SURVEYS AND MAPS - 47 



merits for and against the change to the metric system cannot be 

 given here, but as far as topographical maps are concerned there 

 is a strong case for the adoption of a unit of length which is not 

 only the scientific, but also the only unit which can ever become 

 truly international. It is worth remembering that in the future 

 Africans themselves will enter more and more into active partici- 

 pation in surveying, and that they are the people who actually use 

 maps even more than the British. Also it is significant that a con- 

 siderable part of British Africa already has the decimal system in 



coinage. 



Many maps of Africa are published locally by the printing and 

 publishing oflSces of the Dominions and Colonies. Since some of 

 these publications are not readily available in other parts of the 

 continent or in Europe, reference is made to the more important 

 'series' and 'general' maps.* All African territories are included, 

 not only those south of the Sahara, with which the African Research 

 Survey has been primarily concerned. 



In addition to the maps referred to under the separate territories, 

 the series on the scale of 1:1,000,000 of the Carte du Monde are 

 valuable. This series has already covered the greater part of 

 Northern Africa and a number of sheets have appeared for East 

 Africa and a few for the southern part of the continent. Full 

 details of the publications to date are to be found in a report issued 

 by the Central Bureau of the Carte du Monde (Ordnance Survey 

 ^937)- The Carte du Monde represents international effort to 

 co-ordinate the maps of the world, which has been in progress for 

 some years, and the publications indicate the important results 

 achieved. 



British 



The Union of South Africa has published an excellent general map 

 on 1:1,000,000 and has in contemplation a topographic series on 

 1 :500,ooo, but no sheet has yet appeared. The War Office series 

 on 1 :250,ooo of a portion of Cape Colony is still the only topo- 

 graphic map of that province. The Orange Free State has a 

 topo-cadastral series on i : 125,000; Basutoland is embraced by the 

 War Office i :250,ooo series. The Transvaal has a Degree sheet 



' A list of these has been kindly provided by Brigadier MacLeod. 



