Narrative of an expedition to explore the River Zaire,

The letter, signed by Tuckey and two surveyors, concerns the provision of loaves of bread on the expedition.

The first scientific expedition to the River Congo. In 1816 Tuckey, an explorer and officer in the Royal Navy, sailed to explore the River Congo in the schooner Congo, accompanied by the stores ship Dorothy. 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 Yellala Falls) above Matadi, 160 km (99 mi) from the sea. He only found ruins of the Portuguese colony and moribund Catholic missions. He suggested sending Protestant missionaries to the Congo. He explored the river up to 480 km (298 miles) from the sea. Most of the officers and crew died of fever and himself died on 14 October 1816, aged 40, in Moanda, on the coast of today's DR Congo. The expedition was a failure but raised interest in the exploration of Africa.

This copy free of the foxing which usually occurs.