278 Scientific Intelligence. 



w 



W 



15. Htimlayas, — According to recent sun^eys of the Himalaya moun- 

 tains by Colonel Waugh, there is a loftier peak than the one that has 

 long stood first in the books. 



Dhualagiri, Mount Everest (the new peak), Kintschindjunga, and 

 Tschumalari stand nearly in a line, — Dhualagiri being the westernmost, 



between the meridians 83^ 32' and 89^ 19' east of Greenwich, and the 

 parallels 28^ 42' and 27^ 42'. The heights of the four are as follows: 



Dhualagiri (lat. 28° 42', long. 83^ 32'), - 26,826 



Mt. Everest (lat. 27° 59', long. 85° 58'), - 29,002 

 Kintschindjunga (lat. 27^* 42^ long. 88° 11'), 28,156 



Tschumalari (lat. 27° 50', long. 89° 19'), - 23,946 



Petermami's Mittlu Geog.^ 1856, p. 379- 



16. Notes and Queries on the Drying itp of the Yellow River ^ China; 



by D. J, Macgowan, M. D. — We are accustomed to attach more import- 

 ance to records of physical phenomena contained in the annals of China 

 than most students of Chinese ; yet we have never been able to give full 

 credence to accounts of the temporary drying up of large rivers. The 

 recent disappearance however, of a great part of the llwang (Yellow 

 river), must be regarded as explanatory, if not confirmatory of these fluvi- 

 atile vicissitudes. 



From beyond Siichau to its embouchure a distance of more than 200 

 miles, the Yellow River has been dry for several years ! 



On referring to records of, similar phenomena we find the following: 



In the year 1766 b. c. the I and Loh (tributaries of the Hwang) became 

 dry. At or about the same time the Tai mountain, 200 miles distant in 

 Shantung fell : a seven years drought occurred soon after. 



About the year 1154 the Hwang, or Yellow River itself became dry. 

 ^ In 778 B.C. an earthquake affected the basins of the King Loh and 

 "Wei (affluents of the Hwang) when these rivers dried up. The fall of a 

 mountain, or a landslip also accompanied this convulsion. 



In the year 310 of our era, the Yellow River was fordable at Honan, 

 as were also the Loh and adjacent streams. 



At the close of the Sung dynasty 1278 a.d, the Tsientang was so 

 nearly dry at Hangchau as to be fordable. The opportunity it presented 

 of crossing was embraced by the Mongols who were in pursuit of the last 

 of the Sung emperors. The absence of tides for three days is assigned 

 as the cause of this remarkable state of that river: an explanation^which 

 is obviously insufiicient, even though the tidal wave had failed to rise. 



Further research would probably extend this list. In history, these 

 records are distinguished from those that relate to the shifting of channels, 

 overflowing of banks, and other obstructions to which rivers are sub- 

 jected. 



We come now to our own days. 



In the latter part of 1852 the people of Hwaingan found the river 

 fordable : in the spring of the ensuing year travellers crossed it dry shod, 

 since which time it has been, to use the Chinese term applied to it, *'^^ 

 dry as dust." We have in our employ the former Secretary of the Com- 

 missioner of the Grand Canal, who resided in Hwaingan from February 

 to September, 1853. Nearly the whole of the following year he spent 

 farther up the river at Siichau. The dryness of the channel at the fornaer 

 place attracted his attention, but he found prevailing such a supei^titious 



