Miscellaneous. 335 
real wonder of the world. As to the great central lake, which seems to 
have existed in the centre, there is a good deal yet to be proved; for the 
country at Lesheke, composed of calc tufa, is on a higher level than the 
rocks at the falls ; and therefore the dyke which would be. necessary to 
confine the water must be sought for in front; and as we did not follow 
the Zambezi there, we cannot speak positively, but I think it will be 
found that the Batoka highlands will prove to be continuous with others 
leading to the Matebele country ; and that the Zambezi now flows in a 
chasm between these elevated plains. When we left the Zambezi, only six 
miles below the falls, the chasm had deepened both by the fall in the 
river bed, which was very steep, and the rise of the surrounding country 
above that at the falls. A thorough examination of the river in this part 
of its course will well repay the trouble. 
The Batoka highlands are composed of syenite rocks. On the south the 
slopes are steep, and present many peaks, forming a ridge to the plains ; 
these peaks consist: of quartz rocks, and are in immediate contact with the 
gneiss mica schist, and ending near the Zambezi in sandstone. The Ba- 
toka plains are about 3000 to 4000 feet; the surface is undulating. To the 
west, there is no steep slope, but a gentle fall in the country ; for whereas 
the Zambezi valley to the south is only 1000 feet above the sea, that 
above the falls is 3000 feet, being only a difference of 1000 feet ; yet that 
small amount is accompanied by a different climate. The valley above the 
falls is most unhealthy, as the missionary party found, by losing six out 
of nine of the Europeans in little more than a month ; but the highlands 
are very healthy, and seem quite free of the fevers. | 
It is a great pity that the Makololo are so far from the coast ; they are 
the people of whom most could be made. The coast tribes are all very 
suspicious of strangers. 
Prizes offered by the Society of Aris and Sciences of Utrecht.—The 
Society in 1861 has given its gold medal to the following naturalists :— 
1. Dr Carl Semper of Altona, for a Memoir on the Development of Am- 
pullaria polita, Desb.—2. Dr E, Clarapéde of Geneva, for Researches on 
the Evolution of Spiders. 
The following are proposed as subjects for Prizes in 1862 and 1863 :— 
1. An exposé of the principles which, from the time of the Treaty of 
Munster up to the present day, have been announced and applied on the 
occasion of the recognition of the independence of people who had been 
under a yoke, or of changes made in the form of government. 
2. In reviewing the history of the Greeks and Romans, to ascertain 
the influence which the ideas and theories of philosophers exercised on 
the views and political conduct of statesmen, and to demonstrate the 
Be eayenves of this influence in their attempts at political and social 
reform. 
3. Historical Sketch of the state of our knowledge regarding the Island 
of New Guinea. 
4. The determination in the most exact manner, and as much as pos- 
sible by various methods, of the atomic weight of two elements at least, 
chosen by preference from those which have not been already published 
in the researches of M., Stas. 
5. Account of the evolution of one or more species of Invertebrate 
animals whose history has not been already described ; accompanied by 
illustrative plates. 
The Prizes for each Memoir, if deemed satisfactory, will be a Gold 
Medal of the value of 300 Dutch Florins (about £24 sterling). The 
Memoirs may be written in English, French, Dutch, German, or Latin. 
They must be addressed (free by post), before 30th November 1862, to 
