

GEOGRAPHICAL EXPLORATIONS AND DISCO VK1:II> IN' 1860. 



B4i 



taken so umlings in different portions of tlio 

 .1 tin. I that tho northern half is 

 oiithi-ni. The greatest 

 QCe frm land, is 

 ;hut of tlio latter i-s .';,(i;iti f.-rt in 

 . latitude, near tho island Kuriuski. 

 I L-. i;u-ian explorers are actively 

 . doping the hitherto unknown 

 t territory. The younger 

 .1 his companions are making astro- 

 -i of the southern border, -while 

 M. Lopatin and his companions are exploring 

 il geography and productions of the 

 i near tho mouth of tho Yenissei. Dur- 

 ing their tour this exploring party made the 

 riant di-covery of entire skeletons of inam- 

 inoths, \N hose skin and hair had been preserved 

 in frozen imid, like those found many years ago 

 at the mouth of tho Lena. The region where they 

 were found was an extensive flat country, and 

 lias tho appearance of having once been marshy. 

 head* of the animals were turned south- 

 ward, as if they had been retreating southward 

 when caught by an inundation proceeding from 

 1 ho north polar region, or by a change of climate 

 duo to a wide elevation of land, their former 

 pasture grounds being converted into the frozen 

 soil in which their remains are preserved to 

 this day. They must have been numerous, and 

 the diniato of that region very different from 

 ;.t it now is to enable them to subsist. 

 Japan. In tho interior of Yesso, a race of 

 hairy people called Ainos, who occupy nearly 

 the whole interior of that island, have been 

 discovered by Commodore Forbes. Professor 

 Huxley, who has examined their skulls, de- 

 . clares that they have no affinity with Mongo- 

 lians, but many with the Esquimaux. 

 Siam.A. French officer, in the employ of 

 -iameso Government, has recently discov- 

 iho ruins of a stupendous city of ancient 

 times in that kingdom, the name of which he 

 is Ancor-Viat. He has given in the 

 Jierue dc* Deux Monde* a description of these 

 ruins, which, after making allowance for some 

 exaggeration, must still be reckoned among 

 tin- wonders of the world. A city more than 

 CO miles in circumference, with ruined teiuples 

 and statues, all of white marble, and of such 

 gigantic height, that the ruins of the great 

 (. eutral American cities are utterly dwarfed in 

 the comparison, must excite the attention of 



Hers. 



VI. AFRICA. Mr. Samuel W. Baker, who, 

 with his heroic wile, amid tho greatest perils 

 whieh any African traveller has yet encountered 

 and survived, finally settled the question of tho 

 sources of tho Kile, has published an account 

 of his expedition, which is of thrilling interest. 

 The demoralizing influence of the slave trade 

 upon the chiefs and kings of the Upper Kilo 

 region is fully demonstrated, and the impossi- 

 bility of introducing civilizing influences among 

 these tribes while it continues, clearly shown. 



The particulars of the murder of the brave 

 Baron Von der Decken and his companion Dr. 



Link hare been ascertained. (See VON DRB DECK- 

 ER.) It was in the prosecution of his long-f -hcr- 

 ished purpose of approaching the lakes, which 

 form the sources of the Nile from tho south, that 

 tho intrepid Livingstone is reported to have lost 

 his life. Much interest has been felt during the 



Eist year in the expedition of Ilerr Gerhard 

 ohlfs into Soudan from the north, crossing 

 the Sahara, and exploring Fezzan and tho coun- 

 try of tho Tuaricks or Touarcgs. Ilerr Rohlfs is 

 84 years of age, a doctor of medicine and philos- 

 ophy, and a graduate of the Universities of Hei- 

 delberg, Wurzburg, and Gottingen, who joined 

 the foreign legion at Algiers, and distinguished 

 himself at the conquest of Kabylia. Being thor- 

 oughly familiar with, Arabic, and a proficient 

 in medicine, he assumed the mask of a follower 

 of Islam, and acting the part of a skilful physi- 

 cian, he determined to set forth on his travels 

 into Central Africa, hoping to penetrate to 

 Wadai, where the lamented Vogel was mur- 

 dered, and to recover his papers, which are be- 

 lieved to bo still in existence. His first at- 

 tempt to enter Soudan was unsuccessful, for 

 while traversing the Sahara of Morocco, he 

 was robbed and wounded by his guides, and 

 left for dead, alone in the desert, with a broken 

 arm. He was rescued by some Marabouts, re- 

 turned to Algiers, and attempted to set out for 

 Timbuctoo, but owing to the unsettled state of 

 the country, could not find a caravan with 

 which to travel. He then started for Wadai, by 

 way of Mourzouk, having a former servant of 

 Vogel's, Mohammed ben Sliman, as his ser- 

 vant and guide. Ho reached Mourzouk late 

 in 1865, and, after spending some months 

 there, left on March 25, 1866, for Kuka, the 

 capital of Bornou, on Lake Tsad. Ho arrived 

 in Kuka, July 22d, and, after some weeks, wrote 

 thence to Dr. Petermann. Kuka, ho says, is 

 a city of sixty thousand inhabitants, a busy 

 active mart, but its principal trade is in slaves. 

 Property and life are very insecure there. His 

 observations in regard to Mouzouk and Fezzan, 

 as well as the great desert, are very interesting. 

 He finds evidence that the great desert is un- 

 dergoing a change; that large tracts, hitherto 

 barren wastes of sand, are becoming fertile oase.5, 

 and yielding abundant fruits and grasses, while 

 others are still in a transition state. Two French 

 geographers, Messrs. Mage and Quintin, % have 

 been exploring the Niger, and have returned 

 from their expedition, but the results of their 

 explorations are not yet made public. From the 

 Lower Guinea Coast, the region of the Gaboon, 

 M. du Chaillu has penetrated into the interior, 

 the country of the gorillas and cannibals, and 

 was making extensive collections, when, in 

 a village in the interior,' one of his men ac- 

 cidentally discharged a gun, which caused the 

 death of two negroes. The negroes, hereupon, 

 believing him hostile, rallied for a fight, and as 

 he and his company fled,. his men threw away 

 all his instruments and collections in their 

 panic. Ho was himself twice wounded, but 

 finally reached the coast in rags and penniless. 



