Abstract
THE death on May 26 of Lieut -Commander Henry Edward O'Neill, R.N., removes one of the last sur vivors of the pioneer explorers of tropical Africa. Born in 1848, he entered the Navy in 1862 and first saw service in the operations for the suppression of the slave trade on the east coast of Africa. Soon after his appointment in 1879 as British Consul at Mozam bique, O'Neill began a series of important explorations between the coast and Lake Nyassa and in the valley of the Shire river. In five years he completed more than a dozen important journeys and discovered Lakes Amaramba and Chiuta and a new route from Blantyre to the coast. His careful observations of the position of Blantyre made it for long the best fixed position in that part of Africa. In 1885 he was awarded the Patron's medal of the Royal Geographical Society. He was associated with Captain (now Sir Frederick) Lugard in his early work against the slave raiders, and in 1888 distinguished himself in the defence of Karonga, on Lake Nyassa. On his health giving way he was compelled to leave Africa. For a time he was consul at Leghorn and at Rouen, and he retired from the service in 1899. His publications were mainly in the Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society.
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