62 



NATURE 



{Nov. 15, I ; 



Right asc and declination 

 Planet. Rises. Souths. Sets. on meridian. 



h. m. h. m. h. m. h. m. ^ z 



Mercury.. 5 28 ... 10 31 ... 15 34 ... 14 22-4 ... 11 43 S. 



Venus ... 10 27 ... 14 7 ... 17 47 ... 17 59-6 ... 25 7 S. 



Mars ... II 41 ... 15 34 ... 19 27 ... 19 26-1 ... 23 28 S. 



Jupiter ... . 8 50 ... 12 53 ... 16 -,6 ... 16 45-5 ... 21 54 S. 



Saturn... 22 15*... 5 41 ... 13 7 ... 9 316 ... 15 38 N. 



Uranus... 3 56 ... 9 23 ... 14 5° ... 13 I47 ••• 7 I5 S. 



Neptune.. 16 22*.. 07... 7 52 ... 3 57*1 ... 18 41 N. 



• Indicates that the rising is that of the preceding evening and the r>outhing 

 and setting those of the following morning. 



Variable Stars. 

 Sur. R.A. Decl. 



h. m. „ . h. m. 



S Ceti o 18-4 ... 9 57 S. ... Nov. 19, M 



U Cephei o 52-4 ... 81 16 N. ... „ 20, o 47 »i 



Algol ... 3 0-9 ... 40 31 N , 19, 22 II m 



,, 22, 19 o »« 



A.Tauri 3 54-5 ... 12 10 N , 18, 22 59 m 



,, 22, 21 52 m 



<Geminorum ... 6 57-5 ... 20 44 N. ... ,, 18, 23 o m 



,, 23, 23 o M 



R Canis Majoris... 7 14-5 ... 16 12 N. :.. ,, 18, 5 S »« 



W Virginis 1320-3:.. 2 48 S. ... ',, 23, i oM 



S Coron* ... ... 15 i6'8 ... 31 46 N. ... ,, 22, m 



;8 Lyrse 18 46-0 ... 33 14 N. ... „ 18, o o w 



R Lyrae 18 51-9 ... 43 48 N. ... „ 18, m 



T VulpeCulae ... 20 467 ... 27 50 N , 21, o oM 



Y Cygni ... ... 20 47*6 ... 34 14 N. ..•. ,, 19, 2 36 m 



,, 2i, 2 24 /« 



« Cephei 22 25*0 ... 57 51 N. ... ,, 18, 4 o m 



„ 19, 19 o 3/ 

 Jl/signifies maximum.; w minimum. 

 Meteor- Showers. 

 R.A. Decl. 



Near k Leonis 140 ... 27 N. ... Very swift. 



,, fl Ursse Majoris ... 143 ... 50 N. ... ,, ,,, 

 ,, A Ursse Majoris ... 154 ... 40 N. ... Swift ; streaks. The 



Leo Minorids. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 

 , We are glad to learn from Denmark that Dr. Nansen has 

 been successful in crossing Greenland. Dr. Nansen, it will be 

 remembered, left the ship, in a boat off the south-east coast of 

 Greenland, 65° 2' N., on July 17. He knew his party had to 

 sail south among the ice for twelve days before they succeeded 

 in landing to the north of Cape Farewell in lat. 61°. As he 

 came out at Godthaab, on the opposite coast, in October, he has 

 taken about-three months on the journey, which was made in a 

 line about sixty miles south of that he intended to follow. The 

 s;ction crossed by Dr. Nansen's e.xpedition is in the south and 

 narrow part of Greenland, Nordenskjold's route having been 

 much farther north, and almost in the centre of the land. 

 Unfortunately, Dr. Nansen just missed the last ship from 

 Greenland to Europe, so that he will have to remain at Godthaab 

 till May next. Until then we must wait for full details. 



The paper read at the first meeting this session of the 

 Royal Geographical Society, on Monday night, was by 

 Mr. H. H. Johnston, H.M. Vice Consul for the Oil Rivers, 

 on the Niger Delta. The "Oil Rivers," Mr. Johnston 

 ■said — so called from the fact of their producing the bulk 

 of the palm-oil exported from West Africa — -are the main 

 rivers, creeks, and estuaries lying between the eastern bound- 

 ary of the British colony of Lagos and the northern frontier 

 of the German Protectorate of the Cameroons. They are 

 chiefly branches of the Niger, and form the Niger delta, but 

 ■some few of them have sources independent of that great stream ; 

 although close to the sea-coast, withintidal influence, the estuaries 

 •of these rivers are interconnected by a wonderful network cf 

 more or less navigable creeks. This system of natural canaliza- 

 tion is here and there blocked with vegetable growth, sandbanks, 

 fallen trees, or artificial obstacles constructed by quarrelsome or 

 timid natives ; but'with a relatively small amount of labour and 

 at a moderate cost, the creeks in places might be deepened and 

 cleared, and inland navigation rendered practicable between 

 Dahome and the Cameroons Protectorate. Mr. Johnston then 

 gave a graphic description of these rivers as they present them- 

 selves to one arriving on the coast from Europe. Arriving 

 from Europe by sea, it is generally by the soundings and dis- 

 coloured appearance of the water that we become aware of the 



near approach to land, rather than by sighting any part of the 

 shore. When within a few miies of the mouth of one of these 

 rivers, the low coast-line is at first indicated by is )lated trees, 

 which appear islets of forest unconnected with each other, and 

 distorted by the mirage of each horizon. Gradually these islets, 

 which are really the loftier treesof the fringe of coast forest, become 

 united in one line of purple green, divided only by the imposing 

 gate of the estuary, for which our ship is bound. The bar of 

 the river may be— as in the case of Old Calabar and Bonny— so 

 deep as to be without danger, or it may be relatively shallow, as at 

 Opobo or Akasa. Once over the bar and within the estuary, we 

 find ourselves surrounded by a lake-like expanse of smooth 

 water, the shores of which are fringed with lofty mangroves with 

 their ghastly white blood -streaked trunks— streaked where the 

 bark has been torn or frayed — and their graceful poplar-like 

 foliage of a sad, dull, yellow-green. Behind the mangroves, 

 however, generally show the dark and dense masses of inland 

 forest, growing where the land has acquired firmness and lies 

 just above the limits of high tide. As far as can be seen from 

 the ship's deck, all and everything that is not yellow water is un- 

 varying mangrove. As you ascend the river further and further 

 from the sea, the mangrove loses its exclusive possession of the 

 shores, even if this possession be not here .and there broken by 

 little islets of firm land covered with varied vegetation, and 

 generally the sites of villages. Almost before the water has 

 ceased to be brackish, the Pandanus or screw-pine begins to oust 

 the mangrove, and below its fantastic whorls of spiny leaves the 

 lovely Lissochilus orchids conceal the black mud with their leaves, 

 and rear their stout flower-stems to a height of 6 or 7 feet. 

 As the river is ascended still further, though the banks continue 

 marshy, the now perfectly fresh water enables a varied forest to 

 replace the mangrove and Pandanus, and here perhaps the most 

 extravagant development of vegetation may lie seen, recalling 

 past geological epochs rather than the poor and mediocre aspects 

 of Nature at the present time. There is not one prominent kind 

 of tree, but an infinite variety of kinds. There is every type ot 

 foliage and every shade of green. At the ba'^e of the forest on 

 the water-line grow great Arums of the genus Cyrtosfenna, with 

 flower spathes of pale green streaked with purple red. Above 

 the Arums gleam out the white bracts of a species of Miissaenda, 

 while higher up another Mussaenda exhibits huge creamy-white 

 flowers without .any bracts at all, and yet another species of this 

 beautiful genus has blo-soms of a vivid scarlet. Over the lower 

 branches of the trees hangs a thick green veil of convolvulus, 

 dotted at intervals with large mauve flowers. The Raphia palms 

 are also a characteristic of this river-side forest. Ascending this 

 typical river still further, the marshy banks gradually become 

 firm dry land, and the ground even rises from the water into 

 wooded heights. Gradually the river narrows, and the banks 

 increase in height, and red clay now gives place to outcropping 

 rock. Looking interiorwards beyond the vista of the winding 

 river is the exhilarating prospect of a faint blue range of hills. 

 All influence of the tide has ceased, and the current becomes 

 more rapid. It may be hours, or it may be days or weeks, before 

 we reach the outlying spurs of the first range of hills, the first 

 ascent to the central plateau, over the rapids and falls which 

 mark the change from the interior to the coast region. Here 

 you are out of the forest region of West Africa, in the great 

 park-lands of the interior. Mr. Johnston then went on to describe 

 in detail some of the more important places and districts com- 

 prised within the British Protectorate of the Niger Territories. 



In a paper read before the last meeting of the Berlin 

 Geographical Society, Dr. von der Steinen described his second 

 exploration on the Xingu, which began at Rio Janeiro in February 

 1 88 7, and ended at Cuyaba, the capital of Matto Grosso, on 

 December 31 last. The traveller summed up the main results 

 of his journey thus : the topographical survey of the region 

 through which he passed, numerous physical measurements, a 

 complete grammar of the Bakairi of the Xingu, various vocabu- 

 laries, and a rich collection of the most varied ethnological 

 objects. During his long residence amongst the Xingu Indians, 

 with whom he was on the most friendly and familiar terms, he 

 was enabled to obtain a deeper insight into the manners and 

 ideas of primitive man in the early stages of his culture than any 

 other traveller. Unfortunately, a chest containing his geological 

 specimens was lost, and many of the photographs were injured. 



To the November number of Petermamis Mittetlungen Herr 

 von Hesse- Wartegg contributes a paper on Lake Tacoragua, in 

 Northern Venezuela, one of the few fresh-water lakes in South 

 America. The oscillation in the extent of the lake is undoubted, ac- 



