GEOGRAPHICAL PROGRESS A'ND DISCOVERY. 



expedition is under the direction of Gerhard 

 Rohlts, accompanied by Dr. Sseener. The ex- 

 ploration of the water partings of the Shari, 

 the Congo, and the Ogowai are the geographi- 

 cal problems to which the explorers direct their 

 attention. 



Paul Soleillet, who made an attempt a few 

 years ago to discover a commercial route be- 

 tween Algeria and Senegal, has undertaken 

 another expedition with the same object. He 

 started from St. Louis in Senegal, intending to 

 make his way into the interior of Timbuctoo, 

 and thence to In-Salah, and from there to Al- 

 geria, The explorer is inured to the climate 

 of the Sahara Desert, and gained the respect 

 and good will of the Arabs and Berbers on his 

 previous journey. The last of July he had 

 reached Dyalla in Sorma. The peoples he met 

 with entertained a superstitious dread of the 

 whites. Soleillet denies that the negroes of 

 Senegal and Soodan are an inferior race. He 

 found them as naturally intelligent as whites, 

 very affectionate toward their children, and 

 respectful to the aged. In Senegal they have 

 herds of sheep, goats, and cattle. There is a 

 trade in glass, silver, stuffs, and salt, which are 

 taken in exchange for gold and slaves. The 

 current money consists in narrow strips of cot- 

 ton. The herdsmen, shoemakers, and smiths 

 are never slaves. The country is very uneven 

 and covered with magnificent forests full of 

 large game. The climate he found extremely 

 unwholesome. 



The Portuguese expedition which left Ben- 

 guela on the 12th of November, 1877, reached 

 Bihe March 8, 1878. They intended to pene- 

 trate the unexplored interior in two detach- 

 ments, Serpa Pinto with one and Capello and 

 Ivens with the other. 



Dr. Pogge, in his journey from the western 

 coast, reached his most easterly point at Inchi- 

 baraka, eight or ten days' journey to the east of 

 which runs the Lubilash River, to which in the 

 upper part of its course the inhabitants give a 

 different name; he thinks it may be identical 

 with the Kuvari of Cameron. Besides the 

 route followed by Efr. Pogge and Lieutenant 

 Lux for most of the way, from Kimbundo to 

 Quizemene, in Massumba, which occupies thir- 

 ty-five days, there is a snorter one which can 

 be made in twenty-seven days. The Luala- 

 ba River is familiar to the inhabitants of Qui- 

 zemene. 



Miklucho-Maclay's third visit to New Guin- 

 ea was fruitful in ethnological and zoological 

 knowledge. He landed on the Malay coast in 

 June, 1876, arranged two dwellings, one on 

 the mainland and one on the small island Bili- 

 Iili, and prepared for six months of active re- 

 search, under the advantageous conditions of 

 the friendly disposition of the neighboring Pa- 

 puans, whose good will he had gained on his 

 former visit, in 1871-72, and possessing a good 

 knowledge of their language. The vessel which 

 was to call for him in November, 1876, did not 

 como until the end of the following year, so 



that his stay was prolonged to three times its 

 intended duration ; and for nearly a whole 

 year he had to depend upon the hospitality of 

 the natives. He made numerous excursions, 

 attended by the friendly people, into the moun- 

 tains of the interior, and long canoe-voyages, 

 which extended from the dominion of the can- 

 nibal Errempis at Cape Croisilles to Cape Te- 

 lyata, situated between Cape King William and 

 Point Iris, a stretch of coast 80 marine miles 

 in extent. He was everywhere favorably re- 

 ceived by the inhabitants, owing to the pres- 

 ence of his native followers. On his arrival in 

 Astrolabe Bay he was surprised at the change in 

 appearance presented by the Finisterre Moun- 

 tains, which he had found on his former visit 

 three and a half years before covered with 

 green woods, and which he now found de- 

 nuded and rocky in many places and cracked 

 and altered by a powerful earthquake. This 

 had occurred, according to the story of the na- 

 tives, but a few weeks after he had sailed away. 

 On his return voyage in November, 1877, he 

 witnessed an imposing eruption on the volca- 

 nic islands Vulcan and Lesson. The light of 

 the Vulcan eruption was observed at the dis- 

 tance of 60 marine miles flashing up at intervals 

 of half a minute to two minutes. The follow- 

 ing day, at a distance of 40 marine miles, the 

 mountain was covered by a towering column 

 of smoke and vapor. At the distance of 30 

 miles, when the cloud had cleared off for a 

 while, the crater was visible, and the mountain 

 was observed to be a very regular cone. The 

 smoke poured out in three separate streams ; 

 toward evening flashes like chain-lightning 

 were seen, and at night the smoky mass was 

 transformed into a pillar of fire. The eruption 

 on Lesson was a copy on a smaller scale of the 

 other. 



The voyage of D'Albertis up the Fly River 

 in New Guinea has proved that the stream is 

 navigable for a distance of 500 miles, into the 

 very center of the island ; and his reports have 

 given a strong impulse to the desire in the Aus- 

 tralian colonies to colonize the eastern half of 

 New Guinea, or the part not claimed by the 

 Dutch Government. His voyage in 1876 in 

 the little steamboat Neva brought him 350 

 marine miles above Ellengowaii Island, which 

 was the farthest point reached by Macfarlane. 

 He was compelled to turn about, in lat. 5 30' 

 S., Ion. 140 30' E., on account of the rapidity 

 of the current, which was seven marine miles 

 an hour. He explored also the tributary river 

 Alice, which empties 70 miles below his far- 

 thest point, for a distance of 40 miles, until it 

 became top shallow for his vessel. The hos- 

 tile behavior of the inhabitants and sickness 

 among his crew compelled him to return. The 

 collections in ethnography and natural history 

 made during the trip are remarkably rich. In 

 the year 1877 he made a second voyage up the 

 river, in which he was pursued by mishaps 

 from the beginning to the end : he was desert- 

 ed by his crew ; he, the engineer, and the two 



