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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 57

Geographical Notes

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Geographical Notes.

Our New Librarian.—The Council have appointed to the post vacated by the lamented death of Mr. E. C. Eye, Mr. J. Scott Keltie, the Editor of the 'Statesman's Year-Book,' who is just now completing the special work on which he has been engaged for some months, as the Society's Inspector of Geographical Education.

Mr. H. E. O'Neill, the successful explorer of the region between the Mozambique coast and Lake Shirwa, arrived in England on the 24th of March, on a short leave of absence from his post as Consul at Mozambique. It is expected that he will give an account of his most recent journey, viz. from Blantyre to Quillimane, by a new route overland, at our evening meeting of April 27th.

German Annexations in East Africa.—We are able to give a few facts concerning the territory in East Africa which has been recently brought under the protection of Germany. This has been accomplished through the medium of the Society for German Colonisation in East Africa, which sent out a party for the purpose last autumn. The Society's chief envoy, Dr. Peters, has concluded treaties, in which no flaw can be found, with "ten independent sultans," representing Useguha, Nguru, Usagara, and Ukami. The area of this region is represented in the Berlin journals as about 60,000 English square miles, but we have the best authority for stating that it does not exceed 2500 square miles. It embraces only small portions of the above-named countries, situated on their common frontier. The commercial importance of this region is great; through it passes the central trade route between the coast and Lake Tanganyika. After the 50 to 80 miles of unhealthy coast region, there are large areas in these territories with picturesque tree-clad mountain ranges surrounded by fertile plains stated to be well adapted for European residents. The valleys are fertile, and abound in valuable woods; the country as a whole is well watered, the people intelligent and docile, and capable under a humane civilised tutelage of great development. The Wa-nguru, Wa-sagara, and Wa-seguha all speak nearly the same dialect. It has been generally considered, it should be stated, that the authority of the Sultan of Zanzibar extends inland for 450 miles.—While the Germans have been making these annexations in East Africa, the King of the Belgians has resolved to abandon all the stations of the Association east of Lake Tanganyika. The chief of them is Karema on the east coast of the lake; but those who remember Mr. Joseph Thomson's account of the place will think that the Association is well rid of it.

Trade of East Africa.—In the Journal of the Society of Arts for March 13th is a paper by Mr. F. Holmwood, H.B.M. Consul at Zanzibar, page 240 on the trade between India and the East Coast of Africa, which deserves the attention of geographers. Mr. Holmwood, after touching but very briefly on the trade of Natal and the Portuguese possessions, dwells at length on that of the territory under the Sultan of Zanzibar. This extends from Tongy Bay, in S. lat. 10° 40′, to Warsheikh, in N. lat. 2° 20′. Moreover, Mr. Holmwood points out that the Sultan's authority is recognised along the trade routes at least for 700 miles in the interior, and many chiefs away from these routes acknowledge the Sultan's suzerainty. The Sultan owns 1050 miles of coast, besides islands. The island of Pemba Mr. Holmwood describes as one vast clove plantation. There are several excellent harbours along the coast. Mr. Holmwood speaks well of the Government of the Sultan, autocratic as it is, and points out that English influence is absolutely ascendant. Of the foreign residents in Zanzibar in 1884, 6619 were British subjects (89 British born), 39 French, 13 German, 8 American, 5 Belgian, 2 Italian. Since the abolition of slavery in 1873, after a year or two of depression, the trade has doubled. The total trade with India alone has increased, from 428,800l. in 1879 to 755,858l. in 1883. Mr. Holmwood insists on the great importance of Zanzibar to England, and the immense variety and commercial value of the products of the country. He suggests that in the Indian and Colonial Exhibition of 1886 there should be a special Zanzibar section, with specimens of the various types of people. The suggestion deserves consideration. Mr. Holmwood briefly referred to the immense possibilities of development of the inland regions, now almost depopulated through the slave trade, and made special mention of the Kilimanjaro region, both as a sanatorium and as a field for industrial exertion.

M. Giraud.—M. Giraud, whose return to the coast at Inhambane, from the scene of his adventurous attempt to reach the Upper Congo from Lake Tanganyika, we have already recorded, has arrived in his native country, and has been deservedly welcomed with acclamations. Landing at Marseilles, he lost no time in giving the Geographical Society of that city an account of his adventures and discoveries. We have at various times during the past year recorded the progress of the young explorer, and must wait for his detailed narrative before we can give any additions of importance. We may only remind the reader that he has added greatly to our knowledge of Lake Bangweolo, much of whose surface he navigated in his steel canoe. He found that the Luapula leaves the south-west corner of the lake, as found on Mr. Ravenstein's map, and not the north-west, as given by Livingstone, and flows 150 miles south-west before turning to the north. M. Giraud sailed down the river for three days until stopped by cataracts and an army of hostile natives. After his escape he proceeded to Cazembe and Karema, intending to strike north-west to Stanley Pool, which idea, however, he was compelled to renounce, and return to the coast.

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Dr. Lenz's Proposed Expedition to the Region between the Congo and the Nile.—We can only refer at present to the proposed expedition under Dr. Lenz to complete the exploration of the interesting and scarcely known region between the Congo and the Nile, and, if possible, render assistance to Emin Bey and Lupton Bey, as well as Dr. Junker and Signor Cassati. The expedition will be supported partly by the Austrian Government, partly by the Vienna Geographical Society, and partly by private subscription. It is expected that the Geographical Societies of Berlin and Munich will join the Vienna Society in the expedition.

Captain Chaddock's Visit to the Limpopo River.—The February number of the 'Mercantile Marine Service Association Reporter' contains an article by Captain G. A. Chaddock, descriptive of his recent visit to the Limpopo river (native names, Inhampura, Inhapallala, Inguenia, Oori, or more generally Meti or Metê). The party sailed from Liverpool on the 25th of September, 1883, in the steamer Maud, and after a stay of nearly two months in Natal, they arrived off the mouth of the river on the 14th of April, 1884. Entering by the southern channel, Captain Chaddock succeeded in crossing the bar, the current running out at about four knots per hour. The channel was found to be very narrow, with a depth of no less than 4 ½ fathoms of water. A long sand-spit runs for a distance of three miles in a line with the coast, and forms a natural breakwater, with an opening of about three-quarters of a mile to the other shore forming the river-mouth, the water at which is perfectly fresh and drinkable. The land about here is composed of high sandhills, slightly covered with short undergrowth; one of these hills at a distance appears to be of an intense reddish colour, and forms a good guide for indicating the mouth of the river, being clearly distinguished from eight to ten miles off. The river is described as being narrow and deep, the surrounding country low and level, very thickly populated, and as far as they went the land appeared to be well adapted for agricultural or sugar-raising purposes. The country, except at the mouth of the river, which for a distance of about twelve miles is thickly fringed with mango trees, is almost devoid of any material suitable for fuel. A few miles from the highest point reached (Manjoba's kraal) the land becomes high and is well wooded, and it was reported that this high land continued inland, and the country perfectly healthy. Captain Chaddock is of opinion that this river is navigable, and, unlike most African rivers, free from falls or any obstruction as far as the Transvaal. On the 19th of April the party started from "Manjoba's kraal" on the return journey, reaching the mouth of the river on the 22nd. The Maud is believed to be the first craft to enter and navigate the Limpopo river.

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The Origin of the Malagasy.—In a note in the 'Antananarivo Annual,' No. viii., the Rev. J. Sibree states that in the month of September last, a number of small pieces of pumice were sent up to the capital from Tamatave, where they had been washed ashore not very long before that date. The pieces are rounded by the action of water, and are supposed to have come across the Indian Ocean from the Straits of Sunda, where they were probably ejected during the tremendous eruption of Krakatau. If this supposition is correct, it supplies not only an interesting illustration of the distance to which volcanic products may be carried by ocean currents, but also, Mr. Sibree thinks, throws a light upon what is still rather an obscure question, viz. How did the Malayo-Polynesian ancestors of the Malagasy come across the 3000 miles of sea which separate Malaysia from Madagascar? It is evident from the fact of pumice having come across this great distance, Mr. Sibree states, that there is a prevalent "set" of oceanic current in this direction; and it is therefore a confirmation of what has been thought by several writers, viz. that in prehistoric times, single prahus, or even a small fleet of them, have occasionally been driven westward by a hurricane, and that the westerly current has then brought them on still further, until at length these vessels have been stranded on some part of the coast of Madagascar, stretching north and south, as it does, for nearly a thousand miles.

Corea.—We have two recent papers on Corea before us. One, in the February and March numbers of the Austrian 'Monatschrift für den Orient,' by "a high functionary," dated from Shanghai, the object of which is to give a complete account of the recently opened country in all its aspects. The other will be found in No. 3, 1884, of the Bulletin of the American Geographical Society. It is an account by Mr. S. B. Bernerston, of the U.S. Navy, of a trip from Söul to Peng Yang, apparently in July 1884. Peng Yang is the capital of the Northeast Province, Puing-an-do, and the second city of importance in Corea. The distance between the two cities is over 200 miles, and Mr. Bernerston gives many notes by the way. Song-to, three days' march from Söul, has walls probably as great as those of the capital, yet the town inside has so dwindled away that a large area is occupied by cultivated land. At Peng Yang Mr. Bernerston was well treated. It is more a commercial than a manufacturing centre, is built on a range of hills on the north bank of the Ta Tong, and has seven gates. The two principal streets run at right angles to each other. Between the city and the sea a stretch of about 60 miles of river remains unsurveyed, and should this prove navigable, the establishment of a treaty port at the mouth would cause a brisk trade to spring up at a rich and very important commercial centre.

The Chinese Province Sze-Chuen.—A further official Report* of Mr. Hosie (China, No. 2, 1885) has been published, containing his journey page 243 through Central Sze-chuen in June and July last year. Mr. Hosie started from his Consular Station at Ch'ungk'ing, on the central course of the Yang-tse, his main object being to collect information on the subject of insect white wax for Sir Joseph Hooker. Mr. Hosie's bright and readable narrative abounds with topographical details as to towns, rivers, and the general features of the country, with valuable notes as to products and industries. He and his reluctant companions did a small feat of mountaineering in climbing the lofty mountain O-mei, near the city and river of that name, in company with crowds of pilgrims who visit the shrine of Buddha on the summit. In an appendix is given a detailed account of the insect white wax (the insect-tree, the insects, the wax tree, the wax) which is both of scientific and industrial value. Another appendix is occupied with a tabulated itinerary, giving distances from Ch'ungk'ing, mean of observed temperatures, and remarks on each place touched at.

Flora of Ceylon.—At the meeting of the Ceylon branch of the Asiatic Society on February 20th, Dr. Trimen read a paper on the Composition, Geographical Affinities, and Origin of the Ceylon Flora. The Systematic Catalogue of Ceylon Plants which Dr. Trimen presented to the Society includes about 3250 species, of which the odd 250 may be reckoned to be Ferns and the 3000 Flowering Plants or Phanerogams. Of these 3000 he first called attention to those among them, 285 in all, which, though more or less wild plants, were not native; but aliens, colonists, denizens, or casual waifs and strays. There are numerous foreign fruit-trees and many tropical weeds. A comparison with some other areas of the globe, temperate and tropical, was made, and the conclusion arrived at, that, though less so than was formerly supposed, the Ceylon flora was a rich one for its position, and probably more so than in any equal area in India.—The remarkably large proportion of endemic species, i.e. species peculiar to the island, viz. 786 (or 29 per cent.), was remarked as probably larger than that of any other continental island except Madagascar. Comparisons were made in this respect with other countries, from the British Isles with over 1400 species and probably none endemic, to New Zealand with 72 per cent, peculiar, and the richness of true oceanic islands in this respect alluded to. Ceylon, Dr. Trimen showed, has derived the bulk of its flora from continental peninsular India, only about 130 species (besides the endemic ones) not occurring there. The separation of the northernmost part of the island from the mainland was shown to be geologically recent. Of endemic genera Ceylon only possesses 20, and these contain 48 species. Of the endemic species, all but about 73 are members of genera also represented in peninsular India. But there are also in Ceylon species of genera, not met with in peninsular India, identical with those of other countries. In all, no less than 100 genera of flowering plants are represented in Ceylon which are not found in the peninsula. Nearly the whole of these are natives of the hot wet districts of South-western Ceylon; a very few are mountain types, but these are not endemic though of interest as not occurring in the Nilgiris. The affinity of these non-peninsular genera was shown to be in the great majority of cases Malayan (as opposed to Indian), including in the term not the Malay Peninsula and Archipelago, but the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the northward extension into East Bengal through Burma.—The question of how this flora reached South-western India and Ceylon was next considered. Mr. Wallace's view of the elevation of the northern part of the Bay of Bengal in Miocene and Pliocene times, when the Indian peninsula was an island, was con- page 244 sidered. The remarkable affinities of some genera of plants rather with Borneo and Java, than with the Eastern Bengal flora led to the expectation that the former means of transit was rather at a lower latitude, at or near the equator, but there is no evidence of this available.—Dr. Trimen called attention to the Indo-Ceylonese region of zoologists characterised by a few endemic genera in the fauna. He pointed out that apart from the Malayan type the flora did not give very clear evidence of any other element peculiar to those districts, but mentioned some endemic genera in both which were not especially Malayan in character. As for the other parts of Ceylon, at least four-fifths of the island, all north-east and northwest, present almost precisely the floral characteristics of the Carnatic, the endemic species being closely allied to those of that district of Southern India. With regard to the flora of the mountains of Ceylon and the Nilgiris, it is simply a southward extension of the Himalayan; there were no endemic genera though such a vast number of endemic species, and every genus is also Himalayan; there appears to be no Malayan admixture.—The few Mascarene and tropical African affinities in the flora were discussed, and their existence held to show the probability of the passage across the Indian Ocean in past times by the aid of the former large islands marked by the banks and coral reefs of the Carcados, Chagos, and Maldives. The latter land must have approached very near to Ceylon and played doubtless an important part in the history of the formation of its flora.

German New Guinea.—It may he well to record the names which the Germans have introduced into their recent acquisitions in New Guinea. The whole German protectorate will be called König Wilhelm's Land. A newly discovered harbour north-west of Port Constantine, in Astrolabe Bay, is named Friedrich Wilhelm's Hafen, after the Crown Prince, and a bay near it (not Astrolabe Bay, we hope) Prinz Heinrich's Hafen, after the Crown Prince's sailor son.

Geographical Enterprise in Canada.—From the Annual Report of the Geographical Society of Quebec, we learn that the Society is devoting much of its attention towards the opening up of the northern territory of the Dominion. A survey of Hudson Bay is already in operation; seven winter stations having been posted to report on the nature and movements of the ice in that inland sea. This survey is expected to return within the year.—We have received a notice respecting the organisation of a "combined scientific, sporting, and health expedition" to visit, during the coming summer, Great Lake Mistassini. The proposed expedition is to start on the 10th of Juno from Quebec, and will proceed by steamers of the St. Lawrence Navigation Company, up the Saguenay river; next by carriage to Lake St. John; thence by bark canoes by way of the Chamouchouan and Nikoubau rivers and Perch, Narrow Ridge, Whitefish, Abitagamou and Chibagamou Lakes—sheets of water between 15 and 30 miles long—to Abatagoush Bay on Mistassini. The expedition will return by a different route, crossing Little Mistassini Lake (over 100 miles long), catching distant views of the Otishe Mountains of Labrador, which rise 3700 feet above the sea-level, and ascending the Rupert river to Lake Themiscamé, thence across the Height of Land and by a chain of lakes around the head-waters of the Mistassini and Hay page 245 rivers to the Chipshaw and Peribonca rivers and hack to Lake St. John and Quebec. The length of time occupied by this expedition will be between 80 and 90 days, and it will return to Quebec about the beginning of September.

Danish Exploration of Greenland: Programme for 1885.—The tenth expedition which the Danish Government has sent out since 1876 for the purpose of exploring Greenland left Copenhagen on March 24th in the Thorvaldsen, Captain Amondsen. The expedition is commanded by Lieutenant Jensen of the Danish Navy, who has already been on four Greenland expeditions. The purpose of this expedition is to examine the hitherto little known tracts of land between the coast and the inland ice, and to survey the coast between Sukkertoppen and Godthaab, 65 ½°-64° N. lat. If Lieutenant Jensen succeeds in finishing the work this year, the west coast of Greenland from 72 ½° to 61 ½° N. lat. will have been surveyed since 1876, besides the greater part of the Julianehaab district, the southernmost part of Greenland—61° to 60° N. lat. Considering the many difficulties in the way of exploring a country like Greenland, a great deal has been accomplished by the Danish Government, and much information published on the orography, geology, and botany, as well as concerning the monuments of the early Danish colonists. The other members of the present expedition are Lieutenant Ryder, of the Danish Navy, a promising young officer, who has been in Greenland with Lieutenant Jensen before, and Dr. Hansen, who will undertake the natural history collections and anthropological observations on the Eskimo. The expedition which was sent from Denmark in the spring of 1883, under the command of Lieutenant G. Holm, to examine the east coast, has wintered on that coast, and is expected to return next autumn, after an absence of two years and a half. Lieutenant Holm is accompanied by Lieutenant Garde, who makes meteorological and magnetic observations, besides a mineralogist, Mr. Knutsen, and a botanist, Mr. Eberlin.

Grinnell Land.—Tho American journal Science for February 27th, contains two articles on the Greely Arctic expedition; one by Lieutenant Greely himself describes the geographical work of the expedition, and the other, by Dr. Francis Boaz, on the configuration of Grinnell Land, is based on information obtained by the writer from natives who are familiar with the region. The conclusions come to by the two writers are essentially the same. Lieutenant Greely believes that future voyages will confirm the indications growing out of his discoveries that Arthur Land is separated from Grinnell Land by a fiord or channel connecting the Western Polar Ocean with Hayes Sound. He also thinks that the northern coast-lines of the Parry Archipelago will be found trending gradually in a northerly direction, and terminating in Arthur Land. He hopes to dwell on these points, and on the remarkably fertile belt of page 246 iceless country found in the interior of Grinnell Land, in a forthcoming narrative. Accompanying these papers is a reproduction of an important map of the U.S. Hydrographic Office, showing the region from Baffin's Bay to Lincoln Sea, based on the discoveries of the Polaris, Nares, and Greely expeditions. Much of this is of course new, not only the outline and configuration of Grinnell Land, but the Greenland coast to the north-east of Robeson Channel.

Alaska.—Several expeditions will be sent from the United States to Alaska during the coming season. General Miles intends to explore the region between the head of Cook's Inlet and the Tavanah watershed, and probably obtain some more accurato knowledge of the Tavanah itself than we at present possess. It is hoped that Lieutenant Ray may command the expedition. A party started on January 30th for the Copper or Atna river, to ascend the river as soon as the ice breaks up, cross, if possible, the divide from the Upper Atna, and descend by one of the Yukon tributaries to the mouth of the latter river. Lieutenant Stoney is reported to have a new expedition newly organised to continue his investigations of the Kowak river. Dr. Everest, who crossed the Yukon Portage last summer, reports from Fort Reliance, Yukon river, his safe arrival there July 22nd, 1884. He intended to ascend the White river last autumn, and, if possible, to cross to the Copper river this spring, and descend to its mouth. The country seemed to him to resemble northern Idaho, with rolling hills densely wooded with larch and poplar, and willows along the river-banks, and luxuriant herbage.

Mount Roraima.—Pending the arrival of Mr. Everard Im Thurn's detailed account of his ascent of the previously unascended Roraima, a few further notes in addition to those given in previous numbers may be of interest. In his letter of December 6th, for example, he mentions a curious result of unguided missionary effort among the Indians in the Savannah about the Ireng and Cotinga. Each village has built itself a church, and in these buildings, men, women, and children spend six hours a day for six days out of the week, and eight hours on the seventh day in repeating the Creed, the Lord's prayer and the Ten Commandments, evidently with no comprehension of their significance. Mr. Im Thurn mentions other curious features of the crude Christianity of these people, which, when his full narrative is published, will interest ethnologists. One result is that every one neglects the ordinary duties of life, and food is scarcely to be had.—A later account, in the Argosy of February 7th, states that Mr. Im Thurn and his companions returned to Demerara on the previous Saturday, after having successfully accomplished the ascent of Roraima. Mr. Im Thurn had suffered much from fever, but at the above date was fairly on the way to recovery. On December 7th he and his companions ascended half-way up the mountain and built four huts. From the foot of the incline up to about 5500 feet above the sea-level page 247 is a grassy undulating slope, broken only by occasional groups of trees and broad bands of boulders. It was at this height the huts were built, beside an open grassy swamp, and so far had Schomburgk and previous travellers ascended. Just beyond that swamp the slope becomes much steeper, and is densely covered with low trees, principally palms, of the genus Geonoma. The forest-covered slope runs right up to the base of the cliff, where it is crossed by a broad belt of bramble very closely resembling the British blackberry, Rubus Schomburgkii, mixed with a large bracken, also very closely resembling the English species. A plant of the genus Befaria, which, though really not a heath, close resembles ordinary English heather, is found in great profusion; the result being that that particular place reminds one vividly of an English common. Above the bramble belt the perpendicular cliff rises to a height of 2000 feet, except at one point, where a ledge runs diagonally up the face of the cliff. The first two-thirds of the ledge is covered by immense boulders, bound together by a very extraordinarily dense network of trees. Then a stream is met with falling from the top of the cliff on to the ledge, in which it has worn a deep ravine, whence it descends in a series of further falls to the foot. The chief difficulty of the ascent consists in getting under this fall. Above this point the upward slope begins again, and is covered with a lower vegetation, consisting principally of tall coarse grass, and of the agave-like plant which forms the chief vegetation of the Kaieteur savannah. But among this are large numbers of low-growing very beautiful flowering plants. Above the fall the path is quite easy.—The ascent was made on December 18th. Starting at 7 A.M. the top was reached by 11. The scenery on the top, Mr. Im Thurn states, was of the most marvellous description. The plateau was covered with groups of rocks of the most extraordinary shapes, piled upon each other in heaps. The highest of these piles was about 80 feet. Between the piles of rock were a few stretches of low vegetation entirely filled with plants of a character distinct from those seen elsewhere in Guiana. The clouds, which are nearly always resting on the mountain, constantly deposit their moisture, saturating the rocks and such soil as there is with water. Everything is dripping with water, and this water accumulates in tiny basins, and flows from these basins in shallow streamlets to the edge of the cliff, where they fall over, forming the numerous falls which have been so frequently observed on the face of the mountain. The foot of the slope was reached by nightfall. The only animal life on the top were a few small butterflies of a common type. Many of the plants collected are of species hitherto, unknown. From the top many mountains were seen of exactly similar character, stretching away as far as the eye could reach. There is one of very peculiar character, with a brown flat top and very narrow base. Mr. Im Thurn has only told enough to whet the appetite for more.

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Ascent of the Highest Peak of the Australian Alps.—Dr. E. von Lendenfeld, in a letter to Prof. Cayley, dated Sydney, 24th January, 1885, gives an account of his recent ascent of the highest peak of the Australian Alps. He was sent by the Geological Survey Department of New South Wales to make a scientific investigation of the central part of this range of mountains. Dr. von Lendenfeld found that the peak hitherto considered as the highest, named Mount Kosciusko (measured at 7176, 7175, and by Dr. von Lendenfeld at 7171 feet) is not the highest, and made the first ascent of the highest peak some distance further south. The height of this peak was calculated at 7256 feet, and named by him Mount Clarke. Indications of pre-historic glaciers were discovered at about 5800 feet, and in the glacial period a large valley was filled by a glacier extending 500 feet up its sides. The upper limit of trees lies at a height of 5900 feet. Patches of snow (névés) are found all the year round attached to the lee side of the main range above 6500 feet, another proof of the lower temperature and greater amount of moisture south of the Equator.

The German Geographical Congress.—The Fifth General Meeting of German geographers will be held this year in Hamburg on April 9-11. The exhibition is expected to be of special interest on account of the importance of Hamburg as a commercial centre. Besides the usual maps, atlases, &c., ethnography, natural history, and the literature of geographical discovery will be largely represented. Among the subjects to be brought before the meeting are Antarctic Exploration by Dr Neumayer, Dr. Batzel, and Dr. Penck; African Exploration—its next problems and their solution, by Herr Friederichsen, Dr. W. Erman, Dr. Pechuel-Lösche, Dr. Fischer (Zanzibar), Dr. V. Danckelman, and Herr Westendorp; the Panama Canal, its commercial importance, by Herr C. Eggert and others. Other subjects, on which papers will be read, are,—The Basis of a Geographical Bibliography, by Prof. Theod. Fischer; the Climatic Conditions of Africa with reference to the disposal of the surplus population of Germany, by Dr. G. A. Fischer of Zanzibar; the Surface Configuration of Herero Land, by Dr. Pechuel-Lösche; besides a considerable number of minor papers in various departments of geography.

Meteorology of Devonshire.—We have received the Meteorological Observations for the year 1884, made at Rousdon Observatory, Devon, under the superintendence of Mr. Cuthbert E. Peek. The latitude of this observatory is 50° 42′ 12″ N., long. 3° 0′ 15″ W. It is situated a short distance within the eastern boundary of Devonshire, midway between Lyme Regis and Seaton. It is near the cliff, at an elevation of 524 feet above mean sea-level, with an uninterrupted horizon over the splendid bay between Start Point and Portland Bill. In this and other respects the situation is decidedly favourable for meteorological observations. The observatory has been well supplied by Mr. Peek with the most trustworthy instruments, and under the care of his assistant, Mr. Grover, regular observations are taken daily of the various phenomena which go to make up the climate of a country. page 249 Under each month the general results are classified in the report, and thus in time a valuable accumulation of data will be obtained with reference to the climate of a fairly representative region of England. Appended to the report is an interesting record of the value of the forecasts issued by the Meteorological Office in 1884. From a daily record kept by Mr. Peck it was found that 61.1 per cent, of the wind forecasts, and 73.1 of the weather forecasts, were reliable; 21.8 of the former, and 17.9 of the latter doubtful; leaving only 16.6 of the former, and 9.0 of the latter unreliable. The special importance of these records lies in the fact that the comparison was made on the arrival of the predictions at the end of the daily periods to which they referred.

Forests and Climate.—To part iii., 1885, of Petermann's 'Mittheilungen' Dr. A. Woeikoff contributes a careful paper on the influence of forests upon climate. It has been generally admitted in a vague way that forests have a distinct influence on climate, but hitherto exact scientific data have been wanting to enable us to say exactly what that influence is. Dr. Woeikoff finds such data in the observations of the Bavarian Forest Meteorological Stations. As general conclusions, it is found that in the warmer months in forests, as compared with the neighbouring treeless districts, (1) the temperature of air and ground is lower; (2) its fluctuations smaller; and (3) the relative moisture greater. The marked lower evaporation in woods as compared with the open, Dr. Woeikoff attributes mainly to the shelter afforded by the trees from the wind. The observations moreover show, as must have been expected, a very considerable influence of forests in increasing the rainfall. But the modifying influences of forests extend considerably beyond their immediate neighbourhood, Dr. Woeikoff shows, and he formulates the general conclusion, that in the western part of the old continent the forest areas seriously modify the temperature of neighbouring districts, and that thus the normal rate of increase of the temperature from the Atlantic Ocean to the interior is not only interrupted, but districts lying further in the interior have a cooler summer than those nearer the sea.

* Vide Proc. R. G. S., February No., p. 120.