We need add but little to so skilful and sensible a summary of the work done. The information given by Arab geographers, especially by Leo Africanus, had been verified, and much had been learnt about a large portion of the Soudan. Although the course of the Niger had not yet been actually traced--that was reserved for the expeditions of which we are now to write--it had been pretty fairly guessed at. It had been finally ascertained that the Quorra, or Djoliba, or Niger--or whatever else the great river of North-West Africa might be called--and the Nile were totally different rivers, with totally different sources. In a word, a great step had been gained. In 1816 it was still an open question whether the Congo was not identical with the Niger. To ascertain the truth on this point, an expedition was sent out under Captain Tuckey, an English naval officer who had given proof of intelligence and courage. James Kingston Tuckey was made prisoner in 1805, and was not exchanged until 1814. When he heard that an expedition was to be organized for the exploration of the Zaire, he begged to be allowed to join it, and was appointed to the command. Two able officers and some scientific men were associated with him. Tuckey left England on the 19th March, 1816, with two vessels, the _Congo_ and the _Dorothea_, a transport vessel, under his orders. On the 20th June he cast anchor off Malembe, on the shores of the Congo, in lat. 4 degrees 39 minutes S. The king of that country was much annoyed when he found that the English had not come to buy slaves, and spread all manner of injurious reports against the Europeans who had come to ruin his trade. On the 18th July, Tuckey entered the vast estuary formed by the mouths of the Zaire, on board the _Congo_; but when the height of the river-banks rendered it impossible to sail farther, he embarked with some of his people in his boats. On the 10th August he decided, on account of the rapidity of the current and the huge rocks bordering the stream, to make his way partly by land and partly by water. Ten days later the boats were brought to a final stand by an impassable fall. The explorers therefore landed, and continued their journey on foot; but the difficulties increased every day, the Europeans falling ill, and the negroes refusing to carry the baggage. At last, when he was some 280 miles from the sea, Tuckey was compelled to retrace his steps. The rainy season had set in, the number of sick increased, and the commander, miserable at the lamentable result of the trip, himself succumbed to fever, and only got back to his vessel to die on the 4th October, 1816. [Illustration: View on the banks of the Congo. (Fac-simile of early engraving.)] An exact survey of the mouth of the Congo, and the rectification of the coast-line, in which there had previously been a considerable error, were the only results of this unlucky expedition.