TUANSACTIONS OK SKCTION K. 



8o:i 



III ]M!*i nml 1S8.'] xiii'voyH were nmdc wliich fully jiMtltit'il tliis opinidn. Tin* 

 Wadi Uoiiin, wliicli niiiH S.S.I'], fnun (j>:is,' (^eniii, in a valltsy cnrrcspoiiilinj,' in 

 ^Imji'' to tlit^ Moridis liiicii'* nl'tlu' I'tolciiiMic iiiiips. It sci'iiis, tlieroton*, t'stiil)!i<ilit'tl 

 ihai till' niicii'iit liiHtniiiins corri'dly nIhIciI tlmt tliero was ii vast rc-nTvoir nl" Nilo 

 wati'i- t'l till' west (if I lie Nile viillcv. 'I'll" Aniliic tradition states, with grout rjcui- 

 i;i"'S ami ]iioltiil)ilit y, that in tin- early |ii'riod of I'l^ryp^ian lijstory thi' watiT tillrd 

 ilii' iiDi'thiTn hasins now Known as the Fayonin, Imt that tliis liil<i' rcct ivi'd tii« 

 wiitiTs of the inundation liiii* Albert Xyanza, without any artilicial rcijulalion of 

 i!ie tli)\v. Till' ^H'cat lahouv oxpenilfd upon this lako coiisisti'd in tlii' formation of 

 ihi'^tvond, or Iti'ian, hasin.thc canal from H^'hncsa to tin- Sonthcrn ba'in,fht' canal 

 still liiMWU as the Balir .lusuf, and tlu- ^ri'at wall of the Fayoum which cxcluihil 

 the water from the U))|)er jilateau. This re^rion was called l)y tlin Jews, I'lthom, 

 [t was i'i-Tum, or the West. Kecent i'e--ean'he.s by Dr. Schweinfurth fully sn p- 

 prtit the assertions ])ut forth from time to time as tho resultii of repeated (seven) 

 vi"its to this part of tho Libyan Desert, especially the jiresence of fresh-water shells 

 a! tho Nil" levtd, and the remains of a town north of Dimeb. Althoiifjli these 

 Liindiisions wert; opjiosed to tho opinion of tho entire scieutitic world — French, 

 Kiif:li.4i, and Uerman — tlioy liavo been accepted. Thoyare of pecidiiir importance. 

 Ix'fuuse — 



(I.) The intiyrity and trustworthiness of the ancient historians liavo boen re- 

 haliilitatcd. 



(•1.) An impulse has been given to seek for other <rreat worl<8, especially the 

 Labyrinth. 



(Ii.) A restoration of the lake is considered feasible. 



This restored lake would be about L'ol) miles in circuniferen(!e, wiili over (lOO 

 iiiil'S of surface, and irrii^'ato an immense uvea. It would greatly facilitate the vo- 

 ileiuption of the marshes at the months of the Nile, and the construction of a Cairo- 

 Suez canal. 



Si 



thi' eilVft thn; 



4. Oh .l/"(y)s of Cantml Africa down to the fommeii cement of the Seventeenth 

 Century. By E. (1. Ravi^nstein, FJi.G.S. 



The author, having gone through the records of discovery and exploration oi' 

 I'l'iitral .\frica frmn the most remote! jiuriod, stated that the maps of tho mid<lie 

 a;.w, which exhibited a well-developed system of lakes and rivers, were the out- 

 turn' of a very clumsy combination of Ptolemy's map, with the more i-econt reports 

 "f Portuguese explorers. These latter had done important work, and they were 

 fairly ■well acquainted with the lower Congo, the lower Zambezi, and a considerable 

 tract of territory inland, but no evidence of their ever liaving crossed Africa had 

 iiitherto been brought forward. Tho expeditions of Fernando Gomez (150^^), 

 llrofforio (^Muulra (li">21), and Kebello d'Aragao, of Santarem (100.3"), which aimed 

 at tlint object, wei'e cut shoi-t at the very outset. At the same time it appeared to 

 be clear that native traders crossed the continent at this early date, for Portuguese 

 manufactures reached Marica overland from Loanda. A casual reference to a 

 j'Hirney of a missionary across Africa, in a popidar work on oriental drugs, was 

 not supported by other evidence. Had liUilolfns, the learned author of ' I'ltliiopia,' 

 earned o>it l.is intention of ccmipiling a map of tho whole of .\frica, he would M-ith- 

 "iit a doubt have produced a work far superior to tho maps o. the period, and 

 secured himself a place by tho side of such eminent cartographers as de L'Isle and 

 d'Anville. 



FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 

 The following Papers were read : — 

 1. The rcmarl-ahle Journpy of the trained Indian Explorer A. K. on the 

 Frontiers of India and China. By Timilawney Sadndeus. 



The work of this native scientific explorer, trained by the ofFicors of the great 

 trigonometrical survey of India, has thrown a light over regions on the Eastern 



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