Mungo Park (September 11, 1771 - 1806) was a Scottish explorer of West Africa. After an exploration of the upper Niger River around 1796, he wrote a popular and influential travel book titled Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa in which he theorized the Niger and Congo merged to become the same river. He was killed during a second expedition, having successfully traveled about two-thirds of the way down the Niger. Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa by Mungo Park, 1799 edition (cropped and cleaned).