152 



8CIEJ^GU. 



[Vol. IX., No. 211 



skin: the latter he strings on a thong and rubs 

 down on sandstone, like a Marquesas-islander. 

 Feathers, however, are his greatest pride, and 

 gaudy plumes of the woodpecker's crest, the duck's 

 neck, and the blue-jay's plumage, are held at fab- 

 ulous prices (22). 



His music he draws from the whistle of bone, 

 the rattle, and the drum ; in his dances he carries 

 a queer wand of basketry in his hand (21) ; some- 

 times he wears a ' spritsail yard ' in the septum of 

 his nose (20) ; he crushes vermin in his head with 

 a spatula of elkhorn (18) ; and, finally, he has a 

 fashion of putting very sharp pins of elkhorn in 

 his hair (18a) to pierce the hand of the adversary. 



Lieutenant Ray's collection is accompanied with 

 an excellent descriptive catalogue, making his work 

 for the national museum worthy of imitation. It 

 has also the additional merit of explaining almost 

 an equal number of nice old specimens that have 

 been waiting forty years for an interpreter. 



O. T, Mason. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 

 Europe. 



The Russian government is planning an ethno- 

 graphical survey of Russian Poland. This prov- 

 ince has hitherto been much neglected by Russian 

 scientists, and is, according to Professor Petri, not 

 even inckided in the great ' Geographical statis- 

 tical lexicon of the Russian empire.' 



The construction of two canals in southern 

 Russia is projected. The Duke of Leuchtenberg 

 proposes to pierce the isthmus of Perekop. This 

 canal would shorten the distance between Odessa 

 and the harbors of the Gulf of Azov. The second 

 project is far more important. The Russian gov- 

 ernment intends to connect the Don and the Volga 

 by a canal, and the country between the rivers is 

 being surveyed for the purpose. Thus, a water- 

 way between the Caspian and Black seas will 

 be established, and a new outlet opened to the 

 produce of Asia. The project is a very old one, 

 having been attempted by Peter the Great in 1696. 



At the meeting of the Geographical society of 

 Paris, Jan. 7, the Count of Saint-Saud gave a re- 

 port on his surveys in the Pyrenees. Large tracts 

 of these mountains are still little known, and 

 Saint-Saud's researches will be a valuable contribu- 

 tion to our knowledge of the topography of that 

 district. He discovered a mountain 9,500 feet in 

 height, and corrected the position of some other 

 peaks. 



Feddersen, during his travels in southern Ice- 

 land, found the remains of large trees, which 

 prove that forests formerly existed on that island. 

 Dr. Labonne, who crossed Iceland from south to 



north last summer, makes a similar statement. 

 He found some remains of willows and birches 

 about sixteen feet below the surface, embedded 

 in the silicious deposits of the Geyser. These 

 facts prove the correctness of the old ' Sagas,'' 

 which refer to forests in Iceland. 



Asia. 

 P. Lombard, missionary in Siam, publishes, in 

 the Missions catholiques, a map of the Menam,. 

 on which all settlements situated on the banks of 

 that river are marked. The new information 

 contained in this map is important, as Lombard 

 has lived a long time in Siam, and has acquired a 

 thorough knowledge of the geography of that 

 country. 



Africa. 



Junker's exploration of the Welle makes its 

 identity with the Obangi very probable. He 

 crossed the river six times, and followed its course 

 as far as latitude 3° 13' 10", and longitude 22° 47' 

 40". He found it to run east and west, with no 

 part of it farther north than latitude 4°. The 

 abundance of ivory found on the islands of this 

 river is said to surpass that of any other part of 

 Africa. Notwithstanding these new discoveries 

 in this part of Africa, our knowledge of its hydrog- 

 raphy is still very imperfect, and the exploration 

 of the watershed between the Shari and Kongo 

 still forms one of the most important problems of 

 researches in Africa. 



Captain Coquilhat, who visited Stanley Falls 

 after the Arabs had taken possession of it, de- 

 scribes the moral impression which the loss of the 

 station has made upon the natives, as follows : 

 " The natives admire the persistent resistance of 

 the whites. The losses of the Arabs, which 

 amounted to sixty, while we lost only two men,, 

 made a great impression upon the negroes. They 

 have seen and felt that the white man is not an 

 ally of the Arab, and that they will find a sup- 

 port in him against their oppression. The manner 

 in which the natives protected and saved Mr. 

 Deane, the chief of the station at Stanley Falls^, 

 proves that they detest the Arabs, and that they 

 desire to be governed by whites." However, 

 these views seem to be somewhat sanguine. The 

 loss of Stanley Falls is a serious affair to the asso- 

 ciation, and shows how little established its power 

 is. It would be in vain to expect support from 

 the natives, who consider both whites and Arabs 

 intruders in their country. 



The Kongo association is planning two expedi- 

 tions ; one, to determine the best route for the 

 proposed railroad ; the other, to explore the Kongo 

 and its tributaries. The latter will be composed 

 of geologists, agriculturists, and commercial 



