524 



NATURE 



{Oct. 12, 1876 



finding it quite impossible, he at length returned to 

 Fatiko. His final report of the Fatiko natives is as 

 follows : — 



" The Fatiki of all the negro tribes I had seen are the 

 most moral and the most honest. They were very 

 numerous, and their well-filled corn-bins attested their 

 frugality and their industry in the cultivation of ' dourah,* 

 the sole product of the soil." 



It will be remembered by readers of " Ismailia " that 

 Sir S. Baker delivered these good people from the yoke 

 of Abou Saood's slave-hunters, and they have ever since 

 shown their gratitude by cultivating com sufficient for the 

 support of the garrison. In p. 205 Col. Long writes : — 



"The garrison of Fatiko, composed of 200 men, was 

 sheltered from any attack not alone from its position in a 

 military point of view, but because of the entire sympathy 

 of the natives, who were most friendly to the government 

 troops and acknowledged their authority with pride at 

 being considered as belonging to * Meri.' "... 



Nothing can be more satisfactory to the true well- 

 wisher of the negro than such a picture, neither could 

 any more convincing proof be desired of the grand reform 

 effected in these districts by the Khedive's expeditions to 

 suppress the slave trade. 



On October 18 Col. Long returned to Gondokoro, 

 where he heard with sorrow that most of the Europeans 

 had died during his absence. He speaks with honest 

 pride of the congratulations that he received from the 

 Governor- General (Col. Gordon) upon the results of his 

 arduous journey. He was also visited by Abou Saood, 

 of whom he writes : — 



"Abou Saood came to see me and to welcome me 

 back. From the very great dignity with which he had 

 been invested on his arrival, he had now fallen into 

 disgrace." 



Col. Long now returned by steamer to Khartoum to 

 recruit his health by change of air, and having remained 

 at the Soudan capital for sufficient time, he once more 

 returned to the White Nile regions with reinforcements. 

 On his voyage to Lado, a new station which Col. Gordon 

 had established fourteen miles north of Gondokoro, he 

 was tempted to explore the important river Saubat, which 

 is the largest affluent of the White Nile. In a powerful 

 steamer he passed up the stream of the Saubat for about 

 300 miles, and arrived atan'ivory station of the Arabs far 

 beyond the highest point reached by Europeans. The 

 Saubat was reported navigable for an unknown distance, 

 but circumstances compelled his return, and Col. Long, 

 after a rapid passage, once more joined Col. Gordon at 

 Lado. 



A short rest at this station prepared him for an expedi- 

 tion into the Niam-Niam, or cannibal countries west of 

 the Nile. During this journey Col. Long lost a consider- 

 able number of men from sickness, and, as usual, was 

 attacked by the natives, who succeeded in killing one of 

 his soldiers. With the assistance of the irregular troops 

 from the Niam-Niam stations, and those warlike tribes of 

 cannibals, he defeated the enemy, and his allies ate 

 them as refreshment after the battle. Col. Long subse- 

 quently returned to Lado, and after a short but brilliant 

 career in Central Africa he returned to Egypt, to take the 

 command of an expedition sent by the Khedive to the 

 Juba river on the east coast of Africa. 



In concluding a notice of this volume we must express 



a regret that Col. Long gives us no astronomical observa- 

 tions ; therefore no practical addition has been made to our 

 geographical knowledge. There are also some instances 

 of careless description, as he speaks of " deer," whereas 

 no species of deer exist, and he must mean " antelopes." 

 He tells us of a boa constrictor 30 feet long, with a thick- 

 ness equal to the body of a child. This is a careless picture 

 of an enormous snake that deserved to be accurately 

 measured as a curiosity in natural history. 



There are no pretensions to literary style in this book, 

 but the charm exists in the evident truthfulness and 

 absence of prejudice which pervade it throughout. Col. 

 Long is far too honest and straightforward to condescend 

 to stratagem to win the applause of the public ; he does 

 not believe in the good qualities commonly attributed to 

 the negro. 



The impression left on the mind after carefully reading 

 Col. Long's " Naked Truths," is that such men as he un- 

 doubtedly is, are the true stamp for the improvement 

 of Central Africa — a character which combines courage, 

 energy, love of liberty, and fair play, and sound common 

 sense with patience, must effect good, and such a man 

 will always be respected by the negro equally with more 

 enlightened races. 



OUR BOOK SHELF 



Electro-Telegraphy. By Frederick S. Beechy, Telegraph 

 Engineer. (E. and F. N. Spon, 1876.) 



Why Mr. Beechy should wish to depart from ordinary 

 usage and call his book electro-telegraphy rather than 

 electric telegraphy, we have no idea. The assumption of 

 an eccentric title for a scientific book naturally gives rise 

 to a feeling of prejudice against it. Nevertheless, we find 

 in this little book a very fair and clear account of the 

 practical part of electric telegraphy. It would be im- 

 possible, in 125 pages, to deal fully with this great subject. 

 Mr. Beechy has, however, managed to compress into that 

 short space an account of the principles and methods both 

 of sea and land telegraphy, sufficient to give an intelligent 

 reader a very good notion of how telegraphy is carried on. 

 He has wisely avoided all detail regarding telegraph in- 

 struments. In his diagrams he generally gives a skeleton 

 illustrating a principle without attempting to display details 

 that would only complicate the figure. His descriptions 

 are generally clear and simple. 



It is surprising, however, that he has not taken the 

 trouble to explain the elementary principles of electric 

 science more thoroughly. We are far from satisfied with 

 the preliminary chapters on this part of the subject, and 

 we have noticed some very extraordinary mistakes. In 

 the chapter devoted to " testing " we read as follows : 

 " The metre, or French standard of length, is a certain 

 sub-multiple of the diameter of the earth. The standard 

 of time, or the second, is derived from observation of the 

 earth's revolution. The standard measures, such as the 

 yard measure or the pound weight, may be lost or de- 

 stroyed, and the only security for always obtaining reliable 

 standards is the permanence of the great natural laws of 

 our globe." This is very astonishing. To say nothing 

 about the " diameter," which may be a misprint, we thought 

 that though the writings of Balfour Stewart, Maxwell, 

 Thomson, and the celebrated B.A. Unit Committee, every 

 one knew better than to trust to permanence of the earth's 

 dimensions for replacing the metre were it lost. 



The next paragraph defines the Ohm. " The Ohm is 

 obtained by observing what effect is produced by a current 

 of electricity on a certain conductor in a given time. As 

 a certain metal rod represents the yard, so a wire of a 



