GEOGRAPHY. 249 



northeast shore of the Victoria Nyanza. Returuiiig to the sea-coast the 

 same general route was followed, but the energetic traveler was delayed 

 by fever and accidents, by which he more than once nearly lost his life. 

 He succeeded early in June, 1884, in reaching the sea-coast at Mombasa, 

 having perfectly fulfilled the purpose for which the journey was under- 

 taken, and having very largely increased the knowledge of the regions 

 of equatorial Africa. Mr. Thomson showed the greatest courage, tact, 

 and skill as an explorer in this remarkable journey, and the detailed ac- 

 count of his travels which has now been published is, throughout, of en- 

 grossing interest. 



Mr. H. H. Johnston's exploration of Mount Kilimanjaro, undertaken 

 under the auspices of the British Association and the Royal Society, 

 during 1884, has confirmed and added to the information acquired by 

 Mr. Thomson's journey. 



French military geographers have completed, after four years' labor, a 

 complete map of Tunisia from Algeria to Tripoli, in twenty-one sheets, 

 on a scale of 1 : 100000. The sheets have been completed and published. 



In the Journal of the Eoyal Geographical Society for I^ovember is an 

 article by Sir R. W. Rawson giving an exact account of the partition 

 of the entire coast of Africa between various European and native pow- 

 ers. This paper is accompanied by a map showing in a striking man- 

 ner the claims of different nationalities. 



ARCTIC REGIONS. 



By far the most interesting and important event connected with Arc- 

 tic exi)loration during the past year, has been the rescue of the survivors 

 of the expedition commanded by Lieut. A. W. Greely, U. S. A., and 

 the story of their achievements. Unsuccessful attempts having been 

 made in 1882 and 1883 to communicate wath the station established at 

 Lady Franklin Bay in 1881 as one of the international meteorological 

 stations, a squadron of three ships, the Thetis, Bear, and Alert, with 

 officers and men of the United States Navy, commanded by Commander 

 W. S. Schley, U. S. N., was fitted out by the United States Government 

 in the spring of 1884 and sailed early in May for Smith Sound, to attempt 

 the rescue of the survivors or learn the fate of the expedition. The 

 Bear and the Thetis were Scotch whalers, purchased for the purpose ; 

 the Alert was given by the British Government for the expedition, and 

 had alread}'^ spent a winter in the Arctic, under command of Captain 

 Nares, R. N. On June 22 the survivors of the expedition, consisting of 

 Lieutenant Greely and six of his men, were found ai Cape Sabine, in the 

 last stages of starvation, one. Sergeant Ellison, dying after being taken 

 on board ship. The rest were brought back to the United States, where 

 they gradually recovered health and strength. 



The expedition left St. John's, ISTewfoundland, on July 7, 1881, and 

 was established on the shore of Discovery Harbor, whore, in latitude 

 81° 44', longitude 04° 45', a station called Fort Conger was planted. 



