656 REPORT — 1889. 



ptone. This kingdom of Garengenze is situated to the east of Lake Moero ; and ]Mi". 

 Arnut has recently published a book of his travels, giving a very clear and interesting 

 account of these people, their manners, and their customs. Of all Livingstone's 

 followers, Mr. Arnut very closely resembles the great leader in the patient earnest- 

 ness, the quiet energy, and the scanty resources vrith vrhich he prosecuted his 

 remarkable journeys. 



He has quite recently returned to the west coast of Africa with the intention 

 of rejoining his friends at Garengenze. 



The events which attended the expedition under Mr. H. M. Stanley to succour 

 and relieve Emin Pasha are so well ^own to jou all that I shall only attempt a 

 brief recapitulation here. 



We have learned from his own pen how, after much suffering and great 

 hardships, he eventually overcame all the difficulties and obstacles which had to 

 be encountered while conducting his caravan from the head waters of the Congo 

 to the lake Albert Nyanza ; that on reaching that lake he met Emin Pasha. 



The value of Mr. Stanley's journey and the remarkable energy and courage he 

 displayed, his high scientific attainments, and the information that will result from 

 his labours, are, from a geographical point of view, of the highest interest. The 

 desiccation of the lake Albert Nyanza, and its influences on the rise and fall of the 

 Nile, are not the least remarkable of these problems. For my own part, I am of 

 opinion that this rise and fall is mainly caused by the rapid growth of tropical 

 water-plants. During the dry season this vegetation increases enormously, and at 

 the first rains large masses of aquatic growth are loosened by the rising of the 

 waters. These masses, in the form of floating islands, pass downwards on the 

 bosom of the flowing waters, and on reaching a wide and shallow part of the 

 river, such as we find at the Bahr-el-Ghazal, they gradually but quickly collect 

 till they form a dam of sufficient density to obstruct the progress of the river ; and 

 the water thus arrested finds a temporary lodgment in the lake of Albert Nyanza, 

 causing it to overflow its normal boundaries. At length the vegetable dam 

 can no longer withstand the weight and pressure of the water bearing upon it ; a 

 portion gives way ; a channel is opened ; and the river, hurrying on to the sea, 

 overflows the hanks of the Lower Nile and drains the lake to a lower level. This 

 is what happens to the Albert Nyanza, which is nothing more than a huge back- 

 water of the Upper Nile basin, and it accounts for the lake being seen at tvro 

 different levels by those two distinguished explorers Mr. H. M. Stanley and Sir 

 Samuel Baker, and hence the difference of opinion as to its true extent and size 

 that has arisen between them. We know that this phenomenon takes place on 

 Lake Tanganika, as Stanley found a marked difference in its level on the two 

 occasions he rested upon its shores. He also followed the Lukuga River from the 

 Tano-anika lake to its junction with the Congo ; and there is no doubt that a vegetable 

 dam, such as I have described, forms at the point of departure of this river from the 

 lake, and prevents its regular flow till the weight and pressure behind it sweeps all 

 away. During the second year that I was on the Congo we had an unusually 

 heavy flood at the time of the first rains. The river rose several feet in one night, 

 and some months afterwards news came fi'om the Upper Congo that the waters of 

 the bio- lake had broken through, and this no doubt had reference to the Lukuga 

 Ptiver and Lake Tanganika. 



Now, as regards the countries through which we have been passing, there are 

 certain points of great interest connected with the science of applied geography, to 

 which I desire to draw your special attention. 



The first of these points is the studj' of the great railway systems of the world, 

 and the application of railways to the development of new countries. Take our 

 Indian possessions for example. What a change has been wrought, not only as re- 

 gards the commerce of the country but also with reference to the social condition 

 of its inhabitants and their manners and customs ! The introduction of Indian 

 wheat, by means of these railways, into the markets of Europe has caused a revolu- 

 tion in the trade of that commodity. We find this especially in America, where 

 it has upset the calculations of those gigantic combinations or rings which sought 



