1868. | Geography and Ethnology. 539 
least valuable of the papers was the first on the list. Its subject 
was “The North-east Turkish Frontier and its Tribes,” by Mr. W. 
G. Palgrave, the gentleman whose picturesque and interesting 
description of his Arabian experiences is so fresh in the public 
mind. The paper in question contained an account of a visit paid 
by Mr. Palgrave to the north-east part of the Turkish empire in 
the summer of last year. The region lies to the south of the 
Caucasian mountains, with Mount Ararat in its centre. It is very 
fertile, admirably adapted for human habitation and increase, and 
difficult of access, owing to the nature of the mountain passes which 
surround it on all sides and render it a kind of natural citadel. 
Mr. Palgrave’s account of the people occupying this densely popu- 
lated region, their physical, intellectual, moral, and social character, 
whence they came, the rapid increase in their numbers, &c., greatly 
interested the audience. Grants of land are given to all persons 
who come from without and settle in this part of Turkish territory, 
and the fullest civil and religious liberty is enjoyed by them. The 
population is composed of Turcoman tribes, who are discontented 
with the Russian government, of Kurdish tribes; the victims of 
anarchical rule in Persia; and of Georgians and Circassians. The 
commingling and intermarriage of these various races are pro- 
ducing the very best examples of the Georgian type of the human 
species. Mr. Palgrave is very hopeful of these people forming 
an effectual barrier to the further encroachments of Russia, and 
that they may in course of time form a separate and independent 
nationality, and, as the allies and friends of Britain, help to 
develop the great means of communication between Europe and 
India by the valley of the Tigris and the Euphrates, of which they 
hold the key. 
Much curious information was mentioned in a paper by M. Vam- 
bery “On the Uigurs,” the most ancient Turkish tribe which 
settled in Chinese Tartary, a people who had a literature, and were 
very fond of books, at a time when the western world was profoundly 
ignorant and barbarous. In a paper by Mr. H. H. Howorth, “On 
the Nomade Races of European Russia,” some opinions were expressed 
regarding the origin of the Hungarian race, which M. Vambery 
regarded as being very heterodox and not based upon reliable data. 
That learned gentleman stated that the chief object which he had in 
visiting Central Asia was to discover, if possible, the true origin of 
the Hungarian race. He had come to the conclusion that it was 
neither Uigurian nor Turkish, and that the question must, in the 
meantime, remain undecided, from want of sufficient materials 
bearing upon it. 
Dr. R. J. Mann, special commissioner from the colony of Natal, 
read a paper “On the Gold-fields of South Africa,” in which he 
