GEOGEAPHY. 343 



August, and later letters from him state that although he is 

 the only white man of his party, which numbers over 400 

 members, he has every reason to expect success in his un- 

 dertaking. 



Lieutenant De Semelle, a French officer, has undertaken 

 the exploration of the great blank in Central Africa between 

 the Congo, the Albert Nyanza, and the southern tributaries 

 of the Niger, by ascending the latter river, proceeding by 

 land along the south bank of the Binue, and thence striking 

 across the unknown regions towards the equatorial lakes. 

 He sailed from Bordeaux on April 5. 



In the Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society for 

 July 6 is a valuable account, by Mr. H. B. Cotterill, of the 

 hitherto unknown lands between Lake Nyassa and Ugogo, 

 accompanied by a map showing the route traversed by the 

 late Captain Elton and Mr. Cotterill. Captain Elton, an of- 

 ficer of great worth and promise, fell a victim to exposure, 

 dying from sunstroke at Usekhe after a long and toilsome 

 march. 



Two Italian expeditions are engaged in explorations in 

 Eastern Africa. One of them, under the command of the 

 Marquis Antinori, has been assisted by government funds, 

 and has for its object the examination of the wide tract of 

 unknown country lying between Shoa and Victoria Nyanza. 

 The other expedition, under the leadership of MM. Gessi and 

 Matteucci, is proceeding, by way of the Nile and Kaffa, to 

 Lower Abyssinia. 



Dr. G. Schweinfurth has published in the October number 

 of the Esploratore an account, in a condensed form, of his 

 three journeys through the desert, with an excellent map on 

 a scale of 1 : 1,500,000. 



During the past year an account has been published in 

 Petermann's Mittheilungen of the travels through Equato- 

 rial Africa of Dr. Emin Effendi, who, leaving Lado, ascended 

 the Nile to Duffli and Magunga on the Albert Nyanza, 

 thence to Mruli and Rubahga on the Victoria Nyanza. The 

 narrative is accompanied by a fine map on a scale of 1 : 

 1,400,000, by Petermann, giving the routes of eight differ- 

 ent explorers of this part of Africa between 1862 and 18*77. 



Colonel A. M. Mason, of the Staff-Corps of the Egyptian 

 Army, has made a careful reconnoissance of the shores of the 



