1868. | Geography and Ethnology. 535 
be a department of Ethnology or Anthropology, as there is now a 
department of Physiology, while there is also one of Zoology and 
Botany. 
Captain Richards, in his opening address, briefly reviewed the 
present state of geographical knowledge, adverting to those blanks 
on the surface of the earth which appeared to him to merit the 
labour and attention of future explorers, and dwelling briefly on the 
results which are certain to follow in the interests of science and the 
interests of humanity. He confined his attention to the present and 
the future rather than to the past. Amongst the dark spots on 
which the traveller and navigator have yet to throw light, Cap- 
tain Richards referred specially to Africa, Australia, New Guinea, 
Borneo, and the Arctic regions. The fate of Dr. Livingstone, and 
Dr. Neumeyer’s proposal for an organized exploration of the interior 
of Australia were both noticed, and regret was expressed that the 
desire on the part of a number of geographers for the prosecution 
of further polar search had not been reciprocated by the public and 
the Admiralty. 
The Norwich meeting following close upon the successful result 
of the Abyssinian expedition, it was naturally expected that Abys- 
sinian topics would bulk largely among the subjects of discussion. 
There were only two papers, however, on Abyssinia. One of these 
was “On the Physical Geography of Abyssinia,” by Mr. Clements 
R. Markham (Secretary, Roy. Geog. Soc.), geographer to the recent 
expedition. The author divided that portion of the country tra- 
versed by the expeditionary forces into three regions, according to 
the principal rivers draining them—the Mareb, the Atbara, and the 
Abai, or Blue Nile. In the northern region, that drained by the 
Mareb, Mr. Markham found plateaux 8,000 feet high, mountain- 
masses, and ridges from 9,000 to 11,000 feet high, wide valleys 
surrounded by the plateaux at a height of 7,000 feet, and deep 
ravines and river-beds varying in height from 4,500 to 6,000 feet. 
The plateaux consist of sandstone overlying a schistose rock 4,000 
feet thick, and this again rests on gneiss. In the region of the 
Atbara the most striking physical feature is the flat-topped sandstone 
cliffs,—the famous ambas. The southern region is entirely com- 
posed of volcanic rock, and is wholly mountainous. After describing 
these three regions in a somewhat detailed manner, Mr. Markham 
concluded as follows:—* It will be seen that the region which I 
traversed with the expeditionary field-force from the sea-coast to 
Magdala, a distance of more than 300 miles, is one of considerable 
geographical interest; and the operations of the expedition have 
added much to our knowledge. On the coast, the great system 
of eastern drainage comprised in the Ragolay and its tributaries has 
been discovered ; and old Father Lobo’s story of one of the plea- 
santest rivers in the world, with sweet herbs growing along its 
