10 MUSEUMS. 



been brought back specimens of their pottery, of their primitive 

 quernlike mills, of their basket- work, and of their weaving appara- 

 tus. The expedition has likewise brought back and deposited in the 

 British Museum two large blocks of stone inscribed with an ancient 

 script, which may perhaps throw some light on the language of the 

 people who occupied the island in a past age, and of whose cyclopean 

 remains interesting photographs have been obtained. 



In addition to the biological collections— in which six new genera 

 and sixtv-seveii new species have been already described— a number 

 of geological specimens were brought together, which have been 

 examined by Dr. Gregory, of the British Museum. 



A daily meteorological register was kept, and trigonometrical and 

 astronomical observations conducted by the Director. From the 

 latter a new map of the island will, be constructed. 



The results of the expedition, in regard to the question of geo- 

 graphical distribution, add little to what the investigations of 

 Balfour, Schweinfurth, and Riebeck have established; but several 

 of the zoological species confirm the presence, indicated by the 

 botany, of a iSouth American element in the biology of the island ; 

 and as Professor Balfour reports, the botanical specimens further 

 support the African — especially the Abyssinian and Somaliland — 

 connection, strengthen the bonds with the opposite Asiatic main- 

 land, and further illustrate most interestingly the remarkable East 

 Indian relationship. 



The full report on the results of the expedition, to be shortly pub- 

 lished as a special vohime, will contain a Narrative of the Expedi- 

 tion, and complete lists of the fauna and flora of the islands visited, 

 with coloured figures of all the new species, with notes on their 

 Geology and Anthropology. 



II. — Visitors. 



During the year there has been a decrease in the number of 

 visitors to the Museums compared with that of the previous year, as 

 shown by the following table : — 



