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1 2 3

/ MONTREAL, 188 4. ' '

ADDRESS

TO THE

GEOGRAPHICAL SECTION

OF THE

BRITISH ASSOCIATION.

General Sir J. H. LEPROY, R.A., C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S, F.S.A..

ViCE-PuEs. R. Geog. Soc.

PUESIDENT OK TUE SECTION.

CoNiTBCTED as I waa in early life with thia country, and for several years aasociat«<l
with one of its .scientific institution.s ami one of it.s scientific .societies, I cannot but feel
proud and ^rratitied to be honoured at tliis late day, and on .s) nieniurable an occasion,
with the Presidency of tlii.s .section. 1 will not wt^V ynur indulf,'^ence for any weaknes.s
you may observe in my di,<cliiir}fe of its (ji)l illations, nor will I plead what, however.
I feel very stronfrly, that the laj)se of thirty years sincf 1 la.^t had the honour to
address an M.udience in (y'anada, has not been wholly advantapeou.s to my position.
I may, however, make one ob.servation. It is, that whereas the short interval
elapsed since tlie delivery of an exhaustive summary of (ieof,'Tapl)ical Progress b\
the Pre'^ident of the Royal (Jeofrraphical Society, makes it at all times difiicult for
the President of this section to find fresh topics. 1 have been nuide more than
usually conscious of that disadvantage by having to clo.se tbe present address some
weeks earlier than would be necessary at a meeting held in Cireat liritain.

2. Mau's ac(iuaintance with the planet heiniiabits, with the earth which he is to
replenish and to subdue, has been a tl'.ing of growth so slow, and is yet so
imperfect, that we may look to a far distant day for an approach to a full
knowledge of the marvels it oilers, and the provision it contains for his well-
being, lie has seen, as we now generally believe, in silent operation, the balanced
forces which have replaced the 'rlacier by the foivst and the field ; which have
carved out our present delights of hill and dale in many lauds, and clothed them with
beauty; and it may be that changes as great will pass over the face of the earth
before the bust page of its iiistory is written in the books of ettrnity. Hut it is no
longer before unobservant eyes that the procession of ages ])asse.s. (Jeography te-
cords the onward march of human famiiie.s, often by names which survive them, :l
rears enduring monuments to great discoverers, leaders, and sufferers ; it is an indi.s-
pensable mini.xtt>r to our every -<liiy wants and inquiries ; but beyond this it satistiei*
one of the most widely ditliLseil and instinctive cravings of the human intelligence,
one which from childhood to maturity, from maturity to old age, invests books of
travels with an interest belonging to no other class of literature. If ' the proper
study /f mankind is man,' where else can we learn so much about him, or be
presented with such perplexing problems, such diversity in unity, such almost
incredible ccmtrasts in the uses of that noble reason, that Godlike apprehension,
which our great poet attributes to him; or see the 'beauty of the world, the
paragon of animals'' in conditions .so unlike his birthright. Geography, then, is
far from being justly regarded as a dry record of details whicii we scarcely care to
know, and of statistics which are often out of date.

' Hamlet, Act ii. sc. 2.

."<. It i« scarcely newssary to <Jo more than allude here to the intimate relations

between peof»Tn]ihy and jreoloiry. Tlie changes on the earth's surface elltcted

within historical times by tlie operation of jreolojj-ical causes, and enumerated in

frei)l(»}?ical hooks, are far more numerous and ^'enerally distributed than most

fx-rsoiis are aware of; and they are by no means confined to sea coiusts, althoufrh

the jtresenco of a natural datum in the level uf the sea makes them more observed

there. .\ recent (German writer, Dr. liahn, has enunu>rated ninety-six more or less

fxtensive tracts known co be risiiij,' or sinking?. We owe to Mr. K. A. Peacock the

aiTuinulation of abundant evidence that the island of .Jersey had no existence in

Ptolemy's time, and probably was not wholly cat oil' from tiie cimtinent b«;fore the

fourth or liftli century. Mr. A. Ilowarth has collected similar proofs as to the

Arctic regions; and every fresh di.scuvery adds ti> the number. Thus the frallant,

ill-tated Pe liOng, a tume not lobe mentioned without homage t(t heroic courage and

almost superhuman endurance, found evidence that Jiemiett Island has risen a

hundred feet in quite recent times. Nordenskjold found the renniins of whales,

evidently killed by the early Dutch fishers, on elevated terraces of Martin's Island.

The recent conclusion of Professor Hull, that the land between Suez and the MitU'r

Lakes has risen since the lOxodus, throws fresh light on the Mosaic account of that

great event ; and to go still further south, we h'arn from the Indian survey that it

is ' almost certain ' that the mean s»>a level at Madrius is a foot lower, i.e. the land

a foot higher, than it was sixty years ago. If I do not refer to the changes on the

west side of Hudson's Hay, for a distance of at least six hundred miles, it is only

bec-ause I presume that the researches of Dr. Robert Hell an* too well known here

to require it. Any of my hearers who may have visited Uermuda are aware that

so gently has that island subsided, tiiat great hangings of stalactite, unbroken, may

be found dipping nniny feet into the sea, or at all events, into salt-water pools

standing at the same level, and we have no reivson to sup])ose the sinkin;.' to have

come to an end. We learn from the (Chinese annals that the .so-called Hot Lake

Issyk-Uul, of Turkestan, rece/itly visited by Dr. Lansdell, was formed by some

convulsion of nature about KM) years ago,' and there seems no good reason to reject

the .Japanese lege!id that Fusiyama itself was suddenly tlirown up in the third

century In^fore our era (li.c. 28<i). These are but illu.sl rations of the a.ssertion

I began with, that geography and geology are very Tiearly connecttnl, and it

would be equally easy to sliow on how many points we touch the domain of botany

and natural liistxirv. The flight of birds has often guided navigators to undiscovered

lands. Nordenskjold went so far as to infer the existence of ' vast tracts, with high

mountains, with valleys filled with glaciers, and with pnu-ipitous peaks ' between

Wrangel l^and and the American shores of the Polar Sea, from no other sign than

tlie nndtitudes of birds winging their way northward in the .spring of 1870, from

the ' Vega's' winter quarters. The wa'rus iiunters of Spitzbergen drew the same

conclusion in a previous voyage from the lligiit of birds towards tlie Pole from the

Kuropean side. Certainly no traveller in the niort northern latitudes of this

continent in the autumn, can fail to reflect on the ceaseless circulation of the tide of

life in the beautiful harmony of nature, when li(> finds that he can scarcely raise his

eyes frotn liia book at any moment, or direct them to any (juarter of the heavens,

without seeing countless numbers of wild fowl, guided by unerring instinct, directing

their timely fligiit towards the milder climates of the South.

4. To aildress you on the subject of geography, and omit mention of the pro-
gress made within these very few years in our knowledge of the geography of this
1 »ominion, might indeed apjiear an unaccountable, if not an unpardonable oversight ;
nevertheless, I pro])ose to touch upon it but briefly, for two reasons : first, I said
nearly all I have to say upon a similar occasion four years ago ; secondly and
cliiefly, because I hope that some of those advi^nturous and scientific travellers who
have lieen tuigaged in pushing the explorations of the Geological Survey and of the
( 'anada Pacific Ilailway into unknown regions, will have reserved some conimuni-
<^ations for this section. Canada comprises within its limits two spots of a physical
interest not surpassed by any others on the globe. 1 mean the pole of vertical
magnetic attraction, commonly called the magnetic pole, and the focus of greatest
magnetic force ; also often, but uicorrectly, called a pole. The first of these, dis-

' Proc. R. a. S. vol. xviii. p. 250.

IIM

li-
al
al

covpn'il In Ross in I.S.'J"), was revisited in M;iy |s.J7 liy oflircrs of tlio I'raiililin
l']x]M'(iii'on, wlinsf ul).servatiniifl Imvi' |)frislii'<l, and was airain iva^ln'd or very
unarlv «<> '>y McClintdfk in LS.V.t, and liy Schwatka in l'^7'.i; tu'ltlu-r ol" tlii'sc rx-
plorers, however, was f(jui|)|)pd tor olisiMvalion. The utnio.st interfst atlacht's to
the quewtion whether tho inaj^rnetic- ])oi<' has sliit'tt-d its jiosition in lit'tv years, ami
althoujrh I am tar from ratiiii,' the ditliculty li^dilly, it is pmlmhly aiiproaehahle
overland, witiioiit tlio j.'reat cost of an Arctic ex|)edition. 'J'lu' secund has
never been visited at all, altiioiifjli Hr. 1». Ileli, in iiis e.\])l()ralion of l^ake Nipi^'on
was within lilKJ miles of it, and tlie distance is al)ont tiie same from the Hat
Portage. It is in the iieii^'hlxmrhood of ('at Lake. Here then we have ohjtcts
worthv of a Hcientitic ambition and of the eiierfries of tliis ydung coiiutry, but
reqiiirinfr liberal exjienditure and well-plaiineil efl'orts, contiimed steadily, nl
least in the case of the first, for, ])erha]is, three or tour years. Of objects more
exclu.sively jreograuliical, to wiiich it may be hoj)ed that tins meetini;- nuiy (.'ive
a stimulus, I am inclined to give a ]iroininent phice to tiie ft.\[iloration of that
immense tract of seventy or eighty tiiousand .sijiian' ndles, lying east of tho
Athabasca River, wliicii is still nearly a l)lank on our maps, and in connection
with such future e.xploration, I (!aniiot omit to mention tliat monument of

fhilological researdi, the J)ictionary of tiie Languages of the ns ive Chipewyans,
lare Indians, and Loucheu.v, lately publisiied by thi' IJ. v. K. I'etitot. Tlie
le.xicou is preceded by an introduction giving the n.-ull of many years study
among these people of tlie legends or traditions by wiiich th<'y account for their
own origin. M. I'etitot, who formerly was unconvinced of tiieir remote Asiatic
parentage, now finds al)undant proof of it. Hut ])erhaps iiis most interesting con-
clusion is that in tliese living languages of tlie e.xtreme north, we iiave not only
the language of liie yd'.ojus, one of tlie .Vjiache trilx^s of Me.\ico, which iuis been
remarked as linguistically distinct from the others, but also the primitive AztiC
tongue, closely resembling the language of the Incas, the Quiciioa, still spoken in
South America. I need not say how greatly these relations, if sustained by the
conclusions of other students, are OHlculated to throw light upon the profoundly
interesting question of the peopling' of America.

5. This is perliaps a jiroper occasion to allude to a novel theory proposed about
two years ago, witli higli ollicial countenance, upon a subject which will never
cease to have interest, and perhaps never be placed quite beyond dis])ute. I mean
the landfidl, as it is technically called, of Columbus, in 14!t2. 'I'lie late Captain
G. V. Fox, of the Admiralty, Washington, argued in a carefully prepared work,
that Atwond's Key, ernjiieously called Samana on many charts, is tlie oriirinal
fiuanahari of Columbus, renamed by him 8. Salvador, alfo that (,'rooked Lsiand and
Acklin Lsland are the .Maria de la Concepcion of Columbus and the true Samana of
.succeeding navigators in the sixteenth century. The last supposition is unqiie.s-
tiouably correct. Crooked, Acklin, and Fortune Islands, which from the narrow-
ness of the channels dividing them may have been, and very probably were united
four centuries ago, are plainly the Samana of the 1 Hitch charts of the seventeenth
century, and are so named on the excellent chart engraved in 177<5 for JJryaii
Edwards' ' History of tlie West Indies," but the view lliat Atwood's Key is identical
with Giianahari is original, and is neither borne out by any oldcliart, nor by Colum-
bus' description. This small island is conspicuou.sly wanting in the one physical
feature by which (nianahari is to be identified * una Iwjuna cii medio muij ijrandt''
There is no lake or lagoon in it, nor does its distance from Samana tally at all with
.'uch slender particulars as have been left us by ('ohimbus respecting his proceedings.
The name 8. Salvador has attached, not to Atwood's Key, but to ('at Island, one
of the Bahamas ; it is true that modern research has shifted it, but only to the next
island, and on very good grounds. Cat Island is not niuy llnna, very level ; on
the contrary, it is the most hilly of all the Bahamas, and it has no lake or lagoon.
Watling Island, a little to the SI>. of Cat Island, and now geneially recognised as
the true Ciianaliari or S. Salvador, is very level ; it has a large lagoon, it satisfies
history as to the proceedings of Columbus lor the two da^s following iiis di.scoverv.
by being very near the numerous islands of I'lxunia Sound, and I think few impar-
tial ]iersons can <lnubt tiie justice of the conclusion of the lute .\diniral IJeeJier and
of .Mr. Major a^ to it> identity; there are ditliculties in the iiilirpntaliou uf

( VtlmnldiH* lof.' Mil iiM\ livj)()tlu'siH, liiit tlit'iv is line liitlf ' tiiidi'siiriu'd coiiifidciiCf '
wliirli to iiiv iiiiiiil L''"-'* tiir to carrv cunviriicni. ( 'nliiiiihiis. when lie sitr|ift.(i land,
wits <'rfatlv ill wiinl (if water, iiikI In; finitiniifd cruir^iii^' alimit uiiioii^' tht* small
islaiiils ill si-aicli of it for some ilays. Clrarly, tln'it'fnrc, tlif Idi/inm on Oiiaiuihari
was not a fn-sli water lake; nor is tlie lajfoon on \\ atliiifr i.-land fre.sh water, and
so it exai-tly iii»'fts l!ie oasf.

0. Tlie rciioit of Lieutenant l{a\ nifiiid I*. IJod^'ers, of tiie I 'nitod States Navy, on
the state of the ("anal Works at Panama so lately as January 2i> last, whirh has
doubtless lieeii eaife'lv lead l>y many jnesent, leaves iiio little to say on that jrreat
enterjn'ise. I'erhiips the followiiii; oflifial rotnrns of the anionnt of exravati<»n
eHecied in cutiic nieti>s (a cuhic metre is l"iiU8 cubic yan.ls^ will enable the
audience to realise its pro^fnvss :—

\ HS.'J

I ,H.s:{

Octotier

NoveinlMT

Decuiidier

Tiitiil
pxfavatf'il

2,:t7'.,r>:t4

In f.'ich
iniiiilh

n:j:i,:?(W

1884
18H4

1H84

January
Kehriiary
.March ."

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;{,H4(),r,;u

3.1174. Ill)
4,r.i»0,022

III onrh
month
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63:<,(!:)7
61 5,8:; I

The total quantity of excavation to be done in a leiit^'tli of 40*() miles ia esti-
niat(<d at 100 millions of culiic metres, but the rapid aii,i.nneiitation of quantity
bhoWH that the limit has not heen aJtaiiied. This is no jilaee to speak of the
stimulus fi-iveii by this |_'reat work to mechanical inventitm or the {.nganfic powcc
of tlie machines emjiloyed, which will probably receive attention in another section,
but 1 mav mention the two ;rieat jiroblenis which still await solution. The first
is how to deal with the waters of the river Ch aeries ; the second is how to manage
a cutting' nearly 40(Mt. deep (110m. to li'()m.>. Tlie CHiatrrea is a river as large
as the Seine, hut .subject to preat Unci nations of volume; it cuts the line of the
canal nearly at right angles, and for obvioii.i rea.^ona it is impossible to let it flow
into it. It IS projiosed to arre.st tlie stream by an enormous dyke at Oamboa,
n. ar the divide. It will cro.ss a valley lietAveeti two hills, and be 1,050 yards long
at the liottom, 2,110 yards at the to]), 110 yards thick at the base, and 147 ft. in
greatest hei^'ht. Out of the reservoir so constructed it is proposed to lead the
overtlow hv two artificial channels, partly utilising the old bed. The cutting will
be nearly oOO ft. wide at the top ( loO m.), with .sides at a .slope of }. It is pro-
posed to" attack it by gangs or parties working on twelve different levels at the
same time, one each .side of the summit, dividing the width at each level into
five parallel sections. Thus tliere will be 120 gangs at work together, and it is
confidently hoped that the whole will be really tinLshed in 1888, the date long
.since as.signed for its completion by M. de Lesseps. There is practically no other
project now competing with it: for the proposed routes by the Isthmus of
Tehuantepec, the Atrato, and San Rlav, may be regarded as almost universally
given up; both the latter would involve the construction of ship tunnels on a
scale to daunt the boldest engineer. The so-called ( 'aledonia route has not stood
the test of examination. There remains but the Nicaragua route, and this, while
practicable enough, has failed to attract capitalists, and is environed by politic.il
and other difliculties, which would leave it, if completed, under many disadvantages
as compared with its rival. Among the latter must be named the necessity for
rising by locks to the level of the Lake of Nicaragua ( 108 feet).

It is very tempting to speculate on the probable consequences of bringing the
Ilispano-Iiidian republics bordering on the Pacific into such early contact with the
energies of the Old World, but the.se speculations belong to politics rather than
geography; moral transformations, we know, are not effected so easily as the
conquest over physical difficulties.

7. Let us now turn to another quarter. This meeting cnnnot fail to share tho
pride and satisfaction with which the Royal Ofvigraphical Society regards the
execution by Mr. Joseph Thomson of the iiuportant missions intrusted to him la.st
vear, in Kast Africa, and to share my regret al.^o, that he is not here to receive
our plaudits and our congratulations. Mr. Thomson was commissioned to explore
the imknowii country about Mount Kilima-njaro and .Mount Ivi'nia, and if po.s.sible
to continue hip route to TjRke Nyanza. He has done all this and much more.

After Rii i»n.><iirci-'.>rn1 ■'tiirl I'lnm /aiizilmr in Manli of lust yonr, in wliicli, Imw-
wver, li»' rt'aclnM| Kilinia-iijain au>l ax-t iiilcd ii aliiiiil '■'.'HiO It., lie ri'tmnt'il to tlif
f()a(<t IVimi Tn\i!a, an<l siailfd a^'aiii in July, ilii» tinn' I'miii Mnnilia>a. W'l' ir e
not Vft liilly ac(|ii!iiiiti'i| wiili liix ronti', lint we kimw tluU lif a;.'ain ivachfd ihn
^reiit tiKMintain, i'c]iiiti'il to l\a\i' an )'lr\ati<)n nt' nam' than U'(I,(K)() It., that.
thiMU'c lie ri'iiclitii ilic ta>t side df Laki' Nxanza. liiiit lie in the first who han MnnA
on till- shdnH III' I,. MTiariny^i. Tiiai tin nrc, al\va\>i ainnnj: natives who
had never Iti'lnro sem a whitt; man, he leai-lnil Mduiit Ki'iiia, re|>ul»'il ;,i Iih
18,(KJ(irt. hiffli, and rnnnd hi> way liiuK In the coatt vvilhoul any cuntliet or losa
«tf life by villi, 'lire, and this alter a joiUMiey of ahont ■')()() inilen, nearly the whole
of it tliro\it;li a country previonsiy nnltnown to ueoirrajdiy. 'I'he cimravre and the
tein|H>r, the dfcisiiin and the t«et rei|nired for siiceessfnl pri'^rress aninii^' the war-
like and ra|ia('inii^< trilies whose territories he jmsmKi thronirh, are i)Malities which
demand our ^femiine admiration. Take a "ini/le trait: * .\.h an illustration of their
readiness to draw their ,-wnrds, I may me?ition,' he say^, 'my own case, in which a
Maasai ai;tnally drew his ci/nr U, settle niatler.s witli me, hecanse fTt^ttiii^ tired of his
vxtreine cnriiisity to ?•■»> ilie whiteness of my lejr, I jiiished him away. (h\ his drawinjj;
his (iiiif I laii;.'ln'd and pieteiided I wanted to see it, and so the niiitter ended.'

l^efiire .Mr. 'riinmson had actually returned to Zanzibar, unollnr exjilorer,
nnder the direction of a < 'omniittee of this As.s(K;iatioii, had .started in the saino
direction. .Mr. il. II. .lohnston, whcso plans, however, are devoted jirimarily to
(h« invest i^'at ion of the faiimi and flora of Kilima-njaro, left the British lle.-idency,
Zanzibar, in .May la,!t for .Mombasa, havin^r by the advice of Sir .lohn Kirk
Meleoled that route for Kilima-njaro. Mr. ,Iohn-st()n had succeeded with Sir .lohn
Kirk's kind itssistance in irettinjr top-ether a well or^ranised ])arty both of collectors
and porltirs, and started in pood health, with every hope ol' ultimate success.
Further details on this subject will be piven in the- report of the Kilima-njaro
committee to be read in Section I).

H. To the preat desire of the French to luiite their posses.sions in northern and
< 'entral Africi, and to command the commerce of the native state.s aontli of the
Sahara, we owe many iuijiortant expeditions, one of which terminated unfortunately
in the destruction of ( "olonel Flatters topether with .several other oilicrs and men,
by theTouareps in February IWSl. Nevertheless contiiuied propress has hern made
in the eom])letiiin of our maps of that rep-ion. Colonel Flatters found everywhere
evidences that at some remote period the preat W addy Isharphar was tiie l)ed of ii
river flowinp into one (d' the most westerly of the Tunisian depressioits, that larpi!
tracts were once fertilised by it, of which small and scattered oases alone have
survived to our epoch, and that subterranean water probably e.vi.sts alonpits course.
The hand of man, whi<"h is about to admit the waters of the .Mediterranean into
those depres-sions, may yet work surprisinp chanpes in tlie.se aritl repions. We
have evidence of the improvements po.ssible, in the description p-iven by Mr. Oscar
Lentz, of theyonnp .Xrabelty of Teiidoul'on the skirt.s of the de.sert (cir. '_'" N.).
Founded only thirty years apo, in the heart of Islani. he describes it as now con-
.si.stinp of lar::e well-built houses surriiiiided with well-watered parddis ol' /ri/iniir.'i,
and proves of date palm.s, a centre for caravan routes in tour ilirectioiis. Tliis
traveller, who visited Timbuktu in Ij^sO, de.s<"rihes it as a decuye<l city <>f very
little commercial importance, as may be inne.'ined from their currency of cowries
at the rate of !t(K) tor a franc; and pnatlv iti want ot' a litllc mure intercourse
with the world, The jieojde, iinb'ed, imapino thi'ir ri\i'r, tiie \iper, to be identical
with the Nile. The ])roject of a railway thithrr from Alperia, ai-tually marked in
some maps, I e dismisst>8 as a c'limeia ; the idea, Iiowcmt, has not bfcii aiiandonixl.
The line now propo.scd is from W'arpla by .\iisalah and In/.i/.e lo Timbuktu.

I am temp1e(l here to remark that French travellers ha\e uunle one observation
which is far from beinp a matter of concern to them alone. They <lwell with
empha.sis mi tin- jirolialile cousci|uenci s of the rapid propress of the relipion of
Mohamed anioup the .M'rican races of tiie norllierii eijuatoriai zone. Xative
tribes, hitherto without moral or political colie.-ion. are heinp knit topi'ther on
the Western Soudan, the Fjiper Xiirer, and the ( taniliia, with a I'apidity which
endanpers the peacelul advance of Fnidjiran rommeri e. It is, of coiir.se, to be
pxpected that (hi- nioMinoui will in tine v ai h tlie p .pulou l.a-m of the {','>\i.:ii.

Hiid Wf lia\f liH'l tiMi recent evideiict (tf tlie raiiHliei,>*rii it jx caiialile (>( iiis]iiriii;.',
lint to j)erceivu liere a moral elt'iiieiit wliicli may j^reatly afU'ct white settleiiienlN
and iiiissionai y enterprise in Central Africa liereal'tcr. Any political ciianffew
which wiiiiM siilwtiiiite Inr^'tT nnit.s of territory, ami definitt! hounduiit ■•<. and
]ierinanent names, for the present lleetin;.' lan<lmarks and muitiiilied tribal desi^jriia-
tinns which confnso our maps, would in one sense he wtdcomi-. In the meantime
Central African exploration is daily revenlinp to hn the nnmispecteil wealth of tlml
Dark (Continent in all that can tit it for destinieH moru nohlu than it \in» yet beun
calh-d to fidlil.

5). Althon^di the I'pper Conjro from Stanley Falls to Stanley Pool ha»nowl)Ofln
80 often travelled that it may he re;jrardod an ])rotty well known, tins hy no means
exchides tlie ponsihility of nniiiv jreoj/raphical corrections. For instance, a ma]»
issneil as lately as .I'.ily, l'''^;{, by the International Cnii;.'o Association, lays down
its lower conrse l)etweeu the Ivinator and 4'' South latitude, nearly 1(H) miles more to
tlie west tiian is shown in the best modern atlius. Asreirards its tributaries much
re nains to be learned. Mr. Stanley has cliscovered two new lakes. The labours of
tint enerpftic traveller, M. (!• Hra/zn, have, to n f;reat extent, <deared up the
p'Ofrrajiliy of the re^/ion inclntled between the Conjro and the Of/owe I'r mi the
Iviuator soiitiiwards, and tlu're are now said to be twenty-two trading.' stations in
this part of the country ; wt are not informed what commerce exists. Ili;.dier uji,
but still to the north, Mr. Stanley has ascended theAruwimi alxnit KM) miles, with-
out having' solved a ((Uestinii of no little interest, nnmely, whether it is identical
w th tilt! Welle, and takes its rise in the same water-shed wliicli feeds the White Nile,
or whether we have not, beyond its sources, a drainajre system as yet untraced, but
wlii'h may connect to^rytjier a number of rivers whose relations to out) another,
and whose final (Jiitht are alike unknown. Liiiitcui ISoy reported nearly two years
a^i) that a very lavfre lake had been visited by one of his native subonlinates west
of the .\ruwimi, and it is, in his o]iinion, ])rf)ha1)le that the Welk' Hows into it.

The .■southern basin of the Coiie'o has been crosst'd from l.oaiido to Nyanijrwe
tiiroii^'-h a new country by the late hr. To^jij-e and Lieutenant Wissinann, the latter
of whom has inscribed his name on the roll of jri'eat .Vfriean travellers by coiitinuinj,'
ids jouiiiey acro.ss the continent by way of Tabora, or I'nyanyeniba, to Zanzibar,
it is wortliy of note that he brin).'s conlinnation of the often reported existence of
a dwarlisli raci>, the Watwa, on the upper waters of the Sankiini, not a new fact
in African ethnoj.Taphy, because wo have lonjj been familiar with the diminutive
lioshnicu of the Cape of Oood Hope; but interestintr, like the fair-conijiloxioiied
natives seen by .lohiislon, as evidence of tht( diversities of orif;in, character, and
capabilities, wliich bettei' ac(|uaintance with the African people is likely to disclose,
and which has at all times been a potent factor in human proei-ess. It is scarcely
necessiiry to refer here to the laliorii>us work of Mr. ( 'usi (m the Modern Lan;ruap-e.s
of Africa as r treasury of information. It may be said in military phrase that the
east and west of Africa are in touch. Stanley was able to despatch letters in
Decemlier Inst, liii Nyanpwe, to Kari'nia from his most easterly station on the
islaiul of W'diKi-liiisuni, Stanley I'alls. We can better appreciate the leemini^
life of these Ivniatorial regions, when we read that his little expeilition of three
steam launche'i encountered, on November 24 last, a tlotilla of over a thousand
canoes {pht^ dr niillc c(inii(s), which had just before devastated the villap?
of Mawembe, miiideriii<f all the men, and carryinjr otl" the women and
children int t slavery. They did not molest him, and all u]) this <jrreat river the
natives, with few exceptions, were found on this last ocfusion ea^i'er to contract
alliances (ratilied by the i'xchan<re of bhjod), desirous of his protection, and craving?
a white re.'^identto instruct them.

I'roceediiiir southward to the retrion (dainied es])ecially as their own by Portu-
guese travellers, Messrs. Uritto Capello and Iveiis, who successfully n^ached
the I'pper (^tuaiipi in lS7s, returned last January to Loando with the intention, it
is said, of endeavourinpi' to descend one of the f^reat tributaries, of which thero are
four whose sources ha\e been crossed at a •ri'eat elevation by Cameron aiul others,
but wbo.se coui'se tor al)OUt 1,(KM) miles has never been followed : they are
imw ou tlie Kiiuieiie. .\ii iMi^'lish sportsman. Mr. Ileinmiii;;s, starlinj,'- from
Walli'ch r>av, ha,- (|Nite iveintly, in coiiipany wilh a hiilcli hunter. foun<l hit^

way iiartly tlirr)M).'h tlu' IVirtii^ncsi' t.'rrituri.'s, jmrtly tlir<)U).'li iiativf stntt's Im-vofk'

i[i''(i, wliicli hi- struck nt Viv<''. Cnmcinn, it will In*

tlu'ir }i i>iiiiiliiiii's, to tilt* ('

rt'iiifinlo'D'il, was nstnnjs

\u-<i I

IV a CO

l'\ oil tllt» WllttT-sllfd IxtWOt'll till

Ziiinlu'si and the Knflsabi in alKiiit Mi° Snntli latiliidf*. I>r. I'o^rp' coniiiart's tlif
<'IirnRtf of Mir^siimba on x)\o Hih narallol, in tlif niontli of DocfmlHT, to that of
North (Irrnmny, and th<> fact illustnitf.-* wliat we h'ain from so ninny other
'iniutt'i'.", that much of thp intciicr of .\ frica hclmiji-s, In reason of itt clfvafion
ahovrt the sea, to a far mor»» tein(ierate zone, and is better xiiited to the Jliiro-
p«an constitiifioii than its j.'eo^>i'ii|ihical po.-iilion promises. 'I'he terrihle previilenco
of fever which has cost so many lives, will proltnhly lie miliiriited in time and hy
improved acroniiilodation. The hillsare coin]mralively free from it. Ilavin;.'n!liided
t(t Ilr. I'luil I'o^'p', who«e death at I/iando in .Marcli last deprives freoirrapliy of
an adventuious ).xp|or>'r, I may add that the account of his journey in 1x7*) to
Miismimlia, tlie capifnl nf the powerful ncLrro Kiii^'ilom nf tin' Miiata ^'anvo, or
Matianvo nf Liviii;/stoiie, puhlislie«l in ]^<8(>, remains to he translated 'I'hat,
l^'reat travclhir failcil to reach it. Cameron ci'iihsimI the territory, hut a lonp way
to the Miuth of it, and no previous traveller, that I am aware of, has descrihe<l
it. I>r. l'ii;.'ne i-csidttd there four or five months, and we learn many intrrestiiij,'
particniars Ironi him, and from Dr. Max Miichner, a .sulisefpieni traveller. The
people, alt hoii^di Ketisli worshipjierfl, practise tho rite of circnmcision : they are
a line, warlike race, unhappily addicted to slave huntinir. but far in advance of
their cannilial neip-hbours of Kauanda. Their institutions are of a feudal character:
.Muata Vanvo is an hereditary title. .\mon<jr many peculiar customs is ono
which invests one of the kinj.''s half-sisters, under tin; desiirnation of the liuko-
kesclia, with the second authority in tln^ kin^'doni. She is forbi<ldeii to marry, but
peniiitted a sort of morfranatic alliance with a slave, any oHsprin^' beinjj ruth-
les,sly de.stroyed, and on tht^ death of the kinf.' sIk^ has the principal voice in
deterniinin;^ his succe.ssor, who, however, must be selected from amonfr the sons of
the late kinir. Since Dr. Popp''s vi.sit the Muata Yanvo has lieen deposed and
poi.-oiied by his iinkokeschn. The extraordinary custom prevails here that a man's
children do not belonp to him, but to the eldest brother of their mother, and
shonlil a child die the father must make comjien.sation. Surely I have now
justified the remark I made above on human perversities.

10. .\.s many of my hearers may not be t'ully aware of the rapid extension of
white onciinatioii, hardly as yet to be called settlement, in Central .Xfiica, and of
the early fruit borne by the heroic life and death of Livinjr-tone, and other scarcely
less devoted travidlers and philanthropists, and a.s many of the places are not to be
found in any m-dinary atlas, I ^dve at the end a table as complete as I have been
able to make it, of actual centres of communication or tra<le,or inis.sionary instruc-
tion now establi.shed there. Lake Xynssa, we are told, is iK'cominjj^ a busy inland
.sea. There are two steamers njion it, and one on the KMver Shire. CponTan^'aiiyika
three. .Many years cannot elapse before the jiriinitive and costly practice of carry-
inpf poods by an army of porters will he a tiling of tho pa.st, when jiack animals,
])erlia[)S wheeled vehicles, will have rejilaced them. Konkeys have been already
introduced, with frood promise, hy the I'niversities' missionariis and the .MVican
Ijakes Company, althoii^^h they have not been a 8iircos> on the ('onp>. That tiist
necessity ot civilisation, a road of some sort, will connect the petty ca}iitals,
and link in friendly communicalion tribes which know ouo another now
chiefly by hostilities and reprisals. The .\frican ii-ikes Coin])aiiy, of (ilasfrow.
hits ten small depots Ix'tweeii (JniHimaiie and .Malawanda on Lake Xyas.-a, and
iVom this place a practicable road of J:*() miles has been carried to I'ambete, on
fjake Tanpraiiyika. Tlio.se jilaces are likely to become the tir.st centres of tiade at
which the natives have already learned to respect the white man. where there aie
residents who have niastere<l their lanpiia<re, and where native inter]nrters are to
be found. I'elit'viiifr, then, that social problems of no common dei^ree of com])Iexity
are certain to ari>e in a few years from the conflict of many creeds and nationalities,
in a sort of' no man's land," the table I subjoin may assist tho.se who desire tr have
a definite idea of the pvoi/ros-- alrea<ly made. I am bound to a<ld that 'no man's
land " is a phra-e which '«uly expresses |]ui"pean views, The nalivo have very
delinilr t( rriinrial idea.s.

il. P'rom (.'cntml At'rini it Ih not an iinnHturiil trun^ilion to (!<'iiti-al Asiii, tlit>
n'jfioii tiexl till- moHt iimcccssiljlu, and pn'^'nanl, ]ii'i'liaiis, with jricntur fvt'nt.".
Tin- Kas.-iiaii pnijcct lor (livcitinir tin- Oxiis or Ainu Ihiiyii I'roni tlif Sea of Aral
into till' (JaM|iiuri, n-intiiiis iiinlcr iiivcMti^ration. We li-arn iVoni tlif li\rly accniiiil
of Mr. (ffortfo Keiiimii, a rt'Ct'nt Anu-ricaii travi-lkr, tliat then* i.s more than one
niotivi' for nii<li'rfakiti>r this prcat work, if it .shall pruvf pracf icablt'. \\v ntalfs
that tho loweriii^f of the levii of tin- ('a.«|(iati Sea, in con.seijiifnce of the jrnat
eva])i>nition from its Miiifiice, in oeeii.sioniii^r the Ifusnian (hiverniiitiit j^rcat anxiety,
that the level is .steadily hut .slowly falliii^f, notwitliKtainliiiK the enormous (piantity
of water jionrfd in hy the \'ol>ra, the I'lal, and other rivers. In fact, Colomd
¥«i%»W . say « that the {'a,sj»iaii is dryiii^c iij) fast, and tinit tlie fresh-water .seals,
which form ho ciirioiLs a feature of its fauna, are fa,st diminishinj.^ in luunler. .\t
lirnt view there wouM not appear jrreat dilHculty in re.xtorin;.'- water eoimnunication,
tlie point where the river would hediverted l»einfr ahout 21(5 ft. ahovetlie Caspian ;
hut accurate lovellini^ has sliov.ii considerahle di'pns, ions in thi: intcrvenin tract.
.\s the (pieslioii is one of jrri'at p'o^fiaphical interest we may devote a few iniiiutfs
to il. It is not to he dou)>ted that the Oxus, or a hranch of it, oncf tlowed into tlio
Caspian Sea. I'rofe.s.sor 11. Ijeiitz, of th(^ |{us.sian Acadc^mie Iniperiale dea Seietwes,
sums up lii.s invest ifjiit ion of ancient authorities hy alKrmin^f that there is no satis-
factory evidence of its ever having done so before the year IIJ^O; pa.ssaf.'es which
have been quoted from Arab writers of the ninth century only ]U'ove in his opinion
that tliey did not di.scriminale between the Caspian Sea and the Sea of Aral.
'I'here is evidence tliat in the thirteeiitli and fourteenth centuries the ririir bifur-
cated, and one brMnch found its way to the Caspian, l)ut probably ceased to do so
in the sixteenth century. This aj^rees with Turkoman traditions. Kveii so late a.s
18(5!) the waters of the ().\us reach"d Lake Sara Kaniysb, SO or (M) miles from
their cliannel, in a great Hood, as iuippeneil also in iSoO, but Sara Fvamysh is now
.some 4i> ft. lower than the ( 'aspian, and Injfore they could proceed further an inimenso
basin nuist be tilled. The diliiculties then of the restoration by artificial means of
a communication which natural causes liiive cut off, are (^/) The di.sap])ein'an(e of
the old bed, which cannot be traced at all over jiart of the way ; (h) The ]tossibility
that further natural changes, such as have taken place on the Syr-I>aria, may
defeat tlie object ; (c) The immense expentliture under any circumstances necessary,
the ai.stani:e Ix'ing about 3oO miles, whicli would be out of all proportion to any
imraetliate commercial benefit to be ex])ected. We may very .safely conclude that
the thing will not be done, nor is it at all probable that IJu.ssian finances will
permit the alternative projiosal of cutting a purely artificial canal by the shortest
line, at an estimated expense of lo to 20 million roubles.

We have hud, I tliink, no news of the intrepid Russian traveller, Colonel
Prjevalski, who started from Kiaklita on November 20, of later date than
January 20, when he had reached Alashan, north of the (heat Wall. lie bad for
the third time cros.sed the great Desert of (lobi, where he ex])erienced a tempera-
ture below the freezing point of niercury, and was to start for Lake Kuku-nor
( + lOj^OO ft.) the following day, thence to proceed to Tsaidam, where he proposed
to form a dejiot of stores and jirovision.s, and leaving some of his party here, to
endeavour to reach the .sources of the Yang-t.se-kiung, or Yellow Kiver. It was
his intention to devote the early jiart of tlie |)reseiit summer to e\|iloration of the
Sefani country, .situated between Kuku-nor to the nortli and Hatan to the .«oiith —
a country likely to yield an abundant harvest of novelty in natural history —
afterwards to tran.sfer his jiarty to Hast, in Western Tsaidam, which may lie
reached next .s])ring. Fr(mi this jioint the expedition will endeavour fir.st to explore
Northern Thibet, which is his main object, in the direction of Lhasa ami Lake
Tengri-nor, and then returning northward, cro.ss the Tliibet plateau by new routes
to Lake Lob-nor. After the re-as.sembly of the expedition at this jioint, it will

Erobably regain Iliissian territory at Is.syk-kul. Colonel Prjevalski is accompanied
y two officers, an interprett'r, and an escort of twi'nty Co.s.<acks.

12. As you are aware, we have been chiefly indebted to natives of India for
several years past for our knowledge of the regions beyond the British boundary.
.Mr. McNair, of the Indian Survey dejiartmcnt, who receivi'd the .Miirchi.^on preiiiiuin
of this year, is thelir^t luiropeaii who has ever penetrated .so far as Chitral,v\hicli i^

'taii.AiA.

J-/

^a-i-t.

only LMM) iiiiU'rt from I*f«liawiir. In varioiiM <iin^ui!»t'H, Imwi-viT, iialiv«'S, cinft'iilly
iiijitriictfd, havt' pt'iK'trateil tluMiei>.'lilniuriiiir 'nil imiifi^'Iibdiirlv n'^'iniis kI' AllLrlmii-
i-^tiin, Kanliniir, rnrkf.'tiiii, Ni'pnul, Tliilit't - ill iilim :*t rvfi\ <liii(tiiiii n'ld tlu'st*
ncliifvciueiits wt-rt' cmwiLt'il l)y one (if lluMii, kimwn a." A-k, ri'iirliin^' .s.'ilii or
Sacliii, in Mnn^rnlia, in \><f<'2, and tlicncf rftiirnin^r in salV'ty to India, al'itT an
ali.>MMict! of four y»'ar.s His rniitf took him to Daiclit'iidu or Tadiiali (liit. .'(I ),
till' most westerly point rniclu'd by tlic late Cajitaiii .1. f Jill, IMl., in I "^"7, ami
tliiiH (•(iiint'cts tilt' explorations of that acromplii-lu'd and limt'iiti'd traytdlcr with
Central Asia. A-k has l)ron>.'lit f're.xh evidence that tlie Sanpoo and the Miah-
ma|)o(>tra are one; the quite modern opinion that the former tloWH into the
Irrawaddy heinjr shown to he ^'roiindlesn. After drain iii^' the nortlieni ,-Io|)e.x of
the Himalayas, the Mrahniajiootra makes a loop round tlioir eastern thmks where
it has heeii called the Dehaiifr, and tlieiipe. as everybody kiioww. Hows westerly to
join the (Jan),'es: the maps havH been shown in this instance to be rijrht. 'I'lii!
travels of these native e.\ph>rers, their stratai^ems and their dis^^'iii.-es, their lia/.ard.s
and siillerinvs, their frequent hair-breadtli escajies, are teeming' with '.r-'citenient.
One of them descrilies a portion of his track at the back of Mount Everest, rk
carried for the third of a mile alon^' the face of a precipice at the heijjfht of
l,'>(K)ft, above the Jihotia-koai river, upon iron peirs let into the face of tiie rock,
the path behig formed by bars of iron and slabs of stom^ stretching' from peg U)

Ki'P, in no place more than 18 incdies, and often nf>t more than !> inoiies wide,
evertheless this path is constantly used by men carryini: burdens.

One of the finest feats of mountaineerintr on record was performed last year by
Mr. W. W. (iraham, who reached an elevation of 1I3,5(H) ft. in the Himalayas, about
;?,!MK) ft. aliove the summit of Chimborazo, whose ascent by Mr. Whymjier in |H8(),
mark«'dan epoch in these expluit.s. Mr. Oraham wa.s accompanied by an ollicer oi
the Swiss army, an experienced mountaineer, atid by a ])rofessional Swis.s f^niidt;.
They ascended Kabru, a mountain visible from Darjeeliiiff, lyinjr to the west of
Kanchinjunjra, whose summit still defies the strength of man.

13. And here I may refer to that great work, the Trigonometrical Survey of
India. The primary triangulation, commi-nced in the year |H(K), is practically
completed, although a little work remains to extend it to Ceylon on one side and to
Siam on the other. Much secondary triangulation remains to be executed, but
chiefly outside the limits of India proper. The I'isgah views, by which some of
tb3 l'>ftie.st mountains in the world have l.ven tixed in position, sometimes from
points !u the neare.st Himalayas, 120 miles distant, only serve to arouse a warmer
desire ft." unrestrained access. The belief long entertained that a summit loftier
than Mount Everest exists in Thibet is by no means extinct, but it is po.ssible that
the snowy peak intended may prove eventually to lie the Mount Everest itself of
the original survey. Still, however, science, in spite of fanatical obstruction, makes
sure advauces. The extraordinary learning and research bv which Sir H. IJawlin-
son was enabled a few years since to expose a series of niyst ideations or falsiticationa
relating to the Upper Oxus, which had been received on liigh geographical authority,
can never bi forgotten. That river has now Ijeen traced from its sources in the
i*«ik|«fc, chiefly by native explorers, and to them we may be >aid to be indebted for
all we know of Nepaul, from which Europeans are as jealously excluded as they
are from the wildest Central .Asian Khanate, although Xepaul is not so fur from
Calcutta as Kingston is from Quebec.

Carrying their instruments to the most remote and inaccessible places, and
among the most primitive hill tribes, the narrative reports of the otliceis of th»!
Indian Survey are full of ethnogra))hic and (itiier curious inforiuution. Take for
example the account given by .Mr. O. A. .McfJill, in i>8:.'. of the liishuoies of h'aj-
piitana, a cla.ss of people, he says, who live by themselves, and are seldom to be
found in the same village with the other castes, ' These peojde hold sacred every-
thing animate and inanimate, carrying this belief so far tliat they never even <'ut
down a green tree; they also do all in their power to jireveut others from d(Mig
the same, and this is why they live a]iart from other jieople, so as not to witness
the taking of life. Tlie Rishnofcs, unlike the rest of the inhabitants, strictly avoid
drink, smoking ami eating o]iiinii ; this lieing prohibited to them by their rolif;ioii.
Tliey are also stringently enjoined to nioiiogainy and to the peil'ormance of regular

aWiil ions daily . TiKlor all tlicse circunistaiices, and iis may be oxptcled, the Hisli-
nc)'"'t are a well-to-do coniiminity, but are abhorred by the other people, especially
as by their domestic and f'rujral habits they soon get rich, and are the owners of the
best lands iu the country.'

In one particular, the experience of the Indian Survey cjvrries a lesson to this
country, • A constantly growinf^ deruand,' says General Walker, ' has risen of
lato years for new surveys on a large scale, in supersession of the small scale surveys
which were executerl a generation or more ago, . . , The so-called topographical
surveys of those days were in reality geographical reconnaissances sufficient for all
the requirements of the Indian atlas, and for general reproduction on small scales,
but not for purposes which demand accurate delineation of minute detail.' Wo
have in the Canadian North-West, a region which has not yet passed beyond the
preliminary .stage, and it would probably be possible to save much future expendi*
ture by timely adoption of the more rigorous system. There is perhaps no region
on the globe which ofTers conditions more favourable for geodesy than the long
stretch of the western plains, or where the highest problems are more likely to
present themselves in relation to the form and density of the earth. The American
surveyors have already measured a trigonometrical base of about 10'8G miles in the
Sacramento Valley, the longest I believe as yet measured in any country (the Yolo
Base) and reported to be one of the most accurate,

14. The Australian continent has been crossed again from east to west, oji the
parallel of 28" South or thereabouts by Mr. W. Whitfield Mills, Starting from
i?eltana, near Lake Torrens, S.A,, on June 0, 1883, and travelling almost due west,
he finally reached the coast at Northampton, W.A,, in January last, after great
suffering from want of water. But for the introduction of camels, the expedit ion
must have broken down. On one occasion they were eleven or twelve days without
water, lie reports a great extent of available pasturage between the AVarburton
range and the iilyth watershed ; but he found only three perennial sources of water
supply in ],G00 miles ; such conditions give more than usual interest to the recent
discovery that subterranean su])])lies may be expected all over a cretaceous area esti-
mated at 12(i,0()0 square miles in the central region of the Australian continent,
(rood water was struck in April last by an artesian boring at a depth of 1,2:.*0 feet at
Tiirkannina, lat, oU^'S. h)ng. 138.1° E, It is difficult to overrate the importance
of this discovery, the supply being very abundant, and not likely to fail, since its
sources are believed by Air. Ikown, the Government geologist, to be derived from
the rainfall of the southern watershed of the Queensland and Northern ranges.

Mr. Mills started with thirty camels, attended by five Aflghan drivers; six of
them died from the effects, aa was supposed, of eating poisonous lierbag", Mr.
Mills did not deviate much from the tracks of the late Air. W. C Gosse, and of
Mr. J. Forrest, his journey has therefore added little to previous geographical
knowledge, but it Jias helped to make the route better known, and ailbrded fresh
t'vidence that the value of the camel in those terrible Australian Saharas if in no
degree less than it is where he has long been known as the ' ship of the dese^'t.'

Another traveller, Mr. C, Winnecke, starting from the Cowarie station on
tlie Warburton IJiver, in 28° S. has traversed about 400 miles of new coun-
try in a northerly direction, and made a sketch map of 40,000 square miles,
u]) to Goyders Pillars, a remarkable natural feature in the Tarleton range, lie
too owed his success to the employment of camels, which he describ(>s as ' behaving
nobly,' The recent establishment of a Geographical Society of Australasia pro-
mises that many adventurous private explorations, little known and soon forgotten,
will beieatter contribute to a better knowledge of that vast interior.

'I'he rejiorted outbreak of a new v(dea!io in the northern part of West Australia,
on August 2o. ]S8.'5, in connection with the great eruption of the Sunda Straits lias
not, as far as I know, been verified ; but the graphic description of the natives : ' Big
mountain l)(ir?i up. He big one sick. Throw him up red stuff, it rundown side and burn
down grass and trees,'' seems to leave little doubt of the reality of the occurrence.

1"). Tile International Gircnmiiolar expeditions have added. perhaps, to local
knowled;j('. e.-pi cially as leganls the cliinateand means of sup]inrting life at various

I .\„hn;, (•■el.niarv L'l. ISSf

stations; but nnt mucb, so far as reported, to peogrnphy genemlly. To tliia
remark, lioAvever, a hrilliai.t exception mu8t be made, on the intelliirence tlaslied
throujK'h tlie tele;.'raph while these lines are passing through the press. Tlie dis-
tinction of the nearest approach to the North Pole yet made by man has been won
by the late Lieutenant Lockw^ood and Serpeant IJrainerd, of Lieutenant Greeley's
expedition. They readied, on May 13, 1882, an island not before known, in lat.
83 24' N., loDg. 44° 5' W., now named after its discoverer. This is four or five
miles beyond Captain Markham's furthest point (8.'J° 20' N.), and it apjiears to bo
by no means the only geographical achievement whicli in some measure rewards
the painful sufteriiigs and losses of the party. Lieutenant H. P. May, T'.S.A., has
also rectiiied many details of the map about Point liarrow, and discovered a range
of hills which he lias named the Meade Mountains, running east from ( "ape Lis-
burne, from which at least two streams, unmarked, flow into tlie Polar Sea. Wo
may expect similar service from the Italian parties at Patagonia, and from the
Germans in South Georgia.

16. There are few particulars in which the best atlases of the present day differ
more from those published twenty-five years ago, than in the intbrmation they
give us respecting the submerged portions of the globe. The British Lslands, with
the fifty and one hundred-fathom lines of soundings drawn round tbem, seem to
bear a diH'erent relation to each other and to the Continent than they did before.
Tlie geography of the bed of the ocean is scarcely less interesting than that of the
Continents, or less important to a knowledge of terrestrial physics. Since the
celebrated voyage of II.M.S. 'Challenger,' no marine researches have been more
fruitful of results than those of the 'Talisman' and the 'Dacia.' The first waa
employed last year by the French Government to examine the Atlantic coasts
from Kociicfort to Senegal, and to investigate the hydrography and natural history
of the (^ipe Verde, Canary, and Azores archipelagos. The other ship, with her
companion the 'International/ was a private adventure, with the commercial
purpose of ascertaining the best line for a submarine telegrapli from Spain to the
Canaries. These two last made some 550 soundings and discovered three shoals,
one of them with less than 50 fathoms of water over it, between the Continent
of Africa and the islands. If we draw a circle passing through Cape Mogador,
Teneritle, and Funchal, its centre will mark very nearly this submarine elevation ;
tlie other two lie to the north of it. The ' 'J alisman ' found in mid-ocean but
1,640 fathoms, among soundings previously set down as over 2,000 fathoms. Our
knowledge then of the bed of the Atlantic, and of the changes of depth it may
be undergoing, 's but in its infancy; and we have only to reflect wliat sort of
orographic map of Europe we could hope to draw, by sounding lines dropped
a hundred miles apart from the highest clouds, to be conscious of its imperfeclion.
But this knowledge is accumulating, and whether revealing at one moment a pro-
found abyss, or at another an unsuspected summit : iiiai vels of life, form, and
colour, or new aTid pregnant facts of distribution ; it promises for a long time
to come to furnish inexhaustible interest.

17. If railways are features of a h'ss purely gengrapliicnl interest than the great
interoccanic canals which dissever continents, tliey are not less important to the
traveller; and whether commercial, political, or strategic motives have most
influenced their construction, they not less fulfil the beneficent imrpose of landing
men in closer ties. It is not necessary that I should sjieak to you of tlie Canada
Pacific Railway, of which many of my hearers will soon iiave perMmal knowledge,
or of the ])roposed railway from Winnipeg to lludsDn's I'ay; thrre an' numerous
other undertakings which serve in an equal degree to mark this ninett'i'nlli century
as the mother of new forces and new possibilities. Tlie Mexican Central Itailway
open some time since from VA Paso on the Hiver Gninde, to Jimenez, has been
opened to Mexico itself, and will soon reacli Tehuuntepec, which will thus be placed
in direct railway comniunication with New Orleans, whih' the .Sonoran branch will
connect the United States with Gnaymas on the Gulf of California. It requires ,t
moment's recollection ot the events we have seen in our own day to a[)pi'eLiato
the vaslness ol ihi'.-r ehiiiiij-es.

In S'Tiitli America we lunc tin I'ailwm <<[' Doni P' dr" 11. cneiiin'^ "ii t-nvard.-

Paraj^uay ami tin.' Arj^ontinu IJupiiljlic. It lins reached S()ro(.'a])a, while hriiiiclu'f
from S. Paolo to th« uortli-west a|ij»n)ach "rrcat tracts on tin- Parana and Pazaina-
panania, which an^ inarKed on tlu- latest liraziliaii niajis aw ' unknown Indian
territorins,' perhaps 1()(),(K)() square niilcs in extent, cut by the tropic, but con-
tributing alnioHt nothinjf as yet to commerce.

Turnin<r to AlVicn, the French have a short raihvay in operation on the
Senegal, Iroin Dakar to S. Louis, and a section of a line to Medina opened. FrcMich
engineers also are engaged on a railway from Enzeti to Teheran, so that bet'oro
long the capital of Persia will be reached from London in little more than a week.
Looking to tin; far l"]ast, Russia has hing since made the shores of the Caspian
nearly as a<;ces.sible as Lake Superior, by her railway from Batoum, by way of
Tiliis to Baku, which will also be reached by the lines from Moscow before h)ng.
This is but the first section of a lino of far more ambitious aims. Starting again
from Mikhailovsk, the embouchure of the ancient Oxua, the Trans-Caspian branch
litis been extended to Bami, and the line has been surveyed to Herat. The poUtical
forces in the held may be safely trusted to bring the British Indian lines, at present
laid out to Quetta (GUO miles from Herat) into a more or less direct communication
with the same terminus. These are forces which we cannot ignore, but all we have
to do with them here is to recognise, behind their smoke and din, the steady
advance of our race in its primeval mission to replenish the earth and suMue it.
The next step on the British side is an extension of the railway from Quetta to
Candahar, a work which was commenced by a former administration but discon-
tinued. Its completion can bring nothing but benefit to the Ameer and his people.

18. The science of geography reaches perhaps its highest point of public utility
when it determines on a sure basis the international disputes ever arising on ques-
tions of boundary. Sacred as our neighbour's landmarks are, or ought to be, to
us, they are in many cases so ill or incorrectly defined as to give free scope to the
pa.ssion of aggrandisement. In such a state is the frontier of AfFghanistan,
between the rivers Tejend and Amu Darya. In such a state, from the Treaty of
(thentto the Treaty of Washington, were the frontiers of this Dominion and are
still those of Ontario and Manitoba. In such a state are the frontiers of British
(riiiana, which have been in dispute for many years with the Repablic tif Venezuela
on the one side, and the l"]mpire of Brazil on the other, both basing their claims on
vague rights of the old Spanish crown. To some extent the question as to the
original boundaries of the possessions claimed by Portugal in West Afiica, includ-
ing the mouth of the ('ongo, belongs to the same category. The ambiguity arises
more frequently from defective maps and the consequent imperfect geographical
knowledge of the statesmen negotiating treaties, than from any other cause, and
all that I dwell upon here is the proof so often afforded that liberal, even large
expenditure, in the encouragement of scientific exploration, especially of frontier
lands, would often prove to be true public economy in the end.

1",). I have now touched lightly upon all the points which appear to me to be
most noticeable in the iTcent progress of geographical science; but before^ I resume
my seat I cannot deny myself the pleasure of alluding to that important measure of
social reform, so siiiijile in its application, so scientific in its basis, for which you
are indebted to the j)erseverance and enthusiasm of my friend Mr. Sanilford
Fleming, (\K. I mean, of course, the agreement to refer local time nn this
Continent to a successit)n of first meridians, one hour apart. There are many
red-letter days in the almanac of less importance than that memorabh' November
18, IHHI], which saw this system adopted, whether we consider its educational
tendency or its iiiMnence on the future intercourse of unborn millions. It is a
.xomewhat memorable evidence also that agreement upon questions of general
concern is not that unattainable thing which we are ajit to consider it. The nevt
stej) will not 1h' long delayecl ; that is the agreement of the civilised world to use
one first meridian, Paris, Ferrol, Washington, Uio de Janeiro, gracefully, as I
venture to hope, giving that prece<lency to Greenwich, which is demanded by the
fact that an overwhelniiiig ]ivoportioii of the existing nautical charts of all natinns,
ami ot" maps mid atla-cs in nio-t of I hem, already refer their longitudes to that
meridian ; no oilur cliaiige wuiild lie .n ea^y or ^" lilll'' felt.

ler

APPENDTX TO GEOGRAPITTCAL ADDRESS.

List of Sfatiims occupied hy EuropenriK in Central Afvicn in 1884,

[Tliia list has V)een compiled from the latest reports of the liel^nan International
Association and of the various Missionary Societies, extended hy information com-
municated by that eminent African scholar and linguist, Mr. Koliert Needbam
Cust, The latitudes and longitudes on tlie Eastern Section are chietly from Mr.
Kavenstein's maps, and in many instances are but an approximation. There are
probably a few small out-stations not included, and possibly some of tlie places
named are practically identical with otliers, as Kiinua-Mfrua, and Mkunazini,
which are mission schools at Zanzibar belongingto Mwenibe].

ABBREVIATIONS EMPLOYED.

Co.

African Lakes Company of Glas-
gow.

P. C. S.
P. K. M.

.M. U.

AiiiHricaii Baptist Missionary
(')iion.

F. P. M.

I'. M.

Atiierii-an Board of Foreign
Missions.

G. A, Assoc
.T.

American Presbyterian Mission.

L. I. M.

Baptist Missions (BritislO.

L. M. Soc.

('.

Soc.

Cluircli Missionary Society of
London.

N. 1). d'A.
S. Esprit.

Assoc.

Beleian International Association.

S. Cceur de

Established Clmrch of Scotland
Mis.sion.

U. M. M.
U. M.

Frefl riuircii of 53cotlnnd Mission.
French Evangelical Misoion,
French Prutestant Mission

(.Vriiot's).
German African Association.
Jesuits, Englisli and French.
Livingstone Inland Mission.
London MiBsioiniry Society.
Notre Dame d'Afrique d'Alger.
Vi'rvi du Saint Esprit.
P6res du Sucre (,'(Bur de Marie.
United .MethtMlist .Mission.
Universities Mission.

I. East of Longitude 25° E. fro.m the Equator to the Zambesi.
Statums in italic are understood to he given, up.

Place

State

Rubaga ....

Bnkumbi ....
Kagehy . . . .
M' So till a . . .

I.aniu

Teita

Kaiiilikoni . . .
Kisulutini . . .
Rabhai . . . .
Ruwiina (Sawje) .
Momliasii Island .
Ki.sauiie (Frere-
town) . . .
Joniva or Jomfu .
Shimba . . . .
Urambo . . . .

ITjiji

Uyuhi

Taboni . . . .

Mkusi

Manila . . . .

Misozwe . . . .

llmba, or Ambe .

M towe or I'ly-

iiiiiiitli Hock

N. of Victoria

Nyanzji
On Victoria N.

E. Coa.st
Teita Country
(reriaina . ,
Alupanga . .

»»

L. Taufjanyika
East Coast
Near Mombasa

U'Nya Mwize
L. Tanganyika

Lat.

c-lr.2

2 22

2 40

2 17

3 50
3 .SO
3 55

3 57

4 3
4 4

Long.

32 37

33 17
33

38 35
31) 31)
30 33
3'.l 37
2'J 22

39 40

Ori^anisation

My-

U'Nya

em be
U'lSambara

TIGuha, L.
Tanganyika

4 2 I 39 43

39 36
39 30

32 23
30

33 8
33 2

38 49
38 45

38 53
29 30

cir.h

C. M. Soc. Capital of King

Mteza.
N. D. dA.
C. M. Soc.
C. M. Soc.
U. .M. M.
C. M. Soc.
C. M. Soc.
C. M. Soc.
U. -M. M.
N. 1). (I'A.
C. M. Soc.
C. M. Soc.

U. M. M.
C. M. Soc.
L. M. S.
C. M. Soc.
CM. Soc.
N. D. d'A.

U. M. 15 miles from Magila
U. Medical Mission, (80

mde» from Zanzibar)
U. M. 8 miles from .Magila
U. M. 12 miles from Manila
L. M. Soc.

Table I. (ninthDitt/).

Place

State

Lut.

Lung.

Orgaiiittation

Kiikonia ....

U'CJanda . .

5 47

32 28

Belgian International

Mhoiidii ....

Udagara . .

37 30

S. K. and S. ('(tiir <1(! .M.

Saadiiiii ....

Uz(H|ura . .

6 4

38 60

Belgian Internal ion." 1

Kiunt,'ani . . .

Zanzibar Islan<l

6 10

39 14

U. M. School

Kiinua Mj^uu . .

—

Mkuiiazlni . . .

—

U. M. School

Mbwcni ....

—

6 12

39 12

U. Mission Farm

Mamboia ....

U'Sfigara . .

6 16

36 58

(;. M. Soc.

M[)ai>wa ....

U'Sagara . .

6 22

36 22

C. M. Soc.

Kisokwo ....

6 20

36 16

(;. M. Soc.

Mrof^oro ....

»*

6 15

36 15

S. H. and S. Cocnr do M.

Ba^amoyo . . .

Near Zanzibar

6 25

38 55

S. E. and S. C(riu- dc M.

K AUK MA . . .

L. Tanijan.vika

6 50

Belgian International

Contloa ....

U'Sagara . .

6 52

36 55

G.-A. Assoc.

Lundwe, or Lien-

L. Tanganyika

8 45

L. M. Soc.

dwci

Maliwanda . . .

W.ofL.Nj'assa

9 42

33 30

F. C. of S, and A. L. Co.

Karonga.s . . .

On L. Nyanza

9 57

33 53

A. L. Co. Store

Mtua

liovume . .

10 10

39 30

U. i\I. Ahlallah Pisa's
residence

Lindi

East Coast

39 45

U. JI. Viec Consul Smith's
residence

Gwangwara . . .

Ti. Nyassa . .

10 30

35 30

»» i»

Gwaiigwara . . .

)»

—

Belgian International

IMasasi ....

Inland Station

10 48

38 55

U. M.

Newala ....

Rovume . .

10 57

39 13

U. M. about 10 miles S.E.
of Masitsi

M. Wainbc . . .

L. Nyassa . .

11 .35

35 20

U.M.

Mombira ....

L. Nyassa, A-
Ngoni-land

11 30

F. C. S. above Handawe

Bandaw6 (Nm^

L. Nyassa . .

11 54

34 5

F. C. S., Livingstonia Mis-

LiriiKjxtouiu)

sion, tS: A. L. Co.

Cliitoji'i's ....

»»

12 10

34 48

U. M.

Blantyro ....

E. of R. Shire

13 45

34 57

E. G. of S. Consul Foote's
residenee

Cape Ma clear ( Old

L. Nyassa . .

14 3

34 44

F. C. of S.

Livingstonia)

Matope ....

On the Shire

15 22

34 55

A. li. Co., a road hence to
below tlw ^lurcldson
rapids on the Shire

Mangala ....

R. Shir6 . .

A. L. Co. Stores

Tette (Nyungwe) .

Zambesi . .

16 9

33 28

Jesuit Mission

Lialui

Zambesi cir.

15 30

23 15

F. P. M.

Sheaheke . . .

Zambesi . .

17 31

24 55

St. J. also F. E. M.

Mosangu (Mwem-

Zambesi . .

17 45

27 45

Jesuit

ba'a) ....

Victoria Falls . .

Zambesi . .

17 55

25 50

French Protestant

Quilimaue, or Kili-

East Coast

Jesuit

mani

Mopca ....

Zambesi . .

>> »»

Panda Ma Fenka .

S. of Zambesi

18 30

25 55

»i )•

11. Wkst op Lonoitudk 26° ^:.

Place

Stations in italic arc
State

raOM THE KyUATOR TO THE KuiM^N OK
CUMANK

understood to have been given up.

Island of W.-ma

Rusani
Kquator Station L

liukolela
Lecoua . .
Holobo . ,
Msuata . .
Misoiigo
Qua'mouth
Qua'mouth .
M' Gaucho
Brazzaville (Mfwa)
R
liOopohlvillp . . L
Kimbolo (Arthinfj^-
ton) . . . . L
I Kintcha.ssa . . L
N'Gombi . . . L
Liverpool .
I Lutete . .
j Banza Manteka L
! Manyantja (N.

N'uombi's town) L
liukungu ....
Isanghila . . . R
Mukimbungu . L
Bayneston . . L
Vivi . . . . R
Palabella. . . L
Ikungiila ....
Undcrhill (Wauga-

Wanga)
Nokki or Noqui L
M' Bomu, or Boma
R
Banana Point . R
Mukimvika . . L

Stanh^y Falls
Upjier Congo

N'Kutu R.
Kwango R.

Stanley Pool

svv

Lower Congo

Franceville . .
B'ranktown . .
Stanley Niadi .
Baudoiiinville .
Stephanieville .
Pbilipvillo . .
Nkula ....
Bulangungu . .
M. Boko songho
San Salvador .

Rudolf Stadt .
Grantville . .
Nengeneuge

S. of Congo .

R. Passa . .
R. Kwilu . .
Kwilu District

Congo

Coast
Coast

70 miles up
Gambia

Lat.

Long.

Grganisatioii

B. L Assoc.

+ 6 18 50

17 45
17 30
17 40
"Ifi 42
16 28
16 40
15 41

15 38
15 50

15 47
15 22

4 49 I 15 10

5 24 1 14 13
4 39 ! 14 52

I 14 53
14 12
14 26
14 13

13 53

14 3
13 45
13 42

13 43
13 3

B. L Assoc, and B.M., 7(K)

miles from the coast
B. L Assoc, and B.AJ.
M. De Brazza
B. I. Assoc.
B. I. Assoc.
L. I. M.
B. I. Assoc.
B. I. Assoc.
M. De Brazza
French Establishm.

B. I. Assoc, and L. 1 M
B. M.

B. I. Assoc.

B. M.

Late B. M.

B. I. Assoc.

L. 1. M.

B. I. Assoc, and late L. M,

L. L M.
B. I. Assoc.
L. I M.
B. M.

B. I. Assoc.
L. L M.
B. I. Assoc.
B. M.

B. I. Assoc.
B. I. Assoc.

fi i 16 12 L. I. M.
6 11 12 18 I L. I. M,

I French setfiemeut
B. I. Assoc.
B. L Assoc.
B. I. Assoc.
U. L Assoc.
B. 1. Assoc.
B. I. Assoc.
B. I. As.soc.
B. L Assoc.
Late B, M.

B. I. Assoc,
B. I. Assoc.

11 42
11 46
16 Wj A. P, M.

•

Table II. {cmtinued)

Place

State j

Lat.

o /

Long.

9 45

1
Orpani.sation

1 Rpnito ....

1
Bight of Biafra

A. P. M.

('(iris(X), Islunfl of .

I 20

U 45

A. P. M.

HaiJika ....

Nearliibrevilh'

! ;to

1> HO

A. P. M.

Lihrt'ville . . .

Gaboon . . .

1 30

9 ao

S. K.sjjrit

Kiitif^wi! ....

S. of Of^owe .

A. P. M.

Talliigupi . .

2.3.') rnilr'H up
Ogowc

1 1 .-)0E

A. P. .M.

St. Fr XavitT . .

li. Ogowe . .

10 45

S. Ksprit and CdMir dc M.

Lain bare . . .

10 30

■

S. Ksprit and Ca-ur de M.

l.aiKiana ....

W. Coast . .

5 16

\ 12 7

Ch. of Rome

Malemba. . . .

6 18

12 10

Cli. of Koine

Hcnila.s ....

•

12 20

Ch. of Home

S. Aiitoine . .

—

6 20

1 12 10

Cli. of llouie

Uailunda. . . .

Angola . . .

15 25

A. B F. M.

Hilic

„

12 50

16 26

A. B. F. M.

Huilla

N. of Kunene

15 2

! 14

S. K.sprit

Hnmba ....

1 On the Kunene

16 50

15 5

S. Ksprit

The stations of the Livingstone (Congo) Inland Mission (originated by the Flast
London Instit\ite for Home and Foreign Missions) liave been recently transferred to
the .American Baptist Missionary Union.

I'ositions from the moutli of tlu^ ('(jiigo as far as Stanley Pool, are taken from tlie
i.^w map by M. M. Capello and Ivens (1H83) pul)lislu!d by the Portuguese .\dniiralty.

The letters L. R. signify that the station is on the left or right bank of the
"ongo.

■ FOTTlSWOOnB AKD CO., .MCW-BTSERT iqCAUII
ANU I'.VUI.I VUK.NT STUkKT