8 ERHARDT. [Nov. 26, 1855. 



authdr traversed the whole region between the Hadj road and the 

 borders of the desert in such a way as to enable him to cover it with a 

 network of compass bearings, embracing all the more important towns 

 and villages ; and these he connected with the well-defined summits of 

 Hermon and Mania. 



Several minor faults in Burckhardt are pointed out, and some conclu- 

 sions of M. de Saulcy contended against. Allusion is made to a recent 

 map of the Hauran by a Turkish officer of Engineers, Fezzy Bey, which 

 was found to contain nmch useful matter, though not strictly accurate 

 as a survey. 



Mr. Porter conceives that the whole range of Gebel Hauran, and not 

 the single peak of Kuleib, is the ancient Alsadamus Mons ; and as the 

 district which comprehends this mountain range is now called ^' Ard el 

 Bathanyeh," and for other reasons, he considers that this province is 

 identical with the ancient Batanea. 



2. Reports respecting Central Africa, as collected in Mamhara and 



on the East Coast, with a new Map of the Country. By the Rev. 



James Erhardt. 



Communicated by the Church Missionary Society. 



Vague reports have long since been heard by the missionaries in 

 Eastern Africa^ of lakes ; of mountains, isolated and in masses ; and of 

 a country whose slope and drainage was towards the interior. 



At Mombas, few opportunities offered themselves of meeting with tra- 

 velled natives ; but it was quite otherwise both at Faga and at Tanga. 

 At both of these places the missionaries stayed many months, and made 

 acquaintance with caravan leaders, Arabs j Suahelis, ivory -merchants, 

 and slave-dealers, whose reports corrected and corroborated what had 

 been told to them before. 



There are three main sets of routes from the coast to the interior, all 

 of which pass over a flat country, iand finally lead to an immense lake of 

 fresh water. Mr, Erhardt calls tliis the " Sea of Uniamesi," from the 

 country that affords the greatest extent of its eastern shores. But the 

 Waniamesi, the inhabitants of that country, call it '*Ukerewe;" else- 

 where it is called " Ni^ndja," and its southernmost extremity " Niassa." 



Very full geographical details are given in Mr. Erhardt's paper about 

 each part of these routes. He gives us also an account of its ferries, 

 where it is narrow, and of two voyages across it, where it is very broad ; 

 one of these is tiiat of an Arab, who also coasted along a large part of 

 4ts northern shores. 



The routes are as follows, and all of them run westerly and in the 

 *<lifeiBtiu'ns drawn by him on the accompanying diagram-map. 



