78 Address. [Feb. 



going north. Father Guignard followed the former to Tu-do on the 

 frontier of Tran Ninh, which although belonging to Annam, is occupied 

 by Siamese. Here he visited the Meos, a tribe of Chinese origin who 

 have fine cattle, fruit trees, especially peaches, and a very large and 

 productive species of maize ; but they are ruined by opium smoking. 

 The wild Meos live on the top of the mountains. From Muong Xa the 

 party followed the Nam Tam till it joined the Nam Non at Muong 

 Lam ; then the Father went on up the Nam Non, which was a succession 

 of rapids and waterfalls, to Hat Bo and afterwards to the Muong Mat, 

 to obtain the release of two Christian captives. He returned in boats 

 furnished by the Muong Mat, most probably down the Nam Mat, to 

 Muong Lam, and thence he proceeded to Ka-chai via Kanh Trap. 



Under the superintendence of Captain Bauchet new maps of the 

 French possessions in S. E. Asia are being prepared at Hanoi, (1) in 

 40 sheets on the scale of 1 : 200,000, (2) a reduction of the above map 

 on the scale of 1 : 500,000, and (3) a general map on the scale of 1 : 

 1,000,000. The maps are printed in colours. 



Eastern Tibet. — In the Proceedings of the B. G. 8. Mr. A. E. Pratt has 

 published a very interesting narrative of two journeys from Shanghai 

 and Hankow, made in 1889 and 1890, to Ta-Tsien-lu on the eastern 

 borders of Tibet. In the course of the second journey he visited Mount 

 Omei, 11,000 feet high, and a Buddhist place of pilgrimage of great 

 sanctity. Here he several times witnessed the phenomenon known as 

 the " glory of Buddha." Mr. Pratt was engaged in collecting natural 

 history specimens, and the paper contains information regarding many 

 new plants, &c, found. He met Prince Henry of Orleans and M. 

 Bonvalot at Ta-tsien-lu, and it was by Mr. Pratt's instrumentality that 

 the collections made by the Prince were safely despatched to Europe. 



A full account of Mr. Rockhill's journey from China in the direction 

 of Lhasa, noticed in last year's address, has also been published during 

 the year. 



Central Asia, Eastern Turkestan. — In the Iswestia of the Russian Geo- 

 graphical Society, the brothers Grum-Grjimailo have given an account, 

 with a map, of the results of their expedition to the Tian Shan oases. 

 This account has been translated by Mr. E. D. Morgan, and is published 

 with the map in the Proceedings of ///< Royal Geographical Society. The 

 route taken by these travellers was noticed in last year's address, and their 

 observations and collections are now being worked out. An examination 

 of the hypsometrical observations made by Major-General Dr. von Tillo, 

 has revealed the existence of a depression in the hollow between the Tian 

 Shan and the Choi Tan range of the Altais near Lukchin, in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Tnrfan, from which it would appear that Lukchin is about 



