THE PRESENT STANDPOINT OF GEOGKAPHY. 401 



upon very imperfect materials. Mr. liavenstein, whose unrivalled 

 knowledge of all that concerns the mapping of Africa is well known, 

 has pointed out to me the want of reliable scientific observations even 

 on routes which have been traversed several times. It is not pos 

 sible to lay them down on a map with confidence in consequence of 

 these deficiencies. The Victoria Falls of the Zambesi, for instance, 

 have been visited by scores of travellers, but their exact geographical 

 position is still uncertain. Careful astronomical observations have 

 never been taken there. Then, again, the statements as to the height 

 of Lake Ngami above the sea actually vary between 15,260 and 3,700 feet. 

 The Tioge, which enters that lake on the north, has been repeatedly 

 ascended, but observations for latitude have never been taken. Sim- 

 ilar instances of opportunities neglected might be adduced from all 

 parts of Africa, the most deplorable one being that of the now aban- 

 doned Egyptian Sudan, where an extensive net of telegraphic wires 

 was never utilized for determining the longitudes of Khartoom and 

 other places of importance. 



On the other hand, we must remember the admirable work done by 

 our distinguished gold-medallist, Mr. O'Neill, in fixing the position of 

 Blantyre. Equally careful observations have been taken by the Belgian 

 officers in the basin of the Congo and on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. 

 Nor must 1 fail to record the good work of the members of the Anglo 

 Portuguese, Anglo-French, and Anglo-German boundary commissions, 

 and of the officers of the Royal Engineers who carried out the surveys 

 for a proposed Mombasa- Victoria railway. We must recognize estab- 

 lished facts. It is the work of scientific and carefully trained explorers 

 that we now need in Africa. The time for desultory exploring expe- 

 ditions is past. Some parts of Africa, including Algeria and Tunis, 

 Cape Colony, Natal, and Eritrea are now actually being surveyed. An 

 extension of such surveys, on the system proposed by Col. Trotter at 

 the Cardiff' meeting of the British Association, to other districts already 

 occupied by Europeans is much to be desired. In tlie end they would 

 prove cheaper than repeated expeditions yielding imperfect or unrelia- 

 ble materials for the mai)-maker. 



Their extension over the greater part of Africa can not of course 

 be thought of for many years to come. But I believe that it would be 

 quite possible to drive certain carefully selected trunk lines across the 

 continent which would serve as bases for all future exploration, and 

 which would enable us to utilize existing materials far more efficiently 

 than can be done at present. The positions of the main stations on 

 these trunk lines would be carefully fixed by astronomical ol)servations, 

 and there should be a number of meteorological stations supplied with 

 standard barometers, so that we may be able to compute our aneroid 

 observations with some confidence in the results. 



Such isthe work of the future as regards the African continent. There 

 are two great areas of the Sahara to be discovered. There is Wadai 

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