TltANSACTIONS OF j;ECTION K 



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om' p!aaili(> and our congratulations. Mr. Thomson v. as coir-nissionnil to explore 

 the imknowii rountry aljont Mount Kiliina-njaro and Mount Ki-nia, and if possible 

 to continue bis route to Lake J^yanza. He lias done all this and much more. 

 After an unsuccessful start from Zanzil)ar in March of last year, in \vbieli, bow- 

 everjie reaciad Kilinia-njaro and ascended it about {),0()() ft., be returned to the 

 coiitt from Taveta, and started again in July, this time from ^lomhasa. We are 

 i\M vt't fully acquainted Avith his route, but we kn(^\v that be siLrain readied the 

 ..'leat mountain, re])uted to have nn elevation of mori' than i'(),()()U ft., that 

 tbeuc ■ be reached the east side of Lake Nyanza, that be is the lir.-t who has stood 

 on t!i ' ."-bores of L. ]>arinrro. That tlienee, always amoni^ natives who 

 liiul ne\t^-y hi'lbi-e seen a wiiite man, he reached Mount Keuia, reputed \o ho 

 18,('i'" ft. bi^li. and found bis way back to the coast uiUiout any contlict or loss 

 of lifo by Ni'iKiice, and this after a journey of aboat -'(JU luilos, nearly the whole 

 of i; ti.rougii a country previously ludiimwn to peagra])hy. I have been favoured 

 l)vli !!'. with a .short communication, which will oe read piesently. The courage 

 niid t'l ' tfUipi'i', the decision and tlie tact re(piired fursuccesstul progress among the 

 warlike and rapacious tribes wliose territories be passed tlirough.are(pKilities which 

 ■k'luand our genuine admiration. U'ake a singlf trait : 'As an illustration of their 

 ivadiut'ss to draw their swords, I may mention," be says, *my own case, in which a 

 Mii.-ai actually drew bis -unr to settle matters with me, Ix'cause, getting tired of bis 

 .'Xtreme curiosity to see the whiteness of my leg. I ])us!ied liim away. On his drawing 

 lilidiin'' I langlied and pretended I wanted to sec it, and so tlie nintter endeil.' 



IkiorL- .Mr. Tiuimson had actually' returned to Zanzibar, another explorer, 

 under tb'^ dir.'ction of a ( 'ommittee of tins Association, had started in the same 

 Jirectiou. Mr. II. II. Johnston, wlios. plan*, however, are devoted primarily to 

 i!ie ir.ves;i_'ation of the fauna and ili:ra nf Kilima-njaro, left tlie Ib'itisb Ue.-idency, 

 Zau.;ibar, in May last for ^loinbasa, bavinu' by tlie ailvice of Sir John Kirk 

 -eit'Cttd tiiat route for Kilima-njaro. Mr. .Johnston had succeeded with Sir John 

 Kiik'j kind assistance in g'etting together a well-organised party both of collectors 

 and pi'i'ters. and started in good health, wit'n every liojie ot' ultimate succesi. 

 I'lirtii-r details on tliis subji'Ct will perhaps be given in tlie report of the Kilima- 

 'jjaro ''oinuiittee to be read in Section D, and we liavi' a communication from Sir 

 Jdlir. Kirk, dated July 10, to b:,' read presently, which shows that be has reached 

 liis ground. 



'"^. To the great desire of the French to unite their possessions in Northern and 

 ','entval Afiici, and to comnnuid tlie commerce of the i ative states south of the 

 Sahara. \vv owe many im])ortant expeditions, one of which terminated unfort unately 

 in the de.-truction of ( 'olonid Flatters, togetlier with several otlier ollicers and men, 

 liy theTuaregs in F^ebvuary 1881' Nevertheless continued progress has been made 

 in the cira])letion of our maps of that region. Colonel Flatters found everywhere 

 ividei:ci:.> that at some remoti- period tlu' great Wadi Ighargliar was the bed of a 

 river t!cv.iiig into one of the mo-l westerly of the Tunisi; .i depressions, that large 

 tracts wt-re once fertihsed by it, of which small and scattered oases alone have 

 MU'vivt'd to our epoch, and tliat suliterraiu'an water probably exists along its course. 

 Tk' hand of man, which is about to admit the waters of tb(( .Mediterranean into 

 ihoM' depressions, may yet W(U'k surprising clianges in tlii'se arid regions. We 

 lune evidence of the im))rovements possible, in the di'.^cription given by 3Ir. Oscar 

 L'-'iiz, (,f the young Arab city of Teiiduf on the skirts of the desert (cir. L'7^ N.). 

 FouikI d oidy thirty years ago, in the heart of Islam, be describes it as now con- 

 .-istiuu' of large well-built bouses surrounded with well-watereil gardens of vegetables, 

 and grovfS of date palms, a centre for caravan routes in four directions. This 

 triivel'iff, wlio visited Timbidctii in l88(', describes it as a decayed city of very 

 littl.' commercial importance, as may be imagined from their currency of cowries 

 at the rale of 000 for a franc; and 'greatly in want of a little more intercourse 

 with the world. The people, indeed, imagine their river, the Niger, to be identical 

 wit!: t! . Nile. The project of a railway thither from Algeria, actually marked on 

 *iiii!' ui;,p>, he dismisses as a chimera ; tiio idea, however, has not been abandoned. 

 The !i:u' now proposed is from AN'argla by Insalah and Inzize to Timbuktu. 



I am tempted here to remark that l-'rencli travellers have made one observatioa 



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