Proceedings of Learned Societies. 79 



The letter and inclosures from. Sir Henry Barkly, the governor 

 of Victoria, conveyed intelligence of the successful crossing of the 

 Australian continent by the expedition under the command of Mr. 

 R. Burke ; but at the same time told of the lamentable death of 

 the leaders after their return to Cooper's Creek. They had 

 accomplished the journey from Cooper's Creek to the banks of 

 a river flowing into the Gulf of Carpentaria, by them supposed 

 to be the Albert, but considered (according to corrected calcu- 

 lations) to be the Flinders River. They returned to Cooper's 

 Creek, only to find the depot abandoned by the party who should 

 have awaited their return, and who, indeed, had only left the station 

 a few hours before the arrival of Messrs. Burke and Wills, with King, 

 their assistant. Provisions had been left for them, but the party 

 were too much exhausted to travel on. Mr. Burke and Mr. Wills 

 died of starvation, and the sole survivor of the expedition is King, 

 who has been brought back to Melbourne. The object of the jour- 

 ney has been fully accomplished. A fertile tract, with wood, water, 

 and pasture land, lies between Cooper's Creek and the Gulf of Car- 

 pentaria ; and an opportunity is thus afforded for founding a settle- 

 ment on the northern shores of the Australian continent. 



The second communication was from Mr. Thornton, the geologist 

 attached to the expedition of the Baron von Decken, on the coast of 

 Africa, near Mombas. Mr. Thornton has fully explored the coast 

 country from some distance inland, and has laid down several lakes 

 and rivers. But the most important intelligence is that which he sends 

 concerning Mount Kilimanjaro. Some discredit has been thrown 

 on the statement of Mr. Rebmann, the missionary, that this moun- 

 tain is covered with snow. Mr. Thornton, who has ascended Kili- 

 manjaro to the height of 8000 feet, says that the summit of the moun- 

 tain (which rises to 20,000 feet) is snow-covered, and that the sncw 

 lies in patches for a considerable distance down its sides. Further, 

 on the north-east, south-east, and south sides, which are those that 

 he has explored, there are distinct evidences of volcanic action in the 

 lava-streams that have at one time poured down the mountain. 



The papers of the evening, " On the Andaman Islands," and 

 " On the Trade of New Guinea," were then read by Dr. Mouat and 

 Mr. Galton. 



The Andaman Islands were visited in 1859 by a party under Dr. 

 Mouat, with the view of re-establishing on the Great Andaman a 

 penal settlement. A short history of the group was given, and an 

 account of the survey of the islands. The Great Andaman was 

 stated to be not one island, but three, divided from each other by 

 narrow straits, extremely difficult of navigation. The islands are of 

 volcanic origin. The highest peak, 2400 feet, is found in the north 

 of the Great Andaman, and the peaks gradually decrease in height 

 from north to south of the island. All the elevations have steep 

 descents on their northern sides, and slope gradually towards the 

 south. The whole of the islands are covered with a dense tropical 

 vegetation, and forests of mangrove line every part of the coast. 

 The natives of the Andaman Islands are a peculiar people, short of 

 stature, never exceeding 4 ft. 9 in. or 4 ft. 10 in. in height, little 



