176 TEE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



by the thieving and murderous Damaras. That all this was gone through suc- 

 cessfully, I am in the highest degree indebted both to Andersson and to Hans, 

 for single-handed, I hardly know what I should have done. 



The importance to geography of this exploration of the countries 

 of the Namaquas, the Damaras and the Ovampo is perhaps best de- 

 scribed in the words of the president of the Royal Geographical So- 

 ciety, Sir Roderick Murchison, in presenting its gold medal to Mr. 

 Gallon in 1854. 



You have accomplished that which every geographer in this room must feel 

 is of eminent advantage to the science in which we take so deep an interest. 

 Accept, with these expressions, my belief that, so long as England possesses 

 travelers with the resolution you have displayed, and so long as private gentle- 

 men will devote themselves to accomplish what you have achieved, we shall always 

 be able to boast that this country produces the best geographers of the day. 



On his return Mr. Galton threw himself into the work of the 

 Royal Geographical Society. Those were days when geography re- 

 quired explorers, not surveyors. The reports of snow-covered moun- 

 tains in eastern Africa were fiercely criticized by some and only half 

 credited by others. The source of the Nile was a subject of bitter con- 

 troversy. The Congo had still to be explored. During the half cen- 

 tury, more or less, that he was officially connected with the work of the 

 society Mr. Galton had much to do with the chief figures in African 

 exploration — Speke, Burton, Grant, Baker, Livingstone and Stanley. 

 An interesting chapter is given to these matters in the " Memories." 



Science has probably not lost by the impaired health which pre- 

 cluded further exploration. Syria, Egypt, the Soudan and tropical 

 South Africa had yielded the first-hand experience which made pos- 

 sible the collating and sifting of the work of others and the moulding 

 of it into a compact compendium. 



On reading the narrative of the explorations in tropical South 

 Africa one is impressed with the large place that is given to method. 

 The breaking in of oxen, the seasoning of an axle tree, the making of a 

 krall, the best way of carrying a gun on horseback were the things ab- 

 sorbing his attention. In his work in the Royal Geographical Society 

 and in his contact with the majority of the prominent explorers he 

 saw the opportunity of executing the task which he had conceived 

 while in the South African brush, and the " Art of Travel " was issued 

 in 1854. Darwin was a good prophet when he wrote, "... what I 

 fully expect is that it will have a long sale," for at least four editions 

 have been issued. 



" The Art of Travel " is a truly remarkable book. Its conciseness, 

 clearness and comprehensiveness must be judged from its own pages, 

 not from those of a review. 



Some of the fellows of the Royal Geographical Society are now feel- 

 ing a keen satisfaction in the work which the society has done to ad- 



