92 



NATURE 



[Nov. 27, 1879 



mounted there, much will probably depend upon the succes s 

 attending the construction of the 30-inch refractor, which Alvan 

 Clark and Sons have engaged to furnish for the Imperial Obser- 

 vatory at Pulkowa, but the trustees purpose to secure a 1 2-inch 

 to be used in the observation of the next transit of Venus, and to 

 remain one of the permanent fixtures of the Observatory. 



San Jose is in about 121° 50' west of Greenwich, and 

 37 16' N. Of Mount Hamilton it is stated that, "although 

 practically out of the coast range fog-belt, an occasional gale 

 blows the mist across the Santa Clara Valley from two points — 

 Monterey Bay and the Sand-hill Gap just south of the city. On 

 extraordinary occasions this fog reaches the crest of Mount 

 Hamilton, but ordinarily the sky is cloudless all summer." The 

 trustees have their work well in hand, though there remains 

 much to be done before the whole design of the munificent 

 founder of the observatory can be realised. It is intended that 

 a meridian-circle, an instrument necessarily requiring consider- 

 able time in its construction, and other accessories, shall be pro- 

 vided in addition to the great telescope and the smaller equa- 

 torial. If we are not mistaken, Mr. Iinrnham has added a 

 number of new double-stars to our lists, from his tentative work 

 with the 6-inch refractor on Mount Hamilton. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

 A Russian journal announces the early departure of a scien- 

 tific expedition, under the direction of Lieut. Onatsevitch, to 

 make hydrographic investigations in the Sea of Japan and the 

 Sea of Okhotsk. One of M. Onatsevitch's assistants, Ensign 

 Heller, has already gone to Vladivostock in the cruiser Asie, 

 taking with him numerous instruments with which the hydro- 

 graphic department has equipped the expedition. M. Lanevsky 

 Volk and four other naval officers will accompany M. Onatsevitch 

 by way of Siberia. The object of this expedition is to fill 

 lacuna; in the works of Babkine, Bolchew, Staritsky, Velagnine, 

 and others. It will have to explore, especially from the hydro- 

 graphic point of view, the mouths of rivers which fall into the 

 Sea of Japan, from the southern frontier of Russia to the Bay 

 of Castries. It will make geodetic observations in the south- 

 west part of Peter the Great Bay and at the mouth of the 

 Amour. Lastly, it will study the water-courses, and the east 

 and south parts of the Isle of Sakhaline, the district of La 

 Perouse, &c. 



At the meeting of the Geographical Society on Monday 

 evening the secretary read a paper by Capt. A. H. Markham on 

 the Arctic campaign of 1879 in the Barents Sea. The title of 

 the paper, however, is somewhat of a misnomer, as the narrative 

 was chiefly confined to the proceedings of the Isljbrn, to which 

 we have already referred. Some few details were also furnished 

 as to the trip of the second Dutch expedition in the Willi m 

 Barents. Among the various matters of interest dealt with, 

 perhaps one of the most interesting w-as the description of a large 

 glacier on one part of the coast of Novaya Zemlya. This glacier 

 Capt. Markham ascended, and walked along it for some two or 

 three miles into the interior ; he found numerous fissures in it, 

 at the bottom of which ran rivulets, and some of which were so 

 deep and wide that they could not be cro-sed except by making 

 a long detour. During the trip a considerable amount of infor- 

 mation was gained in regard to the movements of the ice in the 

 Barents Sea, and the best season for future attempts at explora- 

 tion, especially in the direction of Franz Joseph Land; it was 

 made quite clear, however, that a larger vessel and the aid of 

 steam are absolutely necessary to secure really useful results. 



With reference to the discovery of the sources of the Niger, it 

 is stated that MM. Zweifel and Moustier traversed the Hokko 

 and Liuibah countries, which, covered with forests on Winwood 

 Reade's visit ten years ago, was now found very little wooded, 

 the demand for the oily almonds of the palm tree having induced 

 the natives to plant oil palms in the place of forests. A 

 Koranks mission told the explorers that the Niger passed 

 between Mount Lomat and another mountain, and that its three 

 sources, the junction of which formed a small lake, were two 

 days' march from the latter. After many dangers and privations, 

 the travellers found the main source near the village of Koulaks, 

 on the frontier of Koranks, Kissi, and Kono, its native name 

 being the Tembi. The travellers could not enter the Sangara 

 country on the right bank of the river ; but they are confident 

 that the Tembi is the longest of the three streams mentioned by 

 the Koranks, and consequently the origin of the Joliba or Upper- 

 Niger. 



M. De Lesseps is to leave in a few days for Central America, 

 in order to survey the concession granted by the Columbian 

 Government for a sum of 750,000 francs, which was paid a fen- 

 months since. The surveying within a certain time is an obliga- 

 tion which, not being complied with, would render the concession 

 void. The promoter of the new canal took leave of the Geogra- 

 phical Society of Paris on November 21. 



A discussion has been raised before the Geographical Society 

 of Paris by the alleged discovery of the source of the Niger by 

 two Frenchmen, commercial travellers, as referred to last week. 



The Freie Deutsche Hochstift at Frankfurt has received 

 further news from Dr. Gerhard Rohlfs and his travelling com- 

 panion Dr. Stecker, according to which the two travellers were 

 already on a steamer sailing for Malta. Herr Rohlfs is said to 

 be so exhausted that he intends to abstain from any further 

 African exploring expeditions. Amongst the objects which the 

 travellers were robbed of are all their diaries, notes, and scien- 

 tific instruments, besides the rich collection of presents sent by 

 the Emperor of Germany to the Sultan of Wadai. 



No. 10 of Band xxii. of the Mittheilungen of the Vienna 

 Geographical Society, contains papers on the Ethnological Con- 

 ditions of South Russia at their chief epochs, from the earliest 

 times to the first appearance of the Sclavs, by Dr. Jar. Vlach ; 

 the Mississippi and its Basin, by Dr. Hesse-Wartegg ; the district 

 of Shushu, in Transcaucasia, by Carla Serena. Among the 

 notes is a valuable statistical and geographical account of the 

 Vilayet of Trebizond, from an Austrian Consular Report. As 

 a supplement to the Mittheilungen is announced a Zcitschrift fur 

 laissenschafth'che Geograp/lie, edited by Julius Iwan Kettler, 

 assisted by a staff of eminent German geographers. This 

 journal will embrace all departments of mathematical, physical, 

 commercial, ethnological, descriptive, and historical geography ; 

 and promises to prove one of the most valuable geographical 

 journals published. It will be issued every two months. 



Capt. Howgate has published a neat little volume on the 

 cruise of the Florence in the preliminary Arctic Expedition of 

 1877-S. He gives many interesting notes made during the 

 wintering in Cumberland Gulf, both of the country and people. 

 The scientific results have been published separately, and these 

 we shall notice in detail. 



The Cape Argus announces the starting in October of an 

 African Expedition from the Cape, under, and at the expense 

 of, two young Englishmen, Messrs. Beaver and Bagot. They 

 have only two bullock waggons and a few blacks, but their 

 ambitious programme is to make a " General and Astronomical " 

 survey of the w-hole region between the Zambesi and the Albert 

 and Victoria Nyanzas. This region is ignoranily described in 

 the Argus as being almost totally unexplored. The two light- 

 hearted young Englishmen allow themselves four years to accom- 

 plish their gigantic undertaking. We shall watch their progress 

 with curiosity. They are stated to have had an interview with 

 the Geographical Society before leaving ; the officials of the 

 Society, we believe, are not able to recall the incident. 



In a letter to M. Sibiriakoff, Prof. Nordenskjold expresses his 

 intention of undertaking another voyage to the northern coast of 

 Asia as soon as circumstances permit. " After my return," he 

 says, " I think of spending a year on preparing an account of 

 the voyage of the Vega, and it is my desire then to continue the 

 exploration of the Icy Ocean along the coast of Siberia, making 

 the River Lena the point of departure, and the New Siberian 

 Isles the basis of operations. For the object I have proposed 

 to myself — namely, the rendering of the northern part of Asia 

 completely accessible to commercial shipping — the prosecution of 

 these researches is of paramount importance." 



A telegram to the Moscow News, dated Katt Koorgan, 

 November 14, gives the latest intelligence received from the 

 Russian scientific expedition appointed to explore the Oxus 

 or Amu Darya, and report on the best route for a great Central 

 Asian railway. On October 19 the members met the Khan 

 of Khiva, who said he would give orders in due time for 

 the demolition of the dams at Bant and Shamurat. The eldest 

 men among the Yomouds and Tschenderen pledged themselves 

 to procure labourers for the purpose of cleaning out the bed of 

 the Usboi between Sary Kamysch and the Caspian Sea. 



The death is announced of the Dutch lieutenant, Koolemans 

 Beynen, who accompanied Sir Allen Young in his two Pandora 

 voyages, and last year was second in command of the Dutch 



