TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 105 



Albert N yauza ; and yve rejoiced that, in conj auction with the discoveries of Speke 

 and Grant, we had secnred for England the merit of the discovery of the Nile- 

 sources. ... I have received many rewards for this long- period of trial and 

 difficulty in African research, — the approbation of Her Majest}^, the gold medals 

 of the Royal Geographical Societies of both England and France, and the cordial 

 reception of the account of our travels given in the ' Albert N'j-anza Great Basin 

 of the Nile ;' but believe me when I assure you that I esteem as one of the highest 

 honours the compliment that has been bestowed by the British Association, by their 

 invitation that I should occupy the position of President of their geographical 

 section. 



When I look upon my right hand and upon my left, and hnd myself supported 

 by those veterans of science and of industry, by those men whose heads have grown 

 grey in the pursuit of liuowledge, and whose intellects, enriched by the experience 

 of a long life, we regard with reverence and esteem, I feel with much humility that 

 I am a usurper of tlie Presidential chair which has been so ably and so honourably 

 filled by Sir Roderick Murchison and by Mr. Crawfurd, the time-honoured Presi- 

 dents of the Royal Geographical and tlie Ethnological Societies. 



But, as the younger trees grow up beneath the branches of the venerable oaks 

 and prosper in their shade, even so I venture to rise between my much-honoured 

 supporters, and recall to recollection the important fact that the high and prominent 

 position now held by the geographical section in the proceedings of the British 

 Association is due to the labour and untiring energ}' of Sir Roderick Murchison, to 

 whom belongs the merit of having given to Geography an independent place in the 

 Meetings of tliis general parliament of science. 



Geograph}' is worthy of this high position, as nearly every science is dependent 

 upon our knowledge of the earth. 



Astronomy would alFord meagre results were we ignorant of the spherical form of 

 our world, and were our observations confined to our own cloudy shores ; but our 

 observations are directed from stations in all positions on the globe, the knowledge 

 of those positions being due to our first explorers. 



Ethnology is a twin sister of geographical science, as the numerous races of human 

 beings (so diverse and inexplicable) that inhabit the various portions of the earth, 

 from the ice-bound regions of the Arctic to the burning deserts of Africa, would 

 have been unknown but for the researches of geographers and explorers. 



Theology is closely interwoven with the study of geography ; tlie history of man 

 from the remote beginning is linked with a description of the creation of the world, 

 when God said, " Let us make man in our own image." From that time the very 

 elements of our creed are connected with particular positions upon the earth's sur- 

 face. The most important events that have influenced the march of civilization 

 and the .spread of Christianity have occurred in certain places that throw intense 

 interest upon the science of geography. The wanderings of certain nomadic ti-ibes 

 seeking for new pastures for their flocks have brought to light new countries, and 

 have implanted new religions. The arrival from Chaldea of Abraham, the simple 

 Arab chieftain with his followers who settled in a new country, laid the foundation 

 of our Jewish history, followed by those mighty events at distant intervals, the 

 Exodus from Egypt, the buildino- of Jerusalem, the birth of Christ, the Roman con- 

 quest, until at length, by the victories of Caisar, the ^^^est was rescued from its 

 savagedom, and the road was opened to Great Britain, to be followed by the light 

 of truth. All tliis wonderful train of progression is based on geography ;'^and, as St. 

 Paul with untiring zeal journeyed often " in perils of waters, in perils'of robbers, in 

 perils by the heathen, in perils in the wilderness, in weariness and painfulness, in 

 hunger and thirst, in cold and nakedness," even so the missionary and the explorer 

 have united in patiently boring their way through lands that have lain hidden since 

 the world's creation ; and these countries have risen to the first rank in the earth's 

 history. Far-distant lands, tenanted by savage races that knew no God, rescued 

 from a state of barrenness, are smiling with prosperity; the wild beasts and the 

 heathen have retreated before advancing civilization, and tlie sound of the church- 

 bell rings at our very antipodes. Thus is religion linked with tlie study of the 

 earth. The advancement of Christianity is dependent upon the migrations of 

 Christians that shall implant the seed of truth in foreign soils. Those migrations 



