68 



NATURE 



\_May 1 6, 1878 



If we apply to this case the method for distributing 

 predictions over a certain extent of country, founding 

 our calculation upon Greenwich, Edinburgh, and Dublin, 

 we shall find the following expressions for the determina- 

 tions of the Greenwich times of immersion and emersion 

 for any" place within or not far beyond this area. M is 

 the longitude from Greenwich, in minutes of time, + if 

 E., - if W., and the latitude of the place is put =5o°4-L. 



h. m. tn. m. 



G.M.T. of immersion = June 3, 10 3"5o - i'6o L - o'iSi M 

 G.M.T, of emersion = ,, 10 44*40 - 1*07 L - 0"ii4 M 

 The angle at emersion is ... 288°'9 - 074 L - o*i2 M 



As an example, suppose the times are required for Liver- 

 pool, longitude 12m. 17s. West, latitude 53° 24'. 

 L = -I- 3'4. M = - I2"28. 



- i'6o X 3'4 = - 5'44m. 



- o'i5i X (- 12*28) = + i"85m. 



Therefore time of immersion = loh. 3'5om. — 3*59m. = 

 9h. 59-9im. or 9h. 59m. 553. G.M.T. at Liverpool. 



Similarly, the time of emersion will be found to be 

 loh. 44 •40m. — 2 '2901. or loh. 42m. 7s. G.M.T., and the 

 angle at emersion is 288°. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

 After the results of the last English Arctic Expedition, 

 and the criticism with which it met on its unexpected 

 return, one would have thought that Arctic exploration in 

 the old lines had become a thing of the past, or at least 

 that it would only be carried on in a very much modified 

 form, after the method, say, proposed by Lieut. Wey- 

 precht. On the contrary, the desire to reach the Pole has 

 become, apparently, keener than ever. There is every 

 reason to believe that Capt. Howgate's scheme, to found 

 a colony of Polar knights at Lady Franklin Bay, will be 

 approved of by the U.S. Congress. Mr. Gordon Bennett, 

 whose zeal for the promotion of knowledge is happily not 

 short-lived, is to send out the Pandora by the Spitzbergen 

 route on a similar quest, and it is rumoured that Mr. Stanley 

 is to lead the forlorn hope. Prof. Nordenskjold takes up 

 the task laid down as hopeless 300 years ago, of finding 

 a north-east passage ; and last, but really first in point 

 of time, a little Dutch expedition left Ymuiden on the 

 6th inst. for a six months' Arctic cruise. Since the stirring 

 times of William Barentz, the Dutch have had much to 

 do to keep their heads above water, but now that they 

 have got well out of difficulties, it is gratifying to find 

 that they are turning their attention in a direction in 

 which long ago they won much glory and did good 

 service. The appropriate name of the little schooner of 

 eighty tons, in which the expedition sailed is the Willevi 

 Barentz. The expedition is commanded by the Dutch 

 naval officer, J, J. de Bruyne, with Lieutenants L. R. 

 Kooliemans Beynen and H. M. Speelman, second and 

 third in command, accompanied by a small corps of 

 scientific experts and a crew of eight men, fourteen all 

 told. The first point which the expedition purposes 

 visiting will be Jan Mayen Land, next steering its course 

 for the north-west coast of Spitzbergen to Amsterdam 

 Island, examining the edge of the west ice en route. 

 Smeerenburg, in this island, was the principal seat of 

 operations of the Dutch Northern Company, and some 

 daysi^vill be spent here in looking out and marking the 

 graves of Dutchmen, several of whom died on the island 

 when in the service of the Company in the winters of 

 1633-34 and 1634-35. It is expected that about July 15 

 the expedition will proceed to Novaya Zemlya, probably 

 calling at Bear Island, and, after restoring the Dutch 

 landmarks at these various points, will attempt to pene- 

 trate as far as possible to the north-west from the coast 

 of Novaya Zemlya at the latest period of the navigable 

 season, returning home before the winter. The expe- 

 dition on which the Wilkin Barentz sails is purely 

 national, having been organised exclusively by means of 

 the voluntary contributions of the Dutch. The Willem 



Barentz has been specially constructed at Amsterdam for 

 the service, and fitted with all the modern appliances of 

 an Arctic ship. An English photographer, Mr. W. J. A. 

 Grant, accompanies the expedition. Every opportunity 

 possible will be availed of by the expedition to make 

 observations in magnetism, meteorology, zoology, and 

 natural history, together with deep-sea soundings, and 

 the ascertaining of the direction and force of the currents 

 in the Barentz Sea and surrounding waters. None of the 

 four expeditions we have spoken of will be watched with 

 more kindly interest than that in the Willem Barentz. 



The Malay Peninsula, from Wellesley Province to 

 Singapore, contains, according to a communication 

 addressed by an experienced tea-planter to a Straits 

 paper, millions of acres of low, undulating, thickly- 

 wooded hills, which are well suited for the gro\vth of 

 tea, as the soil of which they are composed is similar to 

 the best tea soils of India. The variety to be planted 

 must, however, it would seem, be that indigenous in 

 Assam. The land referred to is, indeed, only suited to 

 the cultivation of tea or coffee, and with cheap land, 

 plentiful labour, regular seasons, and easy transport, the 

 Malay Peninsula would certainly appear to possess un- 

 equalled advantages for the production of tea. The soil 

 of Singapore has been, until recently, much underrated, 

 but it has been shown conclusively that pepper, tapioca, 

 and sugar can be successfully grown upon it, and it is 

 probable that the tea- shrub, which is a hardy plant, can 

 be grown on the island as well as on the peninsula. 



Our sources of information respecting Corea and its 

 inhabitants are very limited in number, but now and 

 again we glean some news thereof through the Japanese, 

 and from a letter which the North China Herald annually 

 receives from a correspondent at Newchwang in Southern 

 Manchuria. By these means we learn that the porcelain 

 of the country is very fine ; palm-leaf fans are ornamented 

 with paintings, in various colours, of human figures and 

 , landscapes ; cotton-stuffs are made like that which comes 

 from Mikawa in Japan, and the silk is like pongee, but is 

 produced in small quantities ; the only coin in use is not 

 round, but consists of pieces of rod-iron, some four inches 

 long, and bent into a curve. Game both large and small, 

 abounds in the country ; the hills are covered with 

 pheasants ; fallow and other deer are met with every- 

 where ; bears are numerous, especially in the lofty moun- 

 tains in the north ; and spotted and striped tigers have 

 proved themselves very dangerous of late years. Strange 

 to say, notwithstanding the number of tigers in the 

 mountains, the Corean houses have very primitive doors, 

 a framework pasted over with paper being their only 

 protection. 



The latest intelligence from Senegal notifies the arrival 

 of Lieut. Semell^, head of the French expedition for 

 crossing Africa eastwards, M. Paul Soleillet, already 

 known as a Saharan explorer, has also gone to St. Louis 

 for the purpose of leading an expedition by way of Timbuc- 

 too, and In Calah, to Algeria, the purpose being to divert 

 as much of the Saharan trade as possible to Algeria. 

 These, with the hopeful expedition under Abb^ Debaize, 

 which is to cross the continent from Zanzibar, show that 

 the French are taking a fair share in African exploration. 

 SiGNOR Gessi and Signor Matteucci, the Italian 

 explorers in Central Africa, encountering unexpected 

 difficulties between Fadasi and Kafifa, have been obliged 

 to return to Khartoum. 



The Geographical Society of Marseilles is preparing an 

 interesting exhibit in the Paris Exhibition. The principal 

 portion is devoted to African products and contains 216 

 specimens of the leading objects of commerce derived 

 from this continent. They are gathered together in a 

 section surmounted by the portraits of Cameron, Living- 

 stone, and Stanley. A large ethnographical collection of 

 weapons, utensils, etc., completes the exhibit. 



