To Attain This Object, There Were To Be Two Parties Sent Out, One Of Which Was To Descend The Niger, And The Other To Ascend The Congo Or Zaire River; And If The Hypothesis Proved To Be True, It Was Expected That Both Would Form A Junction At A Certain Point.

The expedition excited much interest, and from the scale on which it was planned, and the talents of the officers engaged in it, seemed to have a fair promise of success.

Captain Tuckey, an experienced officer, was to command the Congo expedition; his party consisted of fifty seamen, marines, and mechanics, with several individuals skilled in the various branches of natural history. They sailed from Deptford in the middle of February 1816, and arrived at Malemba about the end of June. The mafouk, or king's chief minister of the place, gave them at first a cordial reception, but soon showed hostility, when he learnt that they had no intention of purchasing slaves. Soon after, they entered the Congo, which much disappointed their expectations, on account of the shallowness of its channel. The river, however, was then at a low ebb; its banks were marshy, and its waters moved slowly and silently between forests of mangrove trees. The air was filled with the discordant croak of innumerable parrots, diversified somewhat by the notes of a few singing birds. As they proceeded, the river, instead of diminishing, seemed to increase in volume. At Embomma, much interest was excited among the natives, by the discovery that their cook's mate was the son of a native prince.

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