838 REPORT—1896. 
Section E.—GEOGRAPHY. 
PRESIDENT OF THE SECTION —Masor Darwin, Sec. R.G.S. 
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1i. 
The President delivered the following Address :— 
In reviewing the record of geographical work during the past year, all other 
performances pale in comparison with the feat accomplished by Nansen, It is not 
merely that he has gone considerably nearer the North Pole than any other 
explorer, it is not only that he has made one of the most courageous expeditions 
ever recorded, but he has established the truth of his theory of Polar currents, 
and has brought back a mass of valuable scientific information. When Nansen 
comes to England I am certain that we shall give him a reception which will prove 
how much we admire the heroism of this brave Norwegian. 
Besides the news of this most remarkable achievement, the results of a con- 
siderable amount of useful exploratory work have been published since the British 
Association met last at Ipswich. With regard to other Arctic Expeditions, we 
have had the account of Lieutenant Peary’s third season in Northern Greenland, 
from which place he came back in September last, and to which he has again 
returned, though without the intention of passing another winter there. In 
October the ‘Windward’ brought home more ample information as to the progress 
of the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition than that communicated by telegram to the 
Association at Ipswich, and on her return from her remarkably rapid voyage this sum- 
mer she brought back the record of another year. As to geographical work in Asia, 
Mr. and Mrs. Littledale returned safely from their explorations of the little knowr 
parts of Tibet; the Pamir Boundary Commission, under Colonel Holdich, has 
collected a great deal of accurate topographical information in the course of its 
labours; Dr. Sven Hedin continues his important researches in Turkestan; and — 
the Royal Geographical Society was glad to welcome Prince Henry of Orleans 
when he came to tell us about his journey near the sources of the Irrawaddy. As 
to Africa, the most important additions to our knowledge of that continent are 
due to the French surveyors, who have accurately mapped the recently discovered 
series of lakes in the neighbourhood of Timbuktu, Lake Faguibine, the largest, 
being found to be 68 miles in length; Dr. Donaldson Smith has filled up some 
large blanks in the map of Somaliland; and Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Bent have 
investigated some interesting remains of ancient gold werkings inland of the Red 
Sea. In other parts of the world less has been done, because there is less to do. 
Mr. Fitzgerald has proved for the first time the practicable character of a pass 
across the Southern Alps, thus supplementing the excellent work of Mr. Harper 
and other pioneers of the New Zealand Alpine Club; and Sir W. M. Conway has 
commenced a systematic exploration of the interior of Spitzbergen, a region to 
which the attention of several other geographers is also directed. 
