James Kingston Tuckey

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James Kingston Tuckey (1776- 4 October 1816) was an Irish-born British explorer and a captain in the Royal Navy.

In 1802 he helped expand the British colony of New South Wales in Australia.

In 1816 he attempted to explore the River Congo in HMS Congo. The expedition aimed to find if there was a connection between the Congo and Niger basins of western and central Africa. Tuckey sailed up the river from its mouth but found that the lower river is not navigable due to rapids (later called the Livingstone Falls) above Matadi, 160 km from the sea. He only found ruins of the Portuguese colony and moribond Catholic missions. He suggested sending protestant missionaries to the Congo. He explored the river up to 480 km from the sea. Most of the officers and crew died of fever and Tuckey himself died on 4 October 1816 in Moanda, on the coast of today's DR Congo. The expedition was a failure but raised interest in the exploration of Africa.

[edit] References

• Tuckey, James Kingston. Encyclopedia Britannica library edition online.