4 
762 General Notes. [November, 
mys near costilatus; Anostira Leidy, Trionyx ; a form much like 
Plastomenus lachrymans and a genus near to Compsemys Leidy, 
perhaps the Apholidemys of Pomel. Of fishes, Pappichthys is 
abundant, mingled with the marine genera A/yliobates, Phyllodes 
and Squalodonts. 
The above lists present a mixture of the Laramie, Wasatch and 
Bridger fauna of Western America. It is remarkable that of the 
first named, only those of Tertiary character have been found by 
Dr. Lemoine, since the numerous types of Dinosauria, are en- 
tirely wanting —Z. D. Cope. 
GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVELS.’ 
Laxe Nyassa.—Mr. H. B. Cotterill has recently returned to 
England, after an absence of nearly two years, during which he ex- 
plored the Nyassa lake and also made the journey from its north- 
ern end to Dar-es-Salaam (on the coast twenty-five miles south of 
Zanzibar), a distance of 350 miles, passing through a region never 
baie visited by Europeans. 
m a paper read before the Royal Geographical Society, on 
he eth of March, and a lecture delivered at the Society of Arts, 
on May 27th, and reported i in the Zimes, we learn that the princi- 
pal object of his journey was to endeavor to plant in Central 
Africa, a germ of legitimate commerce and thus assist in the de- 
struction of the slave trade. Mr. Cotterill sketched the suppression 
of this traffic on the coast line, and stated that the word “ sup- 
pression ” exactly expressed the circumstances of the case. This 
trade is now scotched but by no means dead. Were the pressure 
put upon the trade now relaxed, slavery would again revive. Foot- 
holds and centres for civilizing influences in the interior must be 
secured before it can receive its death-blow. The advantages 
which the Nyassa offered for commencing beneficial influences upon 
the interior were, that there existed a great lake settlement; the 
accessibility of the Nyassa both by land and water, as compared 
with other lakes ; the magnificent water-way supplied by the 
Nyassa, itself, to the very heart of the continent, and the com- 
manding position that any settlement at the north end of the 
Nyassa would hold. He found the northern portions of the lake 
more beautiful and populous than the granite country of the 
south. Ivory is in abundance. There was evidence of the pres- 
ence of precious metals. Cotton grew wild and was also cultiva- 
ted by the natives. Sugar cane, grains of various kinds, yams, 
bananas and the like grew luxuriantly. The region was as healthy 
as India when once a person had become acclimatized. 
His journey to the coast was made in company with Capt. 
= Elton, late British Consul at Mozambique, and three friends. 
From ‘the northern end of the lake a flat marshy country extends 
towards the southern end of Tanganyika which was said to be 
sete ai Ert Is H. Tue ise ey 
