F. GEOGRAPHY. ^9 



Caraccas, and was ascended by Humboldt, and its height has 

 lately been ascertained to be 8833 feet above the sea level. 

 The other is the peak of Naiguata, which has been generally 

 considered inaccessible ; but in April last it was ascended by 

 Mr. James M. Spence, with a party of friends, among whom 

 may be mentioned Mr. Antonio Goering, the well-known cor- 

 respondent of the Zoological Society of London. The eleva- 

 tion was determined, by means of an aneroid barometer, to 

 be 9430 feet. Much interesting information was obtained in 

 regard to the structure of the peaks, arid various collections 

 of plants and animals were brought back, including several 

 new to the flora of the country. One grass was decided by 

 Dr. Ernst to be new, and was named by him Chusquea ^en- 

 cei 22 A, August 24, 1872, 186. 



THE IDENTITY OP THE COXGO AND THE LUALABA. 



A very important paper has been published by Dr. Peter- 

 raann in reference to the late discoveries of Dr. Livingstone, 

 having especially for its object to prove that the Lualaba 

 River is identical with the Congo. To this end he discusses 

 the comparative levels of the Lualaba, Lake Tanganyika, and 

 the River Kir, or Bahr el Djebel, which empties from the Al- 

 bert Nyanza, and incorrectly called the "White Nile," of 

 which it is only one of the main streams. The elevation of 

 Lake Tanganyika is estimated by Dr. Livingstone at about 

 3000 English feet, while the Lualaba is considerably lower, 

 according to his estimate, or only about 2000, and the Albert 

 Nyanza is from 2500 to 2700 feet. If Dr. Livingstone's esti- 

 mate of the level of the Lualaba as compared with that of 

 the Tanganyika is correct, it is of course certain that this 

 river can not join the Albert Nyanza; and indeed there is 

 reason to suppose that the Lualaba would have to penetrate 

 a range of high mountains if it emptied into the Albert Ny- 

 anza, and through this into the Bahr el Djebel. 



Again, the lower level of the Lualaba is against the as- 

 sumption of its junction with the Tanganyika, even if the ex- 

 plorations by Livingstone and Stanley had not proved that 

 it receives no great river in that direction. The largest of 

 its affluents from the north, the Rusiri, is very shallow, and 

 only thirty yards broad. The idea of the union of the Lua- 

 laba with any of the western streams of the White Nile is 



