180 REPORT— 1876. 



peiiod of open or partially open water may be shortened by unfavourable circum- 

 stances, and vice verm ; it may be assumed, however, that in a straight fairway 

 channel such as Smith Sound, it almost always does occur; and as the return 

 southward, on account of the drift, is always more easily accomplished than the 

 advance north, the great probability is that, if the ships remain out another year, 

 it will he the result of design rather than accident. 



By the Parliamentary papers relating to the expedition it will be seen that, in 

 the event of the non-arrival of the ' Alert ' and ' Discovery ' during the autunni 

 of this year, a relief ship will be despatched to a rendezvous in Smith Sound during 

 the summer of 1877. 



With regard to Africa, exploration and discovery have proceeded with accele- 

 rated strides during'the past few years. Even since the recent date of Cameron's 

 remarkable journey across the continent, important additions have been made to 

 the rapidly-lilling-up map of the interior. Most of these additions relate to the 

 great lakes, regarding which our knowledge was previously very incomplete and 

 unsatisfactorv. Thus Mr. Young, the experienced Zambesi traveller, Avho under- 

 took last year to lead the Scotch "Missionary party to Lake Nyassa, has succeeded, 

 after establishing the missionary settlement " Livingstonia" at tlie southern end 

 of the lake, in reaching in a ste'am-launch the northern end of this great fresli- 

 water sea, finding it to be fully one hundred miles longer than was previously 

 believed. His journey was made in February of the present year; and in the 

 following montii the still more imperfectly known lake, Albert Nyanza, was suc- 

 cessfully navigated by two boats under Signer Gessi, who was despatched for this 

 purpose" by Colonel Gordon, the present Governor of the new equatorial province 

 of the Khedive's dominions. The details of Signer Gessi's interesting exploration, 

 communicated by himself to the President of the Royal Geographical Society, 

 have only recently reached England ; and it is proposed to read them in the course 

 of the present meeting. 



A third and equally important exploration of the same class is that performed 

 during the same early months of the present year by that energetic traveller Mr. 

 Stanley. After circumnavigating the much larger neighbouring lake, Victoria, 

 and proving Speke's much-disputed estimate of its dimensions to be approximately 

 correct, he pushed his way across the difficult tract of country separating the 

 Victoria and the Albert lakes, reaching the shores of the latter in the middle of 

 January. Less fortunately situated than .Signer Gessi, who embarked on the lake 

 two months later, Stanley was imable to launch his boat on the then unexplored 

 southern portions of its waters. A comparison of the accounts of the two travellers 

 shows that we are yet far from knowing the true dimensions of this great sheet of 

 water. Signer Gessi in fact did not reach its southern extremity; aud as Mr. 

 Stanley appears to have struck its shores at a point about thirty miles_ further 

 south than the limits marked by the Italian traveller, the lake must be considerably 

 longer than 140 miles, as estimated by the latter. Stanley subsequently proceeded 

 south and explored the Kitangule river of Speke, thence striking for Lake Tan- 

 ganyika, the examination of which he intended to complete. 



A'eii/' Guinea has of late attracted some attention both at home and in the 

 Australian Colonies ; rather, however, from political than geographical considera- 

 tions. Our interest is of course in tlie latter ; and I ;:m glad the meeting will 

 have the advantage of the presence of a gentleman (Mr. Octavius Stone, recently 

 arrived in England) who has distinguished himself in the exploration of the 

 south-eastern shores of this distant, little-known, and barbarous region ; to him 

 we must refer for the latest geographical facts. 



With your permission we will now enter on the subject-matter before the 

 Meeting. 



