“ In September he was summoned to London to leave on the new expedition; he parted from Sir Walter with the hopeful proverb on his lips, " Freits (omens) follow those that look to them." Park had at that time adopted the theory that the Niger and the Congo were one, and in a memorandum drawn up before he left England he wrote: "My hopes of returning by the Congo are not altogether fanciful." He sailed from Portsmouth for the Gambia on the 31st of January 1805, having been given a captain's commission as head of the government expedition. ”

“ An account of his journey was at once drawn up for the African Association by Bryan Edwards, and a detailed narrative from his own pen appeared in 1799 (Travels in the Interior of Africa) . Abundance of incident and an unaffected style rendered the work extremely popular, and it still holds its place as an acknowledged classic in this department of literature. ”

“ By his brother-in-law, James Dickson, a botanist of repute, he was introduced to Sir Joseph Banks, then president of the Royal Society, and through his good offices obtained the post of assistant-surgeon on board the " Worcester" East Indiaman. In this capacity he made the voyage in 1792 to Benkulen, in Sumatra, and on his return in 1793 he contributed a description of eight new Sumatran fishes to the Transactions of the Linnean Society. ”