GEOGRAPHICAL PROGRESS AND DISCOVERY. (ASIA.) 



395 



Dr. Fischer probably takes too gloomy a view 

 of the conditions of Africa, and certainly his 

 statements do not apply to the Niger region. 

 But they surely do to Angra Pequefia, which 

 has just been pronounced a desert, while Dr. 

 Lenz, who touched at the Cameroons on his 

 way to the Congo, gives a very gloomy account 

 of that German annexation. 



The French engineer Angelvy has examined 

 the banks of the Rovuma and the Lujende for 

 coal, and reports rich fields there, although the 

 tests were carried but a short distance below 

 the surface. Still, the cost of transportation 

 would be so heavy that the coal-fields can not 

 be utilized at present. This report is directly 

 contradictory to that of Joseph Thomson, who, 

 in 1881, was commissioned by the Sultan of 

 Zanzibar to examine that, district for coal, and 

 reported that there was none worth mining. 



The question of the disputed claims of the 

 various European governments to territory in 

 Africa may possibly become serious in time, 

 especially should the resources of the conti- 

 nent prove more valuable than recent explor- 

 ers seem disposed to regard them. A num- 

 ber of points on the western coast are claimed 

 by both France and England; France and 

 Germany lay claim to Malimba, south of the 

 Cameroon ; France and Spain to the region at 

 the mouth of the Muni ; and to regions farther 

 south there are conflicting claims by all these 

 powers and Portugal. The Spaniards have 

 taken possession of the coast of the Sahara, 

 from Cape Bajador in the north to Cape Blanco 

 in the south, and have placed there three sta- 

 tions as places of supply for the fishing flotilla 

 of the Canary Isles, and stations for the send- 

 ing of trading expeditions among the Berber 

 tribes of the western Sahara. 



The work of African exploration has sus- 

 tained a great loss in the death of Dr. Gustav 

 Nachtigal, who died at sea, April 19, of mala- 

 ria contracted during his travels, at the age of 

 fifty-one. He was one of the most successful 

 of discoverers, his work being mainly in the 

 region of eastern Soudan. 



Asia. The report of the Indian Survey De- 

 partment for 1883-'84 shows a great amount 

 of work accomplished, much of it in countries 

 subject to native princes, often hostile, and 

 never disposed to aid explorations in any way. 

 The report of the survey of the Takht-i- Sulei- 

 man, in Afghanistan, shows the difficulties at- 

 tending that part of the work : " At Pazai the 

 force faced the western side of the mountain, 

 nearly opposite the southern Takht peak, and 

 a small narrow path up a steep spur leading to 

 a defile through the stupendous cliffs that sur- 

 rounded its summit showed the way to the top 

 of the mountain. Such a pathway would have 

 been difficult enough at any time, but it was 

 now held by the Kedarzai section of the She- 

 rani tribe, who had built formidable * sangas ' 

 and other barriers across the defile, and were 

 prepared to defend it to the last extremity. A 

 survey reconnaissance, however, assisted by 



the local knowledge of the Bozdar, led to the 

 suggestion that another way up might be found 

 by making a long flanking movement to the 

 southern end of the mountain, following the 

 course of a nullah, the head of which must 

 clearly be found under the edge of some rather 

 more accessible-looking but still precipitous 

 cliffs that could be seen through the telescope 

 in that direction. But as such a movement 

 would have no chance of success unless by 

 way of a surprise, and as Sherani gnides were 

 not to be depended on, it devolved on the 

 survey officers to show the way in the dark. 

 Accordingly, with the help of the trusty old 

 Bozdar, I offered to guide a flanking party to 

 the summit of the mountain by night, and to 

 turn out the Kedarzais, if possible, by day- 

 break. It was a long and anxious night's 

 work, stumbling almost blindly along the bed 

 of a nullah full of bowlders and fallen trees, 

 and as day dawned we just found ourselves on 

 the summit without having fired a shot, but 

 still a long distance away from the head of the 

 Pazai Kotal. It was then difficult to deter- 

 mine what course to pursue. There were two 

 ways leading to the Kedarzai position one 

 along the edge of the cliffs, which might easily 

 prove impracticable, and another which was 

 an obvious hill track, and which the Bozdar 

 rightly surmised led from their position to the 

 Kedarzai village in the plains below. We fol- 

 lowed both ; the main body of the force took 

 the road, and a smaller party of the First Sikhs, 

 which I accompanied, pushed their way along 

 the cliffs. The latter were the first to reach 

 the Kedarzai position, coming suddenly to a 

 point commanding it just as the front attack 

 from below was beginning to develop. It 

 needed but one volley from the advanced guard 

 of the Sikhs (about fifty men) to scatter the 

 whole Kedarzai force." The height of the 

 mountain Kaisarghar was found to be 11,300 

 feet above the level of the sea. 



The Zhob Valley Expedition surveyed 6,000 

 square miles in southeast Afghanistan, hitherto 

 unexamined. 



Sir Robert Sandeman's expedition took the 

 region of the Kharan Desert in southwestern 

 Beloochistan. One great difficulty experienced 

 was that of finding camping-places convenient 

 to supplies of fresh water, much of the water 

 in the region being salt. 



Mr. Roberts worked in and about Sikhim on 

 the Himalayan frontier, and the report of his 

 expedition furnishes new details concerning 

 the great mountains of the range. A full 

 description is given of the famous lake of 

 Thibet, called by the natives Yamdok Cho, or 

 Scorpion Lake, but known to us as Lake 

 Piahte or Palti. The native name is given on 

 account of the resemblance of the lake in shape 

 to a scorpion, and the explorer thinks the 

 Thibetans must have had maps of the lake to 

 discover the resemblance. It is described as 

 exceedingly beautiful, surrounded with mount- 

 ains except at the east, where the lake is en- 



