320 * RECORD OF SCIENCE FOR 1886. 



In this connection it might be well to mention the fact that Grenfell 

 and V. Fran9oi8 have been travelling up the various tributaries, one 

 after another, as far as their little vessel could go, and have been re- 

 naming them all. 



The Kingdom of Muata Yamvo, so well described by Pogge, has been' 

 recently visited by de Carvalho on a political mission from Portugal, in 

 which he is said to have been successful. 



After a while we may get some definite idea of the limits of the re- 

 gions of this continent, concerning which almost all the various nations 

 of Europe have been contending. The International Boundar\' Com- 

 mission have been having a difficult time locating the artificial limits 

 of these so-calletl states, which are sometimes marked by problematical 

 rivers. The members of the French Commission, Rouvier and Ballay, 

 and those of the Congo Free State, ascended the Congo, trying to find 

 the mouth of the Licona, which was to be the boundary' according to 

 the terms of the Berlin treaty. They reached the Bunga without find- 

 ing the Licona, and here the delegates of the two states signed a de- 

 claration which states " that the Licona of the maps and of the treaty 

 is nothing more than the Bunga." 



French Congo has been explored by J. De Brazza, wlio passed down 

 the Sekoli from a point near its source, for some distance, and then 

 traveled to the north and eastward. They intended going down the 

 river to its juncture with the Congo on their return, but the natives 

 would not supply them with canoes. They made boats for themselves, 

 and afcer a month's hard work reached the junction of the Sekoli and 

 Ambili. Later along they reached the Congo, and then made their way 

 back to the coast from Bunga station by way of the Alima and Ogowe. 



In South Africa the only expedition now in the field is that of Dr. 

 Holub. There have been many explorations in previous years which 

 we are just commencing to hear from ; for example, that of Capello and 

 Iveus, which extended from coast to coast; that of Montague Kerr from 

 Cape Colony to the Zambesi and Lake Nyassa ; that of Schulze to Lake 

 Ngami, and more recently that of Farini across the Kalahari Desert to 

 Lake Ngaini. A rather energetic and carefully-planned expedition to the 

 Lower Kiger and the Sokoto was made by Thomson last jear. They 

 steamed up these rivers as far as they could go, with their caravan al- 

 ready mounted, on board the vessel which carried them, and, when they 

 could go no further, lauded and were oft' before the natives knew what 

 was going on or could recover from the suri)rise. Their object was to 

 conclude treaties with the sultans of Hansa. Their promptness prob- 

 ably saved their lives, but all tlieir papers and baggage were lost. The 

 lower portion of the Niger is held by the English nation, who control all 

 the commerce of this region from their station at the junction of the 

 Niger and the Benue. A German station has been founded at Bakundi 

 by Flegel, the explorer of the Torraba. The upper part of the river has 

 been carefully explored by Davoust, for, although previously studied by 



