Jan. 24, 1859.1 ON THEIR DISCOVERY OF LAKE UJIJI. 113 



sea) I have set off from the compass-bearings, in conjunction with 

 the latitudes ; it makes a distance of about 23 miles : the time 

 occupied in rowing was the same either way — 11 hours incessant. 



To diminish the disappointment, caused by the shortcoming of 

 our cloth, in not seeing the whole of the sea Ujiji, I have proposed 

 to take a flying trip to the Ukerewe lake, while Captain Burton 

 prepares for our return homewards. This business must be done 

 speedily, or the ponds and puddles drying up, will render onr pro- 

 gress seawards difficult. The only instruments I shall take with 

 me will be one sextant and horizon for latitudes, one compass, and 

 one thermometer (boiling). 



The year appears evenly divided into two seasons — wet and dry 

 — each lasting six full months. We have fairly gone through six 

 of wet, and now know nothing but sun and wind : both elements 

 are very strong. This is a shocking country for sport; there 

 appears to be literally nothing but elephants, and they, from con- 

 stant hunting, are driven from the highways. All I have ever 

 succeeded in shooting have been a few antelopes and guinea-fowls, 

 besides hippopotami, near the coast. 



I have the honour to be, Sir, 



Your obedient Servant, 



To Dr. Norton Shaw, ^' ^^ S^^^' ^J^P^^i^ ^^"g^ ^'"^^y- 



The President. — We cannot but gratefully return our thanks to the gallant 

 authors of these communications. Many of us are well acquainted with the 

 previous remarkable exploits in foreign travel which Captain Burton has per- 

 formed, and he is now associated with a man who seems to be his equal. 



I beg to call your attention in a very few words to the remarkable journey 

 that these adventurous men have made. We are not yet acquainted with all 

 the scientific details, nor able to answer for the exact longitude and latitude 

 of different places ; for you have heard how the travellers have been exposed 

 to dire illnesses, and have been rendered almost incapable of making observa- 

 tions. They estimate, however, the distance of the Lake Ujiji from the 

 Eastern Ocean, or Zanzibar Coast, to be not less than 500 miles in a straight 

 line. This progress into the interior of Africa, on so high a parallel, is a 

 geographical feat second only to that which our illustrious friend Livingstone 

 has performed. Their observations made in traversing this tract of country 

 may lead us to doubt the approximate estimate made by the eye of the mis- 

 sionaries, who had seen very lofty mountains, on a more northern parallel, and 

 which, though under the equator, were said to be covered with perpetual 

 snow, and consequently at least 22,500 feet high. Upon these statements, it 

 has been supposed that these mountains might be an extension of the Moun- 

 tains of the Moon. 



I call your attention to a section, now exhibited, representing the altitudes of 

 the region which Burton and Speke have traversed. The highest point they 

 ascended, as I understand from their observations, is not more than 3,500 feet 

 above the level of the sea. Consequently, if the mountains seen and approached 

 by the Missionaries on the north, should be found to occupy the lofty heights 



