292 Ulironicles of Science, [April, 



be possible at the expense of a little dredging, and by this means com- 

 munication with the interior might be effected during the six months 

 in the year when the water is highest. Until this is carried out it 

 would be scarcely fair to the natives to induce them to cultivate cotton 

 without means of getting it to European markets. 



The same evening a paper was read from Dr. Bastian, a native of 

 Bremen, on " A Visit to the Buined Cities of Cambodia." The writer 

 is still in that country, continuing his exploration of temples, bridges, 

 and sculptures near Thalesab, or the Sweet-water Lake. He has found 

 numerous inscriptions on the temples, and hopes in time to throw some 

 light on the history of this country, a subject all the more interesting 

 as the actual documents still in existence extend back but a short dis- 

 tance, all that were older having been consumed by fire. 



During a dearth of other subjects, Captain Sherard Osborn, B.N., 

 has excited the flagging interest of the Geographical Society by bring- 

 ing before it the topic of Arctic exploration. Ho considers that we 

 should not rest upon what has been done ; that though the immediate 

 object of former voyages, viz. the discovery of a north-west passage, 

 has been gained, and that one problem has been solved, there are many 

 more, though not of such commercial advantage as this was supposed to 

 be in the days in which the idea was first started, still of vast scientific 

 value — problems which ought to lead adventurous spirits to attempt, 

 and scientific men to foster the attempt, to reach the North Bole. 

 The leading difficulty anticipated was the opposition raised by many to 

 what they might consider a dangerous and a useless employment of 

 Government resources. This Captain Osborn met by showing that 

 such an expedition is neither dangerous nor useless. During the 

 period between 1818 and 1854 only two ships and 128 men had been 

 lost out of forty-two exploring parties. In no part of the world had 

 so large a surface been mapj>ed out at so small a sacrifice of human 

 life, and no expeditions were so popular among the common sailors as 

 these northwards. The advantages to physical science accruing from 

 well-directed observation in extreme latitudes promise to be exceed- 

 ingly great. The mysteries of the Gulf-stream and the Ice-stream lie 

 hidden in the abysses of the Arctic Ocean — if it exist ; whether the 

 Bole be surrounded by earth, ice, or water, is still unknown, and con- 

 clusive arguments in favour of each theory are put forth. The 

 magnetic pole has been visited, and lengthy observations in its imme- 

 diate neighbourhood have led to many modifications of our opinions on 

 subjects connected with the needle, and especially have elucidated the 

 dip. No voyage northwards has been undertaken but it has afforded 

 some materials for starting new theories or correcting old ones. 

 Grant, then, that an expedition is desirable, the next question is the 

 route to be taken. Two principal ones strike the mind at once — one by 

 Spitzbergen, between Greenland and the American islands, the other 

 by Smith's Sound. The former is proposed by Dr. Beterman, the 

 latter by Captain Osborn. By the former way sailing-ships have gone 

 within 500 miles of the Bole, and Captain Barry attained, on the 

 night of 22nd July, 1827, to a point at an interval of only 435 

 geographical miles from the desired point. But north of Spitzbergen 



