GEOGRAPHICAL PROGRESS AND DISCOVERY IN 1876. 



331 



ity of which was advocated by M. Roudaire, for- 

 merly, in the Revue des Deux Mondes, in conse- 

 quence of which an investigation was under- 

 taken, conducted by Henri Duveyrier, under 

 the auspices of the Parisian Geographical So- 

 ciety, whereby it was proved that the portion 

 of the Sahara in Algeria and Tunis, called the 

 Shott Melrir, is depressed below the level of the 

 Mediterranean ; but another expedition, under 

 the Italian Antinori, proved that the land which 

 lies between this depression and the sea is 

 formed of rock instead of sand, thus rendering 

 the excavation too costly. The sixth group 

 considered the question of the propagation of 

 geographical knowledge, and the method of in- 

 struction: debating whether geographical di- 

 dactics ought to commence with topography or 

 with cosmography, the principle was received 

 that instructors should proceed from the known 

 to the uncertain and abstract, and lead up to 

 the description of the globe and general cos- 

 mographical notions through topographical 

 .studies and partial maps ; it was advised that a 

 professoriate of geographical science be estab- 

 lished in every university. The seventh group 

 dealt with exploration, travels undertaken for 

 scientific, commercial, or artistic purposes. 

 While the other sections were attended by only 

 20 or 30 on an average, 150 to 200 participators 

 were present at these meetings. Gerhard Rohlf s 

 described his travels through the Libyan Desert, 

 and from Tchad Lake to the Gulf of Guinea; 

 Nachtigal related his adventures in Central 

 Africa; Sawerzow recounted his Asiatic ex- 

 plorations ; and Soleillet described his journey 

 in farther Algeria. His starting-point, Goleah, 

 latitude 30 40' north, is the southernmost oasis 

 in the French dominion ; Ain Ssala, the goal of 

 expedition, lies about 80 miles to the south- 

 west, across the Tademait Desert plateau, the 

 latter being the chief place in the province of 

 Tidchelt, which belongs to the oasis of Tuat. 

 The latter, one of the most populous of all the 

 oases of the desert, is really independent, but 

 acknowledges the sovereignty of the Sultan of 

 Morocco, thinking thus to escape French an- 

 nexation. Soleillet was not allowed to enter 

 the oasis upon his arrival at Ain Ssala. Not 

 dismayed by this experience, he proposed to 

 the Geographical Society to undertake a second 

 journey over the same route, and through 

 Timbuctoo to St. -Louis in Senegal, although the 

 inhabitants of Tuat are the most fanatical in 

 Sahara, and especially hostile to any Christian 

 coming from Algiers. Henri Duveyrier also 

 proposed a new expedition to Hogar ; which 

 land, with its plateaus, Tasili, Maydar, and 

 Ahagar, is one of the most interesting por- 

 tions of the Sahara, but the people are 

 treacherous and murderous. Tinder the 

 chairmanship of the celebrated Quatrefages, 

 the ethnologists discussed their science apart, 

 examining the pictures sent by the Italian 

 Miani of the pygmy race of Acca or Tiki-Tiki ; 

 listening to M. Pinard on the Esquimaux, and 

 Waldemar Schmidt on the Greenlanders, and 



to Quatrefages on the red -skins of North 

 America, between which race and the Ynpas 

 of Central Siberia M. Mainoff believes he has 

 detected numerous points of resemblance. The 

 exhibition connected with the Congress was a 

 large and most interesting one : almost every 

 country had contributed objects of geographi- 

 cal and ethnographical interest, comprising, 

 amid a host of other articles, the original 

 charts of all the famous English explorers ; the 

 great Government map of France, on the scale 

 of 1 : 80,000, and many other government maps 

 and nautical charts ; the publications of all the 

 various geographical societies, and many early 

 plans, maps, and globes, from Austria, Hol- 

 land, and Belgium, as well as from France ; a 

 great variety of geographical and astronomical 

 instruments of all ages, and especially of recent 

 inventions ; and large collections of ethnograph- 

 ical curiosities, the Russian booty from Khiva, 

 Javan objects from Holland, etc. : even the 

 Hawaian Islands, Turkey, Chili, Japan, and the 

 Argentine Republic, had each taken pains to 

 send its contingent of interesting objects to the 

 exhibition. 



GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETIES. The Khedive has 

 established a society which is to occupy itself 

 with the geography of Africa. It is called 

 La Societe" Khediviale de Geographic, and re- 

 ceives a subsidy, besides the salary of the presi- 

 dent, from the Khedive, who has appointed 

 Dr. G. Schweinfurth president, and the Mar- 

 quis de Compiegne secretary. 



A commission of German scholars, appointed 

 by the imperial chancellor to deliberate upon 

 the question of arctic exploration, met at Ber- 

 lin in October, and returned the counsel stated 

 here: That observing stations be established 

 whence expeditions might depart by sea and 

 by land; a principal station on the eastern 

 shore of Greenland, and at least two second- 

 ary posts for scientific investigations, at Jan 

 Mayen, and on the west shore of Spitzbergen ; 

 that the German explorations should be occu- 

 pied with the entrance to the upper latitudes 

 between the eastern shore of Greenland and 

 Spitzbergen ; that it is desirable that the ex- 

 plorations be begun in the year 1877; and that 

 the measures adopted for German explorations 

 be communicated to other governments, and 

 that it be proposed that, each country taking 

 part, a series of explorations should be initiated 

 over the whole circle inclosing the pole. 



ARCTIC EXPLORATION. The Alert and Dis- 

 covery, equipped by the British Government 

 for the exploration of the arctic seas from the 

 west, at the instance of the Royal Geographical 

 Society, commenced their voyage auspiciously. 

 They took in coal and stores at Disco, and 

 sailed forth to the northward on the 17th of 

 July. The ice in Melville Bay, which usually 

 renders navigation exceedingly difficult, they 

 found so thin and yielding that they steamed 

 through it without stoppage, and reached Ca- 

 rey Islands on the 26th of July, depositing pro- 

 visions there, and setting forth for Smith's 



