Mungo Park Memorial (Gambia)
The Mungo Park Memorial in Gambia is dedicated to the British African explorer Mungo Park (1771–1806).
His two trips (1795–1797 and 1805–1806) took him across the Gambia River to the Niger River . His first trip was on behalf of the African Association and his travelogue Travels in the Interior of Africa , published afterwards, is still considered a classic today. During his second trip to Niger, which was financed by the British government, he died in January / February 1806 near Bussa .
In 1930, Governor Sir Edward Brandis Denham erected a memorial in his honor in the form of an obelisk at Karantaba Tenda , in what is now the Gambia . During Park's time, the Pisania trading post was located here , from which Park set out on his journey. The simple cement obelisk on a pedestal stands near the bank and can be seen from the river. In December 1944, Governor Sir Hilary Blood added a bronze plate to the obelisk :
"Near this spot Mungo Park set out on the 2nd December 1795 and the 4th May 1805 in his travels to explore the course of the Niger"
See also
literature
- Florence Mahoney : Stories of Senegambia The Government Printer, Banjul 1982
Coordinates: 13 ° 33 ′ 0 ″ N , 14 ° 34 ′ 0 ″ W.