380 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Oct. 



form of tlie continent revealed to be an elevated plateau, somewhat 

 depressed in the centre, with fissures at the sides, by which the 

 rivers escaped to the sea : and this great fact in physical geography 

 can never be referred to without mentioning the remarkable hy- 

 pothesis by which the distinguislied President of the Koyal Geo- 

 graphical Society (Sir R. 3Iurchison) clearly delineated it before 

 it was verified by actual observation of the altitudes of the country 

 and courses of the rivers. It was published in one of his fimous 

 anniversary addresses ; and he has been equally happy in his last 

 address in pointing out the ancient geological condition of the in- 

 terior of this continent as probably the oldest in the world — a fact 

 we, who were oq the spot, could but dimly guess. But he seems 

 to have the faculty of collecting facts from every source, and con- 

 centrating them into a focus in a way no one el^e can accomplish. 

 (Cheers.) We understand it only after he has made it all plain 

 in his study at home. Then followed the famous travels of Dr. 

 Barth and Francis Galton ; the most interesting discoveries of 

 Lake Zangnyika and Victoria Nyawya, of Captain Burton, and 

 Captain Speke, whose sad loss we all now so deeply deplore, and, 

 again, of Lakes Shirwe and Nyassa ; the discoveries of Van der 

 Decken and several others; but, last of all, the gr.md discovery of 

 the main source of the Nile, which every Englishman must feel 

 proud to know was accomplished by our countrymen Speke and 

 Grant. In all this exploration the main object in view has not 

 been merely to discover objects of nine days' wonder — to gaze, and 

 be gazed at by barbarians — I would not give a fig to discover even 

 a tribe with tails ! — but, in proceeding to the west coast, to find 

 a path to the sea, whereby lawful commerce might be introduced 

 to aid missionary efibrts. I was very much struck by observing that 

 the decided influence of that which is known as Lord Palmerston's 

 policy existed several hundreds of miles from the ocean. I found 

 piracy had been abolished, and that the slave-trade had been so far 

 suppressed as to be spoken of as a thing of the past ; that lawful 

 commerce ha I increased from 20,000/. in ivory and gold-dust to be- 

 tween 2.000,000?. and 3,000,000?., 1,000,000/. of which was in 

 palm-oil to our own country ; that over twenty missions had been es- 

 tablished, with schools in which 12,000 pupils were tanght ; that 

 life and property were secure on the coast, and comparative peace 

 established in large portions of the interior ; and all this was at a 

 time when, from reading the speeches of well-informed gentlemen 

 at home, I had come to the conclusion that our cruisers had done 



