49b 



NATURE 



[September 17, 1908 



may admit the fact that the adequate mapping of ils 

 territories is recognised as one of the duties of a civilised 

 State. Let me now turn to the main subject of this 

 address — the inquiry as to how far this duty is performed 

 by us, what sliortcomings we can perceive, and what 

 suggestions we can offer for tlie future. 



Two years ago this task would have been a difficult 

 and laborious one. Now it is greatly facilitated by the 

 issue from the Colonial Othce of those excellent little 

 volumes, the reports of the Colonial Survey Committee. 



This body has been in existence since August, 1905, and 

 has published three annual reports. The Committee is 

 therein defined as an advisory one formed at the instance 

 of the Secretary of State for the Colonies to advise him 

 in matters affecting the survey and exploration of British 

 colonies and protectorates, more especially those in tropical 

 Africa. It is not at present an executive body, that is to 

 say, it has at its own disposal no grant of public money 

 or other funds ; whether it will ultimately develop into 

 such is a question that the future alone can answer. Even 

 thus limited in scope and powers it has, however, already 

 worked a notable improx'ement — firstly, by laying down 

 authoritatively some of the more salient conditions that 

 ensure the efficient and economical expenditure of what- 

 ever funds may be available, and by pointing out the 

 disastrous extravagance of unsystematic and unmethodical 

 work ; secondly, by insisting upon uniformity v,here 

 uniformity is essential, such as in matters relating to the 

 style, projection, scales, and sheet-lines of the maps pro- 

 duced, while leaving the utmost latitude as to methods, 

 these being selected in each case to suit the very divergent 

 nature of the country met with. It results from this that 

 any two small portions of the map of Africa, say, for 

 instance, one sheet of the dense forest region of the Gold 

 Coast and another of highland country of East Africa, 

 though 3000 miles apart and executed at different times by 

 a different staff, will match each other in general character, 

 and will ultimately be found to fit exactly into their places 

 as constituent parts of a great map of the country. 

 Thirdly, we may reckon the mere fact of publicity in these 

 matters as of no mean advantage. Though, as in the 

 case of many other Government publications, this report 

 is not as widely read as its merits deserve, yet it is all 

 to the good that the information is there ready and 

 available for anybody who has the curiosity to consult it. 

 I therefore welcome the opportunity of directing your 

 attention to this volume. 



In entering upon the discussion on the survey of British 

 .Africa, the first point that meets us is the geodetic basis 

 of the whole work ; upon what do the actual positions 

 depend? In other words, to put the matter more 

 familiarly, how are we to provide that every isolated piece 

 of the map will exactly fit into its proper place? The 

 only method for ensuring this is by basing all our surveys, 

 ultimately, upon a skeleton or framework of geodetic 

 or primary triangulation executed with the utmost attain- 

 able precision. Such a skeleton, or rather backbone, will 

 eventually exist in Africa in the shape of the meridional 

 arc, or chain of triangles, along the thirtieth meridian, 

 running right through the country from north to south, 

 and ultimately joining on to the great arc observed bv the 

 famous astronomer Struve. This originally extended from 

 the mouth of the Danube to Hammerfest, in Norway, an 

 amplitude of 25^° of latitude. To prolong it southward, 

 passing up the Nile Valley, through the heart of tropical 

 -Africa, across the Zambezi River, and terminate it at the 

 southernmost point of the continent, is a magnificent con- 

 ception due to Sir David Gill, to whose energy and enter- 

 prise the actual execution of considerable sections of the 

 undertaking must also be ascribed. 



.At the present time the chain has been completed from 

 the south to within seventy miles of the southern end of 

 Lake Tanganyika, a distance of about 1700 miles. At 

 Lake Tanganyika it will enter into German territory. 

 The German Government, fully recognising that the 

 project is not only of great theoretical interest, but also 

 of immediate practical value, are already taking steps to 

 start work on their own section, from the south of Tan- 

 ganyika up to the parallel of 1° south latitude. From 

 1° south, northward to about \\° north, the arc lies near 

 the boundary between the Congo Free State and the 

 NO. 2020, VOL. 78] 



British Protectorate of Uganda. An International Com- 

 mission is at present engaged in the survey of the bo.undary 

 region, and Sir D. Gill, ever ready to seize an opportunity 

 of forwarding the work he has at heart, succeeded in 

 raising sufficient funds, partly from the Treasury > and 

 partly by grants from a few leading scientific societies, 

 to enable an observer to be sent out with this Commision 

 to carry the arc over this section. North of this . point 

 the line comes into the territory of the British Soudan, 

 and traversing this eventually reaches Egypt proper. Here 

 it comes into the charge of Captain H. G. Lyons, the 

 director of the Survey Department of Egypt, under whose 

 care its interests are safe. 



It will thus be seen that while the actual completion 

 of the whole chain is as yet somewhat remote, we are in 

 the satisfactory position of being able to say that, so far 

 as the section lying on the continent of Africa is con- 

 cerned, there is no portion of which there is not a reason- 

 able probability that it will be finished within a measurable 

 period. With regard to the section . joining Africa and 

 iiurope the position is not so happy. This will run through 

 Palestine and .\sia Minor, and therefore lies in Turkish 

 territory. It is not likely that the Turkish authorities 

 either will or could carry out such a work ; in fact, seeing 

 that even when completed it would be totally useless to 

 them, it would be hardly reasonable to expect them to do 

 so. It must, therefore, presumably be a matter for inter- 

 national cooperation. One point may be mentioned with 

 regard to the exact route of this connecting section. Sir 

 D. Gill, in his Report on Geodetic .Survey of South .Africa, 

 iSqb, said : " By an additional chain of triangles from 

 Egypt along the coast of the Levant, and through the 

 islands of Greece, the .African arc might be connected 

 by direct triangulation with the existing triangulation of 

 Greece, and the latter is already connected with Struve 's 

 great arc of meridian which terminates at the North Cape 

 in latitude 71° \. The whole arc would then have an 

 amplitude of 105°." This, however, gives rather a poor 

 connection with the European triangulation. The South 

 Albanian series has a much higher average error than 

 either Struve 's original work or any part of the African 

 series. This portion would consequently be a weak link 

 in the geodetic chain, and it would be better to avoid it 

 altogether by carrying the line along the coast of Asia 

 Minor to Constantinople, and then up the east side of 

 Turkey to the mouth of the Danube. 



When we look back a few years and call to mind the 

 prominent part that this country has taken in the survey 

 of Palestine — I need only mention in this connection the 

 names of Kitchener, Warren, and Conder — we cannot 

 avoid a feeling of regret that we are not ourselves in a 

 position to take the whole execution of this section of 

 the line upon our shoulders. I am too well aware of the 

 many urgent claims upon the Treasury to suggest that it 

 is possible that they would be prepared to incur such a 

 charge ; but supposing, for the moment, that part of the 

 necessary funds could be provided from other sources, I . 

 think we may fairly urge that it is our duty to contribute 

 a substantial monetary grant towards the furtherance of 

 an end S(i desirable and so practically useful. 



The dilTicuIty of obtaining money for geodetic work, 

 the benefit of which is not immediately apparent to the 

 man in the street, is notorious. Thus Sir T. Holdich, in 

 1902, said ; " But this accurate framework, this rigor- 

 ously exact line of precise values which ultimately becomes 

 the backbone of an otherwise invertebrate survcv .anatomy, 

 is painfully slow in its progress and is usually haunted 

 by the bogey of finance. It does not appc;il to the 

 imagination like an .Antarctic expedition, although it may 

 lead to far more solid results, and it generally has to 

 sue ill jontui pauperis to Government for its support." 

 To account for this regrettable, but undoubtedly true, fact 

 two reasons may be adduced. There is, in the first place, 

 the possible ignorance as to the ultimate value of the 

 work ; but, secondly, and perhaps not least, there is the 

 fear, not entirely unjustified, that to satisfy the demands 

 of the scientific man is sometliing akin to the operation 

 of filling a sieve with water. It has been so often seen 

 that compliance with one demand only leads to another 

 being made, that we may well sympathise with the holder 

 of the public purse when he draws the strings tight and 



