358 REPORT— 1894. 



of any sort in the valley, though in the cultivation near Al Katan we saw 

 quantities of swallows, evidently hibei-nating there. The naturalist sent 

 out by Dr. Anderson, however, made an excellent collection of snakes, 

 lizards, and other reptiles which abound in the rocky mountains. These 

 are at present being arranged by Dr. Anderson, and a complete set will 

 be presented to the Natural History Museum at South Kensington. 



Owing to the fanaticism of the natives we were unfortunately unable 

 to take any anthropometric observations; in fact, it would have been 

 extremely dangerous to do so in the interior. I have hopes, however, 

 another season to be able to do this at some of the coast towns, where the 

 Bedouins from the interior go down in considerable numbers. They are 

 very interesting as types of an early race, being very different from the 

 Bedouins of Northern Arabia. They are short, thin, and wiry, with 

 handsome, refined faces, aquiline noses, and thin lips, almost as dark as 

 negroes in their skin, and with long black hair, which they tie up in a 

 knot at the back of their heads. During our long stay at Al Katan we 

 were able to collect many interesting points with regard to their manners 

 and customs, but the same difficulty that prevented us from taking 

 measurements also confronted us in trying to take photographs of this 

 interesting type of humanity. They have a fixed objection to sitting for 

 their portraits, and the few we took at haphazard do not give a very 

 satisfactory idea of the type. 



Mrs. Bent was, however, able to take an interesting series of views of 

 the Hadramout valley, the palaces and buildings, &c., which give a good 

 idea of the country. 



The botanist (W. Lunt) who was sent out by the authorities of Kew 

 made a collection of the flora of this district, which is rather meagre, but 

 very interesting, as being the first collection brought from Arabia east of 

 Aden. In it there are four new genera and thirty new species, which is 

 remai-kable, considering that the collection did not contain much over 200 

 varieties ; and it has also established the fact that the flora of Arabia 

 corresponds most closely to that of Abyssinia. 



We purpose to return to Arabia during the coming winter, and, if 

 possible, to enter at Muscat and make our way thence to the Hadramout, 

 which will give us an opportunity of surveying the whole inhabitable line 

 of country along the coast of South-eastern Arabia. We therefore hope 

 for the reappointment of the Committee, with a grant of money. 



Geographical, Meteorological, and Natural History Observations in South 

 Georgia or other Antarctic Isla.ncl. — Report of the Committee, consist- 

 ing of Mr. Clements R. Markham {Chairman), Dr. H. R. Mill 

 {Secretary), Mr. J. Y. Buchanan, and Mr. H. 0. Forbes. 



The Committee met on two occasions and considered the possibility of 

 carrying out Mr. Bruce 's plan for spending a year on South Georgia or other 

 land within the Antarctic Circle. It was found to be possible to obtain 

 a passage for Mr. Bruce either to South Georgia or possibly to the Antarctic 

 land south of Australia ; but no guarantee would be given by the Norwe- 

 gian whalers and sealers making experimental voyages in these waters 

 that they could return for him after a year. In the circumstances the 

 Committee decided that it would be undesirable to encourage Mr. Bi'uce 



