112 KEPORT— 1866. 



lie ran some danger of being detained as a hostage. He experienced great difficulty, 

 owino- to the jealousy of the Khan, in taking observations of the sun and pole-star 

 for determining tlie latitude of Ilchi. After a stay of sixteen days, he returned by 

 way of Zilgia and the Karakash river to Cashmere. 



On Priority in Discovery of the Madeira Group. 

 By E. H. Majok, F.S.A., F.R.G.S., Hon.Sec.B.G.S. 



The authors howed, first, that the Portuguese historian De Barros exceeded the 

 authority of the ancient chronicler Azurara, when he stated that tlie respective 

 names of the islands were given by the Portuguese in 1419-20, thereby diiiusiug 

 the erroneous belief that the gi'oup was first discovered by the Portuguese. The 

 inaccuracy was shown by an extract from a map dated 1351 in the Lam-entian 

 Library at Florence, in which the group is laid down with its present names, ex- 

 cepting Madeira, there called Legname, of which Madeira is simply a translation. 

 Secondly, the truth of the romantic, accidental discovery hj the Englishman, 

 Machin, in the fourteenth century, was establislied by a combination of arguments, 

 in which the author availed himself of an extract from a Portuguese MS. at 

 Munich, never yet priaited, and earlier by half a century than the earliest printed 

 account. Thirdly, he presented arguments based on the evidence of the map of 

 1-351, in combination with other historical fiicts, to show that the group was dis- 

 covered by Genoese in the service of Portugal, in the first half of the fourteenth 

 century. 



Politically the question was without importance, inasmuch as not only could 

 Portugal claim these islands on the ground of the earlier actual discovery, but the 

 accidental rediscovery nearly a century later had led to the first colonization and fer- 

 tilization ; and it would be as futile to dispute such a claim as it would be to nega- 

 tive that of the English to the colonization of Australia on the gi'ound of those 

 early authenticated discoveries iu that vast island by the Portuguese, which it had 

 previously been Mr. Major's good fortune historically to establish. But for those 

 who care for historj' for its own sake, this paper brought into a focus a large 

 amount of curious and interesting matter derived from MS. or little-known sources. 

 By bringing into correlation a variety of points hitherto unobserved, the author 

 was enabled to prove the reality of the former existence of a MS. which has been 

 missing for centuries, but which contained not only the description l)y an eye- 

 witness of the rediscovery of the Madeira group in 1419, but also the declaration 

 of the circumstances under which it had been already discovered in the previous 

 century. It is to be hoped that this precious MS., by Francisco Alcaforado, may 

 not long remain a desideratum. 



On the Kaffirs of Natal By Dr. R. J. Mann, 



The number of black people in Natal, subjects of the Queen, is about 170,000, 

 The most powerfid tribe in South Africa at the beginning of the present century 

 was the Zulus, who became greatly augmented, under their chief Chaka, about the 

 yefir 1820. This gi-eat chief pm-sued a career of conquest until, from a very small 

 clan, the Zulus acquu-ed a territory 500 miles in length, the conquered tribes being 

 absorbed or driven into the interior wilderness. The settlement of the colony by 

 the English put an end to the tide of conquest, and a large number of Kaffirs placed 

 themselves under British protection. The Natal Kaffirs are scattered throughout 

 the colony, living in huts and kraals, having their chiefs, but subject to British 

 authority. In the main, they are savages still. The question arises, what is to 

 become of them ? It is clear they show no signs of melting away before the pale- 

 faces, as many other savage tribes have done ; for by constant accessions from 

 without they have increased in number twentyfold in thirty years. They nre gi-a- 

 dually resolving themselves into a labouring class in the colonj'. They take rea- 

 dily to labour in sugar-plantations ; they are also capital managers of oxen, and 

 make very usefid uidoor servants. It is difficult, however, to retain them long in 

 one place. Some labourers work for six months, and then retire with their wages 

 to their kraals ; but they have acquired a taste for earning money, and almost 

 always return to service. Wherever there is a white settlement near, to furnish 



