GEOGRAPHIC MISCELLANEA 127 



])anie(l the first English diplomatic representative to the capital of Ab\'ssinia, 

 Adis Abeba. Later, in November of the same 3'ear, he organized a party of 

 several naturalists and passed the next six months in journeying up and down 

 Abyssinia, finally reaching Khartum June 1, 1S99. The partj' collected, in ad- 

 dition to eighteen diflerent kinds of antelopes, 10 elephants and two lions, 520 

 specimens of birds, representing 299 species, of which 11 are new. The whole 

 collection has been presented to the British Museum. 



As a result of the South African war, the supply and, in consequence, the 

 price of coal in Italy have been seriously affected. This is due partly to the 

 increase of price in England and ])artl\' to the fiict that the means of transport 

 are becoming insufticient, inasmuch as the English government has hired a large 

 numljcr of transports belonging to companies and to private individuals. From 

 an article which appeared in L'lkdie, Rome, and a translation of Avhich Ambas- 

 sador Draper has transmitted to the State Department, it appears that in Jan- 

 uary the price of coal reached $9.65 per ton in Genoa and $11.58 in Milan. 

 C)wing to the scarcitj', it was feared that many industrial establishments would 

 be obliged to shut down and thousands of workmen thrown out of work. 



Pkki.i.minary work is well underway on the railway from Tsing-chau via 

 "Wei lisien to Isi nan fu, the provincial metropolis of Shantung, with a branch 

 line to Po-shan, the concession for which was granted to a German companj' by 

 the Chancellor of the Chinese Empire in June, 1899. The first delivery of tires, 

 sleei>ers, rails, and small iron tools was shipped during December, 1899, and 

 the foundation work for a double track is already provided for. The company 

 has pledged itself to complete the road within five years and the extension 

 within three years. By the construction of these 280 miles of railway, the great 

 coal districts in the north of the province of Shantung will be brought into 

 practical communication with the important districts between Tsing-chau and 

 Isi nan fu and with Kiao-chau. 



TiiK series of articles descriptive of the different forest leserves of the United 

 States that were embodied for the Division of Forest Reserves in the Nineteenth 

 Annual Report of the U. S. Geological Survey have recently been published as 

 sejiarate brochures. The series, which Avere prepared under the general direc- 

 tion of Henry Gannett, Chief of the Division of Geography and Forestry, in- 

 clude : The Forests of the United Slates, by Henry Gannett ; The Black Hilh Forest 

 Jteserre, by Henry S. Graves; The Eastern Part of the Washington Forest Poser re, 

 by Martin "W. Gorman; The Washington Forest Reserre, by H. B. Ayres; The 

 'Jeton and Yellonslone Park Forest Reserves, by T. S. Brandegee; The Priest Rirer 

 Forest Reserve and The Bitter Root Forest Reserre, l>y John B. Leiberg ; and The 

 Big Horn Forest Reserre, by F. E. Town. Each paper is handsomely illustrated 

 and a<'companied by maps showing wooded areas, distriljution of timber species, 

 burned and restocked areas, and other practical facts. The series may be ob- 

 tained by applying directly to the U. S. Geological Survey, Washington, 1). C. 



Mathkial for tiie revision of the coast charts of New Jersey has reached tiie 

 U. S. Coast anil Geodetic Survey Ulfice. In order to keep these maps up to 

 date at a comparatively small expense, a party was put into the licld during 

 the latter iialf of 1899. Sulficient data were collec-ted in tliis short time to prac- 



