Letters, Extracts, and Notes. 187 



circumstances Capt. Cecil Godfrey Rawling, C.I.E.^ F.R.G.S., 

 wlio went out as Surveyor to the party, has been instructed 

 by the Committee to take the command, the duties of which, 

 we are sure, he will execute with his well-known energy and 

 ability. It appears that shortly after Mr. Goodfellow"s 

 return to Wakatimi in June last there were heavy floods on 

 the River Mimeka, and the whole camp and surrounding 

 country became covered with water. He and his companions 

 were constantly obliged to walk about in water up to 

 their knees, and much damage was done to the stores. 

 When the flood subsided the whole camp became a bog, 

 and it is no wonder that there were many cases of sickness. 

 The headquarters have now been removed to a new camp on 

 the Waitakwa River where it leaves the mountains, three 

 days further up. But in order to get at the snowy peak of 

 Carstenz it will probably be necessary to cross the Waitakwa^ 

 and to try another river further east, probably the Letakwa, 

 where the waters are said to come down straight from the 

 snow. 



Boyd Alexander's Collection of Birds, — From ' The Times ' 

 of December the 23rd we learn that the extensive collection of 

 bird-skms formed by the late Mr. Boyd Alexander is to be 

 presented to the Trustees of the British Museum, and will 

 form part of the great National Collection at South 

 Kensington. Of course no other more appropriate destina- 

 tion covdd be found for it. The specimens, which are from 

 various parts of Africa, are about 4,000 in number. 

 Alexander made his first African Collection in the Cape Verd 

 Islands, which he visited in 1897. After a second visit to 

 the Cape Verd Islands in the same year, he joined in an 

 expedition up the Zambesi and its tributary the Kafue, and 

 formed a series of nearly 1,000 skins. 



In 1900 Alexander, who then held a commission in a West 

 India Regiment, took part in the expedition for the relief of 

 Kumassi, in which he was accompanied by Jose Lopez, his 

 Collector. As the relief column advanced Jose followed 

 slowly behind and formed an excellent collection. 



