Which British explorer was in 1796 the first European to discover and travel the course of the Niger river?
Niger River and in June 1796 the Scottish explorer Mungo Park was the first European to lay eyes on the middle portion of the river since antiquity (and perhaps ever). The true course was established in his book "Travels in the Interior of Africa," which appeared in 1799. The African Association failed in assaults from the north (Tripoli), the east (Cairo), and the west (Gambia). The membership now proposed that an effort be made from the south. The site chosen in 1804 from which to strike inland was a British trading post in the Gulf of Guinea. Unbeknownst to him, the river
Niger River to the Nile persisted. While the true course of the Niger was presumably known to locals, it was a mystery to the outside world until the late 18th century. Ancient Romans such as Pliny (N.H. 5.10) thought that the river near Timbuktu was part of the Nile River, a belief also held by Ibn Battuta, while early European explorers thought that it flowed west and joined the Senegal River. Many European expeditions to plot the river were unsuccessful. In 1788 the African Association was formed in England to promote the exploration of Africa in the hopes of locating the Niger,