114 



SCIENCE. 



LVol. V., No. 105. 



of the greater portion of the partitions separating 

 the chambers, pillars of chalk only being left to sup- 

 port the roof. The usual height of denehole cham- 

 bers may be said to be from ten to twenty feet. A 

 leading characteristic of deneholes is the separation 

 of each pit from its neighbor, though they are often 

 so close together that much care must have been 

 exercised to prevent intercommunication. Another 

 is the fact, that, while they are here and there abun- 

 dant in bare chalk, they are often especially numer- 



GrdVcl y*. 



IhanU 



[*<'■'.'-'■'•' SU71CI- 



Chilk 



G round- plan 



S. Sliaft 



Fig. 2. 



ous where the top of the chalk is fifty to sixty feet 

 below. Thus at Hangman's Wood, for example, the 

 top of the chalk is fifty-six or fifty-seven feet below 

 the surface, while there is plenty of bare chalk within 

 a mile. 



Though there are more than fifty separate dene- 

 holes in Hangman's Wood, each shaft being at an 

 average distance of about twenty-five yards from its 

 nearest neighbor, only five shafts are now open, the 

 rest having fallen in at various times. In most in- 

 stances, however, there is nothing to suggest that 

 the chambers below have been materially, if at all, 

 injured, the funnel-shaped hollow at the surface be- 

 ing but little greater than those around the mouths 

 of shafts still open. This closing of the great 

 majority of the shafts is not by any means simply 

 disadvantageous to denehole explorers, though it 

 certainly increases the cost of exploration ; for it is 

 obvious that closed pits necessarily afford more satis- 

 factory evidence than such as have been visited from 

 time to time, either from curiosity or to recover a 

 lost sheep or hound. 



Preliminary examinations of six of the deneholes 

 in Hangman's Wood were made during the summers 

 of 1882 and 1883. A more thorough investigation is 

 now in progress. 



RECENT AFRICAN EXPLORATION. 



No news has been received at Zanzibar from 

 Giraud since he was deserted by his caravan. A 

 number of the deserters have been arrested and im- 

 prisoned under grave charges, but their trial will be 

 deferred until some definite information of the trav- 

 eller's fate has been received. The French consul 

 asserts, with reason, that an example must be made 

 if it proves that Giraud has been betrayed : otherwise 

 there can be no safety for future explorers. 



The distressing news has been received of the total 

 destruction by fire of the fine establishment of the 

 missionaries du Saint-Esprit at Mrogoro. They were 

 left without food or clothing, and the result of their 

 severe labor for two years was destroyed at one blow. 

 The fire would seem to have been accidental ; since 

 the natives about them are friendly, and have modi- 

 fied, at the suggestion of the missionaries, many of 

 their savage customs, especially that of human sacri- 

 fices, which a year ago were common. Assistance 

 has been sent to the sufferers. 



From the Zambezi, news of the death of Com- 

 mander Foot has been received. It occurred at Blan- 

 tyre, where he had been appointed English consul. 

 His wife and two children, unable during the preva- 

 lent disorders on the upper Zambezi to reach the 

 coast, have taken refuge at the Protestant mission 

 at the junction of the Euo and Sheri rivers. The 

 deceased was well known in connection with African 

 exploration, and especially with routes of trade and 

 travel in central Africa. 



Mr. Hore of the English missionary society has 

 recently started for Ujiji, with his family, a consider- 

 able caravan, and two young missionaries, who will 

 assist him in his work. 



Some time since, we referred to the operations of 

 Paul Soleillet in the region of Shoa, and his suc- 

 cess in establishing friendly relations with King 

 Menelik. The traveller, who left France about three 

 years ago, has now returned to civilization, and, at a 

 recent seance of the Societe de geographie, gave inter- 

 esting details of his journey, and of the character of 

 the region explored by him in the interests of French 

 commerce. The port of Obok, opposite the English 

 military station of Aden, has been occupied by France* 

 since 1856, but has only been raised to the rank of a 

 naval coaling-station during the past year. 



Behind Obok rises the irregular surface of the 

 Ethiopian highlands, extending westward to the Nile, 

 and southward to the little-known region which en- 

 closes the great lakes of equatorial Africa. At dif- 

 ferent altitudes on its ridges, which rise from five 

 thousand to eleven thousand feet, one finds a succes- 

 sion of all the climates of the torrid and temperate 

 zones. The olive, cypress, indigo, and coffee plants 

 grow wild there; while cotton, sugar-cane, the vine, 

 and cereals are successfully cultivated. In the same 

 regions where the elephant, buffalo, and rhinoceros 

 flourish in a state of nature, one finds innumerable 

 herds of cattle, sheep, and horses. Soleillet succeeded 

 in opening a caravan route to Kaffa by way of Shoa, 

 which is subject to the usual objections of time and 



