760 REPORT— 1895. 



northward journey. He made two double marches with sledges well laden and 

 established a depot 81° 20' N. Returning to his base for more provisions, he found 

 that the crew, who had wintered on the ship, had been attacked with scurvy. He 

 did everything that could be done and got the ship under weigh on her homeward 

 journey by July 3. When the ship left, Mr. Jackson was about to make a third 

 march inland, and on this occasion he intended to utilise his boats. 



The return journey of the 'Windward' was a marvellous instance of arctic 

 navigation. For sixty-five days she battled with the heavy floe-ice, and, having 

 consumed nearly all her coals, anything combustible on board was resorted to. The 

 constant labour and exposure told heavily on the crew, whose behaviour was 

 above praise. At last — with the loss of three men — she broke out of the ice on 

 September 6, and safely made the port of Vardo on the 10th. 



Thus it will be seen that all the expectations aroused on behalf of the expedi- 

 tion had, up to date, been fulfilled. Franz Josef Laud had been successfully made ; 

 fresh food had been plentiful ; the base was secure ; advance northward had been 

 easy and depots were already in existence as far as 81° 20' ; and, finally, the ex- 

 ploring party, with Mr. Jackson at their head, were in sound health and the best 

 spirits. 



5. Tlie Struggle for Existence under Arctic Conditions. 

 By A. Trevor Battye. 



6. The Port of the Upper Nile in relation to the Highways of Foreign 

 Trade. By James Turnbull Playfair Heatley. 



To introduce his paper and indicate its aim, Mr. Heatley cites the views of 

 Sir Charles Wilson from his address at Bath in IStSB on the higher aims of the 

 Science of Commercial Geography. 



He proposes the introduction of the term ' nodality ' for a commercial centre 

 on a through line of trade, in accordance with a suggestion of Mr. Maekinder's in 

 1889. 



He then discusses the relative merits of Alexandria, Sawfikin (with Sheikh 

 Barud), Massawa, Mombasa, Tanga, and Cliinde, as ports with their respective 

 trade routes, and states the case for Akik. 



He shows that the Port of Akik is on the best bay of the Red Sea, and 

 that a line of railway from Akik to Khartum by way of Goz Rejeb is the best 

 route to bring Khartum and the Upper Kile into commercial relations with 

 the maritime highways of trade. As the merits of difl'erent routes are decided 

 by the importance of the nodalities whicli feed the highway of trade, he 

 points out that the trade of the Ilabab and the Hagar districts will come to 

 Akik. The important district of Tokar has been described as the granary of the 

 Eastern Sudan, and is recognised as its key strategically. Here will also come 

 the trade of the Beni Amr tribes from the valleys of the Anseba and the Baraka. 

 At Filik there is the fertile district of the Gash. From Filik a line of some 50 

 miles to Kasala will tap the provinces of Taka, Gadarif, Galabat, and Senaar. 



He points out that as soon as the line is made to Goz Rejeb, the Port of Akik 

 is in direct communication with the Upper Nile from June to September, during 

 which time the Atbara and the Nile at the Sixth Cataract are navigable. 



From Akik to Goz Rejeb the distance is from 260 to 280 miles ; the highest 

 part of it is l,Go0 feet, with easy grading and no diihculties. To Goz Rejeb as a 

 nodality, where routes meet from all parts, the trade of the Upper Nile, of 

 Darfur and Dongola, can come by ship and caravan. But the importance com- 

 mercially and strategically of Khartum demands the line from Goz Rejeb, a 

 distance of some 180 miles. 



From Khartum the Nile, with some of its tributaries, is navigable for some 

 1,500 to 1,700 miles. The Blue Nile is navigable for 350 miles; the Sobat for 

 150 to 300 miles ; the Bahr el Ghazal for 400 miles ; the Bahr el Arab for 500 



