114 REPORT — 1866. 



becoming densely covered -with cocoa-nut groves. This belt at one point forms the 

 Aleppy nnid banlc ; and the whole roadstead near it has a remarkably soft, muddy 

 bottom. It is curious that this muddy bottom moves up and do-wTi the coast for 

 about three miles, the cycle of movement occupying a period of several years. 

 During tlie height of the monsoon the waters of the backwater are four feet higher 

 than those of the ocean, and an enormous hydraulic pressure must thus be caused. 

 In the same season, at low water, a series of mud-volcanoes are observed to form 

 on the beach, which eventually bm-st and disgorge quantities of vegetable matter 

 mixed with mud. Boring instruments on the belt of land are found to penetrate 

 through alluvial deposit into a great depth of moving soft mud. It appears, there- 

 fore, that there is a subterranean communication between the backwater and the 

 sea, and that the tremendous pressure firom the backwater, when it is higher than 

 the sea, forces an immense mass of mud by the subterranean passage into the road- 

 stead. Various schemes had been proposed for cutting through the Wurkally 

 barrier, and thus completing the backwater communication ; the plan of Mr. Barton 

 was thought the most feasible, and will necessitate a cutting of fifty feet, and two 

 tunnels. 



On the Eeported Discovery of the Remains of LeichharcU in Australia. 

 Bij Sir K. I. MuECHisoN, Bart.,K.C.B., F.E.S. 

 Sir Roderick annomiced that on the previous day he had received from Dr. F. 

 Mueller, of Melbourne, the news that the Leichhardt Search Expedition, now in 

 the interior of Australia, had discovered traces of the lost explorer. The news had 

 been sent by Dr. Mueller in great haste, the departure of the mail having been 

 delayed a short time to admit of his forwarding the despatch, and no details of the 

 nature of the discovery were given. Sir Roderick gave a sketch of the movements 

 of the Leichhardt Search Expedition down to the time when the latest authentic 

 information had been received. It had met with great losses in horses and materiel 

 at Cooper's Creek ; but the leader, Mr. Duncan M'Intyre, had succeeded in pushing 

 his way across to tlie banks of the Flinders river, which -flows into the Gulf of 

 Carpentaria. 



On North and South Arabia. By W. Gr. Palgbave. 



The author described the division of Arabia into two distinct regions, marked 

 by peculiarities in physical conditions and modifications in the character of their 

 inhabitants. The more northerly division included the highlands of Nejed, the 

 seat of Wahabee domination, the more southerly the district of Oman. The 

 population of the two regions is about equal. The two diA'isions are typified 

 by theii" national colours, white for the northern and red for the southern ; and 

 wherever Arabs are found, two factions exist, who adopt these colours as their 

 sj'nibols, — -('iolent factional feeling often existing amongst people who have lost all 

 Ijuowledge of the original cause of difierence. The northern Arabs were a fine, 

 intelligent, courteous race, ■with a cast of features like the typical Ishmaelite. In 

 the southern Arabs the type was difterent, the skin was darker, the features were 

 no longer Semii'c, but more nearly resembling the Coptic. The institutions of the 

 southern people were more progressive than those of the northern. The language 

 in the north was the pure Arabic of books ; in the south there were great difl'er- 

 ences both in woi'ds and turns of expression, these pecviliarities not being acci- 

 dental, but due to an original difierence in language. It was the opinion of the 

 most learned German philologists that tlie peculiarities in the idiom of soxitheru 

 Arabia indicated a connexion vnt\\ Ethiopia, and must have originated on the east 

 coast of Africa. The Wahabee country was surrounded by deserts, and could never 

 be of practical importance to the English nation. It is difterent with Oman, which 

 is a rich and beautiful region, similar to the district of Bombay, and will soon 

 become much more important to us, politically and commerciall}', than it is at 

 present. 



On the Transvaal District of So2(th Africa. By Rowland "Wiliiam Payne. 

 That region of South Africa, lying between 22° and 27° of south latitude and 27* 



