GEOGRAPHICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS. 



489 



At first he thought them the remains of Burke" s 

 party, but was soon convinced that this was an 

 error ; and as no party of such a number was 

 known to have been murdered, he was left in. 

 doubt. The lake he named Lake Massacre. 



In Xew South Wales, Capt. Randall, in com- 

 mand of the frigate Gemini, has ascended the 

 Darling river, an affluent of the Murray, to 

 Walgate, a village within sixty miles of the 

 boundary of Queensland, passing through a 

 >u hitherto unexplored. 



Dr. Seeman, who was sent out by the Brit- 

 ish Government to examine the climate, pro- 

 ductions, &c., of the Fiji Islands, the inhabit- 

 ants of which desired their annexation to Great 

 Britain, has published his report. He states 

 that the islands are volcanic and coralline in 

 their origin, that they are remarkably free 

 from all forms of malignant fevers, and so fer- 

 tile that, though very indifferently cultivated, 

 they support a population of 200,000. Sugar, 

 coffee, tamarinds, tobacco, and cotton are cul- 

 tivated with success, and among the native or 

 naturalized productions are sandal wood in 

 great abundance, four oil-yielding and five 

 starch-yielding plants, four different spiees, 

 twelve edible roots, eleven potherbs, thirty-six 

 edible fruits, and a vast number of medicinal, 

 fibrous, scent-yielding, and ornamental plants 

 and shrubs. The list of choice timber trees 

 growing upon the mountains is very exten- 

 sive. 



The progress of geographical discovery in 

 Africa has brought to light many new facts 

 during the past year, but the great problems 

 of the source of the White Nile, the conforma- 

 tion of the vast equatorial region, and the char- 

 acter of the tribes which inhabit it, are still 

 unsolved, though each year brings us a little 

 nearer to them. Beginning with the empire 

 of Morocco, which, though not wholly unknown, 

 has been little traversed by Europeans, we 

 have four works published the last year which 

 will throw much light upon its topography, 

 people, and history. The Canon Leon Godard, 

 who spent two years (1858 and 1859) in the 

 northern part of the empire, has published an 

 interesting narrative of his journeyings : M. 

 Amtdee Barbie du Bocage, the associate secre- 

 tary of the "French Geographical Society,'' 

 has compiled a resume of all the known facts 

 relative to the geography of the empire : M. 

 Edward Schlagentweit, one of the Bavarian 

 family of geographers who joined the Spanish 

 army in its late war with Morocco (gee AFRICA), 

 has published a treatise on the ethnography of 

 Morocco, and M. Beaumier has translated from 

 the Arabic an interesting " History of the Sov- 

 ereigns of Moghreb and Annals of the Citv of 

 Fez." 



Passing eastward through Algeria and the 

 Barbary States, where some interesting archae- 

 ological discoveries have been made, we notice 

 that Commandant Mircher, chief of staff of the 

 governor-general of Algeria, in the autumn of 

 1862, by direction of his chief, visited Ghada- 



mt-s. a town lying at the foot of the Black 

 Mountains, in the extreme southwest of Tripoli, 

 and on the loth of December, 1862, concluded 

 a treaty with the Touaregs, or Tuaricks, one 

 of the principal Arab tribes of the Sahara, by 

 which they bound themselves to convoy and 

 accompany the French caravans in crossing 

 the Sahara to Soudan. 



Egypt offers nothing new or of interest geo- 

 graphically except the progress which is mak- 

 ing in the completion of the Suez Canal, and 

 thus reopening the water communication which 

 once existed, though by a different route, be- 

 tween the Red and Mediterranean Seas. The 

 source from which its great river flows, is, 

 however, still the subject of as intense specu- 

 lation as ever, and expeditions still fruitless in 

 attaining their object have sought by ap- 

 proaches from the north and from the east to 

 penetrate the secret of ages. 



M. Lejean, who succeeded in penetrating to 

 4 37' X., but was compelled to return, has 

 published a report upon the antiquities, pro- 

 ductions, and topography of Eastern Soudan 

 and Nubia, which is full of interest, and has 

 contributed materially to our knowledge of the 

 region of the White Nile by carefully prepared 

 maps and plans. In the " Annual Cyclopaedia" 

 for 1861 the death of Dr. Peney, who had 

 reached 3 30' N., was mentioned. His papers 

 and collections in natural history and ethnog- 

 raphy were carefully preserved and forward- 

 ed to the "French Geographical Society" by 

 Espinasse Bey. 



Two brothers, Messrs. Poncet, who have 

 been for some years hunting in the region of 

 the White Nile, have by their frequent com- 

 munications to the "Geographical Society'' 

 rendered much service to geographical sci- 

 ence. Several ecclesiastics of the mission of 

 the Holy Cross, missionaries in Nubia, Fathers 

 G. Beltrame. Morlaug Kauff'man, and Kircher, 

 have made valuable contributions to the eth- 

 nography, philology, and geography of their 

 districts. A corps of naturalists have made 

 their headquarters at Khartum, and from thence 

 have made several excursions which have been 

 fruitful in scientific results. A proposition has 

 been made and a considerable sum subscribed 

 by these naturalists and other French geogra- 

 phers to place a small steamboat upon the White 

 Nile, and ascend in it to a higher point than 

 any yet reached, and thus prosecute the explo- 

 ration. 



In connection with this problem of the source 

 of the White Nile, the explorations from the 

 east through Zanguebar possess much interest. 

 Rev. Dr. Krapf, who spent eighteen years as a 

 missionary in that region, and to whom and 

 his associate Rebmann we are indebted for the 

 first knowledge of the existence of the lofty 

 mountains Kenia and Kilimanjaro, lying be- 

 tween 1 and 4 S. of the equator, has return- 

 ed to Mombaz to commence anew his explora- 

 tions in the interior. The Baron Yon der 

 Decken and Mr. R. Thornton, formerly one of 



