GEOGRAPHY AND ANTIQUITIES. 325 



when the Spaniards took possession of the country several of the 

 colossal buildings and temples had even then a very antique 

 appearance. Captain Carmichael discusses with spirit the ques- 

 tion of the former use of the huge and lofty tumuli which abound, 

 and suggests the probability that many of the well-chiselled and 

 beautifully formed stone buildings and ornaments were fashioned 

 into their present shapes by stone implements only, all the arrow 

 and spear heads which he found being made of obsidian. The 

 Indian king of these parts had a palace at Guiche, which, accord- 

 ing to Torquemada, rivalled that of Montezuma, in Mexico. The 

 enthusiasm with which Captain Carmichael describes these old 

 ruins will, I hope, secure the attention of the section. 



" Two of our secretaries, Mr. Clements Markharm and Mr. 

 Major, will communicate papers, the first being an outline of 

 an elaborate work he is preparing on the history and progress of 

 all the surveys in India ; the latter on the long debated question 

 of the so-called Land-Fall of Columbus. 



" Governor William Gilpin, of Colorado, who has recently 

 reached our shores from that grand central region of North 

 America, will, I trust, favor us with a sketch of that rich metalif- 

 erous, mountainous country, which 10 years ago he thoroughly 

 described, when he energetically advocated the execution of that 

 gigantic railroad which now happily connects the Pacific and 

 Atlantic Oceans. 



" A strong desire on the part of the council of the Royal 

 Geographical Society to induce the heads of our public schools 

 to promote the study of geography, on a plan prepared by 

 Mr. Francis Gal ton, led us to offer annually 2 medals, to be com- 

 peted for in an examination directed by the Society. It gratifies 

 ine to announce in this town that in the 2 years during which 

 these honors have been distributed, the medals adjudicated each 

 year have been won by young men in the public schools of Lan- 

 cashire, namely, Liverpool College, and Rossall School, near 

 Fleetwood. When we consider that all the leading schools of the 

 United Kingdom were invited to compete for these honors 

 (and several of them did so compete), the fact which I have just 

 mentioned does great honor to this prosperous mercantile county, 

 which among its rising generation doubtless contains many a 

 young aspirant to win the fame of Raleigh. 



" I may conclude this address by dwelling, for a few moments, 

 on the topics which, of all others, most interest myself, and I 

 doubt not, the great majority of my countrymen, the explora- 

 tions of inner equatorial Africa by Sir Samuel Baker, and of 

 Southern Africa by Dr. Livingstone. Sir Samuel, being thor- 

 oughly well supported with those appliances which the Viceroy of 

 Egypt has so liberally afforded him, will surely add largely to our 

 acquaintance with the vast central and watery region on either 

 side of the equator. A letter which he wrote to me from Khar- 

 toum, in March, 1870, stated that, having received in sections, on 

 the backs of camels, all the vessels of his river and lake flotilla 

 from England, as prepared by Mr. Samuda, he was full of hope 

 and confident of success. Recently, I have received a longer and 



