Fune 18, 1885] NATURE 
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observations we reviewed some time ago. The utility of | to show that, with reasonable precautions, Central Africa 
such observations is evident from the volumes before us. | ought to be perfectly tolerable to the European constitu- 
Mr. Stanley makes considerable use of them in his | tion. What these precautions are he describes in minute 
chapters on the Climate of the Congo. These chapters | detail. At the same time he admits that a lengthened 
are of much interest ; they are written mainly with a view | residence in such tropical regions must in the end tell on 
Fic. 4.—Banks of the Upper Congo. 
the Europeans, and is only possible with a run home 
every eighteen months. Thus it is clear that if the re- 
sources of the Congo are to be developed, it must be by 
native labour, and there is therefore every inducement to 
treat the population humanely. 
Of course, Mr. Stanley himself in his frequent journeys 
Fig. 5.—A Type of the Basoko. 
up ‘and? down the river has added considerably to our 
knowledge of it. His original sketch of its course, made 
in one rush downwards, seems, however, to have been 
wonderfully accurate ; though the hundreds of observa- 
tions as to direction, altitude, depth, and width has 
enabled him to lay it down with much greater precision. 
It is to be hoped that the geology of the basin will be well 
worked out, and even from a ‘‘utilitarian” standpoint it 
might be useful for the Association to engage one or two 
competent men to work out the geology. The numerous 
cataracts on the lower as well as on the upper river prove 
that there is much here to interest the geologist. On the 
lower river, just where the great central plateau begins 
to shelve down to the coast, they are to be expected ; but 
what is the exact geological explanation of the numerous 
cataracts on the upper river and its tributaries, as far 
south as Bangweolo, let us hope, will ere very long be 
explained. The banks of the river itself are in many 
places remarkably picturesque; indeed Mr. Stanley 
would make us believe that he thinks no other river is 
equal to it in this respect. _ Magnificent bluffs, he tells us, 
are met with in many places, and gorges that are almost 
cajions. At Stanley Pool and elsewhere the river has 
broadened out into lake-like reaches studded with islands, 
and at one place a few miles south of the equator there is 
a complicated offshoot of lakes and streams which reminds 
one of what is observed in so many places on the Central 
and Lower Amazon. _ This stretch has not, however, been 
completely explored, though Mr. Stanley’s account of his 
journey up the Kwa and Mfini to Lake Leopold is one of 
the most interesting chapters in the volume. The Kwa 
discharges at about 3° S. lat., and Lake Leopold, Mr. 
Stanley joins conjecturally to Lake Montumba, which is 
connected with the Congo at about fifty miles south of 
the equator. 
