818 EEroET— 1892. 



be in blue, bills iu brown. Contours are to be drawn at 100, 300, 500, and 1,200 

 metres, and the areas enclosed by tbem, which Dr. Penck assumes to be equivalent, 

 are to be tinted. Those sheets which deal with countries already surveyed would 

 be engraved in copper; the remaining sheets might be lithographed. 



The Greenwich meridian is proposed for acceptance, but all altitudes are to b© 

 in metres. The official spelling of all coimtries using the Latin alphabet is to 

 be retained, even in their ' spheres of influence.' Other alphabets are to be 

 transliterated in accordance with a system to be agreed upon, whilst names in 

 unwritten languages would be spelt phonetically. 



Dr. Penck estimates the cost of an edition of 1,000 copies of this map (land 

 surface only) at 191,4.38/., and as the sale of this edition at 2s. a sheet would pro- 

 duce onl}^ 88,000/., the deficit of 103,438/. would have to be made up by the 

 Governments concerned or by liberal private patrons. 



There is nothing Utopian about the scheme, as far as I can see. Difficulties 

 may arise as to the spelling of the names or the introduction of the metre, but the 

 essential thing, to my mind, is the production of a map — a map on an uniform 

 scale. If it is borne in mind that twenty-tive 5-degree sheets of such a map of 

 Africa were, some years ago, published by me, with the help of tlie Royal Geo- 

 graphical Society, and that twenty-one sheets of the same map are now in course 

 of preparation, and that all this was done by me unaided, it must be admitted that 

 better and speedier results might be brought about by an organised co-operation. 



2. A Recent Journey in Yemen. By Walter B. Harris. 



Mr. Walter B. Harris' paper on Yemen deals with a journey undertaken by 

 him in the early months of this year, and during the rebellion of the Arabs against 

 the Turks. Mr. Harris started from Aden early in January without guards, and 

 accompanied only by one of his trusted Morocco servants and a guide, all three 

 mounted on camels. Passing through Lahej, Mr. Harris continued his journey 

 over the desert until, after issuing from the mountain gorges of Khoreiba, he 

 reached Kataba, the Turkish frontier town, and by means of a disguise succeeded 

 in obtaining a permit to pass into Turkish territory. From Kataba to Yerim the 

 journey was a very dangerous one, and the travelling was nearly all accomplished 

 by night, the day being spent in hiding in the jungle. From Yerim the journey 

 was continued to Dhamar, and thus to Sanaa, the capital ; Mr. Harris having taken 

 nineteen days in accomplishing the distance, nearly three hundred miles. 



On his arrival at Sanaa he was seized by the Turkish authorities and thrown 

 into prison, where, owing to the unhealthy state of the place and the bad water 

 supplied to him, he was taken ill with fever. On the fifth day of liis imprison- 

 ment he was sent away to Hodaidah on the Red Sea coast under an escort of 

 Turkish soldiers, the journey occupying about five days, the distance being some- 

 thing under two hundred miles. Mr. Harris passed through much wonderfully 

 beautiful scenery, and has brought back an account of Arabia Felix which entirely 

 belies one's ideas of that country. By most people Arabia is considered to be a 

 desert, but Mr. Harris has found that Yemen at least is a country of magnificent 

 fertility, the great plateau, lying at an elevation of from seven to nine thousand 

 feet above the sea level, being in a state of excellent cultivation. Water is by no 

 means scarce ; in fact in many places there are rivers of no inconsiderable size. 

 Although the journey has been made once or twice before, Mr. Harris is probably 

 the first European who has reached Sanaa from Aden. After much hard travelling, 

 several narrow escapes, four days' imprisonment in a Turkish gaol, and a violent 

 attack of fever, Mr. Harris reached Aden towards the end of February with a 

 considerable number of photographs and a large collection of notes and sketches 

 pertaining to a country of which but very little is known. An account of the 

 rebellion was written by him to the ' Times,' and published on April 23. At any 

 time the journey would not be an easy one, and, considering that the country was 

 in a state of revolt, Mr. Harris had to overcome very many difficulties before 

 reaching Sanaa. 



