470 Chronicles of Science. | July, 
his name and the news of his approach seem to have influenced the 
African potentates in releasing their guests, who were glad to be rid 
of their misplaced hospitality. Until the return of the consul to this 
country, it will of course be impossible to judge of the endeavours he 
made to assist the course of discovery. In the meantime there seems 
to be a probability that Captain Speke may again be leaving this 
country for the interior of Africa, not only under the auspices of the 
Geographical Society, but with some material assistance from the 
Emperor of the French. 
Three papers on New Zealand have been read before the Society. 
They all referred to the Middle Island ; the first being an Account of 
an expedition to the west coast of the Middle Island by Dr. Hector ; 
the second, a Survey of the lake district of Otago, by James M. 
Kerrow, Esq.; and the third, On the southern Alps of Canterbury, 
Middle Island, New Zealand, by Dr. Haast. The mountains described 
in the first and third of these papers are extremely interesting. They 
rise somewhat near the west coast: first, in hills covered with beech 
forests ; then, white-blossomed willows succeed; after that, rocky 
boulders announce real mountain scenery. These New Zealand Alps 
are remarkable for their glaciers, and are said to present a counterpart 
of what Scotland must have been in what is called the glacial age. The 
snow line appears to be about 8,000 feet above the level of the sea, but 
is higher on the north-western side than on the south-eastern, the former 
being the side most exposed to wind, and also to the moisture collected 
by the wind in its passage over the ocean. But though the snow line is 
so elevated, the glaciers push down into the valleys as low as 3,500 
feet above the sea. A glacier, named after Dr. Haast at the ele- 
vation of 5,500 feet, is 500 feet thick. Another, the Tasman glacier, 
is 12 miles long, and at its lower extremity is a mile and three- 
quarters wide. The mountains themselves frequently reach the height 
of 10,000 feet in isolated peaks. The highest, Mount Cook, is 30 
miles from the west coast, and reaches the elevation of 12,460 feet 
(just that of the Adler Pass between Saas and Zermatt). The cha- 
racter of the chain is peculiar—a long ridge accessible at most points, 
though reaching sometimes 8,000 feet, interspersed with higher cols, 
forms the watershed of the island—the streams on the western side 
running in torrents to the sea, whilst the eastern flow more gently 
over a greater extent of plain, and passing through some extensive 
lakes, which act as locks to regulate the pace at which the collected 
waters make their way to the sea. Some of these lakes are of great 
extent. The Te-Anan and Manipori lakes drain a district of many 
hundreds of miles. They exhibit traces of much greater depth in former 
times, and in some cases the rocks run sheer down to the water from 
some hundreds of feet high. Great numbers of very beautiful trees 
are found in various localities, fuchsia and éutw growing to trees with 
trunks of two fect in diameter; beech, pine, and totaru being plentiful. 
A low pass has been discovered over the Andes by Don Guillermo 
Cox, whose paper, translated by Sir Woodbine Parish, was read before the 
Society. 2,800 feet was the altitude at which the summit was reached. 
The discoverer equipped an expedition at his own cost at a German 
