1867.] Geography. 259 



Bay, 25 miles to tho north of tho mouth of the Rovuma, whence 

 he had been obliged to start, as ho could find no path for the 

 camels through the mangrove swamps at the mouth. Ngomano 

 is 30 miles further than Dr. Livingstone had advanced in 1861. 

 The chief here was friendly, and disposed to assist towards the 

 journey to Lake Nyassa. 



Dr. Mann, in discussing the Physical Geography of Natal, 

 showed how the colony was suited by its configuration for tho 

 cultivation of sugar, coffee, arrowroot, pineapples, bananas, and 

 oranges, on the coast ; and wheat, potatoes, and other crops of a 

 temperate zone, inland ; but that it could never support the vine, 

 because the clouds and moisture of the summer prevented the 

 grapes from ripening. The coast has but one harbour, Natal, 

 capable of receiving at present vessels of 700 tons burden, whilst 

 it may be improved considerably. The warmth of the coast may 

 be attributed to that of the current of water, of about 78°. 



A paper by Colonel Tremenheere, R.E., "On the Physical 

 Geography of the Lower Indus," gave rise to much discussion. 

 After a description of the plain of Scinde, and its peculiar forma- 

 tion, without natural drainage, the Colonel entered upon an account 

 of the gradual silting up of the Kurrachee harbour by the deposit of 

 the Indus, borne northwards by the current. The various facts on 

 which this theory depended, and the theory itself, were denied by 

 the Chairman of the Scinde Railway, the Engineer of the Kurra- 

 chee Harbour, and others more or less interested in the matter ; 

 whilst Colonel Tremenheere was defended by General Sir W. 

 Gordon. 



Captain H. EL Godwin Austin, of the Trigonometrical Survey 

 of India, described the Lake Pangong, in Thibet, which is about 

 100 miles in length, and is situated, 14,000 feet above the sea, in a 

 valley to the south-east of the Karakorum. 



Dr. Baikie, who died at Sierra Leone on his way to England to 

 enjoy a few months repose, after many years' work in conciliating 

 the natives on the Niger, left " Notes of a Journey from Bida in 

 Nupe on the Niger to Kano in Hansa." This journey occupied 

 nine months, and the records of it are sufficiently exact and explicit 

 to enable Dr. Kirk to complete a map of the district. The country 

 was generally fruitful, of various appearance, and inhabited by 

 rude, but intelligent and kind people. The slave-trade seems to 

 have somewhat diminished in some of these districts. The object 

 of the expedition — the recovery of the papers of Vogel and Over- 

 weg — was not successful, but a clue was obtained to their present 

 position. 



The Bishop of Mauritius furnished a paper on " A Yisit to the 

 North-East Provinces of Madagascar," which narrated the events 

 of a journey undertaken in 1865. The country is described as 



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