98 Chronicles of Science. [Jan., 



in magnificence. The palace and tomb of Timour must attract atten- 

 tion : his throne consisted of a block of greenstone which was brought 

 from Broussah, but by what means it is difficult to imagine. In the 

 burial-place of Tamerlane his first teacher is buried next to the con- 

 queror, and around him his children, whilst beneath the minutest 

 details are exactly copied. After ten days at Samarcand, M. Vambery 

 proceeded to Karshi and thence to Herat. In this place, which is 

 tolerably well known, he considered himself safe ; still he was sus- 

 pected, and had great difficulty in getting farther, but his journeying 

 from this point was over known ground, and therefore it need not be 

 further related. 



The electric telegraph from India to Europe adds an interest to 

 localities otherwise of but little importance. It is not improbable 

 that it may be the means of opening up the navigation of the 

 Euphrates, now for some years stopped. The Isles of Kishm and 

 Ormuz, at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, were visited by Lieut.- 

 Col. Lewis Pelly, Acting Political Agent in that neighbourhood, in 

 December, 1863. The principal natural curiosities are naphtha 

 springs and salt caves of a height and length of from 200 to 300 

 feet, with a span of 60 to 70 feet, in hills varying from 300 to 600 

 feet in height. The salt in the mass is beautifully streaked, whilst 

 large crystals hang in festoons from the roof, and are of a snowy 

 white. The salt is carried on the backs of asses and camels to the 

 shore, whence it is exported to Calcutta and the east of Africa. The 

 Isle of Ormuz, though said to be the site of a magnificent city, shows 

 no remains that would indicate such a fact. 



The Eoyal Geographical Society. 



In opening the present session of the Geographical Society, the 

 President, Sir Eoderick Murchison, drew the attention of the Society 

 to what they must expect to form the staple of their discussions during 

 the ensuing months. Central Africa still affords the widest field for 

 discovery : it moreover possesses many points of attraction to 

 travellers, it is the nearest of unexplored lands, affords any amount 

 of difficulty in travelling that suits the investigation, has enough of 

 romance in it to dazzle the mind, and its configuration is a problem 

 not to be solved by analogy, but at the same time throwing some 

 light on the similar continent of Australia. In the loss of Speke, we 

 mourn not only the man who has done much, but we regret one who 

 was to have done much more, who, whilst Livingstone remained in 

 England, might have carried on his investigations in Africa. An 

 obelisk, similar to that erected to Lieutenant Bellot, is to commemo- 

 rate his worth. The misfortune of his death was the only thing to 

 mar the complete success of the geographical portion of the pro- 

 ceedings of the British Association. Amongst many excellent ideas 

 struck out by that concourse of scientific minds, one very advan- 

 tageous suggestion was made — viz. that the Government should be 



