of the natives, in a country so little known to the nations of
Europe, and furnished with so many striking objects of nature, Mr.
Park's time passed not unpleasantly, and he began to flatter himself
that he had escaped the fever, to which Europeans, on their first
arrival in hot climates, are generally subject. But on the 31st July,
he imprudently exposed himself to the night dew, in observing an
eclipse of the moon, with a view to determine the longitude of the
place; the next day he found himself attacked with fever and
delirium, and an illness followed, which confined him to the house
the greater part of August. His recovery was very slow, but he
embraced every short interval of convalescence to walk out and
examine the productions of the country. In one of these excursions,
having rambled farther than usual in a hot day, he brought on a
return of his fever, and was again confined to his bed. The fever,
however, was not so violent as before, and in the course of three
weeks, when the weather permitted, he was able to renew his botanical
excursions; and when it rained, he amused himself with drawing
plants, &c. in his chamber. The care and attention of Dr. Laidley
contributed greatly to alleviate his sufferings; his company beguiled
the tedious hours during that gloomy season, when the rain falls in
torrents, when suffocating heats oppress by day, and when the night
is spent in listening to the croaking of frogs, the shrill cry of the
jackal, and the deep howling of the hyena; a dismal concert,
interrupted only by the roar of tremendous thunder.

On the 6th of October the waters of the Gambia were at their greatest
height, being fifteen feet above the high water mark of the tide,
after which they began to subside; at first slowly, but afterwards
very rapidly, sometimes sinking more than a foot in twenty-four
hours: by the beginning of November the river had sunk to its former