38 



NATURE 



\_May 8, 1879 



Prof. Geikie's able lecture on geographical evolution is 

 promised for the June number. 



We understand that, chiefly through the instrumentality 

 of a veteran Arctic officer, the Council of the Royal Geo- 

 graphical Society were some time back induced to urge 

 apon H.M. Government the propriety of despatching a 

 vessel to the relief of Prof. Nordenskjold early in the 

 present season. The matter, of course, was referred to 

 the Admiralty, and "My Lords," after mature delibera- 

 tion, have arrived at the conclusion that the matter had 

 better be left to private enterprise. This resolution may 

 be looked upon as a tolerably sure indication that the 

 present Government are not disposed to embark upon an 

 Arctic expedition of any description. 



We hear that Mr. Keith Johnston, the leader of the 

 Geographical Society's East African Expedition, was to 

 leave Zanzibar at the end of last month for Dar-es-Salaam, 

 on the mainland, with the view of making final prepara- 

 tions for his journey to Lake Nyassa. The fact of his 

 having been fortunate enough to secure the services of 

 Chuma, Livingstone's old follower, will, no doubt, smooth 

 away many difficulties, which otherwise would have 

 caused him much trouble. Mr. Johnston has, we believe, 

 turned his somewhat lengthy stay at Zanzibar to good ac- 

 count in the accumulation of all the information that could 

 be procured respecting the tribes through which he will 

 have to pass ; and in this matter he has received very 

 great assistance from an Arab named Bushire bin Selim, 

 who is acquainted with some part of the country between 

 the coast and Lake Nyassa, and who states that, though 

 there is no direct road from the coast, the region at the 

 north end of the lake is regularly visited by branch routes 

 from the main road between Bagamoyo and Ujiji. 



M. DE Semelle, whose death was we are glad to say 

 prematurely announced, has succeeded in ascending the 

 Niger and the Binud as far as Okeri, a point, it is stated, 

 which has not hitherto been explored. He has collected 

 valuable information on the products of the country, and 

 the history and traditions of the people. He intends 

 meantime to return to France for further subsidies to 

 enable him to continue his exploration. M. Soleillet, who 

 had to return to St. Louis in Senegal, after reaching 

 Segou, is to set out on a new expedition for " Tichid, 

 Wallatana, Timbuctoo, the Touat, and Algiers." M. 

 Soleillet has brought back much interesting information 

 concerning the people among whom he has been travel- 

 ling, and of whom he speaks in very high terms for their 

 intelligence and culture. 



M. Satorgnan de Brazza is about to set out for 

 further exploration in the Ogow^ region ; he will en- 

 deavour to penetrate to the interior by the Alima and the 

 river into which it falls. 



In No. 4 of the Mittheilungeii of the Vienna Geo- 

 graphical Society, Count Stefanovic von Vilovo discusses 

 the causes of the recent disastrous floods at Szegedin. 

 Five years ago, it seems, he prophesied that some such 

 catastrophe must happen, but he was only laughed at. 

 He showed that this would be caused by the damming 

 back of the water in the narrow rocky passes at Plocsa, 

 and in the Kazan, in the narrow pass between Bazian and 

 the Iron Gates, the surplus water being thus forced back 

 into the nearest tributaries, the Morava, the Temes, the 

 Save, and above all the Theiss. He maintains that the 

 present disasters are solely the work of those rocks at 

 Plocsa and in the Kazan, preventing the carrying off of 

 ■the unusual quantity of water thrown into the river by the 

 rains and snows of last autumn. Dr. Holub's paper on 

 the Marutse-Mambunda is continued, with many illustra- 

 tions and vocabularies, as also the papers of Prof. Benoni, 

 on the sources of the Dniester, and Hesse- Wartegg's, on 

 the river-bed of the Mississippi. Herr von Hochstetter 

 contributes an illustrated paper on the magic instruments 

 •of the rain-maker among the natives of Inner Australia. 



A letter from Herr Ddchy, dated Darjeeling, March 

 9, in the Mittheilungen of the Vienna Society, states that 

 in a day or two he expected to leave with a well-equipped 

 expedition for exploration in Western Sikkim. He was 

 to go through the valley of the Great Runget to the soutk 

 foot of Kinchingunga ; thence, climbing the Pundim- 

 Nursing ridge into the Testa Valley, he .was to explore s 

 the valleys, mountains, and passes of the Thlonok and" 

 Zemu rivers. Herr D^chy expects to add much to ou 

 imperfect knowledge of these regions, and his expedition 

 is well supplied with instruments for scientific observ*! 

 tion. 



The new number of Les Annates de P Extreme Orient^ 

 which is doing good service by its translations of thflj 

 accounts of Dutch explorations in Oceania, &c., contains 

 remarks by H. von Rosenberg on the Schouten Island 

 at the entrance to Geelvink Bay, New Guinea, and brief 

 notes by M. van Hasselt on Alahan-Pandjang in Sumatrai 

 accompanied by a map. This periodical, it may be menT 

 tioned, records the proceedings of the Socidtd Acad^miqu 

 Indo-Chinoise. 



We understand that Prof. P. J. Veth, of Leyden, th^ 

 learned president of the Geographical Society of th« 

 Netherlands, has been elected an honorary correspondin| 

 member of the Royal Geographical Society. 



We learn from the Colonies and India that a very in 

 teresting operation has been performed in the Thame _ 

 River, New Zealand, viz., the blowing up of the Awotonga~ 

 Falls, near the Awoka mountain. They were 75 miles from 

 the mouth of the river, and had been a great hindrance 

 to navigation. The falls were blown up with 200 lbs. 

 of dynamite, the column of water rising to a height of 

 470 feet, and forming a magnificent spectacle. In addi- 

 tion to these falls, there have been removed in a similar 

 manner several dangerous and impassable rapids and up- 

 wards of 500 " snags," varying from two to eight feet in 

 diameter, and some of them 120 feet long. The clearing 

 of this river, it is said, will open up a million acres of 

 excellent land, which the Government hare obtained from 

 the natives. 



TRENHAM REEKS 



WITH much regret we record the death of Mr. Tren- 

 ham Reeks, the esteemed Registrar of the Royal 

 School of Mines, Jermyn Street. He had been ailing 

 for some weeks, and last week the complaint assumed 

 the serious form of inflammation of the lungs. There 

 was still hope of his recovery a few days ago, but he 

 expired on Tuesday morning, the Jth inst. By his death 

 one of the oldest associations of the Geological Survey 

 and School of Mines is severed. While still young he 

 became connected with the infant museum established by 

 the energy of his friend. Sir Henry de la Beche, in 

 Craig's Court ; and on the enlargement of that establish- 

 ment and the creation of the School of Mines, he was 

 appointed to the office which he has held up till now. 

 Having in early life devoted himself to chemistry and 

 mineralogy, he took great pride in the mineralogical 

 collection under his charge in Jermyn Street, and 

 from year to year enriched it with fresh acquisitions. 

 He had a great knowledge of pottery, and gained it 

 at a time when the taste was far less general than it is 

 now. The illustrated hand-book which, in conjunction 

 with De la Beche, he prepared of the ceramic collection 

 in the Jermyn Street Museum, though long ago out of 

 print, is still a valued work of reference. Personally, he 

 was singularly courteous and obliging, though tenacious 

 of purpose and not easily defeated in any matter 

 wherein he had resolved to succeed. He thoroughly 

 identified himself with the interests of the School of 

 Mines, to which his loss must now be great. 



Not a few who read these lines will long remember the 



