582 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. IX., No. 228 



grow sweet-potatoes, hrrse, and manioc of a poor 

 quality. There is scarcely any uncultivated land, 

 one field adjoining the other, and one village be- 

 ing close to the other. Wherever a patch of un- 

 cultivated land exists, it is prairie, with scattered 

 shrubs three feet in height. The land is not 

 very fertile, and does not yield large crops. On 

 the steep knolls which form the watersheds there 

 are a few large trees. The banks of brooks and 

 rivers are barren, and in some places the hills and 

 plains are covered with granite bowlders. Very 

 few bananas are grown in the villages. The men 

 are very tall, and have heavy bones. They wear 

 head-dresses made of feathers, and have their hair 

 arranged in a thick knot on the back part of the 

 head, and in numerous small knots in front. Their 

 spears are generally made of hard wood : they 

 always carry a club, and use the broad knife of 

 the Lunda. Wissmann considers them one of the 

 finest-looking peoples of Central Africa. 



It was impossible to buy any thing, as the popu- 

 lation was too dense. Small-pox is endemical. 

 On the Buchimayi, a western tributary of the 

 Lubilash, the natives attacked the caravan, and 

 Wissmann was compelled to return to Luluaburg. 

 In October, 1886, he started on his journey to the 

 unknown district between the Sankuru and the 

 upper Kongo. He writes that the natives in- 

 formed him of the existence of lakes similar to 

 Lake Mantumba and Lake Leopold in this region. 

 It is worth remarking, that, according to Dr. 

 Wolf's observations, the Sankuru has no tribu- 

 taries on its right bank. There are only a few 

 small brooks, which have black water. This 

 shows that they come from a swampy region. 

 The Busera, Juapa, and Lubilash, on the otiier 

 hand, which come frouf the same region, have 

 water of a light yellowish color. Wissmann in- 

 tends to explore this watershed, and to reach the 

 Kongo near Nyangwe. 



In regard to the Bashilange and Bateke tribes, 

 Wissmann says that probably Baluba, who emi- 

 grated from the upper Lubilash, intermarried with 

 a people similar to the dwarfish Watwa. Of these, 

 the Bashilange and Bateke are the descendants. 

 In their districts no tribe of dwarfish stature ex- 

 ists, while they may be found among the Bakuba, 

 Basonge, WanyBma, and Baluba. The Baluba 

 occupy the whole territory as far east as the 

 Tanganyika, Lukuga, and Lake Meru. The King 

 of Lunda, the Muata Yamvo, is of Baluba descent. 

 The remarks on the anthropological features of 

 the Bashilange agree with the views of R.Virchow, 

 expressed some months ago (Verh. der anthrop. 

 Ges., Berlin, 1886), when discussing the valuable 

 anthropological measurements and the skulls col- 

 lected by Dr. Wolf on his memorable journeys in 



Central Africa. Virchow says that the anthropo- 

 logical features of these tribes are those of a 

 mixed race, the negro type prevailing. He does 

 not express an opinion as to the second element. 

 His conclusions are supported and completed by 

 Wissmann's ethnological observations on the non- 

 existence of a dwarfish population in the territo- 

 ries inhabited by the Bashilange. 



Asia. 



General Ignatief, governor of eastern Siberia, 

 has proposed the exploration of part of the fron- 

 tiers between Russia and China. A large expedi- 

 tion is being equipped, which is to visit the 

 Saiansky Mountains and the Kossogol west of 

 Irkutsk. Colonel Bobyz is the leader of the ex- 

 pedition, which will last from five to six months 

 {Gaz. geogr., May 19). 



The Imperial geographical society of St. Peters- 

 burg proposes to study the periodical changes 

 and the gradual desiccation of the lakes of western 

 Siberia The plan of the work is designed by 

 Potanin, Yadriutzef, and other Russian explorers 

 of northern Asia, the president of the committee 

 being Mr. Stebnitzky. 



Mr. B. C. Henry has made a second visit to 

 the Island of Haiman. He visited the aborigines 

 of the mountain region, reaching the geographi- 

 cal centre of the Lee territory, and demonstrating 

 the fact that this region, supposed to be impassa- 

 able, can be traversed from east to west and from 

 north to south with comparative ease {Proc. Boy. 

 geogr. soc, June). 



Africa. 



A Renter's telegram from S. Paul de Loanda, 

 dated May 26 (Scottish geogr. mag., June), an- 

 nounces the arrival of Mr. Stanley's expedition at 

 Leopoldville on April 20, all well, and the de- 

 parture of the main body nine days later. 



Le mouvement geographique publishes a brief 

 description of the exploration of the river Inkissi, 

 which empties into the Kongo near Stanley Pool, 

 coming from the south. The explorer, Lieutenant 

 Hakansson, started on his expedition on the 6th 

 of November. For three days he passed through 

 a barren desert, but then the country became 

 more fertile and settled. This observation is of 

 some importance on account of the disputed ex- 

 tent of the barren district on the west coast of 

 Africa. From all observations, it appears that the 

 region of the lower Kongo, though generally very 

 dry and barren, contains numerous patches of 

 fertile land. The population of the Inkissi con- 

 sists mainly of Bakongo. 



Mr. J. T. Last, who has followed up the work 

 of Mr. O'Neill by exploring the Namuli Hills and 

 the Lukugu valley, has arrived at Zanzibar. He 



