716 REPORT— 1903. 



The same remarkable distribution of forces is found to exist in tlie sea. In 

 the longitudinal section of the Norwegian Sea for July and August 1900, con- 

 structed by Professor Pettersson, there are 10,050 c.g.s. solenoids between lat. 

 77^ and 70° in aid of the circulation and 3025 c.g.s. solenoids counteract- 

 ing this circulation between lat. 70° and 64°. The accelerating force which 

 maintains the oceanic circulation in this section of the Norwegian Sea thus is 

 equal to 7025 c.g.s. solenoids. The seat of these forces is the immediate neigh- 

 bourhood of the ice. 



Putting aside the influence of the earth's rotation and of friction, we find that 

 this Bet of forces is sufficient to increase the velocity of the water by 14 cm. 

 per sec. in one week. 



3. Report of the Committee on Terrestrial Surface Waves, 

 See Reports, p. 312. 



4. Tlie British Antarctic Expedition, By Lieut. E. Siiackleton. 



5. Ex2)lorations and Economic Conditions in Western China, 

 By Lieut. -Col. C. C. Manifold. 



The paper embraced an account of two journeys to the regions of the Upper 

 Yang-tse immediately before and after the Boxer outbreak. The first journey, 

 in 1900, lasted for seven months and ranged from Burma to Tibetan territory and 

 across China to Shanghai ; and the second, made in 1901-2, lasted for nine 

 months and took the author from Peking almost back to the confines of Burma. 

 The distance covered was nearly 6,000 miles of laud travel on foot and 3,000 

 miles on inland waterways. The starting-point of the first journey was Bhamo, 

 our frontier garrison town on the borders of Burma and China, likewise the 

 starting-point of large trains of coolies and mules carrying Indian y.irn into China. 

 A start was made just at the time of the Chinese new year, and on the second 

 day Chinese territory was entered. The road taken was a well-known trade 

 route to Teng-yueh, the nearest large trading centre iu Yun-nan, a town more 

 commonly known by the name of Momein. It has been proposed to connect 

 Bhamo and Teng-yueh by railway, and though it would not be feasible to carry 

 the line any further, a distance of only 1.30 miles, even this sort of line would 

 paj' its way and increase our trade and influence in Yun-nan. After touching the 

 Yang-tse above its great bend, the author went north-west to join Captains Davies 

 and Ryder, who had started in December 1899, by routes which touched on the 

 line the proposed railway from Burma to the Yang-tse Valley would liave 

 followed. The advantages which would accrue from such a railway, if it could 

 be constructed at reasonable cost, are undoubted, but great natural difticulties 

 exist from the formation of the country, and the cost would be enormous. The 

 project, however, must not be .subjected to sweeping condemnation. T un-nan-Fu, 

 the capital of the sparsely populated and at present poor province of Yun-nan, is 

 the half.vay house to the rich regions of the Upper Yang-tse. A French company 

 has obtained a concession for a railway from the frontier iu Tonking to i'un- 

 nan-Fu, and they hope in time to carry it to the Upper Yang-tse and so divert 

 the trade to their own port of Hanoi. Tbe construction of the line has already 

 been started under the guarantee of the French Government. The country of 

 Yun-nan is mountainous and sparsely populated, but very rich in minerals. After 

 meeting with great difficulties in crossing the higher passes, some of which 

 reached an altitude of 13,000 feet or 14,000 feet, and were badly blocked with 

 snow, the party reached the rendezvous on April 6, at a point where the western 

 frontier of the province of Sechuau and British India at the eastern frontier of 

 Assam are separated by a distance of little more than 260 miles. Eeachiug 

 Ta-Chien-lu, the travellers found telegrams warning them of the disturbances. 



