TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION E. 715 



known ' Liber Cbrouicoruin.' He claims to have left Portugal in 1484 in com- 

 mand of one vessel, the other beiuof commanded by Cao ; to have set up a Padrao 

 on Monte Negro on January 18, 1485; and to have turned homeward after a 

 voyage of 2,300 leagues. As measured on hia globe these 2,300 leagues would 

 have carried him, far beyond the Cape of Good Hope, to a ' Prom. S. Bartholomeo 

 viego,' whilst Cao turned back on a Cabo Negro (now known as Cape Cross) in 

 15° 14' S. If Behaira was knighted on Friday, February 18, 1485 (day of 

 the week, date, and year are in agreement), he cannot have set up a pillar on 

 January 18, 1485. But even supposing all these inconsistent dates of his to be due 

 to lapses of memory, we should still hesitate to admit his having been a companioii 

 of that famous explorer, still less would a man who wrote in 1493 that 'the 

 polar star not being visible to the south of the equator and the magnet refusing 

 to act the navigators are constrained to make their course with the aid of the 

 astrolabe ' have been placed in command of a Portuguese vessel. Behaim has 

 nothing to say about the powerful Manlcongo ' discovered ' by Cao, but seems to 

 know everything about King Furfur's Land (Benin), where the ' Portugal pepper ' 

 was discovered in 1485 ; about the mysterious ' Ogane,' supposed to be Prester John ; 

 and about the great mortality in the Gulf of Guinea owing to the heat. But 

 these are experiences of the expedition of Joao Atlbnso d'Aveiro, who left 

 Portugal in 1485 and returned in 1486 in time for Behaim to enter into a scheme 

 for the discovery of the ' island of the seven cities,' as supposed by Ernesto do Canto. 

 We therefore think it quite possible that Behaim took part in d'Aveiro's expedi- 

 tion, but reject unhesitatingly his claim to have commanded a vessel in that of 

 Cao. 



As !:o the globe still to be seen at Niirnberg there is no doubt that it was pro- 

 duced under his direction, and I propose shortly to publish a full description of it, 

 together with a trustworthy facsimile. 



Report on the Climatology of Tropical Africa. — See Repoi'ts, p. 383. 



3. Morphological Map of Europe. By Dr. A. J. Herbertson. 



4. Geographical Conditions affecting British Trade. 

 By Geo. G. Chisholm, M.A., B.Sc.^ 



Fluctuations in British trade are often discussed as if they depended solely on 

 such matters as tariffs and bounties, the ignorance and negligence or knowledge 

 ■and enterprise of merchants, the behaviour of masters and men among the indus- 

 trial classes, railway rates, and so forth. It may therefore be worth while to call 

 attention to some obvious facts showing that geographical conditions are im- 

 portant factors to be taken into account in considering such changes. 



The history of Glasgow furnishes a very interesting illustration of this truth. 

 Throughout the separate history of Scotland, Glasgow was a town of quite minor 

 importance. Not till trans-Atlantic trade developed did it rise to the position of 

 an important commercial and industrial city. In considering this rise it is im- 

 portant to note that, in relation to such trade, the physical configuration of Scot- 

 land gives to Glasgow, as its hinderland, not merely the small valley of the Clyde, 

 but all the originally richer eastern lowlands of Scotland from the Grampians to 

 the Tweed. 



In discussing the subject of the Paper with reference to the United Kingdom 

 as a whole, it will be convenient to distinguish between commercial and industrial 

 advantages or disadvantages, even although these act and react on one another. 



Commercially, this country has a situation presenting unparalleled advantages 

 in relation to those parts of the world most conveniently reached from the 



' Published in full in the Geograjjhical Journal, October 1001. 



