14 



I must not omit the remarkable achievement of Lieutenant 

 Cameron, whose wonderful march across tropical Africa, from 

 east to west, will place him in the foremost rank of practical 

 geographers. Attended by two companions both of whom re- 

 turned, one through the effects of the climate, the other, with the 

 remains of the great traveller Livingstone, which were met at Uny- 

 anyembe himself suffering from a serious fever of an intermit- 

 tent type how alone and somewhat recovered, Cameron proceeded 

 to Ujiji to recover an important map of Dr. Livingstone's, without 

 which record this traveller's discoveries would have been incom- 

 plete. It was handed over to him, and he dispatched it by a safe 

 hand to Zanzibar. His first great exploit was the survey of Lake 

 Tanganyika, which he ascertained to be 2,754 feet above the 

 level of the sea, and discovered the great stream Lukuga flowing 

 out of it on its western side. The gallant explorer returned to 

 Ujiji ; on the 19th of May he sent off his last letter to Zanzibar, 

 and started the next day on his lonely and chivalrous expedition. 

 In August he reached Nyangwe on the Lualaba, the furthest 

 point reached by Livingstone, Lieutenant Cameron found it 

 to be only 1,400 feet above the level of the sea, which put an 

 end to the idea that the Lualaba is connected with the Nile sys- 

 tem. Here was the crisis of the undertaking. The chief of the 

 neighbouring district refused him leave to cross his territory, and 

 he was obliged to give up the idea of following the course of the 

 Congo ; but, nothing daunted in his resolve to reach the Atlantic, 

 his detour led to equally valuable geographical discoveries ; he 

 touched the watershed of the Zambesi which flows eastward into 

 the Indian Ocean. In October last he reached Benuela on the 

 Atlantic, and proceeded from thence to Laonda. Lieutenant 

 Cameron's discoveries, besides others of deepest importance, show 

 that by a canal only 30 miles long, the Zambesi, which flows into 

 the Indian Ocean, and the Congo, which flows into the Atlantic, one 

 of the most magnificent water communications in the world, can be 

 effected. During his search for the outflow of water from Lake 

 Tanganyika, Lieutenant Cameron collected 100 species of flowers, 

 of which 12 are new. If the Lakuga belongs, as it probably 

 does, to the Congo river basin, these flowers will be found to be 

 distinct from those of the Nile or off the Zambesi. 



And now ladies and gentlemen let me express to you the 

 sense I entertain of the honour you conferred upon me last year 

 in electing me to be your President, and for the kindness and 

 courtesy I have received from you during my tenure of the office. 

 If I have been in any way successful in the discharge of my 

 duties, that success is mainly owing to the valuable assistance I 

 have received from Professor Buckman, the Rev. H. H. Wood, 

 and from your kindness in looking over my deficiencies. 



