For two millennia only the central section of the River Niger was known to Europeans, through the trade route to Timbuktu; the rest of its course remained a mystery. This account tells how the Scottish explorer Mungo Park established its direction of flow in 1796 but died attempting to discover its destination a decade later, and traces the efforts of his successors in locating its delta in what is now Nigeria.
One of the greatest stories of world exploration ever told.
By the late eighteenth century, the river Niger was a 2,000-year-old two-part geographical problem. Solving it would advance European knowledge of Africa, provide a route to commercial opportunity and help eradicate the evil of slavery.
Mungo Park achieved lasting fame in 1796 by solving the first part of the Niger problem - which way did the river run? Park died in 1806, in circumstances which are still uncertain, in failing to solve the second - where did the Niger end? Numerous expeditions explored the river in the decades following Park's death, but not until 1830 was its final course revealed following in-the-field exploration. By then, however, the Niger problem had been solved by 'armchair geographers' who had never even visited Africa.
Majestic River celebrates Mungo Park's achievements and illuminates his rich afterlife - how and why he was commemorated long after his death. It is also the thrilling story of the many expeditions that sought to determine the Niger's course and the facts of Park's disappearance, as well as a biography of the Niger itself as the river slowly took shape in the European imagination.
Shortlisted for the Saltire Society History Book of the Year Award
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