<P> On 31 January 1805 he sailed from Portsmouth for Gambia, having been given a captain's commission as head of the government expedition . Alexander Anderson, his brother - in - law and second - in - command, had received a lieutenancy . George Scott, a fellow Borderer, was draughtsman, and the party included four or five artificers . At Gorée (then in British occupation) Park was joined by Lieutenant Martyn, R.A., thirty - five privates and two seamen . </P> <P> The expedition did not reach the Niger until mid-August, when only eleven Europeans were left alive; the rest had succumbed to fever or dysentery . From Bamako the journey to Ségou was made by canoe . Having received permission from the local ruler, Mansong Diarra, to proceed, at Sansanding, a little below Ségou, Park made ready for his journey down the still unknown part of the river . Helped by one soldier, the only one capable of work, Park converted two canoes into one tolerably good boat, 40 feet (12 m) long and 6 feet (2 m) broad . This he christened H.M. schooner Joliba (the native name for the Niger River), and in it, with the surviving members of his party, he set sail downstream on 19 November . </P> <P> Anderson had died at Sansanding on 28 October, and in him Park had lost the only member of the party--except Scott, already dead--"who had been of real use ." Those who embarked in the Joliba were Park, Martyn, three European soldiers (one extremely mad), a guide and three slaves . Before his departure, Park gave to Isaaco, a Mandingo guide who had been with him thus far, letters to take back to Gambia for transmission to Britain . </P> <P> The spirit with which Park began the final stage of his enterprise is well illustrated by his letter to the head of the Colonial Office: "I shall", he wrote, "set sail for the east with the fixed resolution to discover the termination of the Niger or perish in the attempt . Though all the Europeans who are with me should die, and though I were myself half dead, I would still persevere, and if I could not succeed in the object of my journey, I would at least die on the Niger ." </P>

Who discoverd river niger and in which year he died