Nov. 28, 1878] 



NATURE 



77 



the orchella weed, the betel-pepper climber, prickly 

 smilax, with several varieties of the strychnos tree, and 

 many other trees producing valuable wood. The inhabit- 

 ants are many of them rather Semitic than Negro in 

 their tx-pe, having high foreheads, while the prognathous 

 jaw and spur heel are both wanting. They average 

 5 feet 7 inches in height, are strong, though not robust, 

 and in form and figure resemble bronze statues. After 

 describing the curious marriage customs of these people 

 Mr. Farler concluded with some interesting remarks on 

 the Masai country, which, sooner or later, must be 

 thoroughly explored, so as to obtain a short route from 

 the coast to the Victoria Nyanza. 



At the same meeting Sir Fowell Buxton, at the special 

 request of Sir Henry Rawlinson, gave an account of the 

 progress of the road-making experiment from Dar-es- 

 Salaam to the north end of Lake Nyassa. The work 

 does not appear to proceed very rapidly, for but forty 

 miles of road have been made in over twelve months, but 

 it is satisfactory to learn that the natives give no trouble 

 and willingly take to the good road provided for them ; 

 as, however, they still persist in their old habit of walking 

 in Indian file, their traffic does not do much towards 

 keeping down the rapidly growing vegetation. 



It is now definitely settled that the Earl of Dufferin 

 will preside at the meeting of the Geographical Societ>' on 

 Monday, December 9, and as an appropriate compliment 

 to his lordship' s early experiences as a traveller, the even- 

 ing will be devoted to Arctic matters. We understand 

 that the papers to be read will include an account of the 

 Swedish Arctic Expedition now being so successfully 

 carried out by Prof. Nordenskjold, a review of the work 

 done by the recent Dutch Arctic Expedition, suggestions 

 as to the best route for future exploration, &c. 



From a letter of Prof. Nordenskjold's, published by Mr. 

 Oscar Dickson, the liberal patron of the North-East 

 Passage Expedition, we learn that during the short stay 

 of the Vega at Vaigatz Island the scientific staff did some 

 good work on the fauna of the sea and the flora of the 

 &nd. A large collection of fishes was made, and special 

 attention was given to Arctic phanerogamous plants. 

 Nordenskjold himself made some important purchases 

 of " idols " from the Christianised Samoeides, who, not- 

 withstanding their baptism, worship and sacrifice to their 

 old divinities. 



We have been favoured by a correspondent with the 

 following extracts from a letter lately received from Mr. 

 Carl Booh, who is exploring and collecting in Sumatra : — 

 *' I have been collecting for a month in the highlands of 

 Mount Sago, and, considering the very bad weather, have 

 been successful. My hut is on the south-eastern slope 

 of the mountain, at an elevation of about 4,000 feet above 

 the level of the sea. The mountain is about 8,000 feet 

 high, and covered to the top with virgin forest. In about 

 ■a week I purpose going on to Siedjoendjoeng, a place 

 noted for its tigers, tapirs, and elephants, and said to be 

 in every respect the best district for a naturalist. At 

 Ayer Muntjer I met the celebrated Italian traveller, 

 Signer Beccari, and stayed with him three days." 



The Emperor of Austria has conferred the Order of 

 the Iron Cro%\-n upon Drs. Gerhard Rohlfs and Georg 

 Schweinfurth, the celebrated African travellers, and upon 

 Drs. Alfred Brehm and Eugen von Homeyr, the well- 

 known ornithologists. 



The well-known African traveller, Dr. Nachtigal, has 

 been elected president of the Berlin Geographical Society. 



The Russische Revue, as referred to in Behm's 

 monthly summar)-, contains some further details of 

 Mushketow's recent exploration of the Pamir Moun- 

 tams. He ascertained that the Pamir consists mainly of 

 granite, metamorphic clay, and mica slate, covered with 

 oeds of triassic formation ; at least in the northern part 



or Pamir Chorgosh. The direction of all the granite out- 

 crops is that of the general direction of the Thian Shan, 

 viz., east-north-east, or nearly so. North of the Pamir 

 the granite soon ceases, and in the Trans-Alai Moun- 

 tains diorite predominates, which takes the eastward 

 direction of the main axis of elevation of the Trans- 

 Alai Mountains, and forms the highest summits, which, 

 as in Kaufmann Peak, reach a height of 25,000 feet. 

 Further north, secondary formations prevail, with great 

 diluvial accumulations. In the region explored by him 

 M. Musketow could recognise no meridional elevation such 

 as could favour the hypothesis of a meridional mountain- 

 system, as was assumed by Humboldt. 



In an article on foreign trade with Western China, 

 contained in a recent issue of the China Overland Trade 

 Report, we find some interesting notes on the inten- 

 tion of the Russians to push their trade southwards from 

 the Siberian frontier. For this purpose a great com- 

 mercial station is to be founded in the south-east of the 

 province of Semipalatinsk — probably at the town of the 

 same name, which is well situated for such a purpose, 

 and is even now one of the chief commercial centres of 

 Siberia. It occupies a good site on the east bank of the 

 Irtisch, one of the most important rivers of Siberia, and 

 has a population of several thousands. There are also 

 many Tartar merchants in the place engaged in trade 

 with the Chinese frontier towns in the north, Bokhara, 

 Tashkend, &c. The Semipalatinsk caravans carry south- 

 wards printed Russian goods, copper, iron, and hardware, 

 and return with tea, silk, dried fruits. Sec The ware- 

 houses of Semipalatinsk also contain carpets from Persia 

 and Bokhara, costly sUks and shawls embroidered with 

 gold, ornaments and porcelain from China, diamonds, 

 rubies, and emeralds, together with curiosities and jewel- 

 lery of various kinds. There is likewise a large trade in 

 cattle, herds of 4,000 or 5,000 being driven into the town 

 by Kirghiz at one time ; more than two million sheep are 

 also sold there every year, most of them being forwarded 

 on to Ekaterineburg, where they are killed and the fat 

 used in the great candle-works of the town. It is thought 

 possible that the Russians may intend to hold at Semi- 

 palatinsk the great Yermak or fair, which now takes 

 place at Irbit, on the frontier, and to induce Chinese and 

 Thibetan traders to go there. 



Ax excellent little book has just been published by 

 Hartleben, of Vienna. Its title is " Malta ; Geschichte 

 und Gegenwart, by Herr A. Winterberg. The work con- 

 sists of three principal divisions. The first gives an 

 exhaustive and well-written account of the topography, 

 climate, position, and political division of the Maltese 

 Islands, besides describing the agriculture, industr)', 

 commerce, and institutions of the little country. It 

 closes with an interesting chapter on the physical and 

 moral condition of the inhabitants. The second division 

 treats of the islands from a military point of riew, and 

 contains minute descriptions of the fortifications, the 

 various towns and villages, the harbours, bays, sources, 

 and grottoes of the island. The final division, by far 

 the most elaborate, is an ably-written summary of the 

 history of Malta, which in its closing chapters has the 

 additional interest of " showing us ourselves as others 

 see us." The little book contains eighteen illustrations 

 and two neatly-finished maps. 



The first article in the November number of Peter- 

 mann's Mitfhetlu?igen (it still retains the name) is on the 

 use of elephants in African exploration, by the late editor, 

 and was found on Petermann's table on the evening of 

 his death. The number contains besides a short account 

 by Dr. Miklucho Maclay of his visit to some of the 

 Pacific Islands and New Guinea, and a paper by the 

 same on Volcanic Phenomena on the north-east coast 

 of New Guinea ; an account of Bernoulli and Carlo's 

 travels in Guatemala and South Mexico in 1877 ; the 



