Fete 5 
_ struction, but it requires training to work it. There are 
3791 in use in the Post Office, and 15,702 among different 
railway companies. As a railway instrument it is the 
simplest, cheapest, and most efficient ever devised. The 
- Morse instrument, of which there are 1330 in use in the 
~ Post Office and 40,000 on the Continent, records its letters 
in ink. in dots and dashes on paper tape, and, like the 
needle and A B C, appeals to the consciousness through 
the eye; it also indicates the letters of the alphabet by 
sound, and thus utilises the organ of hearing. Sound- 
reading is gaining ground in England with great rapidity. 
There are now 2000 sounders in use : in 1869 there were 
none. In America scarcely any other instrument is used. 
_ On the Continent there is scarcely one. 
Acoustic reading attains great perfection in Bright’s 
bell instrument, where beats of different sound replace 
the dot and dash of the Morse alphabet. Sound-reading 
is more rapid and more accurate than any system of 
- visual signals or permanent record. In fact no record is 
kept in England, for the paper tape is now destroyed as 
soon as it has been read. Errors are of course inherent 
in all systems of telegraphy. A telegraphist cannot see 
what he writes, or hear what he says, and who is there 
that does not make mistakes whose eye follows his pen, 
or whose ear takes in his own words? The Hughes 
type-instrument, which prints messages in bold Roman 
characters, is much used on the Continent ; it is, in fact, 
recognised as the international instrument, but it has had 
to give way in England to a more rapid system of tele- 
graphy. It is, however, solely used for the Continental 
circuits by the Submarine Telegraph Company. All long 
cables are worked by Sir William Thomson’s beautiful 
siphon-recorder. 
In ordinary working only one message can be sent in 
one direction at one time ; but by a simple and ingenious 
contrivance, by which the neutrality of opposite currents 
is utilised to convey signals, duplex telegraphy is rendered 
possible, so that two messages can be sent on the same 
wire at the same time ; and by a still further improve- 
ment, where currents of different strength are utilised, 
four messages are sent on one wire—two simultaneously 
in opposite directions—at the same time. There are in 
England 319 duplex and 13 quadruplex circuits at work. 
The acme of efficiency in telegraphy is attained in the 
automatic system, in which manual‘labour is supplanted 
by mechanism in transmitting the messages. There are 
71 circuits worked by these instruments, and 224 instru- 
ments in use, anda speed of working of 2co words per 
minute is easily maintained upon them. When the hand 
alone is used, from 30 to 40 words per minute is the 
maximum rate attained, but by automatic means the limit 
is scarcely known. Since this system can be duplexed, 
and in many cases is so, 400 words per minute on one 
wire are easily sent. By the use of high-speed repeaters, 
the length of circuit for automatic working is scarcely 
limited ; it would be easy to send 100 words per minute 
to India. 
The growth of business since the telegraphs have been 
acquired by the State is enormous: 126,000 messages per 
week have grown to an average of 603,000; but the mile- 
age of wire has not increased in anything like the same 
proportion, the excess of traffic having been provided for 
by the great improvements made in the working capacity 
of the apparatus. In 1873, the average number of 
messages per mile of wire was 147, it is now 256. Itis 
in press work that the greatest increase has taken place : 
5000 words per day at the time of the Companies have 
grown to 934,154 words per day now. 340,966,344 words 
of srg matter were delivered in the year ending March 
31, 1882. 
The development of railways has necessitated a corre- 
sponding increase in the telegraphs required to insure the 
safety of the travelling public, and while 27,000 miles of 
wire in England, Scotland, and Wales were used for that 
Bos 2 Say 
purpose in 1869, at the end of December, 1882, the total 
had increased to 69,000 miles, equipped with 43,176 
instruments, against 8678 in 1869. 
The growth of business is equally discernible in the 
great cable companies. In 1871 the number of messages 
dealt with by the Eastern Telegraph Company was 
186,000 ; in 1881, it was 720,000. This growth is equally 
striking in all civilised countries, and even in Japan 
2,223,214 messages were despatched last year, of which — 
g8 per cent. were in the native tongue. The mode of 
transacting the trade of the world has been revolutionised, 
and while wars have been rendered less possible, their 
conduct has been expedited, and their penalties alleviated. 
CENTRAL AND WEST AFRICA? 
pee brilliant journey of Major Serpa Pinto across 
Africa from Loanda, by the Zambesi to Natal, must 
be fresh in the recollection of our readers. The present 
narrative may be regarded as complementary of the 
major’s exciting story. Captains Capello and Ivens were 
members of the original expedition along with Major 
Pinto, and for the first part of the journey the three 
companions worked together. The object of the expedi- 
tion, which was organised by the Portuguese Government, 
was to thoroughly survey the great artery which—a 
tributary of the Congo—runs from south to north between 
17° and 19° E. of Greenwich, and is known as the 
Cuango, as also to determine all the geographical 
bearings between that river and the west coast, and make 
a comparative survey of the hydrographical basins of the 
Congo and Zambesi. The three travellers started from 
Benguella in November, 1877, but had not proceeded 
far on their journey, when a difference of opinion arose 
as to the future route of the expedition. Messrs. 
Capello and Ivens did not feel at liberty to depart from 
the original letter of their instructions, while the bold 
Major Pinto conceived that he would be carrying out the 
spirit of their instructions by making a dash across the 
continent. We have nothing to do with the quarrels of 
the travellers ; experience proves that in such an expe- 
dition there should be one supreme head, and that the 
best exploring work has often been done by a white tra- 
veller single-handed. Major Pinto’s presence with the 
other two was really unnecessary, and it was certainly to 
the advancement of geographical knowledge that he took 
an entirely different route. Messrs. Capello and Ivens 
are evidently two pleasant and agreeable gentlemen, 
though we have some doubts if exploration is exactly the 
métier to which they are best adapted. At all events 
they have written a narrative that contains much pleasant 
reading, and some additions to our knowledge of the 
geography and natural history of the limited region 
which they traversed. Their real work lasted for about 
two years, during which they traced the Cuango north- 
wards to about 5° S. lat., when they were compelled to 
turn back, partly owing to the exhaustion of their sup- 
plies, and partly to the arid nature of the country 
beyond their farthest point. During their journey they 
crossed innumerable streams, some of them adding their 
waters to the Cuango and others joining the Cuanza, 
which discharges into the Atlantic south of Loanda. The 
sources of the Cunene, Cuanza, and Cuango were visited 
and determined, and a pretty careful survey of the region 
all along the route made. The country traversed is mostly 
Mountainous, cut up by innumerable streams and valleys, 
rich in many parts in vegetation, and even in metals, and 
having a considerable population clustered in villages, 
each of which is ruled by its chief. With each of these 
chiefs much diplomacy had to be used in order that the 
® “ From Benguella to the Territory of Yacca; description of a journey 
into Central and West Africa.”” By H. Capello and R. Ivens. Translated 
my Elwes, Ph.D. Iwo vols. (London: Sampson Low and Co., 
