298 



NATURE 



\yan. 30, 1879 



tad learned to adore him. Mr. Musters was a fearless 

 explorer, and a man of unfailing tact and winning 

 Jioanners. Two or three years ago Mr. Musters returned 

 from Bolivia, with which little-known country he had 

 made a thorough acquaintance, and had, we believe, col- 

 lected material for an interesting work. He recently re- 

 <:eived the appointment of Consul at Mozambique, and 

 was to have left this month for his post, from which, he 

 was delighted to think, he would be able to do some valu- 

 able exploring work in the African interior. By his death 

 Her Majesty has lost a faithful and able servant, and 

 science an eager explorer. Musters was loved by every 

 one who had the pleasure of his acquaintance. 



The prosecution of marine surveys on the coasts of 

 India has been for a long time much hampered by the 

 want of a proper surveying steamer, and we are glad to 

 learn from a Bombay paper that a new vessel — the Inves- 

 tigator — has just been launched, which will supply the 

 defect. The steamer is well provided with all the neces- 

 sary appliances for chart-making, deep-sea sounding, &c. 



The November number of the Bulletin of the French 

 Geographical Society contains Dr. Jules Crevaux's account 

 of his exploration in the interior of French Guiana in 

 1877. Dr. Crevaux, with little assistance and in the face 

 of not a few difficulties, ascended the River Maroni, and 

 striking the River Yary, traced its course to its junction 

 with the Amazon. The two main results of his journey 

 are the crossing for the first time of the Tumuc-Humac 

 chain at the level of the sources of the Maroni, and the 

 discovery and complete delineation of the Yary, an im- 

 portant affluent of the Amazon. The Maroni he de- 

 scribes as a fine river of about 140 leagues in length, with 

 a breadth of 1,200 to 1,500 metres at 20 leagues above its 

 mouth, and from 400 to 500 at 90 leagues. The River 

 Yary, Dr. Crevaux considers as more important than the 

 Maroni ; it is 150 leagues long, and both rivers are much 

 obstructed by falls and cataracts. Dr. Crevaux gives 

 some very useful notes on the forests of Guiana and the 

 different species of trees which they contain. The highest 

 summits of the Tumuc-Humac range do not exceed 400 

 metres above sea-level. In summing up his observa- 

 tions on the geology of the region traversed, he says that 

 all the formations met with from- the i.outh of the Maroni 

 to that of the Yary have an ancient physiognomy. They 

 are mainly composed of schistose rocks which may be 

 divided into three systems, which are, in order of age — 

 I. The gneiss of the mouth of the Maroni. 2. The schists 

 and mica schists of the middle course of the river. 3. The 

 ferruginous schists and quartzites of the Man-Bari and 

 the Yary ; these latter are very wide-spread. All these 

 are frequently traversed by granites and trachytes. 



The possibility of water communication between the 

 Obi and the Yenissei seems to be more and more con- 

 firmed by further explorations. Baron Aminoff, after 

 having explored the water-parting between these rivers, 

 arrives at the conclusion that the hydraulic works which 

 would be necessary for the construction of a canal with 

 sluices would not present serious difficulties. The canal 

 would be very short, and the marshes at the sources of 

 the Kas and Yazevaya rivers afford a sufficient amount 

 of water. 



The Golos of January 22 says it learns that authentic 

 inteUigence respecting Prof Nordenskjold's Arctic 

 expedition has been received from Baron Frederichs, 

 Governor- General of Eastern Siberia. According to 

 these advices the steamer Vega is ice-bound forty miles 

 from East Cape. The authorities at Jakutsk have been 

 instructed to inform the natives of the dangerous position 

 of the steamer, and to issue a general summons to the 

 people to render assistance to the expedition. At the 

 same time a special expedition has been organised which 

 will attempt to reach the Vega by a journey over the ice 



with the aid of reindeers or dogs. Herr Sibiriakoff has 

 telegraphed to Baron Frederichs, asking him to send a 

 party to the assistance of the Swedish Expedition. He 

 has received a letter from Dr. Lindemann, of Bremen, in 

 which the former says that at the coast where the Vega 

 is believed to be lying there is a large native village, and 

 from this village the nearest post of white merchants is 

 distant only about 200 English miles, which may be tra- 

 versed in winter in three or four days. 



A REPORT has been received of a journey by Mr. Baber 

 in the north-west of the Chinese province of Szuchuen. 

 The original intention was to examine, between Suchow 

 and Kiating, the River Tatu, which falls into the Yangtze- 

 Kiang, and then to cross the mountains from Kiating to 

 Fu-lin in long. 103°. At Fu-lin, however, Mr. Baber was 

 induced to extend his exertions into the country further 

 west, and he travelled onwards to a place called Tzu-Tati, 

 the head-quarters of a Sifan chief Here he heard of the 

 existence of a mountain path to Ta-chien-lu, the French 

 missionary station lying nearest to Tibet. After travelling 

 three days through pine forests, the mountain range was 

 crossed by a snowy pass, and on the northern slope yaks 

 were found grazing, and many slates, inscribed with 

 Sanskrit characters, were noticed. The appearance and 

 language of the people also pointed to the fact that 

 though Tibet proper is many hundred miles west of this 

 point, yet tribes of the Tibetan race and language extend 

 up to the banks of the Tatu River. This confirms the 

 views already expressed by Mr. T. T. Cooper and other 

 travellers. 



The Japan Gazette translates an article of some 

 interest from the Osaka Nippo, on the subject of 

 Japanese relations with Corea. After commenting on 

 the progress made by Japan during the past few years, 

 the writer remarks that " the Coreans, on the contrary, 

 obstinately cling to the customs of Gio, Wu, and Shin, 

 three Chinese sages who lived 3,000 years ago, and they 

 believe their country is a part of Paradise, next in rank 

 to China, and that western countries are inhabited by 

 barbarians and savages." j 



Count Wilczek and Lieut. Weyprecht intend to visit 

 the northern coast of Novaya Zemlya in the course of 

 this year, and will remain at that station for a twelve- 

 month in order to make a series of exact magnetic, 

 electric, hydrographical, and meteorological observa- 

 tions. The cost of the expedition will be defrayed by 

 Count Wilczek himself. 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN 



The Variable-Star Algol. — Considering the long 

 period during which this star has been under observation, 

 and the many investigations which have been made with 

 the view to reduce its fluctuations of light within some 

 jaw, much interest attaches to a remark by Prof. 

 Winnecke that the times of minima of Algol in the last 

 year have fallen about one hour earlier than those 

 assigned in the ephemerides of variables published by 

 the Astronomische Gesellschaft. Dr. Julius Schmidt, 

 director of the Observatory at Athens, to whom we owe 

 the greater number of recent observations on this star, 

 has not yet made known his results for 1878, but we have 

 his determinations of the times of minima in 1875-76-77. 

 For comparison with them we may take the last formula 

 given by Prof. Schonfeld in his second catalogue of the 

 variable stars, which appeared in 1875, viz., for Paris 

 mean time : — 

 Mitt. ... 1869, Nov. 9, 3I1. 39in. 34s, + 2d. 2oh. 4833. 53s'67 E. 



The following are the differences from the observed 

 times of miniina, during the last six months of each year, 

 wherein the observations are most numerous : — 



I 



