Transactions. 141 



Mr Scott-Elliot was cordially cheered on rising to address tlie 

 meeting. Having in a few words expressed the pleasure with 

 which lie found himself again in Dumfries, he addressed himself 

 at once to the subject of his lecture. The funds for the expedi- 

 tion, he explained, were granted by the Royal Society of London; 

 and he briefly sketched his route. This was from Mombasa, 

 whicl) he left on fth November, 1893, to Lake Victoria Nyanza; 

 thence across Uganda to Mount Ruwenzori, his objective point. 

 This was reached on the 1st of April — a most inauspicious day, re- 

 marked the lecturer. On the return journey he passed down the 

 interior, by Lakes Tanganyika and Nyassa, until he reached the 

 coast at the mouth of the Zambesi. He gave a suggestive glance 

 at the duties of the leader of such an expedition, who, in addition 

 to his scientific observations, had to take his company of Swahili 

 porters under his wing as if they were a large family and he the 

 father, mother, and schoolmaster combined. One of the incidents 

 of the outward march was the encountering of a body of Masai 

 warriors, who proved very friendly, and subsequently falling in 

 with one of their great encampments, it being the practice of the 

 tribe to stay with their ilocks and herds for about ten days in 

 one place, and then move on to fresh pastures. Some of the 

 young women, he mentioned, were almost unable to walk on 

 account of the number of rings which they wore on their arms 

 and legs. The Uganda plateau, with its small rolling hills and 

 frequent marshes, and Ruwenzori (which he ascended to a height 

 of 13,500 feet), with its three distinct zones of vegetation, were 

 described in some detail ; and an account given of the persecution 

 to which the timid tribes inhabiting the land to the west of the 

 mountain have been subjected. He observed that two Europeans 

 with a foi'ce of perhaps 150 native soldiers, at an expenditure of 

 perhaps £1500 a year, would bring peace and pros])erity to the 

 whole of tiie tribes around that mountain. That would not be a 

 large sum for a nation like our own to spend ; and the country 

 which would thus be secured contained a great expanse of rich 

 virgin soil, covered with dense forest, and having a permanent and 

 abundant water supply. Mr Scott-Elliot bestowed a good deal of 

 attention on the river Kagera with the view of determining how 

 far it is navigatable and tlierefore available as a connecting link 

 between Tanganyika and the Victoria Nyanza, into which it flows. 

 He found it navigable to a point about forty miles from the head 

 of Tanganyika ; and he pointed out that, making use of the chain 



