386 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY 



THE SOURCES OF THE NILE. 



AT the meeting of the Franklin Institute, on Sept. 19, Mr. G. W. 

 Smith called attention to a printed copy of a letter from Mr. James 

 McQueen, dated London, Aug. '26, stating that the sources of the Nile 

 hud at last been ascertained, in its main or eastern branch, by recent 

 journeys from the north and from the southeast roast of Africa ; Por- 

 tuguese travellers having recently made us acquainted with the sour- 

 ces of the western branch. The expedition of the Pacha of Egypt, in 

 January, 1840, traced it at the time to latitude 3 22' N., and longi- 

 tude 31 41' E., there 1,300 feet broad, and coming from the south- 

 east from a lake. From that point to the source is a distance, in the 

 general bearing, of 270 geographical miles, sufficiently great to form a 

 river of that magnitude, especially in a country so mountainous as that 

 portion of Africa is found to be. The Rev. Dr. Kraff, a missionary 

 long stationed in Eastern Africa, has at length obtained this important 

 information. In a journey he reached, in latitude 1 S. and longitude 

 35 30' E., Kitu, the capital of the Unbekani, a fine and friendly peo- 

 ple. There he saw to the northwest, distant about six days' journey, 

 Mount Kenia rising far above the limits of perpetual snow, from the 

 southern base and side of which springs the river Dani ; and to the 

 north of it, he was told, rose a river running north, down which the 

 people went, to the country of the white people, doubtless the Nile. 

 The Nile is, therefore, not only the longest river on the earth, but 

 runs through more degrees of latitude than any other known. 



THE RUIN AT NEWPORT, R. I. 



AT the meeting of the New York Historical Society, on Nov. 5, 

 Rev. Dr. Robinson referred to the celebrated ruin at Newport, R. I., 

 known as the " Old Windmill," which the scholars of Denmark, as 

 well as some in our own country, have considered the work of the 

 Northmen, who are supposed to have visited the spot long before the 

 discovery of America by Columbus. Dr. R. read an extract from the 

 will of Gov. Benedict Arnold, which was executed in 1676, in which, 

 speaking of the spot where he desired to be buried, he describes it as 

 " on the line or path leading from my house to my stone-built wind- 

 mill." The windmill spoken of here, Dr. Robinson maintained to be 

 the one whose ruins remain, inasmuch as no other windmill of stone 

 now exists, or is known to have existed, while its locality agrees with 

 the description, as the place of Gov. Arnold's burial is still known. 

 N. Y. Literary World, Nov. 30. 



It is proper to add, that many objections have been raised against the 

 view of Dr. Robinson. Editors. 



MEXICAN ANTIQUITIES. 



AT the meeting of the London Archaeological Institute, on April 5, 

 Mr. Empson exhibited a collection of gold ornaments, idols, and other 

 relics found in Mexico, in the Lake of Guativita, which had been re- 



