GEOGRAPHY. 203 



ney of seven hundred miles) makes bis accounts of them un- 

 usually valuable. 



At a recent meeting of the Berlin Geographical Society a 

 report of Dr. Von Bary was read regarding his investigation 

 of the Tuareg region of the Western Sahara. His researches 

 lead him to the belief that there is but little, if any, reason to 

 believe that the Sahara Desert is the bed of an ancient sea. 



The recent annexation by Great Britain of the South Afri- 

 can territory known hitherto as the Transvaal Republic has 

 drawn attention to the geography of that immensely valu- 

 able region, and has shown how very much remains to be 

 done to perfect a knowledge of it. In the Geographical Mag- 

 azine for February, 1877, as well as in the Mittheilimgen, are 

 excellent maps showing recent explorations. 



Considerable attention has been attracted to Dr. E. Holub's 

 travels in South Africa, and particularly to his exploration 

 of the middle course of the Zambesi. During the past sum- 

 mer he has communicated to a newspaper called the Dia- 

 mond Field (printed at Kimberley, in West Griqua Land) 

 detailed accounts of his observations in that region. He 

 entirely confirms the statements of Cameron and Young re- 

 garding the active participation of Portuguese merchants in 

 the slave-trade of the interior. 



Under the personal superintendence of Colonel Gordon, 

 R.E., assisted by Lieutenants Watson and Chippendall, R.E., 

 and by M. Gessi, a thorough survey of the Nile has been 

 made, commencing at Khartoum and ending at a point about 

 forty miles from the north end of the Victoria Nyanza, a 

 distance of 1500 miles. From these surveys two maps have 

 been prepared, on a scale of thirty-five miles to the inch. 



M. Gessi has circumnavigated the Albert Lake, and finds 

 it to be one hundred and forty-one miles from northeast 

 to southwest, and from forty to sixty miles wide. He has 

 proved beyond a doubt that the Nile descends from the 

 Victoria Nyanza, enters the Albert Lake, and flows from it, 

 at a point fourteen miles farther north, to Dufli, thus setting 

 at rest the question of the direct connection of the great 

 river with these two lakes. 



