Febeuabt 11, 1887.] 



scie:n'ce. 



129 



south, on the northern declivity of the ranges 

 Jarbagatay and Saoor, which form the southern 

 limits of the basin of the Irtish, large deposits of 

 bowlders are found. They consist of granitic 

 rocks, which have been carried by the ice from 

 the crest of the mountains to a distance of about 

 ten miles, the layer having a direction from south 

 to north. The range of Saoor attains a height 

 of about 12,500 feet above the level of the sea. At 

 the present period snow always lies on its highest 

 parts, but no glaciers are found. 



According to Nikolsky, Lake Balkash is drying 

 up at the rate of one metre in fourteen or fifteen 

 years. Its southern portion, called Ala-Kul, is 

 being transformed into a salt-pan similar to Kara 

 Bugas, the well-known bay on the east side of the 

 Caspian Sea. As the evaporation is very rapid in 

 those regions, and the bays have no tributaries, 

 the loss of water is replaced by the salt water of 

 the lake rushing through the narrow entrance into 

 the bay, the water of which having become con- 

 <3entrated, the salt is continually being precipi- 

 tated at its bottom. Some other lakes of West 

 Siberia and the Aralo-Caspian region are also dry- 

 ing up. Jadrienzew, by comparing the extent of 

 the Lakes Suny, Abyshkan, Moloki, and Chany, 

 in the governments of Tobolsk and Tomsk, as 

 represented in maps of 1784, 1813-20, 1850-60, and 

 1880, proves that they are desiccating at a rapid 

 rate. Lake Abyshkan measured 530 square miles 

 at the beginning of this century, while only three 

 small ponds of one and a half miles in width re- 

 main. The same process is going on throughout 

 "West Siberia. 



According to the Novoe Vremya, the trading 

 •caravan lately despatched by the Central Asian 

 commercial company Koudrinehas passed through 

 Kashgar and entered Thibet. This company is 

 likely to play an important part in Central Asia. 

 It has established permanent agencies at Merv 

 and Askabad, and in the Persian cities of Kutchan 

 and Meshed, and now it proposes to do the like in 

 Thibet. It has received from the Ameer of Bok- 

 hara a large tract of land on the banks of the 

 Amu-daria, near the Chard jui station of the 

 Transcaspian railway, for the cultivation of cotton. 

 In the Transcaspian there seems to be a great dis- 

 trict suitable for cotton-growing, and there is a 

 general opinion among the commercial classes of 

 Russia that the development of this industry 

 ought to be steadily encouraged by the govern- 

 ment. 



Africa. 



Further news has been received from Dr. Oscar 

 Lenz, dated Babonge, April 20, Nyangwe, May 19, 

 and Kasonge, June 1. Lenz left Stanley Falls on 

 March 30 in canoes supplied by the famous Ara- 



bian trader, Tippo-Tip, who sent several Zanzi- 

 bari soldiers with him, and gave him about twenty 

 negroes for oarsmen. At the cataracts they had 

 to hire natives, as the work was too hard for the 

 small company. Having left Stanley Falls, they 

 passed through a dreary coiintry, the banks of the 

 river being low and covered with thick forests. 

 On account of high water they had great difficulty 

 in finding places for camping. Lenz found many 

 of the native villages mentioned by Stanley de- 

 serted, as the natives had settled farther inland to 

 escape the attacks of the Arabs. He met Zanzi- 

 bari soldiers belonging to Tippo-Tip's troops in 

 most of the villages, who gave him some trouble 

 by trying to tax him. It took the small caravan 

 seven days to pass the cataracts of Wamanga, 

 having several times to transport their bulky 

 canoes over marshy, bush-covered ground. On 

 April 15 they reached Kibonge, which is largely 

 inhabited by Arabs and Zanzibaris. It is named 

 after the chief who established the village nine 

 years ago. He came from Nyangwe, and is inde- 

 pendent of Tippo-Tip. The village is very exten- 

 sive, and is composed of a great number of 

 ranches, with gardens and fields. Its situation, 

 however, is very unhealthy, as it is built on the 

 low banks of the Kongo, and large lagoons and 

 swamps surround it. As the district is very suit- 

 able for rice culture, the Arabs have cleared the 

 land, and grow considerable quantities of rice. 

 Lenz considers these fields far more extensive and 

 numerous than those in West Africa. He left 

 Kibonge in company with several Arabian traders, 

 who were going to Tippo-Tip's station, Riba-Eiba. 

 A few days' journey above Kibonge they heard the 

 sounds of the war-drums of the natives, and pre- 

 pared for defence in case of an attack. Wherever 

 the Arabs have settled, the negroes have fled into 

 the woods, and when they have a chance of attack- 

 ing the intruders with safety they do so, and the 

 Arabs are in constant fear of their poisoned ar- 

 rows. The feeling of uneasiness did not subside 

 until they had reached the friendly tribes near 

 Riba-Riba. The latter place derives its name also 

 from its chief, a Nyangwe negro. The river be- 

 tween Nyangwe, and Riba-Riba, and Kibonge is 

 frequented by travelling parties going from one 

 place to another in pursuit of their trade. They 

 extend their journeys far up the tributaries of the 

 Kongo, as far south as Urua, south-west of the 

 Tanganyika. Nyangwe is built on a hill about 

 a hundred feet above the Kongo. It consists of a 

 number of houses surrounded by gardens. The 

 inhabitants are rich Arabian merchants and Zan- 

 zibaris and natives who are in then- employ. 

 Some houses are well built of sun-dried bricks 

 and have fine piazzas. Kasonge, the headquarters 



