TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION R. 549 
plateau called Marti by the natives. It then gradually diminishes in volume, 
flowing slowly through gently sloping alluvial plains until, on entering 
tne main Lorian swamp, it is scarcely thirty feet broad and two deep. This 
swamp is roughly oval in shape, with its long axis N.W. and S.E., and it is very 
roughly fifty miles in circumference. Much water is here lost by evaporation 
and percolation. The river, however, emerges in a still further attenuated 
form, and flows between high banks for five miles before entering a second and 
smaller swamp. On emerging once again, it gradually dwindles until permanent 
water ceases in a series of pools known to the natives as Madolé. There is, 
however, a distinct stream bed that runs in a shallow valley towards the east 
until Afmadu is reached, when it turns southwards, finally joining the Juba 
River by means of the Deshek Wama. In an exceptionally wet season the 
overflow from the Lorian Swamp runs down this stream bed, which is known 
as the Lak Dera, and into the sea, by way of the Juba River. The alluvial 
plains of the Lorian district are remarkably fertile, and are eminently suited 
for agriculture. 
4. Report on Geographical Teaching in Scotland. 
See Reports, p. 161. 
5. Report on the Choice and Style of Atlas, Textual, and Wall Maps 
for School and University Use.—See Reports, p. 156. 
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12. 
The following Papers were read :— 
1. The Upper Basin of the Warwick Avon. By Miss C. A. Smvpson. 
The Avon basin is part of the great valley crossing the Midlands from S.W. 
to N.E. at the foot of the Oolitic escarpment. 
The Avon as a whole is a longitudinal river, but very few streams in its 
basin, above Warwick, are actually strike streams, though there is a line of 
detached valleys at the foot of the escarpment. The main streams flow obliquely 
across parallel outcrops of rock, ranging from Inferior Oolites in the S.E., 
through bands of Lias and Triassic marls, to an inlier of Permian sandstone, 
which is bounded on the N.E. by the Nuneaton coal-field. 
The northern and western boundary of the Upper Avon basin crosses the 
uplands of this formation; and on the south the boundary follows the Oolitic 
escarpment. On the north-east is a very narrow water-parting between the 
Avon and the Welland-—at a comparatively low level. Within the Avon basin, 
the two almost equally important valleys of the Upper Avon, and of the Leam 
continued by Rainsbrook Valley, have defined the plateau on which Rugby 
stands, and so have further dissected the Great Midland valley. Profiles of 
these two valleys, and of that of the Sowe-Avon, show complications of the 
drainage system, and suggest problems. Distribution of glacial drift and its 
possible influence on the streams. Its effect on the scenery. The soil is more 
dependent on distribution of drift than on the underlying rock. Positions of 
springs. The general character of the vegetation is very uniform throughout 
the district. Most arable land is near the Avon and Leam valleys between 
Rugby and Warwick, but meadows border the immediate banks of the streams, 
and pasture-land occurs almost exclusively on the borders of Leicestershire and 
Northamptonshire. Comparative scarcity of population in the Avon valley 
above Rugby. The density of population per 1,000 acres in each parish in the 
years 1801, 1841, 1881 and 1911 shows a general increase up to 1881; but on 
the whole, and especially during the later part of the period, the larger towns 
have increased, and the country districts have decreased, in population. Tllus- 
trated by the percentage of increase and decrease in each parish during the 
