this subject which he intimates at the close of the foregoing Memoir,
and which was now become his ruling passion. Nor can we be surprised
that the question, respecting the termination of the Niger, associated
as it was, with so many personal feelings, had such entire possession of
Park's mind; since the subject itself, considered as a matter of
geographical enquiry, is one of the most interesting that can easily be
conceived. The idea of a great river, rising in the western mountains of
Africa and flowing towards the centre of that vast continent; whose
course in that direction is ascertained for a considerable distance,
beyond which information is silent, and speculation is left at large to
indulge in the wildest conjectures--has something of the _unbounded_ and
_mysterious_, which powerfully attracts curiosity and takes a strong
hold of the imagination. [Footnote: See Appendix, No. IV.]

* * * * *

A short time after Park had delivered his Memoir at the Colonial Office,
he had an audience of Lord Camden, who expressed his general approbation
of its contents and acquainted him with the plan of the expedition, so
far as it was then determined upon. The amount of the compensation which
he was to receive for this service, was likewise agreed upon and settled
about the same time, with a commendable liberality on the part of
Government, and entirely to Park's satisfaction; and it was also very
properly stipulated that, in the event either of his dying before the
completion of the service, or of his not being heard of within a given
period after his setting out on the journey, a certain sum should be
paid by Government as a provision for his wife and family.

But before all the details of the plan were finally determined upon,
Park was desired by Lord Camden, to consult Major Rennell, and obtain