1866. | Geography and Ethnology. 557 
trary, the sharpness of the bends of a large river flowing through 
such a plain will indicate the existence of a considerable slope. 
The longer a river becomes by extending its delta into the sea, tho 
greater tendency will there be to assume a more direct course. 
The paper was accompanied by’elaborate plans and sections, and 
contained numerous detaiis and pregnant generalizations which 
render it of high value. It will probably be read and discussed at 
an evening meeting of the Geographical Society during the ensuing 
session. 
Another paper of the same class was read by Mr. Markham, 
“On the Aleppy Mud-bank in South-Western India,” showing the 
existence of a subterranean passage for the fine silt impelled by the 
back-waters of this part of the coast, under the belt of coast land, 
into the sea. There was also a physico-geographical paper by 
Professor Ansted “On the Peninsula of Taman and the Eastern 
part of the Crimea,” which described a line of mud volcanoes at 
Taman recently visited by the author, and showed that these 
voleanic outbursts, which changed the geographical outline of this 
district, formed part of a line of up-heavals which extended a 
distance of 1,000 miles, and were the remains of the ancient line of 
elevation when, after the glacial epoch, the regions to the north 
were raised above the level of the sea. An interesting paper. was 
also communicated by Commander Lindsay Brine “ On the Volcanic 
Eruptions at Santorin,” the progress of which he had himself 
witnessed. He gave the result of soundings in the crater-harbour 
of the island, which showed how limited was the area of sea-bottom 
affected by the volcanic disturbance. 
Reverting to Africa, there were several papers on different 
portions of this continent, so fertile in subjects of geographical and 
popular interest, besides those of Baker and Du Chaillu. Dr. 
Mann, the Superintendent of Education at Natal, read two papers, 
which were listened to with great attention, one “On the Physical 
Geography and Climate of Natal,” and the other “On the Kaffirs.” 
Dr. Mann has been for eight years a resident in Natal, and showed 
himself to have been a close observer, both of its physical phenomena 
and of the character of its indigenous inhabitants. He gave a 
very clear sketch of the peculiar configuration of the colony, its 
land frontier of mountain ridges rising to an average height of 
5,400 feet, with their projecting spurs, each having minor spurs 
in pinnatifid form, graduating in level towards the sea, so that the 
surface of the land has a gradient from the sea upwards of 1 in 70. 
Between each ridge lies a deep valley through which flows a stream, 
and no less than 50 distinct rivers find their way to the sea along 
150 miles of coast. Meteorological tables and diagrams were 
exhibited, and the climate described as a subtropical one, but 
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