962 General Notes. [ November, 
on the Egyptian shore of the Red sea. The material, which has 
lost its more volatile components, is found at the level of the sea 
upon piercing the recent coral formation of the foreshore. Col. 
Ardagh believes that the source of the petroleum is in the older 
limestone beneath the coral. 
M. Aubry, during his visit to Shoa in 1883-84, surveyed the 
source of the Hawash and its course for about 190 miles, and also 
surveyed the Mugueur, a tributary of the Blue Nile. 
Europr.— Surveys in the Pyrenees —Recent surveys in the Pyre- 
nees, by M. Schrader, aided by the explorations of Dr. Jaubernat, 
have proved the existence of a lake, the largest on the northern 
slope of the Pyrenees, in a gap between two chains of peaks, which, 
approached from opposite sides, had previously been supposed to 
be identical. M. Schrader states that on the south and south-east 
of the Aran valley are several ranges, nearly 10,000 feet high, that 
are unnoted on any geographical map. The Aran valley is trib- 
utary to the Garonne. 
Asta.—Burmah—The August issue of the Proceedings of the 
Burmah Geographical Sogiety contains an interesting account of 
Burmah, the country and people, by Mr. J. A. Bryce. The topog- 
raphy of the region, the physical and other characteristics of the 
races which inhabit it, the productions and climate, and the present 
status of the various nationalties, are discussed. Mr. Bryce fears 
that the Burman, in spite of that vigor which has enabled him to 
continue dominant for two thousand years, will succumb to the 
more energetic Shans and Kakhyens (Singphos), now that his 
empire has been put an end to by the British. The Burmese 
occupy the upper part of the Irawadi delta, the upper valley of 
the Sittang, a narrow space on each side of the Irawadi in Upper 
Burmah, and the Moo valley, between the Irawadi and the 
Kyendwin. The Talaings still form the bulk of the population 
in the delta of the Irawadi and Sittang. The Talaings are smaller, 
plumper, fairer and less hard-featured than the Burmese, while 
the Shans are bigger and stouter than the dominant race. Mr. 
Bryce puts the total population at seven and a half millions, about 
half of them Burmese. ` 
the Drying up of Siberian Lakes. —The rapid drying up of 
the lakes of the Aral-Caspian region is not limited to the 
i i to it. M. Yadrintseff, 
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