GEOGRAPHICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS. 



491 



by a French expedition was mentioned in the 

 ' Annual Cyclopedia'' for 1861, proves to pos- 

 sess great interest. The narrative of the ex- 

 pedition throws much light upon the produc- 

 tiveness of the country in cotton, palm oil, 

 coffee, &c., as well as in minerals. The natives 

 of the Upper Gabun are said to be a milder and 

 more intelligent race than those of the coast. 

 Incidentally, most of M. du Chaillu's state- 

 ments are confirmed. An English explorer 

 has also visited this region and spent some 

 months among the people described by Du 

 Chaillu for the purpose of ascertaining the 

 truth of his narrative, and has communicated 

 to the Royal Geographical Society the results 

 of his investigations. In a few unimportant 

 particulars he disagrees with M. du Chaillu, 

 but moat of his statements confirm the accu- 

 racy of that traveller's observations. Major 

 Burton, the African traveller, now English 

 consul at Fernando Po, has also visited the 

 Gabiin country and sent to the Ethnological 

 society an account of the Fans, whose habits 

 and manners he had investigated ; he also con- 

 firms the observations of M. du Chaillu. A live 

 gorilla has been brought to London from this 

 region. 



In Upper Guinea, Dr. Baikie has been prose- 

 cuting his explorations in the region of the 

 Quorra, and Major Burton has taken a part in 

 the exploration ; but much delay has been ex- 

 perienced in consequence of the unusual 

 drought, which has made the streams very 

 shallow. The English occupation of Whydah 

 and Lagos has opened the way for new expedi- 

 tions into Yoruba and the mountainous district 

 lying from 70 to 120 miles from the coast, 

 which seem admirably adapted to the culture 

 of cotton, and are inhabited by an intelligent 

 and partially civilized race. By the occupation 

 of these ports, the slave trade has received a 

 severe blow. The French have continued, dur- 

 ing the past year, their explorations in Sene- 

 gambia, and the coast of the Sahara lying be- 

 tween that country and Morocco. Lieut. Pas- 

 cal visited Bambouk, but unfortunately fell a 

 victim to the climate ; and Lieut. Mage has 

 spent a considerable time among the Duaish, a 

 Berber tribe hitherto unknown, and has given 

 an interesting account of their customs and 

 manners. A line of telegraph has been con- 

 structed from St. Louis, at the mouth of the 

 Senegal, to Goree Island. The unicorn (not the 

 one-horned rhinoceros), so long regarded as a 

 fabulous animal, is believed, by recent explor- 

 ers in Central Africa, to exist. Dr. Baikie has 

 heard it described very minutely by native 

 hunters, who carefully distinguished it from 

 the one-horned rhinoceros, which it is said not 

 to resemble. Dr. Baikie gives the native 

 names by which it is known, and several other 

 explorers express their belief in its existence. 



ARCHAEOLOGY. The study of the remains of 

 antiquity, whether in its relation to history, 

 ethnology, or civilization, has received an ex- 

 traordinary Impulse within the past two or 



three years. Prior to the discoveries of lacus- 

 trine habitations and remajns in Switzerland in 

 1854, it had been confined almost exclusively to 

 the exploration of the relics of Roman, Greek, 

 Assyrian, Egyptian, Indian, or Aztec and Toltec 

 civilization, within the historic period, or at 

 least within a period which had its records of 

 some sort, hieroglyphic, hieratic, or pictorial. 

 The discoveries of M. Ferd. Keller, of Zurich, 

 and subsequently of Messrs. Uhlmann, Jahn, 

 Schwab, Troyon, Forel, Rey, Desor, and others, 

 of the remains of the dwellings, implements, 

 weapons, &c., of two distinct races who occu- 

 pied the shores of the Swiss lakes before the 

 historic period, have awakened much interest, 

 and led to extensive investigations in regard to 

 similar remains in other countries. Some ac- 

 count of these discoveries in Switzerland and 

 elsewhere is given in vol. xvi of the "New 

 American Cyclopaedia," p. YV6, under the title 

 of Lake Dwellings, and a more full and com- 

 plete one in the Report of the Smithsonian In- 

 stitution for 1861. pp. 344-396. It is only ne- 

 cessary to say here that these investigations 

 have been continued with increasing zeal dur- 

 ing the past year, many new lacustrian villages 

 discovered, and considerable light thrown upon 

 the fauna of the stone or earlier age. 



Turning from these to other archaeological 

 discoveries of the past year, we find that in 

 Egypt the late viceroy, Said Pasha, established 

 a museum of Egyptian antiquities in Cairo in 

 1861, and as a nucleus for a collection, purchased 

 Mr. Huber's (late consul general for Austria) 

 fine museum, which had been many years 

 in forming, and to this have been added large 

 numbers of articles from other sources. During 

 the year, a number of mummies richly decorated 

 were found by some boys at Gournoro, in ground 

 unmarked by any tomb. On being unwrapped, 

 more than thirty-five pounds weight of gold 

 ornaments, many of them richly jewelled, were 

 found on these mummies ; this unrivalled col- 

 lection has been deposited in this museum. 

 There are also some rare silver models of funeral 

 boats, with the rowers, a hatchet of gold with 

 a hunting scene on the blade, a mirror with a 

 lotus-shaped handle of gold, necklaces, brace- 

 lets, &c. 



In Algeria, Tuni, and Tripoli, many re- 

 mains of Roman buildings, baths, temples, 

 arches, inscriptions, lachrymatories, utensils for 

 cooking and worship, have been discovered 

 at Constantine. Krenig, Lambessa, Tebesor, 

 Philippeville and Robertville. Besides these, a 

 vast hypogeum has been discovered near Susa, 

 and a great number of sculptures and other ob- 

 jects of antiquity at Cyrene. Lieutenants Smith, 

 Porcher, and Carter, the discoverers of these 

 last, have forwarded them to the British 

 .Museum. 



M. Beule, one of the librarians of the Im- 

 perial Library of France, has been engaged for 

 nearly two years past in investigating the an- 

 cient'site of Carthage, and has not only been 

 able to trace the exact location of the Byrsa, 



