260 Chronicles of Science. [April, 



beautiful and fertile, the harbours large and numerous, but the 

 population small — the inhabitants being indolent, of a mild cha- 

 racter, and subject to a dominant race — the Haves. 



" A Diary of a Hill-Trip in Burmah " was furnished by Lieu- 

 tenant T. H. Lewin, who in 1866 had to make his way with some 

 danger through the Hill tribes up in the country lying between 

 Bengal, Arrachan, and Burmah. These tribes are numerous and 

 distinct from each other ; of a Mongolian character, very barbarous, 

 and speaking various dialects. 



The discussion of a purely political topic — the choice of a site 

 for the capital of India — was introduced by a paper by the Hon. 

 C. Campbell, which recommended a spot on the Great Indian and 

 Peninsular Railway, in the table-land of the Deccan on the Western 

 Ghauts, 150 miles from Bombay. The climate is good for Euro- 

 peans ; it is within easy reach of the sea, though not too close ; it 

 is near the geographical and political centre of India, and has room 

 for a European settlement around it. The principal drawback was 

 a want of water, which might be supplied from a distance of four 

 or five miles. The merits and demerits of Calcutta were discussed, 

 as well as those of the site now indicated, and other localities were 

 suggested ; but the debate took almost entirely a political turn, and 

 gave an opportunity to several eminent Indians to express their 

 sentiments. 



A letter from another African traveller, since dead, M. Jules 

 Gerard, dated Mano, lat. 8° 10' N., in the interior from Sherbro, 

 on the west coast south of Sierra Leone, and supposed to have been 

 written about a month before his death, from the upsetting a canoe 

 in crossing the Jong river, gave some interesting details about the 

 Kass country, which has never been visited by traders, but possesses 

 abundance of ivory and cotton. M. Gerard had met with the usual 

 obstructions offered by the chieftains on the coast. 



1 An Ascent of Mount Hood, in Oregon,' by the Rev. H. K. 

 Hines, describes this mountain to be an active volcano, picturesquely 

 situated, and of an altitude of 17,640 feet ; a fact which is disputed. 

 If, however, this be so, it is the highest mountain in North America. 



A paper was read " On a Journey of Exploration in Eastern 

 Oregon and Idaho," by Colonel C. S. Drew, U.S.A., and Mr. Eobert 

 Brown, F.R.G.S.; and at a subsequent meeting papers on subjects 

 already treated of in former Chronicles ; the " Exploration of the 

 Purus River and the Rivers of Caravoza in Southern Peru," by 

 Mr. W. Chandless and Don Antonio Bamondy respectively, were 

 read and commented on. 



