394 



MATURE 



[Feb, 2;, 1879 



The improvements contemplated by General de Nansouty 

 comprise an entirely new and much more solid and 

 durable structure at the very summit of the mountain, A 

 few generous friends of science have come to his aid and 

 placed in his hands the means of carrying out the execu- 

 tion of his enterprise. M. Bischoffsheim gives 15,000 

 francs, the Minister of Public Instruction and the 

 Minister of Public Works each 10,000 francs, the 

 Academy of Sciences 1,200 francs ; and large sums 

 have been given by various other societies and indi- 

 viduals while many smaller subscriptions, down to one 

 franc, have been placed at the General's disposal. There 

 is every reason to believe, that though the work will be 

 much more costly than originally expected, it will be 

 thoroughly and promptly completed. 



Our illustration (Fig. 4) shows the new observatory as 

 it will appear when the works are completed ; it is at 

 present half built. To the right is seen, perched on a 

 platform, the shelter for the instruments of observation. 

 In the centre is the dwelling-house, the arrangements of 

 which will be seen in the plan. Fig. 5. To the left is the 

 lightning-rod, intended to protect the structure from the 

 lightning which so frequently strikes the summit of the 

 Pic. This lightning-rod, with its cable, which plunges 

 500 metres lower down in Lak Oncet, has cost 2,800 

 francs. The excavation of the hollow in which the struc- 

 ture is built has cost 2,500 francs ; so much of the build- 

 ing as has been raised, that is one half, has cost 22,000 

 francs. No doubt all the necessary funds will be forth- 

 coming ; it is said that the Minister of Public Instruction 

 will this year contribute another sum of 10,000 francs. 



The example of General de Nansouty has already 

 borne fruit in France. General Farre has installed an 

 observatory at the foot of Infernet. In Provence a move- 

 ment has been set on foot to place one on Mont Ventoux. 

 With the fine observatory of the Puy de Dome, France 

 will possess an important net-work of high meteorological 

 stations which cannot but render valuable services to a 

 knowledge of atmospheric phenomena, and be of great 

 practical value to national industry. Let us hope that in 

 a veiy few months our own country will possess at least 

 one of these lofty stations which the French Government, 

 the French people, and French science think it their in- 

 terest and duty to give substantial encouragement to. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

 At the meeting of the Geographical Society on Monday 

 evening Sir Rutherford Alcock announced that the Earl 

 of Dufferin had formally resigned the office of president 

 in consequence of his appointment to the St. Petersburg 

 embassy. Mr. Clements R. Markham read a '^paper on 

 the basin of the River Helmund and the smaller basin 

 of the Abistada Lake, in Western Afghanistan, a region 

 which is classic ground, and is the scene of many of the 

 ancient Persian tales related in the pages of Ferdosi. Mr. 

 Markham gave some interesting particulars respecting 

 the formation of the river of Ghazni, which drains the 

 eastern half of the remarkable isolated basin of Lake 

 Abistada, on the east side of the western Sulimani Range. 

 He afterwards read a paper by Lieut.-General Kaye, on 

 the mountain passes leading to the valley of Bamian, 

 based on that officer's recollections of his visit to the 

 region north of Kabul, nearly forty years ago, supple- 

 mented by notes made at the time. With regard to the 

 idols of Bamian, the limit of his journey, General Kaye 

 mentions a curious fact, viz., that between the images 

 and at their sides, peeping over their shoulders — and some 

 even above their heads — were many caves in the cliff- 

 side on which they are cut, having intricate connecting 

 approaches and galleries cut within the rock ; these 

 formed dwellings for many Bamianchis and also for some 

 camp-followers of the British. The two papers were 

 illustrated by the large diagram of Afghanistan which 

 has just been constructed for the Society. 



The London Missionary Society have receivec letters 

 down to October 17 from their mission at Ujiji, oi Lake 

 Tanganyika, which announce the death from apopexy of 

 the Rev. Mr. Thomson, the leader of the party aft^r the 

 Rev. Roger Price's departure. The Arabs, tiough 

 well disposed, refuse to allow the missionaries to settle 

 away from Ujiji. Mr. Hore, the scientific meiiber 

 of the mission, has taken several observations with the 

 view of settling the position of Ujiji. 



In consequence of the prevailing ignorance on the 

 subject, Mr. E. F. im Thurn, of Demerara, has begun to 

 draw up some notes on the Indians of Guiana. In the 

 first instalment he remarks that the main tests by which 

 to distinguish the various tribes are language, geographi- 

 cal position, physical features, and customs, as expressed 

 in their characters, habits, and legends. In applying 

 these tests to the tribes of British Guiana he thinks it 

 best to look first at their geographical position. British 

 Guiana consists of three regions — the coast region nearest 

 the sea, within that the forest region, and within that 

 again the savannah region, which passes without break 

 into the great savannahs of Brazil. The coast region, in 

 the north, towards the sources of the Orinocco, is inha- 

 bited by the Warau Indians, and further south by the 

 Arawacks, while here and there are settlements and 

 families of the Caribisi, a term which appears to be not 

 strictly synonymous with Caribs. The forest ^region is 

 almost entirely inhabited by the Ackawois, with a very 

 few Carabisi settlements scattered among them. The 

 Savannah region is peopled by a large number of tribes. 

 Beginning from the north towards the Orinocco, the chief 

 are the Arecunas, Macusis, Wapianas, and Atorais. 

 Further south are the Tarumas and Woiowais, and the 

 small remnants of the Maopityans, or Frog Indians, and 

 the Pianoghottos. Here and there travellers report the 

 existence of other tribes, but these Mr. im Thurn main- 

 tains to be groups of hybrids between two tribes. Of the 

 Maopityans and the Pianoghottos nothing beyond a few 

 details as to their peculiar personal appearance and 

 manners is known, and of the Woiowais only the name is 

 known. Mr. im Thurn next dwells at some length on the 

 linguistic peculiarities of the other tribes mentioned, 

 excepting the Tarumas, and he afterwards describes the 

 way in which they most probably came into the positions 

 they now occupy. 



The statue of Captain Cook, which has been erected 

 in the Hyde Park, Sydney, was unveiled on February 25. 

 The ceremony, which was of an imposing character, was 

 performed by the Governor, Sir Hercules Robinson, in 

 the presence of the Ministry, the public bodies of the 

 city, detachments of the naval and military forces, and 

 upwards of 20,000 spectators. 



Dr. Edwin R. Heath, of whose proposed exploration 

 in South America we have already made mention, left 

 New York on November 23, and reached Pard on 

 December 19. He was to have taken a steamer up the 

 Madeira on the 23rd, and thence to Exaltacion or else 

 across to Reyes, on the Beni River, where he proposed to 

 spend some time in making collections and the necessary 

 preparations for descending the river. He expected to 

 obtain Greenwich time at San Antonio, the latitude and 

 longitude of which is well established, and to work his 

 longitudes by them until arriving at the Beni, where he 

 intended to correct it by "lunars." With a good outfit 

 and apparatus he was to take observations of latitude and 

 longitude at every suitable opportunity, as also to make 

 records of the thermometer, barometer, and boiling- 

 points. After completing all his preparations at Reyes, 

 and having his balsa properly constructed and equipped, 

 he proposed to commit himself to the current, and take 

 his chances of what might happen. 



The Minister of Public Instruction at Paris has 

 received an interesting communication from Dr. Jules 



