366 Geographical Collections. 



Exploration of California — Dr. Coulter, a distinguished British naturaKst now 

 resident in Mexico, intends exploring the interesting and unknown districts of Cali- 

 fornia. He is stated to be a good astronomer, and to be furnished with instruments ; 

 he is to spare neither time nor money in his expedition. He intends embarking at 

 San Bias, travelling by sea to Monterez, which he will make the centre of his excur- 

 sions into New California. He will first reconnoitre Lake Timpanogos and the 

 Salt Lake ; he will ascertain whether the river San Francisco or Buenaventure 

 does not take its origin from this first lake ; he will afterwards return to Monter- 

 ez, and descend by land towards Port Deigo, from whence he will go to the 

 mouth of the western Rio Colorado and ascend to its source. He will thus as- 

 certain if Lake Timpanogos does not pour its waters into the Gulf of California 

 by the Rio Colorado, or whether it flows into the Pacific Ocean by the San Fran- 

 cisco, as some geographers suppose. After having examined the source of the 

 Rio Colorado, Dr. Coulter will pass the Rocky Mountains as much to the south 

 as possible, will descend the Rio Bravo del Norte as far as the parallel of New 

 Mexico, and thence he will go and seek the source of the Red River, or Rio 

 Roxe, whose course he will follow to the Mississippi. 



De Humboldi's Travels in the Ural.— The French say that the English 

 newspapers have spoken of the late journey of De Humboldt to the Ural 

 Mountains with a puerile jealousy which characterizes every line. They should 

 be aware that in matters connected with science these organs of public opinion, 

 in almost every country, are mostly plagiarists, and what has appeared in one 

 paper will often run the circuit of a periodical press. We do not ourselves 

 profess to have seen the remarks, which have been attributed to an eminent 

 geologist, once united by the ties of friendship to De Humboldt, or we should 

 have corrected the erroneous impressions ; but though we have often express- 

 ed our opinion of the extreme mineralogical riches of the Ural Mountains, we 

 cannot see, in the first place, that Russia can benefit by them so exceedingly 

 and so suddenly as to excite our jealousy ; nor can we see, in the second, why we 

 should be more susceptible of those feelings than our continental neighbours. 

 "VVe are, further, as far from thinking, both from the geological age of the chain, 

 from the maniere d'etre of the metals and precious stones, from the mineralogical 

 character of the products, and, without putting too much stress on such an ar- 

 gument, from analogy with more distant countries, and lastly, from the neglect 

 that has attended these mountains where "Targent ne se montre que mtle. a Vor," 

 that their products will in future supply the ancient continent, or that the mines 

 of America, worked by the fire worshippers of Peru and Mexico, " have already 

 passed through the crucibles of the Europeans !" 



The French journals like to harp upon the quantity of meat devoured by our 

 countrymen. The population of London is 1,225,000 individuals, who consume 

 189,710,000 lbs. of meat, or 155 lbs. each. The population of Paris, valued 

 at 715,000 inhabitants, consumes 61,927, 444 French lbs. of meat, or 36 French 

 lbs. each. Brussels, with a population of 100,000, consumes 8,888,024 French 

 lbs. of meat, or about 89 lbs. each, and consequently, most certainly not 3 lbs. 

 more than an inhabitant of Paris, as stated in the Correspondence Mathematique 

 et Physique, Ir. liv. T. VL 



The utility of balloons for geographical purposes has been again discussed 

 in the Annates Maritimes et Coloniales. We have but one opinion as to their 

 utility not only to geography, but in time of war to stratagem, and in time 

 of peace to rapidity of communication; we only wait for their practical appli- 

 cation, the discoverer of which will confer a benefit on mankind. 



The sensation of an earthquake at Smyrna has been communicated to the 



