729 



Section B.— GEOGRAPHY. 



President of the Section— Colonel Sir C. W. Wilson, K.E., K.C.B., K.C.M.G., 



D.C.L., F.K.S., F.R.G.S. 



THURSDAY, SEPl EMBER 6. 

 The President delivered the following Address : — 



On opening the present session of the Geographical Section of the British Association 

 I cannot refrain from alluding to the last occasion, now nearly a quarter of a cen- 

 tury ago, upon which it met in this city. The chair was then tilled by one to whom 

 I, in common with others of the younger generation of that day, must ever owe a 

 deep debt of gratitude for many kindly words of advice and encouragement. Then, 

 as now, popular interest centred in Africa, and Sir Eoderick Murchison, on taking 

 the chair, was accompanied by a group of distinguished African explorers. Some 

 amongst us may remember the enthusiastic greeting accorded to Livingstone, and 

 the heartfelt sorrow caused by the announcement that the gallant, chivalrous 

 officer, whose name will ever live in history as the discoverer of the sources of th© 

 Nile, had heen cut off in the fulness of his strength and vigour. 



The African travellers of the present day have shown the same pluck, the 

 same perseverance, the same disregard of personal risk and comfort as their prede- 

 cessors. One African traveller, a distinguished officer of the German army, who 

 hoped to have been with us, has this year been awarded the highest honour 

 which the Royal Geographical Society can confer — its gold medal. Lieut. Wiss- 

 man, who possesses all Livingstone's indomitable courage, his constancy of purpose, 

 and his kindly feeling towards the natives, has twice crossed Africa, in its widest 

 extent, without firing a shot in anger. He returned recently to Europe, filled, lik& 

 the great English traveller, with indignation at the atrocities perpetrated by the- 

 Arabs on the blacks ; and eager to find means, if such there be, of putting an end 

 to, or at least mitigating, the unspeakable horrors of the slave trade. He is 

 now organising an expedition which has the double object of opening up the 

 territory in Eastern Africa that falls within the sphere of German influence, and of 

 bearing relief to Emin Pasha. In both enterprises we may heartily wish him 

 ' God speed ! ' 



The light thrown upon the interior of the Dark Continent is the most striking 

 feature of geographical exploration during the last twenty-five years ; and it is really 

 the outcome of the last eleven years, for it was only in 1877 that Mr. Stanley, 

 by his remarkable journey, gave a new continent to the world. If Sir Roderick 

 Murchison were now alive he would feel more than gratified at results which have 

 been so largely due to his initiative. I propose, presently, to return to the interesting 

 subject of Africa ; but I would first draw attention to the influence which the 

 natural features of the earth's surface have had, and are still having, in conjunction 

 with other causes, on the trade routes and commercial relations between the West 

 and the East, and more especially with India. 



The great civilisations of high antiquity appear to have risen and expanded in 

 four riverain districts ; Chinese in the basins of the Hoang Ho and the Yang-tse- 



