeting with bacor samo more interested in trading for textiles and ivory he refused sano's offer to purchase slaves but during their dealings he did learn something of the gold trade of timbuktu quote and proceeding further he said this country above does abound therewith in so much as these eyes of mine have been forth several times at a great town above the houses whereif are only covered only with gold jobson eventually returned to england and published an account of his journeys in 1623 despite this these expeditions marked the last major british efforts to explore the region for more than a century in the meantime the focus of portuguese interest in western africa had been undergoing a dramatic transformation the ramifications of which still echo today since their initial arrival in the region european traders had freely engaged in the local slave trade some of the slaves they purchased were sent back to europe to act as domestic servants or to the various atlantic islands owned by the portuguese and the spanish to labour on sugar plantations others were simply resold on the african markets to generate a quick profit that could then be spent on gold by the 1530s however the trade-in slaves began to subsume their previous interest in gold that decade the portuguese began to export slaves to the americas to work on the sugar plantations of brazil whilst the spanish would also begin to purchase large numbers to work in the silver mines of peru and mexico the majority of slaves exported from africa during the 16th century still came from across the trans-saharan trade routes but by its end the atlantic trade had grown to almost a third of the market in the 17th century this trade would eclipse that of northern africa entirely mostly due to the increased demand for slave labor on the sugar plantations that were now spreading throughout north america and the caribbean after initially being dominated by the portuguese and the spanish this period also saw britain and france become the leading participants in the west african slave trade with other european states such as the netherlands denmark sweden and various german states controlling smaller shares by the mid-17th century britain alone were sending some 25 000 slaves a year to the americas the peak of the trade during the 18th century it is estimated that 6.5 million slaves were forcefully transported across the atlantic with some 88 of these coming from the western coastline along the bikes of benin and biafra along with the congo basin after some initial attempts at conducting their own slaving expeditions into west central africa the european presence became largely limited to coastal trading posts here they could avoid the risks of the interior where their lack of immunity to tropical diseases such as malaria yellow fever and dysentery meant that life expectancy was extremely short by manipulating more local forms of slavery that already existed amongst the african kingdoms these traders were able to ensure a steady supply of captives for sale overseas indeed in many of these states slavery rapidly evolved from its previous systems of kinship and pornage into a system around which much of the economy revolved with slaves now consisting of the primary source of wealth african kingdoms were incentivized to adopt a constant pattern of local warfare that would result in a steady stream of captives that could be sold along to europeans on the coast the result of all of this was that between the early 16th century and the late 19th century somewhere in the region of 12.5 million people were enslaved and transported across the atlantic of these slaves it is further estimated that some 1.8 million died due to the horrific conditions they endured during transportation the victims of european diseases and mass overcrowding on slave vessels finally millions of slaves are also thought to have died in the seasoning camps of the americas whilst millions more likely perished during slave-taking wars and raids within africa itself perhaps more people than ever left the continent as slaves throughout this period of increasingly intense exploitation european understanding of the african coastline continued to grow as shown by the production of maps displaying an increasingly accurate shape of the continent from the 15th century onwards yet despite these efforts knowledge of the interior remained poor in the mid 16th century european ignorance the region was temporarily improved by the works of the moorish traveller leo africanus originally a native of granada in southern spain in his early life he claimed to have accompanied his uncle on a diplomatic mission south of the sahara there is some uncertainty as to exactly how far south he ever made it but his reports included important details on the then thriving city of timbuktu the evolving songhai empire and a series of states further to the east in 1518 whilst he was likely returning from a pilgrimage to mecca he was captured by corsairs and forcefully converted to christianity now in rome he came under the patronage of pope leo the 10th and in 1526 he either wrote or dictated his account of the geography of western africa this account would be published in edited form in 1550 and will prove an enormous success throughout europe resulting in a number of embellished translations into latin french and english in the early 17th century an abridged version of mohammed al-adrisi's work was also published in latin which filled in some gaps in european knowledge of west african geography and history despite these two accounts however vast holes remained not only was there a gap of nearly four centuries between them a period during which entire empires rose and fell throughout western africa but both accounts contained a range of inaccuracies that would plague future cartographers for example in his account leo africanus claimed that not only did the nazir flow westwards that he had even traveled down it in that direction when if he had actually done so he would have known that the opposite is true with knowledge of the interior thus limited many 16th and 17th century map makers chose to fill these unknown spaces within these regions with fantastical elements in addition to depicting many large mountain ranges and river systems throughout western africa they also included misreported details about the wider continent these included tomy's vast inland lakes of zaia and zaflan along with the fabled mountains of the moon from which the nile was said to arise alongside this phantom geography some map makers also chose to include depictions of fantastical creatures with one 1554 map by german cartographer sebastian munster including a race of giant one-eyed creatures known as monoculi living in central africa in the early 18th century however a revolution in map making would occur that would remove many of these spurious features much of the credit for this transition belongs to two french map makers the first guillaume de ile would revolutionize depictions of the region in two maps published in 1700 and 1722 respectively adopting a more scientific approach to cartography these maps would eliminate many of the superior features of the continent including common depictions of a mountain range running throughout western africa this more scientific style of map making would culminate in the works of john baptiste de anvil erased much of the imaginary details that remained the anvil would also go a step beyond his predecessors by depicting areas for which nothing was known simply as they were blank spaces on the map the anvils maps of 1727 and 1749 would prove highly authoritative amongst map makers and would influence their works well into the 19th century the transition to this style of only depicting verifiable details on maps is often heralded as a major shift to a more scientific mode of map making but even with this shift only depicting regions for which reported information was available the anvils maps still contain a highly inaccurate picture of west african geography this is understandable given the lack of information regarding these regions but in composing his map the anvil would also make a number of mistakes that would distort the geography of western africa for decades to come one of these mistakes would come from the anvil's attempts to reconcile the accounts of both leo africanus and al-adrisi over the location of ghana and the goal-producing region of wangara slightly to the east by mistakenly equating aledrice's ghana with leo's kano a state some thousand miles to the east the anvil distorted the entire geography of the region with ghana and wangara now appearing halfway across the entire continent of africa the anvil also confused matters further by trying to reconcile the theories of both herodotus and ptolemy regarding the final fate of the niger the result was that whilst he correctly displayed the nagir as running eastwards he depicted it breaking up into a series of inland lakes in the region east of wangara a small portion of which continued on to link with denial putting these mistakes aside the anvil's efforts flew into sharp relief just how limited european understanding of the african interior really was but despite this interest next boy in this mysterious region remained low for much of the rest of the 18th century and most wealthy europeans seem to have been happy simply to profit off the african trade towards the end of the century however the idea of african exploration began to catch on in britain here much of this newfound interest came from the increasing proliferation of travelers accounts from other areas of africa at roughly the same time the spread of enlightenment ideals throughout the illiterate classes of britain led to a rise in interest in scientific exploration for this much early credit is given to the swedish botanist carl linnaeus who would commission his best students to travel the world seeking new plant species from the mid-18th century onwards starting from 1768 far greater interest and exploration was generated by captain james cook's three worldwide voyagers which brought lands previously unknown to europeans such as hawaii australia and many of the islands of the pacific to the attention of literate britons with many of the known details of africa still coming from accounts now hundreds of years old the prospect of increasing their knowledge of the geography and political composition of this area would have been of prime appeal to men of science another major impetus for african exploration came from the emerging commercial opportunities that its interior was fought to possess by the late 18th century a combination of the emerging industrial revolution and increasingly lucrative international trade networks had already resulted in a vast increase in european wealth over the course of this century british trade income derived from africa alone had multiplied by over eight times with the region's local kingdoms now becoming a prime market for english textiles along with large amounts of weaponry and gunpowder this trade contributed to the development of an increasingly prosperous class of merchants based in atlantic ports many of these merchants were already used to conducting trade on a worldwide scale and it is understandable then that to these men the unknown interior of africa came to symbolize an area of untapped commercial possibilities continuing gold trade across the sahara though now somewhat reduced from prior centuries may also have served as an additional impetus with all this in mind it is unsurprising as the 18th century began to draw to a close a new group combining each of these interests was founded in london it would be the actions of this group that would determine much of the early course of european exploration throughout western africa and do much to dispel its mistaken image as a dark savage continent on the evening of june 9 1788 members of the sunday club were dining together at saint albans tavern in london the group which had been inaugurated that year was one of only many dinner clubs then popular in the capital as a source of intellectual conversation and company amongst its 12 members were six fellows of the royal society including the botanist sir joseph banks by this time banks was already famous for accompanying captain james cook on the endeavour during his first voyage around the world from 1768 to 1771 during which he had become one of the first known europeans to reach the eastern coast of australia and had briefly visited africa itself at the cape of good hope the rest of their group were rounded out by three peers of the realm the bishop of klandaf a retired general and even a member of the house of commons on this particular evening the discussion went far beyond that of any normal convivial gathering with talk turning to the dire state of european understanding of the african continent to quote the plan of action later drafted from this meeting but notwithstanding the progress of discovery on the coasts and borders of that vast continent the map of its interior is still but a wide extended blank on which the geographer on the authority of leo africanus and of the sheriff adressi the nubian author has traced with a hesitating hand a few names of unexplored rivers and of uncertain nations the course of the nagir the places of its rise in termination and even its existence as a separate stream are still undetermined by the end of the evening the group had decided that given the lack of progress in exploring the region they themselves should act they concluded by passing an ambitious resolution that is no species of information is more ardently desired or more generally useful than that which improves the science of geography and as the vast continent of africa notwithstanding the efforts of the ancients and the wishes of the moderns is still in a great measure unexplored the members of this club do form themselves into an association for promoting the discovery of the inland parts of that quarter of the world with this resolution the association promoting the discovery of the interior parts of africa better known as the african association was formed henry buford mp was promptly elected as secretary and in november of that same year banks would be elected president of the royal society position he would hold for another 41 years whilst banks would never publish anything of note within his lifetime his position as a major patron of scientific activity would have a profound effect on government policy and lend credibility to this new organization from its founding group of 12 by 1790 the association had grown to over 90 members and from the beginning the goals of this membership were mixed in addition to prominent businessmen and men of science such as banks his membership also included ardent's opponents of the slave trade such as bufoy richard watson and the great abolitionist william wilberforce along with equally passionate advocates for slavery such as sir william young and brian edwards and whilst the stated goals association was the acquisition of new knowledge it also wasn't averse to advancing british trade interests in the region particularly when it came to the local gold trade to quote the author robin hallett they were all men of affairs as they looked to africa their vision was not distorted by the crude images of strange men and strange beasts that bemused so many of their contemporaries rather they speculated on the products that the unknown interior might reveal the markets those teaming millions might afford the growing manufactures of great britain despite these competing motives the main goal of the association seems to have been non-partisan enough to accommodate its mixed membership and indeed within only four days its newly elected committee had already made a start on its lofty resolution on the 13th of june they recruited an english-born diplomat by the name of simon lucas to attempt an overland approach to timbuktu and the nazir from the north lucas was well qualified to the task born the son of a london wine merchant he was sent to cadiz in southern spain whilst a young man in order to learn the family trade here he was captured by barbary pirates and sold into slavery in morocco after three years of servitude he was eventually freed after which he returned to gibraltar in southern spain soon after he was recruited by the local governor edward cornwallis to return to morocco as a vice consul a position he remained in for the next 16 years as a result of all this he was not only familiar with the northern coast of africa but he also spoke fluent arabic the dominant language of the region and of much of the sub-sahara to the south by june of 1788 he was attached as an interpreter to the court of george iii whereupon he came on the association's radar exactly how the association was able to recruit lucas so quickly after its formation is still uncertain though it was known that he had family connections with its secretary henry bufoy either way a plan was quickly put together and tasked with making an approach to timbuktu from the northern coast across the trans-saharan trade routes lucas set off to tripoli in august of 1788 by the time he left england however another explorer had already been dispatched by the association arriving in cairo the same month that lucas set sail the second explorer was an acquaintance of banks named john ledyard an american who in 1776 had been a passenger on captain james cook's third and final voyage in 1779 he'd witnessed cook's death in hawaii during a failed attempt to take a local chief captive in order to ransom back a small sailing vessel taken from his ship after returning from the voyage and later throwing as a fur trader ladyard would have a chance encounter with thomas jefferson in paris in 1786 their meeting certainly seems to have made an impression on jefferson who devoted the following passages to ledyard in his autobiography in 1786 while at paris saw he became acquainted with john ledyard of connecticut a man of genius some science and of fearless courage and enterprise he had accompanied captain cook had distinguished himself by an unrivalled intrepidity lidyard had come to paris in the hope of forming a company to engage in the fur trade of the western coast of america he was disappointed in this and being out of business and of a roaming restless character i suggested to him the enterprise of exploring the western part of our continent by passing through saint petersburg and kamchatka and procuring a passage thence in some of the russian vessels to neutral sound when she might make his way across the continent to the united states and i undertook to have the permission of the empress of russia solicited for the next two years ladyard would act on jefferson's suggestion traveling through russia in an attempt to reach the pacific by 1788 he had made it as far as siberia only to be detained after the government of empress catherine the great appears to have changed its mind from here he was dragged all the way back to the polish border then expelled from russia under the threat of execution should he ever return now near destitute ledyard was able to borrow his way back to england using bank's name here despite his lack of experience with the region banks quickly recruited him for a second expedition into western africa with lucas taking the northernly route leddyard was instead interested with travelling southwards from egypt to sonar in modern sudan then to cross over to mecca here he was expected to learn from the locals of traders headed for western africa then cross back over to the continent and join a caravan all the way to timbuktu when asked by bufoy how soon he could be ready he responded without hesitation tomorrow morning despite his lack of familiarity with africa led yard initially made some progress leaving england on the 30th of june 1788 he reached alexandria that august before heading south to cairo here he visited the slave markets where he learned something of the trade networks that stretched to the south and west all the way to timbuktu at cairo however his efforts came to nothing there he paused intending to join a caravan to sana this poorly chosen route would likely have ended with lead yards ruin as it's highly unlikely a european man who spoke no arabic could have made it to mecca however ledyard would never have a chance to make the attempt a few weeks after arriving in cairo he came down with a bilious complaint to combat its effects he took a powerful dose of acid of vitriol immediately afterwards he began to feel a burning pain for which he took an emetic after a continuous discharge of blood he died on the 10th of january 1789 in short john laidyard that man of genius of science and of fearless courage in enterprise had managed to kill himself by drinking sulfuric acid in the meantime simon lucas had arrived in tripoli the previous october after waiting several months for a trade caravan towards the fazan during which time he adopted arab dress and let his hair grow out he finally set off in february of 1789 escorted by two local sheiks he made it as far as the coastal city of miserata here he was forced to stop when his route was blocked by warring tribes to the south after being abandoned by his guides lucas gave up having never left the coast he was back in england by july of that year whilst these first two attempts had been failures the enthusiasm of the members of the african association was indented as noted by many of their future chroniclers these were powerful men and they were used to getting their way and whilst these first two explorers had failed in their goals beaufort managed to pass on reports containing new information on the towns kingdoms and trade routes of western africa in lucas's case he had managed to interview an elderly sheik by the name of imhamed whilst waiting to cross the vazan who provided him with a detailed description of the regions of bornu and katsina to the south along with other nations beyond the niger itself these observations were further corroborated by an account given by a moroccan man known as ben ali who had visited london in 1788 these new findings were included in the published proceedings of the association written by bufoy in 1790 which was accompanied by a map of the known geography of africa to compile this map muvoy selected an eminent geographer an englishman by the name of major james rennell rennell was best known for his mapping exploits in british india which he conducted in his post as a surveyor general of bengal after being forced to resign his post there due to an injury rinnel had focused much of his interests on africa julie acknowledged by the association as an authority on the region renault had been made an honorary member and would continue to produce maps for the association for the succeeding decade in composing his map for the 1790 proceedings of the association renewal would draw upon the works of herodotus and other ancient authors along with the works of leo africanus and muhammad al-adrisi and it was with this map in mind that the future explorers of the african association would set out in constructing it he very much followed indianville's tradition of only depicting areas which he had direct reports and considering the quality information that he had to rely upon his work was commendable but even with the limited information available at the time he made some pretty clear mistakes for example he seems to be largely unaware of contemporary french reports of the cena gambia region and beyond the rivers themselves what few features he depicts in this region are inaccurate like the anvil before him he also mistakenly equated different authors accounts of the location of ghana and the gold producing areas of wangara distorting the entire map eastwards in a less avoidable mistake renewal also depicted the niger running westwards as reported by both al-adrisi and leo africanus with the river beginning nowhere in particular and ending nowhere in particular not long after ronnelle's map was published its contents received further corroboration by another moroccan visitor to london known only as shibeni this visitor lent his authority to the african association's findings so far though by all accounts his description of the region was little more than nonsense one important piece of information contained in this account however was his claim as another powerful state known as hausa existed the south-east of timbuktu [Music] whilst this term is now known to refer to a language spoken by a group of peoples and nations throughout what is now niger a northern nigeria shibeni instead described it as a city not far removed from the early descriptions of timbuktu to quote the minister and author ezekiel bloomfield who included some of shabeni's claims in his volumes on world history and geography another celebrated city in the interior of africa is hoosa the capital of an african empire on the banks of the nazir a city which has excited much curiosity among men of science since it was first mentioned to a committee of the african association about the year 1790 the person from whom they received their information was an arab of the name of shabani he described the government as monarchical yet not unlimited its justice is severe but directed by written laws and the rights of landed property as guarded by the institutions of certain hereditary officers whose functions appear to be similar to those of the canon ghosts of hindustan and whose important complicated duties imply an unusual degree of civilization and refinement in 1790 the african association began its third expedition into western africa this time the goal was not to find him but two or the nazir but to reach this impressive hauser instead as both the northern and the eastern routes had failed it was decided instead to try the western route with the expedition beginning from the mouth of the british controlled river gambia then fought to be only some 350 miles from the niger for this expedition banks recruited another explorer this time an irish adventurer by the name of daniel houghton his objectives were free fold to travel up the nagir a journey still fought to be upstream to observe the wealth and population of timbuktu and most importantly to find the state of hausa and the commercial opportunities that it may hold by all accounts howton was a good fit for the mission in addition to having been on an official mission to morocco in the 1770s howton had spent four years stationed on the island fortress of goray off the coast of modern senegal during its brief time under british control between 1779 and 1783. here he picked up both some arabic and mandingo the principal language of the mandinka peoples of western africa after the recapture of goray by the french houghton had also attempted to convince the british government to fund an expedition to find the source of the gambia perhaps as a result of this he drew the attention of the african association in october of 1790 he sailed from plymouth bound for western africa [Music] the region that houghton arrived in was much changed since that of leo africanus in 1591 a mercenary force sent by sultan ahmed al-mansoor of morocco had defeated the songhai empire at the battle of ton dibi after which it quickly collapsed since then no further empire had yet risen to dominate the region which was instead made up of a patchwork of states and kingdoms towards the western coast lay smaller nations such as woolly bondu and bambook whilst further east lay the kingdoms of the bambara peoples carter and segu the latter of which had come to control the city of jene to the north lay the moorish kingdom of ludamar whilst further east timbuktu and gao were the focus of a small state led by the descendants of the congress of the songhai empire by the end of the 18th century the state had increasingly fallen under the sway of the confederations of the turek peoples to the east to whom it had been forced to pay tribute since 1787. as with lucas before him howton's expedition quickly ran into trouble after arriving in barrow on the gambia he proceeded to the town of jonker conda where he was soon forced to flee upriver after overhearing a pot amongst the local traders wives to kill him arriving at medina capital of the kingdom of woolly he was received favorably by its ruler but was forced to move on eastwards after a fire destroyed large parts of the town and most of his possessions after losing it more of his goods to an absconding interpreter he received a frosty reception at the neighbouring nation and bondu followed by an improved one by its rival at bamberg here he was able to interview a local sheikh who was familiar with both the niger and timber too with observations he was able to send back to london after sending a final brief note from simbing dated to the 1st of september 1791 which stated that he had been robbed of all of his belongings out and disappeared later it would transpire that he had been tricked into taking the desert route to timbuktu in the company of a number of local merchants two days into the journey he had attempted to turn back only to be robbed and left for dead by his comrades returning to a local watering hole he was refused food by the locals after which he was either killed or starved to death this third failure did nothing to dampen the resolve of the african association whilst this stripper again ended in the death of their employee he had succeeded in passing along several previously unknown details regarding the various towns and locales of the route to timbuktu chief among these details was the information that the nazir flowed eastwards to quote howton in the river that i'm going to explore they have decked vessels with masts with which they carry on trade from timbuktu eastwards to the centre of africa i mean to embark in one of them from jenae in bambara to timbuktu regarding the state of hausa however houston's reports were confused according to some of those he was able to interview hausa was indeed a city located only a few days downriver from timbuktu according to others however hausa was in fact a country or both despite this continuing uncertainty finding hausa would remain a primary focus of the african association even more so than timbuk2 or the niger and indeed by 1792 the euphoria generated by houghton's initial reports in the african association's membership was such that its committee was able to petition the government to follow up on his discoveries whilst this interest obviously cooled a little after houston's disappearance in may of 1793 a young man named james willis volunteered at his console to the region and the association would vote more directly to propose his appointment but as there is reason to believe that an extensive and lucrative trade from great britain may be opened by the way of gambia and venezia which would equally promote the interests of the public and facilitate the geographical improvements that are the peculiar objects of this association the committee will be requested to propose to the government at least the experimental and temporary appointment of a consul to cena gambia in the meantime james rennell would revise his map to match helton's observations including important regional centres on the way to timbuktu such as bambook segu yamina and bambara one report of houston's he did discount however was the idea that the nigeria continued across africa until it joined the nile in egypt from shibeni's account he made no inclusions at all which turned out to be a wise move given its largely fantastical nature in 1794 the african association's proposal was accepted by the government adding an extra sample of authority to its efforts willis was appointed as consul and dispatched to the town of fatitender with a ship and garrison of 50 soldiers meanwhile banks and the african association returned their focus to another expedition into the interior before howton's death was even confirmed banks had already recruited another explorer to make the next attempt to reach the nagir this time he would choose a young benefactor of his who had recently returned from his own trip to the east indies after the failures of lucas ledyard and the best limited success of howton this young man's expedition would finally provide the success that the african association had been expecting [Music] on september 10 1771 mungo park was born at foul shields near selkirk the seventh child of a scottish tenement farmer of moderate means after being privately tutored as a young man park attended a grammar school in selkirk where he acquired reputation for being both shy and bookish this reputation would stay with him for the rest of his life with many of his later acquaintances commenting on his reserved nature and devout calvinism after completing his studies there he rejected his father's intended career of the church instead training as a surgeon after first serving as a medical apprentice to dr thomas anderson in selkirk whose son alexander became his lifelong best friend park enrolled at edinburgh university in 1788 paying an estimated annual tuition of 30 pounds here park would indeed prove to be a diligent student though perhaps not an eager one and developed an interest in botany that would aid his future career in 1792 he like came onto joseph banks radar through their mutual friend james dixon by now park's brother-in-law keen botanist himself banks was more than happy to sponsor park's career according to park's later biographer louis gracik gibbon their first meeting was a rocky one with the young man being so tongue-tied that banks didn't know what to make of him even if this was the case banks continued to sponsor his career and despite his youth dixon had him elected an associate member of the linnaean society in january of the next year he passed an oral examination at the company of surgeons after which bank's recommendation won him an appointment as an assistant surgeon on a vessel bound for the british east indies going by his own words park was elated with one letter to his friend alexander anderson carrying his soon-to-be trademark optimism quote i have too much to say and must therefore speak by halves the melancholy who complain of the shortness of human life and the voluptuous who think the present only their own strive to fill up every moment with sensual enjoyment but the man whose soul has been enlightened by his creator and enabled though dimly to discern the wonders of salvation we look upon the joys and afflictions of this life as equally the tokens of divine love he will walk through the world as one traveling to a better country looking forward with wonder to the author and finisher of his faith ps i sail in a month despite taking place during the opening months of britain's involvement in the war of the first coalition against revolutionary france park's maiden voyage was largely uneventful departing in a convoy on the fifth of april park's vessel arrived in sumatra four months later after arriving at the british fort at burn coolant park busied himself for the next three months by recording the local wildlife and flora in november his vessel began its return voyage after stopping at saint helena in the atlantic later known as the location of napoleon's exile he arrived back in london on the 2nd of may 1794. as kenneth lupton noted in his biography mungo park the african explorer park had the good fortune to arrive right as the african association's fourth expedition was being planned unable to find his preferred appointment as a full ship surgeon on another voyage instead volunteered his services to the association despite park's lack of experience in african affairs banks had been impressed by the young man's reports on the fauna of sumatra and it seems to have been on his recommendation that he was duly offered the position as with his predecessors it was decided that park would travel lightly this was done for two reasons firstly it was thought in that appearing impoverished he would be less likely to be the target of robberies secondly it served to save the association's limited funds the organization at that time been reliant on its memberships jews along with a flat sum of 200 pounds for outfitting his expedition park received a fairly meager wage of seven shillings and six pence a day or about 29 pounds in modern terms after being delayed for some months whilst the new consul james willis prepared his escort park finally set sail on the 22nd of may before leaving he wrote to his brother stating that he expected to be back within two years after a month at sea he set foot in africa at the town of julithree on the gambia on june 21st the instructions he carried were identical to those of howton to find the niger to determine its rise and termination and if possible to find the mythical cities of hausa and timbuktu from jewelry free park quickly travelled upriver to the trading post of pisanya here he met its principal occupant a slave owner named dr john laidley who would provide park with further assistance for his journey park would spend several more months at the trading post waiting for console willis to arrive and for the rainy season to end during which time he came down with a fever that was most likely malaria unlike some of the african association's previous adventurers he survived this experience and whilst recovering he took the time to learn the language of the mandinka peoples of the region after willis failed to arrive he decided to depart to accompany him laylee provided him with two servants a freedman named johnson and a domestic slave named denver along with several other companions in preparation for his journey park also bought a horse and a pair of pistols along with asses for his companions in addition to the compasses sextant and thermometer that he had brought with him from england he also added a small number of trade goods two days provisions and a number of trinkets such as beads and amber to give to the local kings after sending back his correspondence to england outlining what he had learnt of the area ahead he set off eastwards on the 2nd of december 1795. even then he suspected that few of the people he had met ever expected to see him alive again the journey itself became pleasantly enough for park and his companions as they journeyed amongst rolling hills covered in thick woodland and hiding fertile valleys refusing to adopt a local dress park would have been instantly recognizable as european outfitters as he was in a wide beaver skin hat a shirt and waistcoat along a heavy coat and the distinctive yellow nankine breeches of the time after being brought before the mansa of woolly at the town of medina who tried to dissuade him from his journey he travelled on to color here he observed a traditional ritual designed to subjugate the town's women of which he wrote an unsympathetic account the name of this ritual which park gave us mumbo jumbo would go on to become a european byword for meaningless superstition after 10 days travel to the north east he reached the fertile kingdom of bondu a tributary of kajaja to the northeast that had given houghton a hostile reception at the nation's capital he successfully convinced its ruler imagi asata that he was not merely a trader seeking to avoid tolls and endured with good humor the mockery of the women of the court to quote park himself they rallied me with a good deal of gaiety on different subjects particularly on the whiteness of my skin and the prominency of my nose they insisted that both were artificial the first they said was produced when i was an infant by dipping me in milk and they insisted that my nose had been pinched every day till it had acquired its present unsightly and unnatural confirmation after a fairly uneventful stay park continued on into the neighboring nation of kajaja here he had his first legitimately dangerous incident on christmas day when a group of 20 horsemen arrested him on behalf of the local king accused of avoiding paying traders fees park managed to pay them off but at the cost of half of his belongings soon after he ran into a man named denver sago nephew of the king of the neighboring nation of caso who was then on a diplomatic mission to try and improve his country's poor relations with kajaja accepting his aid park went with him and his retinue to caso crossing the senegal on the 28th of december however sego would soon prove a difficult companion demanding repeated presence in return for his protection after reaching the town of tc park soon discovered that caso was under the threat of invasion from the malls of gudimaka to the north as well as on the brink of war with kajaja after anxiously waiting at the town until the 10th of january park finally managed to leave but not before his belongings were halved again by the local duties and the demands of denver sago a day later he was in jumbo the hometown of one of his companions witnessing the man's emotional reunion with his blind and elderly mother park would later be moved to write the following whatever difference there is between the african and european in the confirmation of the nose and the color of the skin there is none in the genuine sympathies and characteristic feelings of our common nature from here park continued on to caso's capital at konyakuri unlike his nephew manso dembo sago jala was well disposed towards his european visitor and warned park that the next kingdom on his itinerary carter was also expecting an invasion from the rival bambara kingdom of segu to the south with the mansa unable to provide him with a guide to segu park and his companions chose to continue on to carter here the change in terrain from fertile woodland to a sandy plain would have only underscored the imminent threat of war along the way park past entire villages deserted by their inhabitants along with bands of fleeing refugees at the capital of kenmu he was again received favorably by the local ruler famadisekuli bali who advised him to turn back until the end of the dry season when the fighting would die down in the middle of this interview however word arrived at the segu army was advancing and the next day the family set park in his remaining companions johnson and denver north of a group of horsemen to jarrah in neighbouring ludamar the first night on the road his party was robbed by a group of moorish men and to avoid further problems much of their march was conducted at night on the 18th of february 1796 he finally arrived in the frontier village of where daniel howton had sent his last message to laylee five and a half years prior here park also wrote his final letter to laylee which he received on august 1st from then on there would be no word of park's fate for almost a year from xin bing he continued to the large town of jarrah near the border of modern mali and mauritania here park succeeded in discovering howton's fate and whilst he could not determine the previous explorer's exact cause of death he was led to the place where his body had been left for scavengers considered an infidel by the town's people he was robbed repeatedly during his stay before eventually trying to flee at midnight despite his best efforts he and his companions were soon captured and dragged north to bernal where he was detained by king aoi of luduma for months during this time he was mocked on a daily basis by the inhabitants who kept him in a small hut with a hog for company and provided him and his companions with little in the way of food or water at one point desperate for water park was reduced to drinking from a cattle trough the water's owner having refused to give it to him from the buckets that he was carrying these conflicts along with others would contribute to park's later prejudice descriptions of the moors who apparently considered him and his belongings fair game at the end of april he was taken north to bubaker to avoid an army sent from segu here he was exhibited to the king's wife who wished to see a white man and then released in late may now of all of his goods and most of his instruments stripped from him he was left with only his emaciated horse a few items of clothing and a single compass to navigate by of his two original companions only johnson was allowed to accompany him with ali deciding to retain denver as a slave much to park's anger he and johnson managed to make their way back to jarrah from where they went east to cairo here the two finally parted ways and evading a party of moors sent by ali to recapture him park continued on alone later that day he was robbed of his cloak by a group of three horsemen but was able to continue south eastwards across segu despite this hardship park somehow remained optimistic later writing that it is impossible to describe the joy that arose in my mind when i looked around and concluded that i was out of danger i felt like one recovered from sickness i breathed freer i found unusual lightness in my limbs even the desert looked pleasant avoiding any further harm from this point onwards park was saved by the generosity of the local villagers who fed both him and his horse he made it to seguro in time for the rainy season which made the road slick and travel difficult and often park was forced to go barefoot to preserve both his boots and his mount's strength finally on july 20th 1796 park was told that the niger known here as the juliba lay only one day away the next day joining a group of fugitive cartons he made his way eastwards as park later remembered as they were coming to a section of low marshy land one of them suddenly cried out jiha philly see the water and looking forwards i saw with infinite pleasure the great object of my mission the long sought for majestic niger glittering to the morning sun as broad as the thames at westminster and flowing slowly to the eastward i hastened to the brink and having drunk of the water lifted up my fervent thanks in prayer to the great ruler of all things for having thus far crowned my endeavors with success after a year of illness repeated robbery and near starvation mungo park had finally laid eyes upon in his year by this point he would have been unrecognizable as the young man who had left bisanya eight months earlier dressed as he was only in a few ragged garments with long hair and a flowing beard his sense of wonder did not end with his sighting of the jaleba either from the opposite side of the river stood the sizeable city of segu home to nearly 30 000 people the view of this expansive city the numerous canoes upon the river the crowded population and the cultivated state of the surrounding country formed altogether a prospective civilization and magnificence which i little expected to find in the bosom of africa when he tried to gain injury to the city however park found himself refused and instead continued up river towards jinay by way of saint sanding here he was once again detained and publicly exhibited with the inhabitants demanding that he eat raw eggs believing that these made up the sole diet of europeans after escaping early in the morning he had a close call with the prowling lion but managed to continue on to cilla with the help of several guides by this point he had lost his horse which collapsed from exhaustion along the way and was dogged by both fever and insomnia due to the mosquitoes of the region at cilla he learned that gna was only two days eastwards and beyond the city the nazir broke up into a large lake called dibi or debo by the local inhabitants from here it became a wide inland delta that continued until reforming into a single channel near timbuktu park himself however could go no further sitting in a damp hut at cilla the ordeals of the past year finally caught up with him quote worn down by sickness exhausted with hunger and fatigue half naked and without any article of value i was now convinced by painful experience that the obstacles to my future progress were insurmountable now resolve to return to the coast along the nazir park faced a difficult journey southwards along the way he would be reunited with his somewhat recovered horse though it would prove a little used to him in the long term as he traveled through segu he came under increasing suspicion as a spy and along the road many villagers refused to admit him though he remained at liberty park himself would deny any charges of spying although later many of the details that he learned of these countries were indeed used in such a fashion by other europeans [Music] now moving westwards along the nazir past the city of segu itself park found himself in a part of the country of which he had no knowledge whilst he found the reins here less of an obstacle than before they served to keep his clothes constantly damp and he and his horse were forced to cross multiple streams along the way here park entered the former heartland of the now long collapsed maui empire whilst the area itself was fertile and prosperous it was not yet the harvest season and often the only food available to park was some raw corn soaked in water one of the few good meals he received during this time was when he wrote a safi for a freedman a charm written on the board then washed off into a draft and consumed after passing through nayamina he arrived back into mandingo speaking territory entering the then small city of bamaku now the capital of modern maui at this prosperous but small settlement he received a more civil welcome from the town's moorish merchants than he had received to this point who informed him that he would have to change his route as it soon crossed the joliba and no ferry would take him or his horse across after attempting to discourage park from traveling further during the rainy season the merchants finally relented and gave park a guide to continue inland despite this promising development the next stage of his journey did not start well leaving the river he and his guide who he described as a singing man followed a difficult road westwards soon after his guide got both of them lost gave park some vague directions and then scampered off up a hillside faster than either he or his horse could follow after retracing his steps park found what he believed to be the correct path and continued on it was here wandering alone through hilly territory still suffering from a fever and exhausted from the day's travels that he made an observation that would distort european maps of africa for nearly a century i gained the summit of a hill from whence i had an extensive view of the country towards the south east appeared some very distant mountains which i had formerly seen from an eminence near marabou where the people informed me that these mountains were situated in a large and powerful kingdom called kong after a short stay in the small village of kuma he continued on the next day in the company of some of its residents around 11 o'clock that morning he and his companions were confronted by men armed with muskets on the road hoping that they might be elephant hunters park approached them only to be detained and marched deep into the surrounding woodland here he was robbed of his horse most of his clothing and after being threatened at gunpoint his final compass left alone now with only a single ragged shirt and a pair of torn breeches along with a hat he had used to contain the notes he made along the way park gave in completely to despair whichever way i turned nothing appeared but danger and difficulty i saw myself in the midst of a vast wilderness in the depth of the rainy season naked and alone surrounded by savage animals and men still more savage i was 500 miles from the nearest european settlement all these circumstances crowded at once on my recollection and i confess that my spirits began to fail me [Music] alone destitute and desperately ill part felt that his end had come he laid down on the ground and waited to die [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: The Histocrat

Views: 54,955

Rating: 4.9027996 out of 5

Keywords: African exploration documentary, 18th century england documentary, History documentary, West African Explorers, Mungo Park documentary, The Histocrat, Mountains of Kong, Mountains of Madness, Documentary, Captain Cook Documentary, Timbuktu, Search for Timbuktu, British Explorers, African Explorers, Thomas Jefferson, African history documentary, cartography documentary, search for timbuktu, geography documentary, Joseph banks documentary

Id: CI4la-iV4RY

Length: 68min 39sec (4119 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 10 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/alllie]

I can hardly blame Park for the bad opinion he held of the Moors.