Fuy 23, 1885] 
ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE 
WEER, 1885, JULY 26 TO AUGUST 1 
(For the reckoning of time the civil day, commencing at 
Greenwich mean midnight, counting the hours on to 24, is here 
employed.) 
At Greenwich on July 26 
Sun rises, 4h. 17m. ; souths, 12h. 6m. 14°38. ; sets, 19h. 55m. ; 
decl. on meridian, 19° 22’ N.: Sidereal Time at Sunset, 
16h. 14m. 
Moon (Full on July 27) rises, 19h. 15m.; souths, 23h. 58m. ; 
sets, 4h. 46m.* ; decl. on meridian, 15° 30’ S. 
Planet Rises Souths Sets Decl. on meridian 
h. m. . m. h. m. lly 
Mercury ... 6 39 13 46 20 53 12 10N. 
Venus 6ursi ee. 13537 20 56 14 19 N. 
Mars ts. D418) .12 919) 26 17 44 23 41 N. 
Jupiter E25) eee LAW LO 21 13 9 52N. 
Saturn I 44 9 54 18 4 22 31 N. 
* Indicates that the setting is that of the following day. 
Phenomena of Jupiter's Satellites 
July h. m. : July h. m. 
Bone) 20057 LL. tring. 31... 19 49 II. ecl. reap. 
go ... 20 Q I. occ. disap. 
The Phenomena of Jupiter's Satellites are such as are visible at Greenwich. 
July h. 
26m 7 Mercury in conjunction with and o° 12’ south 
of Regulus. 
GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES 
Tue Rey. G. Grenfell has recently explored the Mobangi, 
which enters the right bank of the Congo, forming a great delta, 
between 26' and 42'S. lat., nearly opposite Equator Station, 
and is probably its greatest tributary. Mr. Grenfell navigated 
the Mobanyi in the little steamer Peace, on a mean course of 
north by east, from the equator to 4° 30’ N. lat., and left it still 
an open waterway. At 4° 23’ N., just below the second rapids, 
he found it 673 yards wide ; at no point lower was it less in 
width. Its mean depth is 25 feet, and although the current 
runs not more than So to 100 feet per minute, it means an 
immense volume of water to find running south at a point, as 
Mr. Grenfell puts it, so near the supposed sources of the Binné, 
the great affluent of the Niger. Where does it all comes from ? 
he asks. The “trumbashes”’ of the Chad Basin (Schweinfurth) 
are common, while they are not known on the Congo. The 
opinion of Mr. Grenfell and of his Congo colleagues, we believe, 
is that the Mobangi is probably the lower part of the Welle, a 
river whose course is one of the unsolved problems of African 
geography. This is certainly a more likely solution than to 
connect the Welle with the useless Aruwimi, as Stanley is 
inclined to do. From the notes sent home by Mr. Grenfell, it 
would seem that the Mobangi is navigable the whole way from 
the Congo to 4° 30’ N., a distance of probably 400 to 450 miles, 
taking account of the bends. A large map, in ten sheets, of the 
explored part of the river has just been received at the Royal 
Geographical Society. It is hoped that a full narrative of Mr. 
Grenfell’s explorations will reach England in time to be read at 
the Aberdeen meeting of the British Association. The Mobangi, 
Mr. Grenfell writes, is far more populous than any equal length 
of the Congo, and to his mind the country is more promising. 
Whether the Mobangi is the Welle or not, it must form an 
important connecting link between the basin of the Congo and 
the basins of the Niger, the Shari, and the Nile. Mr. Stanley 
has always maintained that the region lying between the Congo 
and the Nile is probably the richest and most promising in 
Africa, and his belief seems likely to be amply confirmed. Be- 
sides the Mobangi, Mr. Grenfell has explored 300 miles of river 
courses debouching into the Congo, and, as he is a trained and 
careful surveyor, he will be able to plot them with precision. 
The most northerly point of the Congo bend he.found to be 
2°11'N. lat., near the mouth of the Ukere or Dujangi. 
At the last meeting of the French Geographical Society, held 
on Friday night, M. Ferdinand de Lesseps gave an account of 
the recent success of the operations conducted with the object of 
finding water in the desert tracts of Southern Tunis. After the 
death of Col. Roudaire the French Minister of War authorised 
Commandant Landais to resign his duties at the Military School 
at Saint Cyr, in order that he might continue the schemes set 
NATURE 
| industry. 
281 
on foot in the region of the Tunisian Shotts. At this time those 
who believed in the success of these undertakings directed their 
attention chiefly to the establishment of a harbour at Gabes. 
The necessity for a port where vessels could put in on the 
southern coast, and for a town through which the traffic of 
Tunis and Tripoli could be conducted, was apparent. It was 
determined to commence operations at the mouth of the Wady 
Melah, and to make the station established at this point the 
basis of future and more extensive operations. Two years ago 
M. de Lesseps, in company with M. Roudaire, visited the region 
of the Shotts. They observed there, on the banks of the Wady 
Melah, a lake in which the level of the water never sinks. This 
water was excellent. M. de Lesseps thought, although there 
was no visible confirmation of the fact, that this water might be 
in communication with a deep sheet of water. In conse- 
quence he requested the engineers to make borings, or to sink a 
well at that spot. They have succeeded admirably. At a 
depth of 91 metres they reached the sheet of water sought for. 
The flood rushed from the ground with such velocity that it 
raised with it stones weighing 12 kilogrammes, and threw them 
to a great height into the air. The well yields 8000 cubic metres 
of water a minute. 
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE FISHERY BOARD 
FOR SCOTLAND, 1884 
THE third Report of the New Fishery Board for Scotland, 
which was recently presented to Parliament, contains, 
amongst other useful information, valuable statistics of the 
fish captured during 1884, and a record of the scientific 
work carried on under the direction of Prof. Ewart, the ener- 
getic convener of the Scientific Committee of the Board. From 
the Report it appears that the herring fishing of 1884 was 
the most abundant ever known. Unfortunately, it was largely 
composed of immature and small fish, and consequently it was 
of much less value than it would otherwise have been. Great 
shoals of young herrings were found far out at sea much earlier 
than usual, and heavy takes were made before they had time 
to mature. The curers were often unable to overtake the hauls 
of mature fish, and hence much good food was wasted. The 
haddock and sprat fishings were also successful, and large quan- 
tities of halibuts were taken off Shetland. The salmon fishing 
was not so productive as in 1883, which was a singularly good 
year, The most important fish taken and sold fresh is the 
haddock, of which the value is nearly three times as great as 
any of the others. The total estimated value of the white fish 
amounted to 716,295/., and of the shell-fish, 80,9397. Beam 
trawling was carried on to a much greater extent than formerly, 
and with a fair amount of success. Telegraphic communication 
has been extended to the fishery stations at Castle Bay, Island of 
Barra, St. Mary’s Burra, St. Margaret Hope, Orkney, Reawick, 
and Vaila Sound (Walls), Shetland, and this is much appre- 
ciated by the fishermen and other persons engaged in the fishing 
Several harbours have also received grants to aid 
in construction or improvement. The Board, having recognised 
that great progress had been made in practical fish-culture in 
America, requested Prof. Cossar Ewart to visit Canada and the 
United States and report on the methods adopted there for 
improving the fisheries. Prof. Ewart accordingly visited first 
the fish-hatching stations in Canada, and afterwards the principal 
fishing-stations and laboratories of the United States Fish Com- 
mission. In addition to visiting the central station and the 
carp ponds in Washington, Prof. Ewart was able to study the 
appliances for carrying on hatching and other operations at Woad’s 
Holl. He also visited the Bucksport and other stations for hatch- 
ing salmon and trout, studied the arrangements for receiving and 
preserving fresh fish at Gloucester, Boston, and New York, and 
the methods of utilising the by-products of the fisheries. He 
likewise examined the boats and fishing appliances in use among 
the American fishermen and also the splendid vessel 4/batross, re- 
cently constructed for the scientific work of the Fish Commission. 
It seems the Commission considers that “ the best policy is to ex- 
pend a small amount of public money in making fish so abundant 
by artificial means that they can be got without restriction and 
serve as cheap food for the people at large, rather than to ex- 
pend a much larger amount in trying to prevent people from 
catching the few which remain after years of improvidence.” In 
order to carry on investigations and hatching operations on the 
lines which have proved so successful in America, the Board will 
require to be provided with (1) a well-equipped laboratory with 
