TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 133 



elapse before we and our posterity can hope to clear away the ignorance respecting 

 a large portion of the earth which now prevails. 



Looking first at the most recent maps of Afi-ica, see what enormous lacunpe hare 

 to be tilled in, and what vast portions of it the foot of the white man has never 

 trodden. True it is that large tracts north of the equator have been described by 

 Gennans and French, as well as by Engiisli expeditions, particularly that in which 

 Earth was so distinguished. 



With the exception, however, of Abyssinia and the snowy mountain Kilimand- 

 joro, explored by "S'on der Declien and the late Richard Thornton, few of these 

 tracts have been laid down on detailed maps. In the central eci[uatorial region, but 

 for the example set by the three gallant oiheers of our Indian armies, Eurton, Speke, 

 and Grant, and encouraged and supported, I rejoice to say, by the Eoyal Geogra- 

 phical Society, those countries would have remained as unkno-n-n as they have been 

 throughout all history, from the days of Ptolemy to our own. Eut if thus a chief 

 water-basin of the White Nile has been boldly outlined, how much does there re- 

 main to be done in order to test the value of the anticipations of Dr. Eeke — still 

 more, to complete a general sketch even of the geography of equatorial Africa! Is 

 it not essential that the Victoria Nyanza of Speke, a body of water as large as 

 Scotland, which has only been touched at a few points on its southern, western, 

 and northern shores, should have all its shores and aflluents examined ? And do 

 not the Mountains of the Moon of the same explorer invite a survey ? Have we 

 not yet to find out the source of the great Zaire or Congo, and trace that river to 

 its mouth ? And who has yet reached the sources of the mighty Niger ? Again, 

 when we cast an eye do%^m the map southwards, are we not still in ignorance of the 

 drainage and form of a prodigious extent of country between the Tanganyika Ijake 

 of Burton and Speke, and the Zambesi and Shire of Livingstone ? Are we not at 

 this moment most anxious to determine, by positive observation, whether there 

 exists a great series of lalces and rivers proceeding, as Cooley has suggested, from 

 Tanganyika on the north to Lake Nyassa on the south ? and has not Livingstone's 

 very last effort been du-ected to this point ? 



If Central Africa is ever to advance in civilization, and its inhabitants are to be 

 brouglit into commercial relations with Europe, one of the best chances of our ac- 

 complisliing it will, in my opinion, consist m rendering the great White Nile a 

 highway of intercourse and traffic. And if the present ruler of Egypt shall bring 

 about this most desirable end, by putting a stop to the lawless slave-trade, carried 

 on beyond his frontiers under the guise of dealing in ivory, and by establishing 

 marts of commerce on the bank-s of tlie great river, Africa will owe more to him 

 than to any ruler since the days of the Roman Emperors, who, though they tried, 

 never succeeded in opening out the regions around the headwaters of the Nile. 



In touching upon this subject, I have to congratulate you on the news which has 

 arrived, that that chivalrous explorer, Mr. Samuel Baker, is successfully examin- 

 ing the central equatorial regions, from which, I trust, he will bring us the solu- 

 tion of some of the problems already adverted to, and will determine the real source 

 of the waters which supply the Luta N'zige of Speke and Grant. 



I have also to announce that Earon von der Decken has proceeded on his bold 

 adventm-e to explore the interior of Africa from the east coast, by ascending the 

 Juba, or one of the adjacent rivers, with two' river-steamers constructed at his own 

 cost. 



In making these allusions to African discovery, most heartily do I congratidate 

 geographers on tlie safe retm-n of my excellent and disinterested friend Livingstone. 

 Already, after his first two great traverses, from east to west and from west to east, 

 across South Africa, this midaunted missionary had won for himself imperishable 

 renown. Eut now, after a second expatriation which has lasted upwards of six 

 years (his previous journeys occupying sixteen years), during which he has been 

 laboiu-ing conjointly to improve the condition of the natives and to extend geogra- 

 phical knowledge, he conies home with a firm resolution to adhere to his noble 

 calling for the benefit of the natives, and to return to that country in which the 

 black man must bless his name ! 



The return also of Captain Eurton, from the Congo and Fernando Po, ensm-es 

 for us some fresh and pregnant communications respecting Western Africa ; and 



