158 
NATORE 
[DEcEMBER 17, 1896 
of the expedition in question, and am fully prepared to 
enter into all the particulars of it, even more fully than I 
have done on a previous occasion, or in my work on 
“British New Guinea.” 
For many years before the arrival of Sir Wm. Mac- 
Gregor in New Guinea, several attempts had been made 
to explore the Alpine region of the Owen Stanley Range. 
For various reasons, no one had been able to accomplish 
it. ‘These attempts, by Captain Armit, Messrs. Chalmers, 
Goldie, Morrison, Hartman, Hunter, Cuthbertson and 
Forbes, resulted in signal failure, neither of the ex- 
plorers reaching even the foot of the great range. In a 
letter published in the Proceedings of the Royal Geo- 
graphical Society, London, September 1890, Mr. H. O. 
Forbes stated that his “nearest approach to Mount 
Victoria, by my own map, is between eight and nine 
miles,” and that it was only necessary for him to descend 
to and cross the Warume River below him to obtain 
access to several leading spurs running directly to the 
summit of Mount Victoria. He believed that the road 
traced by his eye from the hills in the Sogeri region on 
his first arrival in New Guinea was more eminently 
feasible than the one followed by Sir Wm. MacGregor 
in the latter’s journey to the summit of Mount Victoria. 
Against this statement it may be pointed out that there 
seems no doubt whatever that Mr. Forbes did not see 
the highest «crest of. the mountain from his. nearest 
approach to it, and it is almost certain that he could not 
have: obtained .access ‘to the crown.of Mount Victoria 
along the-south-easterly spur: of it. » Concerning this 
accessible spur which Mr. Forbes purposed ascending, 
Sir Wm. MacGregor says, it is a mighty precipitous | 
buttress exceeding 12,000 feet in height “bristling with | 
peaks and pinnacle-like rocks, and contains ‘hundreds: of 
maccessible crags and precipices.” 
Sir Wm. MacGregor’s route lay for some distance up 
and along the Vanapa River, and apparently he has 
followed his old track very closely from the crown of the 
Owen Stanley Range to the South Coast in his recent 
journey. across New Guinea. The important bearing 
which the successful accomplishment of this remarkable 
journey must necessarily have upon the development of 
the country will be fully apparent to all who have 
watched the progress of British enterprise in the 
possession since its establishment some ten years ago. 
Apart from the increase to our knowledge of the geo- 
graphical conditions of the interior of the south-eastern 
portion of the island itself—an increase that cannot fail 
to be of the very greatest interest and importance—the 
advantage of having a practicable trade route across the | 
British Territory is one that can scarcely be over- 
estimated. Itis almost impossible to give an accurate 
forecast of its bearing upon the opening up and settle- 
ment of the country and the development of its mineral 
resources. That valuable minerals occur in the high 
ranges Of the interior has been clearly enough shown by 
the alluvial gold obtained in the upper reaches of the 
Mambare River, and the auriferous character of Mount 
Scratchley, to which special mention is made in Sir 
Wm. MacGregor’s telegraphic message to the Governor 
of Queensland. There is little doubt, too, that mineral 
deposits will also be found on the southern slopes, or 
near the base of the Owen Stanley Range, and this 
region will soon be rendered accessible along the over- 
land trade route passing the western spurs of the range 
in question. 
The Mambare River (the Clyde of the Admiralty 
Charts) debouches into Traitors Bay on the north-east 
coast of the possession. The mouth of this interesting 
river is only about two miles inside the Anglo-German 
boundary, on the 8th parallel. It is navigable for an 
ordinary-sized steam launch for about forty miles up, 
and on the lower reaches are extensive areas of good 
alluvial land interspersed with remarkably fine fields of 
NO. 1416, VOL. 55 | 
sago palms. The district is famous for its very lofty 
forest trees and fine climate. The river was explored 
for the first time by Sir Wm. MacGregor in 1894, and 
recently he again ascended it on his journey across the 
island. There is no doubt but that it affords easy access 
to the mineral areas of the interior, and especially to the 
bracing highland zones of the Owen Stanley Range, 
Mount Albert Edward, Mount Scratchley, and other 
neighbouring ranges, that were hitherto regarded as 
inaccessible. It forms an easy section of the great 
overland trade route now discovered, and for the first 
time opened up by the Lieutenant Governor, and it is. 
almost certain that the Mambare district will ere long 
become one of the most important in British New 
Guinea. ° 
Excellent relations have been established with the 
natives of the interior, and indeed all along the overland 
route the natives met with have been very friendly, a 
prevailing condition that will have an important bearing 
upon the future development of the country by British 
enterprise. : 
Not the least important geographical results ‘of Sir 
Wm. MacGregor’s recent journey is the discovery of a 
connecting chain between Mount Albert Edward and 
Mount Scratchley, and the practicability of ascending 
the Owen Stanley Range to its highest summit on Mount 
Victoria from the north-east as’ wellas from the opposite 
side. J. P. THOMSON. 
JOHAN AUGUST HUGO GYLDEN. 
(Pes ranks of astronomers have suffered severely of 
late, and it is with deep regret that we are com- 
pelled to record that the Royal Observatory of ‘Stock- 
holm has now lost its renowned Director. Prof. Hugo 
Gyldén could ill be spared, especially at such an early 
age as fifty-five. On November 9 last he was seized with 
paralysis of the heart, and died during the afternoon at 
the Observatory. The following particulars of his lifeand 
work have been gathered from the obituary notices con- 
tributed to the Astronomische Nachrichten by Herr Karl 
Bohlin, and to the Comptes rendus by M. Callandreau. 
Hugo Gyldén was born at Helsingfors in the year 
1841 (on May 29), his father, Nils Abraham Gyldén, 
being a professor of Greek at the University. At the 
age of sixteen he went to the University of that town ; 
after first studying chemistry, and, at a later date, 
mathematical astronomy, he gained in 1860 the title of 
“ Magister der Philosophie.” To make his studies more 
complete he went abroad, and during the years 1861-62 
he was found at Gotha and Leipzig, having come in 
contact with Hansen, Le Verrier, and Delaunay. In 
December of 1862 he was elected a Teacher of Astronomy, 
and in the following year a Doctor of Philosophy. 
Pulkowa saw him first in 1862, and after a year’s work 
there he was made an “Adjunct Astronom,” being 
promoted in 1865 to “ Alteren Astronomen.” The follow- 
ing year he received the title of “ Hofrath.” 
About this time his investigations related to the con- 
stitution of the atmosphere and refraction, which form 
now the basis of the refraction-tables at Pulkowa. At 
the same time, also, he was busy with elliptic functions 
in their relation to the “mécanique céleste,” the first 
results of which appeared in the Studien auf dem CGebiete 
der Storungstheorie, 1., 1871. ’ 
The important service he thus rendered to astronomical 
science led the Royal Academy of Sciences of Stockholm 
to offer him the vacant place of Astronomer of the 
Academy and Director of the Observatory in Stockholm. 
This he accepted and retained until his death. © 
His activity, while holding this office, was displayed 
not only in the development of pure scientific works, but 
in drawing around hima number of students, among which 
may be mentioned O. Backlund, A. Donner, P. Harzer, 
