REVIVAL OF BOTANICAL EXPLORATION 279 



powerful nation, undertaking to explore the swiftest 

 river in the world by ascending the stream, and having 

 newly discovered a method of stemming the currents 

 of rivers, should neglect to use this discovery as a public 

 measure, when individuals find it profitable to avail 

 themselves of it in their private concerns ? " 



Banks was obviously bent on assisting the Expedition, 

 and his letter showed so much evidence of his zeal, 

 at the same time submitting his judgment courteously 

 to the opinions of others, that the authorities gave way 

 on the matter of the steamboat. However, after the 

 little vessel (named the Congo) had been constructed, 

 and an engine built into her, it was found that about 

 four knots only could be made. As it was late in the 

 season for making a new engine, this one was taken out ; 

 and the Congo, when properly rigged, turned out a very 

 excellent sailer. 



Tuckey presently departed with high expectations of 

 being one of the world's great explorers. He took with 

 him Lieutenant John Hawkey, who had been a fellow- 

 prisoner in France ; also Christian Smith, a Norwegian 

 botanist, and Mr. Cranch, naturalist. They succeeded 

 in making two hundred and eighty miles up the Congo. 

 Then disaster came swiftly upon them. Smith died of 

 fever, September, 1816. Hawkey and Tuckey soon 

 followed him to the grave. 1 



1 v. Narrative of an Expedition to explore the river Zaire, usually 

 called the Congo, in South Africa (London, 1818). 



