James Hingston Tuckey, sometimes misnamed ‘Kingston’, was an Irish naval officer active in the early nineteenth century. Following a brief career in Australia (see RCIN 1072092) and a period imprisoned by France during the Napoleonic Wars, in 1816, he was commissioned to lead an expedition to explore the River Congo. The expedition hoped to ascertain whether that river was connected to the River Niger and could be used to open up trade in the African interior. Commanding the schooner Congo, Tuckey travelled up the river as far as Isangila before being prevented from sailing any further due to rapids. The expedition soon succumbed to the tropical diseases of Central Africa and Tuckey died in October 1816 at the town of Muanda. This account of the expedition was published in 1818 and helped to raise further European interest in exploring the Congo basin.