Feb. II, 1875] 



NATURE 



293 



of ordering clothes and provibion?, and making preparations of 

 all kinds, in which it was ably assisted by Dr. Lyall and Mr. 

 Lewis, two old Arctic officers of long experience. The further 

 arrangements will Ije under the direct supervision of Capt. flares, 

 who will also assign the special duties to be undertaken by llie 

 different officers under his command. Commander Markhaui, 

 who acquired much experience in ice navigation in 1873, wi 1, it 

 has now been arranged, accompany Capt. Nares in the first ship, 

 ai;d the younger executive officers are the very pick of the service. 

 The medical staff, consisting of four officers, is also composed of 

 men Viho are quite capable of taking charge of some branches 

 of scientific investigation. One, at least, is a good botanist. 



In our last number, p. 26S, is a letter in which the im- 

 portance of attaching a competent geologist to the expedition is 

 strongly urged. It is, of course, very desirable that, if scientific 

 civilians are attached to the expedition, they should be men who 

 can secure results which coidd not be equally well secured by 

 any of the officers. As regards botany, the number of known 

 flowering plants in Greenland is about 130, and it is unlikely 

 that they can be largely added to. The point of botanical inte- 

 rest, within the unknown region, is the distribution of genera 

 and species ; and what is needed is diligent colhction, wiih careful 

 notes of the localities where the different species are found. This 

 could be perfectly well done by the medical and other officers of 

 the expedition. But to secure satisfactory geological results, a 

 trained geologist, well acquainted with all the Arctic problems, 

 is essential, and it is not likely that any of the officers would 

 have the necessary qualifications. It is, therefore, very im- 

 portant that suggestions such as those of our correspondent last 

 week, and of others who have urged the same views, should 

 have their due weight. 



At the meeting of the Royal Geographical Society on Mon- 

 day, Admiral Richards read to a large and distinguished audience, 

 including H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, a paper on the proposed 

 route to the Pole for the Arctic Expedition. It was intended at 

 present, he said, that the two vessels should leave Portsmouth 

 about the latter end of May, and, taking the usual route to 

 Baffin's Bay, so endeavour to pass up Smith's Sound. In 81" or 

 82° north latitude they would probably separate, and while one 

 would stay exploring the northern coast of Greenland, the other 

 w-ould push still further northwards. Everything, the Admiral 

 was of opinion, had been done to ensure success. After a few 

 remarks on the prob.able nature of the sea beyond 82° latitude, 

 in the course of which he stated that from the violent current 

 which swept southwards from Smith's Sound aird through Hud- 

 son's Strait, along the coast of Labrador, he inferred that there 

 was no great continent north of Smith's Sound, he concluded 

 by pointing cut the advantages that would result from the expe- 

 dition. 



With regard to the proposed German Arctic Expedition, the 

 Committee of the Federal Council on Maritime Matters has 

 proposed that the Council should submit the question of sending 

 out a German Arctic Expedition to an Imperial Commission for 

 consideration. 



To those who are seeking for detailed information concerning 

 the route of the Arctic Expedition, we would commend an 

 article (with map) by Dr. R. Brown, in the Geographical Maga- 

 ziii-; for February, on Disco Bay, giving a very full idea, derived 

 from personal experience, of the physical and social condition of 

 the West Greenland coast between 69° and 71^ N. lat. The 

 Magazine states that Dr. Brown is " the greatest living authority 

 on all scientific questions connected with Greeidand." In the 

 forthcoming volume of the "Transactions" of the Geological 

 Society of Glasgow Dr. Brown will have a paper on the Nour- 

 soak Peninsula and Disco Island, 



Many influential French papers are circulating the intelligence 

 that Lieutenant Bellot, although he came to London with the 

 authorisation of the French Government, has not been admitted 

 on the staff of the English Arctic Expedition. Strong remarks 

 are made on the supposed selfishness of the British Admualty. 



LiKUT. Cameron has sent home a map of L.ake Tanganyika, 

 from Ujiji to the south end, on a large scale ; which represents 

 geographical work of great importance. The work of Burton 

 and Speke and Livingstone on the lake is confined to the por- 

 tion north of Ujiji ; for the voyage made by Dr. Livirigstone 

 along the west coast, south of Kasenge Island, was made at a 

 time when he was too ill to make observations. Cameron's 

 exploration is, therefore, a discovery in the true sense, and one 

 of considerable interest, for that young officer has not only 

 carefully delineated the outline of the lake; with all the indenta- 

 tions of the coast and the mouths of river.^, but he has discovered 

 the outlet, and thus solved a great geographical problem. He 

 is himself very cautious in assuming anything without personal 

 inspection, and even yet hesitates to allow that the stream which 

 he found flowing out, and traced for some miles, is really an 

 outlet. He holds it to be possible that it may flow into some 

 swamp or backwater. But there really seems to be little room 

 for doubt on the subject, although Lieut. Cameron is wisely 

 resolved to make a further examination. The river Lukuga 

 flows cut of the lake, at the end of a large bay, a short distance 

 south of the Kasenge Island, between which and the outlet is 

 the nrouth of the Rogumba, which flows into the lake. The 

 Lukuga, according to the Chief and people who live on its banks, 

 flows from Lake Tanganyika to the river Lualaba. On May 4th 

 Cameron went down the Lukuga for a distance of four miles, 

 and found It to be three to five fathoms deep, and five to six 

 hundred yards wide, but much choked with grass. There was 

 a distinct, but not a rapid current flowing out. W'e understand 

 Cameron's map of Lake Tanganyika will shortly be published by 

 the Geographical Society. 



A VERY interesting paper in the Ceogvaphical Magazine is on 

 Great Thibet, being an account of a journey made in 1S72-73 

 from the headquarters of the Indian Great Trigonometricali/ 

 Survey by a semi-Thibetan, a young man trained to the work, 

 named Major Montgomerie. He crossed the Brahmaputra to 

 the north of Shigatze, and journeyed along the river Sheang 

 Chu, to the lake Tcngri-Nor (the local name. of which is Nam- 

 cho), which he may be said to have discovered, as it has hitherto 

 been placed on our maps merely on the authority of old Chinese 

 surveys of unknown authorship. Its north point is just under 

 31' N. lat., and its south point about 30.!;° ; it lies between 30° 

 and 31° west. It is about 50 miles in length and between 16 

 and 25 miles in breadth. After suffering considerable hardships 

 the young explorer and his small party returned to Lhassa. 



To the keepership of the Zoological collections of the 

 British Museum, vacated by the resignition of Dr. J. E. Gray, 

 Dr. Albert Giinther has been appointed. The appointment of 

 Assistant Keeper, rendered vacant Ijy Dr. Gunther's promotion, 

 has been filled by the appointment of Mr. F. Smith, of the 

 Entomological Department. 



Profs. Chierici, Pigorlni, and Strobel, have started a newr 

 periodical devoted to the prehistoric antiquities of Italy, under 

 the title of the Bullcllino di Pakntologia Ilaliana, the first num- 

 ber of which has just appeared. It is intended to Issue monthly 

 numbers, each of sixteen pages, with at least six illustrative 

 plates in the course of the year. The present number contains 

 articles on flint flakes worked to a rhomboidal form like some of 

 those discovered in Kent's Cavern, on the mode of hafting 

 bronze celts, and notices of some recent discoveries in Italy, 

 The annual subscription is seven francs. 



