On The 19th August, They Kept Ascending The Mountains To The South Of
Touiba Till Three O'clock, When, Having Gained
The summit of the ridge
which separates the Niger from the remote branches of the Senegal, Park
went on a
Little before, and, coming to the brow of the hill, he once
more saw the Niger, rolling its immense stream along the plain. At
half-past six o'clock that evening, they arrived at Bambakoo, where the
river becomes navigable, and pitched their tents under a tree near the
town.
CHAPTER XXX.
_Park on the Niger - His Death and Character_.
Park now reached the Niger, the point at which he had too fondly hoped
that all his difficulties would be at an end. He had conceived that, once
afloat upon its waters, he would be swiftly borne onwards towards the
termination of its course. But disaster had attended the enterprise
almost from its commencement; unexpected and formidable difficulties had
caused these flattering prospects to vanish as a dream. On the 29th May,
he had expected to reach the Niger in a month; there had since then
passed away eleven weeks of unparalleled hardship; the deadly influence
of climate, aggravated by the horrors of the rainy season, had caused the
greater part of his little band to fall, one after another, around him;
the few survivors were so wasted by sickness that, instead of proving an
assistance, they only added to his cares and anxieties. No wonder, then,
that the joy inspired by the sight of the Niger was transient, and that
fearful forebodings hanging upon his spirit should make him thus
write:
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