Biography

The Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa (more commonly known as the African Association) was founded in June 1788 by a group of London's aristocracy led by Sir Joseph Banks. Its aim was to promote the exploration of Africa, specifically to discover the source of the river Niger and the location of Timbuktu. Between 1788 and 1831, when it was absorbed into the Royal Geographical Society, the Association recruited explorers and funded expeditions into Western Africa. Perhaps the most successful expedition, and the most famous, was that of Mungo Park. He arrived on the African coast in 1795 and became the first white man to see the Niger, though intense heat and bandit attacks forced him to turn back before he reached Timbuktu.

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