SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.— E. 347 



were duly appreciated. Traditions of early trade linger in the aisles of St. Mary le 

 Port and St. Nicholas despite many architectural changes. With the name of Canynge 

 one associates the expansion of trade into more remote parts of Europe and the com- 

 pletion of St. Mary Redcliffe, in which the virility of the merchant class found full 

 expression. The impetus to trade and industry which followed the discovery and 

 colonisation of the New World stimulated a territorial expansion rendered possible 

 by the dissolution of the monasteries. Despite the later restrictions of monopolists, 

 development was steady under the fegis of the Merchant Venturers, who not only 

 exploited the New World, but also gained an increasing hold on European markets 

 after the weakening of the Hanseatic League owing to internal dissensions largely of 

 a religious character. The New World connections were ultimately the basis of the 

 tobacco and chocolate industries. Although Bristol has never recovered from the 

 long delays which mark the history of its dock improvements, natural advantages 

 have nevertheles.s prevented a serious decline, and it remains an important port for 

 West Indian and American products. The establishment of an air-port at Whitchurch 

 is the latest step in the history of the development of the city's communications. 



Dr. V. Stefansson.- — Bristol and the Ancient Colonisation of Greenland. 



Saturday, September 6. 



Excursion to The Mendip Region, visiting Wells, Glastonbury, Wookey 

 Hole, Cheddar Gorge and Burrington Coombe. 



Monday, September 8. 



Mr. A. G. Ogilvie. — Report of Committee on Human Geography of Tropical 

 Africa. 



Mr. S. J. K. Baker. — The Population Map of Uganda : A Geographical 

 Interpretation. 



Uganda consists fundamentally of a long-denuded peneplain in which the Archaean 

 foundation is partly covered by Pala?ozoic ' Argillites.' Earth movements occurred 

 in late Oligocene times and produced two low but gigantic domes. These trend from 

 north to south, and along their main axes the Western and Eastern Rift Valleys were 

 respectively formed. The outpouring of lava now represented by the Mfumbiro and 

 Toro volcanics in the west and the Elgon Series in the east may be associated with the 

 rifting movements. The uplifted peneplain of Uganda lies at an average elevation 

 of 4,000 feet in the shallow depression between the two domes. To the south the 

 waters of Lake Victoria have gathered while the marshes of Lake Kioga occupj' the 

 heart of Uganda. 



The countrj' adjacent to Lake Victoria is well watered, the mean annual tempera- 

 ture is high and the range is small. The flat-topped hills of Buganda support a rich 

 savana vegetation; the intervening valleys are usually choked with papyrus swamps. 

 Away from Lake Victoria, with decreasing rainfall and an increase in the range of 

 temperature, a drier type of savana prevails. However, on the slopes of Mount Elgon 

 and in the Western Highlands the rainfall increases with altitude. In the Western 

 Highlands a rich cover of mountain grass has an extensive distribution. 



The salient features in the distribution of population may be discussed in the light 

 of this physical background : — 



i. In the Kingdom of Buganda there is a strong concentration of population in 

 the vicinity of Lake Victoria, a fact which has its counterpart in the centralisation of 

 administrative and educational services around Kampala. This is ' par excellence ' 

 the area of banana culture, though cotton has recently achieved importance as a 

 commercial crop. After a slight break, related to the distribution of tropical rain 

 forest to the west of the Victoria Nile, there is another area of concentration in the 

 southern part of the Eastern Province. The population here provides the labour for 

 the growth of cotton, and by its rapid development this region is inevitably challenging 



