114 REPORT—1852. 
of that Society. From these we learn that several districts in the country referred 
to were, owing to their great elevation, very healthy, and that the people on the 
coast were Mohammedans. The travels of Rebmann and Krapf in these districts 
led to the discovery of ¢wo snow-capped mountains directly under the equator. This 
mountainous region was believed to be the source of the true Nile. The territories 
of the Imaum of Muscat were confined to the coast from the Red Sea to 10° south 
latitude. 

On the most Rapid Communication with India via British North America. 
By Capt. Synee. 
Having pointed out that a route towards the North by a line almost direct from 
England, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, would be the shortest, the 
writer compared the relative advantages afforded in British America and the States 
when another line was proposed, and stated that the former possessed superior 
facilities. The plan which he suggested was composed of four distinct links of com- 
munication, each independent in itself, capable of separate execution, and opening 
up important sources of profit. Railways throughout Nova Scotia and New Bruns- 
wick, connecting the seaboard with the interior, were essential to the success of the 
plan, The Report then entered into details of the project; which contemplated the 
connexion of Lake Superior, Winipeg, the Rainy Lake, and the rivers and lakes in- 
tervening, to the foot of the Rocky Mountains, and thence, by creating permanent 
dams or reservoirs, to open the passes through those mountains, and regulate the 
descent of the waters to the Pacific. The paper entered into the calculations of the 
altitudes of the lakes, the highest water being estimated at about 1400 feet above 
tide-water ; and having referred to the ascent accomplished in the Welland Canal, 
and the necessity of a perfect geographical survey to ascertain the levels with pre- 
cision, the writer urged the practicability of the design, and gave elaborate details of 
the beauty and fertility of the country to show the important results which might be 
obtained from opening up the communication. 
Late Explorations in Syria and Palestine. 
By the Chevalier Van DE VELDE, of the Dutch Navy. 

On the Upper Nile. By Consut VANnDEY. 
STATISTICS. 
On the Present State of the Law of Settlement and the Removal of Paupers 
in Scotland. By Professor Auison, M.D., F.RSL. 
Havine remarked on the difference of this law in Ireland, England, and Scotland, 
the Doctor denounced that of the two latter kingdoms as repugnant to justice and 
common sense; and cited various authorities (¢. g. Adam Smith, Turgot, and Sir 
Robert Peel) to show that its impolicy, as impeding the free circulation of labour, 
and the hardships inflicted by it, e. g. in times of distress in manufacturing districts, 
when labourers from thence, knowing nothing of agriculture, were sent back to agri- 
cultural districts merely because they had been born there, had been long since 
clearly pointed out by the most competent judges. 
The law of settlement and removal lately introduced into Scotland had frequently 
frustrated the otherwise beneficial working of the new poor law. Strangers were 
allowed to obtain a settlement in any part of Scotland by five years’ residence with- ~ 
out parochial aid ; and this provision he thought equitable, but it was coupled with 
others, often rendering it quite ineffectual for the relief of the poor, and very bur- 
thensome, at least to the charitable amongst the higher ranks. The ill-understood 
boundaries of parishes in towns were one main cause of such evils, Again, a man, 

