174 NEWS [FEBRUARY 



than the usual winter road of the hunters, so as to visit the natives, who were 

 still out on the tundra. The route led over the watershed between the rivers 

 Chatarya, Taimyr, and Pjasina, to Dudinskoje on the Yenesei, about 1800 miles 

 from the Lena delta. Thence reindeer and horses took them 1200 miles to 

 Krasorojarsk, where they took the train on December 2. None of the natives 

 or wandering Dolgans and Samoyedes had any news of Andree, though a few 

 had heard tell of the expedition three years before. 



Another Andree rumour comes through Prof. Xathorst of Stockholm. 

 Fourteen days before midsummer, the Norwegian whaler, "Harald Harfager," 

 was in the ice between Iceland and Greenland, in 66° 33' N. and 28° W., 

 when the crew of one of her boats saw on an ice-floe a large mass like a heap 

 of brushwood or a pile of steel rails. Fog and the fear of losing their ship 

 prevented a closer examination ; and though the captain, when it was reported 

 to him, lay to for several hours and then steered in the direction indicated, the 

 mists prevented rediscovery of the curious appearance. It was not till later 

 that this object was connected in their minds with Andree's balloon. This, 

 however, is a possible explanation, for, supposing the balloon to have met with 

 mishap north of Spitzbergen, it would have drifted across to Greenland and 

 then down its east coast. 



The well-known traveller, Captain Daniel Brunn, has decided to organise 

 an expedition next summer to search for traces of Herr Andree and his com- 

 panions in the neighbourhood of Eastern Greenland. The expedition will start 

 from the east coast of Iceland and proceed by way of Jan Mayen Island, to 

 the vicinity of Cape Barclay on the east Greenland coast. 



The interesting results obtained by the expedition of Mr. J. E. 8. Moore to 

 Lake Tanganyika have led to the formation of a committee to organise another 

 expedition for the purpose of thoroughly surveying the basin, not only of Lake 

 Tanganyika, but also the northern extension of the series of valleys in which 

 this lake, along with Lake Kiou and the Albert Nyanza, lie ; of collecting 

 specimens of the arpiatic fauna and flora, and of studying the geological history 

 of the region. The last-mentioned object is of special interest, considering the 

 marine Jurassic character of the gastropods now living in the lake. The 

 likelihood of the halolimnic fauna, as Mr. Moore calls it, being found in the 

 lakes to the north is increased by the fact that it bears some resemblance to 

 the fauna of the Lower Nile. The proposed expedition would go northwards 

 from Tanganyika as far as the Albert Edward and Kuwenzori districts, then 

 eastwards down the Uganda roads to the sea. The African Lakes Corporation 

 is now running a steamer on Tanganyika, and this will permit of dredging and 

 sounding. The Committee consists of Sir John Kirk, Dr. P. L. Sclater, Sir 

 William Thiselton Dyer, Prof. Bay Lankester, and Mr. G. A. Boulenger. It 

 estimates that at least £5000 will be required, and appeals for pecuniary 

 support. 



A telegram from Sydney has been received at the Boyal Society, stating 

 that the boring into the coral reef, or rather atoll, of Funafuti had been dis- 

 continued on reaching a depth of 1114 feet. Cores had been obtained, and the 

 material traversed is described as " coral i"eef " rock. By comparison of this 

 information with that previously received it would appear that the lower part 

 of the mass pierced consists of a hard limestone, apparently reef material, a 

 rather sudden change from softer and more variable stuff — a mixture of sand 

 composed of calcareous organisms with reef coral — taking place at a depth just 

 short of 600 feet. 



Another attack on Polypterus in the Nile valley is to be made this year by 

 Prof. E. B. Wilson of Columbia University. 



Lord Lister and Sir Henry Boscoe announce that Lord Iveagh has offered' 

 the sum of £250,000 for the purposes of the highest research in bacteriology 



