24 



NA TURE 



[Nov. 



1874 



of the geological record ; and, unluckily for the genealogy 

 of man, the very chapter we most need, that of the 

 Worms and primitive Tunicata, is the one most hope- 

 lessly lost. 



All this does not prove that no attempt should be made 

 to trace back the descent of man and other animals by 

 such lights as we have, but it does seem to show that the 

 results are too uncertain to be set forth as ascertained 

 facts in popular lectures. 



Strange as it now seems, a generation ago many of the 

 best zoologists spent their time in arranging animals 

 according to various systems of metaphysical origin. 

 The speculations of Oken and Geoffrey St. Hilaire, of 

 Forbes and INIacleay, read now like the controversies of 

 the schoolmen. The archetypal skeleton was drawn in 

 many forms (and often in several colours), and almost as 

 many compound terms were invented as those of Prof. 

 Hreckel ; but all these fancied systems have passed away, 

 or only exist as relics to encumber the ground. Does not 

 their fate suggest misgivings as to the fate of the genealo- 

 gical trees which are now so luxuriant ? 



In conclusion I will quote the words of one who will 

 not be suspected of sharing the prejudices of those eccle- 

 siastical newspapers which appear to be responsible for 

 many of the defects in Prof. Hasckel's lectures. 



" Of all kinds of dogmatism the materialistic is the most 

 dangerous, because it denies its own dogmatism, and 

 appears in the garb of science ; because it professes to 

 rest on fact, when it is but speculation ; and because it 

 attempts to annex territories to the domain of Natural 

 Science before they have been fairly conquered." * 



P. H. Pye-Smith 



ISMAILIA 



Tsmailin : a Narrative of the Expedition to Central 

 Africa for the suppression of the Slave Trade, orga- 

 nised by Isinacl, Khedive of Egypt. By Sir Samuel 

 W. Baker, Pacha, F.R.S., &c. &c. Two vols. (Lon- 

 don : Macmillan and Co., 1874.) 



IT must be difficult for any unhardencd critic to keep 

 his wits about him in reading this fascinating narra- 

 tive, and \vc are sure no reader will wish that it had 

 been shorter. 



There is not much in the book of directly scientific 

 interest. Sir Samuel went over very nearly the ground 

 he had traversed before, and which he has so well and 

 fully described in his "Albert N'yanza" and "Nile 

 Tributaries of Abyssinia ; " and he kept so faithfully and 

 unswervingly in view the noble errand on which he set 

 out, that he had little opportunity to attend to the in- 

 terests of science. The heroic Lady Baker, however, 

 made large botanical collections throughout the journey, 

 which she presented to the Khedive on her arrival in 

 Caiio, and Sir Samuel informs us that Lieut. Baker made 

 considerable topographical observations. Moreover, 

 although the expedition had no scientific object in view, 

 its purpose was eminently conducive to the interests of 



♦ I have endeavoured to represent the sense of the following passage from 

 Virchow ('• Ges.ammelte Abhandhungen," p. i8) :— " Es giebt einen male- 

 rialistischen Dograatismus so gut wie einen kirchhchen und einen ideal- 

 isciien, und ich gestehe gern zu dass der eine wie die anderen reeleObjecte 

 haben konnen. Allein sicherlich ist der materialistische der gefiihrhcherc 

 Weil u. s. w." 



science, seeing that until the demoralising traffic in slaves 

 is suppressed, we can never hope to obtain a thorough 

 knowledge of the interesting region around the Upper 

 Nile — of its geography, its ethnology, and its natural his- 

 tory ; and therefore, although the great object which Baker 

 had in view seems to have been thwarted through the pusil- 

 lanimity of the Egyptian Government, he deserves the 

 greatest credit for having proved tliat with skill, deter- 

 mination, and adequate means — and his means were very 

 inadequate — the journey from Cairo to the Albert N'yanza 

 might be accomplished in a very short time. 



We think it would be difficult to conceive of a leader 

 better fitted than Sir Samuel Baker to accomplish the 

 task which the Khedive commissioned him to do. His 

 work is a practical commentary on the vigorous and 

 truthful lines of Tennyson : — 



" O well for him whose will is strong ! 

 lie suffers, but he will not suffer long ; 

 He suffers, but he cannot suffer wrong : 

 For liim nor moves the loud world's random mock, 

 Nor all cilamity's hiigest waves confound, 

 Who seems a promontory of rock, 

 That, compa-s'd round with turbulent sound. 

 In middle ocean meets the surging shock, 

 Tempest-buffeted, citadel-crown'd." 



Sir Samuel estimates that at least 50,000 persons 

 are annually captured to be sold as slaves, and it 

 would be safe to say that several thousands more are 

 massacred in effecting the capture of these ; the atro- 

 cities practised by the slave-hunters are almost incredible. 

 It was to suppress this lamentable state of matters that 

 Sir Samuel Baker was commissioned, on April i, 1869, 

 by the well-intentioned and enlightened Khedive of 

 Egypt, who gave him full powers as to equipment. To 

 accomplish this purpose it was necessary to annex the 

 whole Nile basin, and to establish a legitimate trade 

 in the barbarous countries which had hitherto been 

 scourged with this infamous traffic. So far as Sir 

 Samuel could carry out his plans, the equipment of the 

 expedition was admirable in every detail, down to the 

 magic lantern, the wheels of life, and the magnetic 

 battery, which last was in constant requisition among the 

 tribes of the Upper Nile, and was a perpetual source of 

 amusement to the members of the expedition and of 

 wonder to the natives. 



It would be impossible, in the space at our disposal, to 

 give any adequate idea of the work of the expedition. 

 From the very first Sir Samuel met with obstructions 

 and delays that would have induced any less patient and 

 less determined man to abandon it altogether. The 

 Egyptian Government had undertaken to furnish a large 

 number of boats, besides steamers and an adequate mili- 

 tary force, for the expedition, which, it was arranged, 

 would start in June 1869. It was with the greatest diffi- 

 culty that a start was made on the 29th of August, when 

 two of the parties proceeded up the Nile, one to go direct 

 by river to Khartoum, and the other to land at Korosko 

 and march across 400 miles of desert to the same place ; 

 with the latter was the heavy machinery and sections of 

 steamers carried by a regiment of camels. Sir Samuel him- 

 self set out from Suez on Dec. 1 1 for Souakim, thence 

 to Berber on the Nile, and in a diahbeeah to Khartoum. 

 Here, in accordance with orders which had been sent on 

 months before, he expected a fleet of vessels to be ready 



