Jan. 17, 1889] 



NA TURE 



283 



from Australia, presented by Mr. F. Buckland ; a Common 

 I'aracioxure { Paj-cuioxurus typtis 9 ) from India, presented by the 

 Rev. J. De Gruchy ; a Tawny Owl {Syrttium aluco), European, 

 resented by Mr. T. Gunn ; a Stump-tailed lAz^rA {Trac/iydo 

 Hints 7-ugosiis) from New Holland, presented by Mr. C. 

 Kilio't ; a Grey Ichneumon {Hi-rpcsfi-s grisetis) from India, pre- 

 sented by Mr. C. L. Curtis ; a Bonnet Monkey {Macacus 

 sinicus 9 ) from India, two Red-backed Pelicans {Pelecanus 

 rufescens) from West Africa, a Masked Parakeet {Pyrrhulopsis 

 personata, yellow var.) from the Fiji Islands, deposited ; five 

 "iotbey';^ Larks {Kamphocorys clotheyi), five Algerian Shore 

 irks {Otocorys bilopha), two Rosy Bullfinches {Erythrospiza 

 ^ ihagiuea) from Algeria, purchased. 



ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE 

 WEEK \Z2,() JANUARY 20-26. 



/"pOR the reckoning of time the civil day, commencing at 

 ^ -*• Greenwich mean midnight, counting the hours on to 24, 

 is here employed.) 



At Greenwich on January 20 



Sun rises, 7h. 56m. ; souths, I2h. iim. 24-45. ; sets, l6h. 26m. : 



right asc. on meridian, 2oh. 1 1 7m. ; decl. 20° l' S. Sidereal 



Time at Sunset, o\. 27m. 

 Moon (at Last Quarter January 24, l6h.) rises, igh. om.*; 



south?, 2h. 29m.; sets, gh. 45m. : right asc. on meridian, 



loh. 27-3m.; decl. i3''3rN. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 



The following letter from Mr. Stanley to Tippoo Tib has 

 een received in Brussels :— " liima of Banalya-Murenia, August 

 7. to the Sheik Hamed Ben Mahomed [Tippoo Tib] from his 



lod friend, Henry .Stanley. Many salaams to you. I hope 



u are in good health, as I am, and that you have remained in 

 M)d health since I left the Congo. I have many things to say 



you but I hope I shall see you face to face before many days. 



I reached this place this morning with 130 Wangwana, and three 

 soldiers and sixty-six natives belonging to Emin Pasha. This is 

 now the eighty. second day since we left Emin Pasha on the 

 Nyanza, and we have only lost three men all the way. Two of 

 them were drowned, and the other ran away. I found the 

 white men whom I was looking for. Emin Pasha was quite 

 well, and the other white man, Casati, was quite well also. 

 Emin has ivory in abundance, cattle by thousands, and 

 sheep, goat.s, fowls, and food of all kinds. We found him to be 

 a very good and kind man. He gave numbers of things to all 

 our white and black men, and his liberality could not be ex- 

 ceeded. His soldiers blessed our black men for their kindness in 

 coming so far to show them the way, and many of them were 

 ready to follow me at once out of the country. But I asked 

 them to stay quiet a few months that I might go back and 

 fetch the other men and goods I had left at Yambunga, 

 and they prayed to God that he would give me the strength 

 to finish my work. May their prayer be heard. And now, 

 my friend, what are you going to do? We have gone the 

 road twice over. We know where it is bad and where it is 

 good, where there is plenty of food and where there is none. 

 where all the camps are and where we shall sleep and rest. T 

 am waiting to hear your words. If you go with me it is well. If 

 you do not go it is well. I leave it to you. 1 will stay here ten days, 

 and then I go on slowly. I move from here to a big. island two 

 hours' march from here, and above this place there are plenty of 

 houses and plenty of food for the men. Whatever you have to 

 say to me my ears will be open with a good heart, as it has 

 always been towards you. Therefore if you come, come quickly ; 

 for on the eleventh morning from this I shall move on. All my 

 white men are well ; but I left them all behind, except my 

 servant William, who is- with me. — (Signed) Stanley. * 

 This letter, which was brought by a messenger to Stanley 

 Falls, reached Brussels by post on Tuesday evening, and is the 

 only one from Mr. Stanley which has reached the coast. The 

 remainder of the letters brought by the messenger remain at 

 Stanley Falls, and will arrive in Europe two or three months 

 hence. 



Another of the few remaining mysteries of African geo- 

 graphy has just had a little light shed upon it. For many years 

 a lake has been conjecturally placed upon our maps some 15° to 

 the east of the Cameroons, under the name of Liba. No white 

 traveller has ever seen it. Quite recently, however, Dr. Zint- 

 graff, who has been exploring in the Cameroons interior, has 

 obtained information from some natives of the region in which 

 Lake Liba is placed, that leads him to the conclusion that the 

 so-called Lake Liba is probably only a lake-like expansion of a 

 river of that name which exists in the country of his informants. 

 Should the statements of the native.? be confirmed, it would seem 

 that the lake, or rather river, to which it belongs is connected 

 neither with the Congo nor the Shari. 



Further light has been thrown upon the important question 

 of the supposed waterway between Macluer Inlet and Geelvink 

 Bay, in New Guinea, the existence of which was reported by 

 Captain Strachan. It appears that Dr. A. Meyer's explorations, 

 the results of which seem incompatible with Captain Strachan's 

 conclusions, have recently received important confirmation from 

 the investigations of certain Dutch officials. Lieut. Ellis, who 

 explored the north and north-east coast of New Guinea from 

 May to November 1887, was unable to find the reported water 

 connection, or to gain any information about it from the native-^. 

 His own investigations and the inquiries instituted by him force 

 him to the certain conclusion that no such connection exists ; 

 and in this he is supported by the opinion of Dr. Host, another 

 explorer. 



Dr. Schweinfurtii is at present engaged in exploring the 

 little-known region of the Menakha Mountains. Towards the 

 end of last year he left Aden for Hodeida, on the Red Sea, 

 for the purpose of visiting these mountains and the town of 

 Sana. Dr. Schweinfurth carried letters from the Porte recom- 

 mending him to the care and protection of the authorities ; 

 and as he is liberally supplied with funds from lierlin, he 

 hopes to make a thorough exploration of the district, which 

 has been but little visited by Europeans. 



The number of the Zcitschrift of the Berlin Geogr.iphical 

 Society containing the geographical bibliographyof the past year 

 has just been issued. As usual it contains a practically ex 

 haustive list of all publications, papers, and maps that have 

 appeared in the various dcpanmenis of geography. 



