152 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. V., No. 107. 



ington, Panama, and Valparaiso, 4 h. 16 m. 

 48.24s., showing a discrepancj^ of only 0.18s. 



These measurements have, with the exception 

 of those joining Greenwich and Washington 

 (made by the U. S. coast-survey) and those 

 joining Valparaiso and Buenos Aires (made 

 by Dr. B. A. Gould), been made by officers 

 of the U. S. nav} T , an d are homogeneous, each 

 determination being the result of repeated 

 comparisons through a telegraphic line of time- 

 pieces whose errors on local time were ascer- 

 tained on the same night by careful transit 

 observations. 



It will, of course, be understood that the 

 remarkably small discrepancy (0.18 s.) by which 

 this great polygon fails to close is the algebraic 

 sum of all the errors affecting the various 

 longitudes ; but its very small amount is an 

 indication of the care and painstaking of the 

 officers whose labors have given this result, 

 as well as of the accurac}' of the instruments 

 and methods employed. 



In addition to his valuable work between 

 Panama and Valparaiso, Lieut. -Commander 

 Davis has recently determined telegraphically 

 the longitude of Vera Cruz by measuring from 

 Galveston, and has, on the west coast of 

 Central America, furnished the Guatemalan 

 boundary commission with a starting-point by 

 fixing from Panama the longitude of Guate- 

 mala City (in co-operation with Mr. Miles 

 Rock). A detailed report of the work of 

 Lieut. -Commander Davis will shortly be pub- 

 lished by the U. S. navy department. 



THE KILIMANJARO EXPEDITION. 



At a meeting of the Royal geographical society, 

 Jan. 26, Mr. H. H. Johnston gave a description of 

 his visit to Kilimanjaro, on the slopes of which he 

 spent more than five months in the summer and 

 autumn of last year. 



Giving a lively and picturesque narrative of his 

 adventures during his stay with Mandara, chief of 

 Moshi, a person of remarkable character, who rules a 

 small tract on the lower slopes of Kilimanjaro at an 

 altitude of about 6,000 feet, and is at war with all the 

 surrounding potentates, Mr. Johnston told how, after 

 some difficulties, he began the ascent of the moun- 

 tain with forty carriers and some guides, provided 

 by another chief, Maranga. As a good place for 

 settlement close to water, and not too high up, so 

 that his shivering followers might not suffer unrea- 

 sonably from cold, he selected a grassy knoll, rising 

 above the river of Kilema, which takes its source 

 near the base of Kimawenzi. The altitude of this 

 spot was nearly 10,000 feet. Having seen every one 

 Abridged from Nature, Jan. 29. 



carefully installed and protected from the — to them 

 — severe cold (for the thermometer descended every 

 night to one or two degrees below freezing-point), 

 he transferred his own quarters to a higher eleva- 

 tion, and began industriously to collect. 



His first excursion was to the base of Kimawenzi. 

 The terrible hurricane of wind, however, that raged 

 round this jagged series of lava-peaks, prevented him 

 from continuing the ascent, although he doubted if 

 it were possible for any one to reach the summit, 

 owing to the want of foothold. The snow varied 

 very much in quantity on Kimawenzi. Sometimes 

 the whole peak would be covered down to the parent 

 ridge, with only the precipitous rocks peeping blackly 

 through the mantle of white. At other periods the 

 snow would be reduced to an insignificant patch, 

 and the reddish isand which filled the crevices and 

 glissades between the lava-rocks would be left ex- 

 posed to view. This change from an almost com- 

 plete snow-cap to nearly no snow at all might be 

 effected in twelve hours. 



His great object, however, was to reach the snows, 

 and, if possible, the summit of Kib6. To do this it 

 would be necessary to sleep on the way. He had, 

 therefore, to induce a few followers to accompany 

 him to carry impedimenta. Starting at 9, he walked 

 upwards, with few stoppages, until 1.30. At first 

 they crossed grassy undulating hillocks, the road be- 

 ing fairly easy. Then they entered a heathy tract, 

 scorched and burnt with recent bush-fires; but higher 

 up, where the blaze had not reached, the vegetation 

 was fairly abundant and green. Small pink gladioli 

 studded the ground in numbers. At an altitude of 

 nearly 13,000 feet, bees and wasps were still to be 

 seen, and bright little sun-birds darted from bush to 

 bush, gleaning their repast of honey. A little higher 

 they found warm springs, the thermometer showing 

 the temperature of the trickling mud to be 91° F. 

 Mounting high above the rivulet, the scenery became 

 much harsher. Vegetation only grew in dwarfed 

 patches as they passed the altitude of 13,000 feet, and 

 the ground was covered with bowlders more or less 

 big, apparently lying in utter confusion, and without 

 any definite direction. They were not very difficult 

 to climb over, and even seemed to act as irregular 

 stone steps upwards. In their interstices, heaths of 

 the size of large shrubs grew with a certain luxuri- 

 ance. About 13,700 feet, he saw the last resident 

 bird, apparently a kind of stonechat. It went in 

 little cheery flocks, and showed such absence of fear, 

 that he had to walk away from it before shooting, to 

 avoid shattering his specimen. After this, with the 

 exception of an occasional great high-soaring kite or 

 great-billed raven, he saw no other bird. On reach- 

 ing a height a little above 14,000 feet, he stopped 

 again to boil the thermometer and refresh himself 

 with a little lunch. Throughout this ascent, which 

 was easy to climb, he suffered absolutely nothing 

 from want of breath, or mountain sickness; although 

 his three Zanzibari followers lagged behind, panting 

 and exhausted, and complained much of their lungs 

 and head. 



" Mounting up a few hundred feet higher than the 



