242 SCIENTIFIC RECORD FOR 1884. 



concludes, from all available evidence, tliat while it is possible that 

 Lake Mistassini is larger than Lake Ontario, it is extremely improbable. 

 The inference drawn by Sir J. H. Lefroy as to the size of the lake in 

 question cannot be justified by any statement in the paper communi- 

 cated to the section by the Rev. Abb6 Laflamme regarding it. Explora- 

 tions are now in progress to determine its actual extent and configu- 

 ration. In a paper read before the annual meeting of the Quebec Geo- 

 graphical Society, Mr. Bignell, a land surveyor, gave an account of the 

 country surrounding Lake Mistassini, and stated that he had explored 

 the lake for 120 miles without reaching the main body of water. He 

 expressed the opinion that the lake would be found to be an expansion 

 of Rupert River, as the great American lakes are of the Saint Lawrence. 

 Mr. R. G. Haliburton (Journal of Royal Geographical Society, Jan- 

 uary, 1885) argues very i)lausibly and effectively in favor of placing 

 " Vinland the Good," discovered by Eric the Red in A. D, 994, in New- 

 foundland instead of Rhode Island. Mr. Haliburton points out that the 

 test commonly relied upon to establish the identity of Vinland and Rhode 

 Island, viz, the latitude consequent on the length of the shortest day 

 there, has been completely disproved by the Icelandic-English diction- 

 ary of Vigfasson (Oxford, 1874), which shows that a correct translation 

 would make the day much shorter than the shortest day experienced in 

 the latitude of Rhode Island, and would consequently i)lace the latitude 

 of Vinland farther north. 



r 



SOUTH AMERICA. 



One of the least known of the Brazilian rivers has been the Xingu, 

 which was recently explored and mapped by three German travelers, 

 Dr. Karl von den Steinen, Wilhelm von den Steinen, and Otto Klaus. 

 These gentlemen left Cuyaba, in the province of Matto Grosso, in May, 

 1884, and proceeded by land to one of the sources of the Xingu which 

 they named Batovy, for the president of Matto Grosso. They then, in 

 Julj', embarked in canoes, and proceeding down the river, reached the 

 junction of the Xingu and the Amazon in October, thence going to Para 

 and Rio de Janeiro, Very many rai)ids were encountered, and numer- 

 ous tribes of Indians were met who had never seen a white man and 

 who use only implements of stone and of bone. The members of the 

 expedition suffered severely from hunger during tlfe first part of the 

 trip, living entirely on beans for a month. Large quantities. of India 

 rubber trees were found, but the numerous rapids in the Xingu preclude 

 the use of the river as a commercial route. 



M. Emile Thouar, who is known from his journey up the Pilcomayo 

 River in search of the unfortunate Crevaux expedition, has undertaken 

 another journey in the same region. After ascending the Paraguay 

 River he will devote some time to the examination of the Pilcomayo 

 delta and to seeking an available trade route from Bolivia by way of 

 the Paraguay River, and will then carry out the work with which he 



