This explorer settled the question as to the direction of flow of the Niger River.
The Scottish explorer Mungo Park settled the question as to the direction of flow of the Niger River as he traced the northern reaches of the African river in the 1790s. Born September 10, 1771, Park was one of the first explorers sponsored by England?s African Association. He died in 1806 on another expedition to determine if the Niger linked with the Congo River. He reportedly drowned while fleeing attackers near Bussa, which is in present-day Nigeria.
