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THE SCOTTISH
GEOGRAPHICAL
MAGAZINE.
THE SCOTTISH
GEOGRAPHICAL MAaAZOE
PUBLISHED BY THE ROYAL SCOTTISH GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY EDITED BY ARTHUR SILVA WHITE, F.R.S.E.
VOLUME III: 1887.
EDINBURGH
Printed by T. and A. CONSTABLE, Printers to Her Majesty,
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS
1887
7
^■3
CONDITIONS AND PRIVILEGES OF MEMBEKSHIP.
It is provided by Chapter l. § iv. of the Constitution and Laws of the Eoyal Scottish Geographical Society, that —
" Tlie Ordinary Members shall he those who are approved hy the Council, and who pay the ordinary annual s%djscrip)tion, or a com- jjosition for Ufe-menibership."
The Annual Subscription is One Guinea (no Entrance Fee), which is payable in advance at the commencement of the Session, on November 1st of each year. A single payment of Ten Guineas constitutes a Life-Membership. Application Forms may be had by addressing the Secretary, Eoyal Scottish Geographical Society, 80a Princes Street, Edinburgh.
The Privileges of Membership include admission (with one friend) to all Meetings of the Society, and the use of the Library and Map- Koom. Each Member is entitled to receive free by post the Scottish Geographical Magazine, which is published monthly, and any other ordinary publication of the Society.
^ranches of the Society have been established in Glasgow, Dundee, and Aberdeen, where periodical Meetings are held.
Authors arc alone responsible for their respeetive Stateinents.
CONTEIfTS.
VOLUME ILL, 188 7.
No. I.— JANUARY.
Anniversary Address — Palestine : The Land and the People as they are
By Sir Charles WaiTen, G.O.M.G., F.R.S., . Configuration of the Clyde Sea- Area. By Hugh Robert Mill, D.Se.
F.E.S.E., F.C.S., ......
Fa-Hien's Travels in India. By J. W. M'Crindle, M.A., M.E.A.S., Notes on Place-Names of lona. By Mr. Hector Maclean, Proceedings of the Scottish Geographical Society, . Geographical Notes, .....
New Books, ......
New Maps, .......
Map—
Bathy-Orographical Chart of the Clyde Sea-Area.
15 21 35 38 39 59 63
No. II.— FEBRUARY.
On the Total Annual Rainfall on the Land of the Globe, and the Relation of Rainfall to the Annual Discharge of Rivers. By John Murray, Dir-ector of the Challenger Commission, ...... 65
Black and Mediterranean Seas, ...... 77
The Place-Nanies of lona. By Ale.xander Carmichael, . . 80
VIU
CONTENTS.
Early Scottish Geography, .
Obituary, 1886, ....
Proceedings of the Scottish Geographical Society,
Geographical Notes,
New Books, ....
New Maps, .....
Map-
Mean Annual Rainfall of the World ia Relation to Ocean and Drainage Areas.
PAGE
87 95 97 97 109 111
No. III.— MARCH.
The Congo : Its Past and Present. By Colonel Sir Francis de Winton,
J5x-- Administrator-General of the Congo Free State, . . . 113
On Realistic and Dramatic Methods in Teaching Geography. By William
Jolly, H.M. Inspector of Schools, ..... 127
Proceedings of the Scottish Geographical Society, . . . 138
Geographical Notes, .... . . 138
New Books, ......... 155
New Maps, ... ..... 159
No. IV.— APEIL.
RaiufaU in Australia. By J. T. Wills, ....
Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. By J. T. Bealby, .
On Realistic and Dramatic Methods in Teaching Geography {Conclusion)
By William Jolly, H.M. Inspector of Schools, Proceedings of the Scottish Geographical Society, . Geographical Notes, .......
New Books, ........
New Maps, ........
Maps—
Rainfall of Agricultural Seasons in East E.xtra-Tropical Australia. Mean Annual Rainfall of Australia.
161
174
184 195 195 209 215
No. v.— MAY.
On the Land-Slopes separating Continents and Ocean Basins, especially those on the West Coast of Africa. With Diagrams. By J. Y. Buchanan, ....
217
CONTENTS. IX
PAGE
Cyclone in the Mozambique Channel. With Diagrams. By ^Henry E.
O'Neill, H.M. Consul, Mozambique, ..... 238
The Place-Names of lona. III. By Alexander Carmichael, . . 242
Proceedings of the Scottish Geographical Society, . . . 247
Geographical Notes, ....... 247
New Books, ......... 265
Diagrams —
Illustrations to Mr. J. Y. Buchanan's Paper. Cyclone in Mozambique Channel.
No. VI.— JUNE.
An Exploring Trip to Lake Albert. By Emin Pasha,
Bechuanaland, with some remarks on Mashonaland and Matebeleland. By
John Mackenzie, late Deputy-Commissioner of Bechuanaland, Proceedings of the Scottish Geographical Society, . Geographical Notes, ......
New Books, . . . . . . r .
New Maps, ........
273
291 315 316
322 326
Map-
Sketch Map of British Bechuanaland.
No. VII.— JULY.
Japan. By Russell Robertson, H.B.M. Consul at Yokohama, Zemo-Kartli, or Upper Georgia. By D. R. Peacock, H.B.M. Vice-Consul, Batum, ......
The Geology of East Indian Archipelago, Dr. Junker's Travels in Central Africa, Geographical Notes, ....
New Books, .....
New Maps, ......
Portrait —
Dr. Wilhelm Junker.
329
348 355 358 361 376 383
No. VIII.— AUGUST.
Recent Physical Research in the North Sea. F.R.S.E., F.C.S., VOL. III.
By Hugh Robert MUl, D.Sc,
385
X CONTENTS.
Geography and Geology. By Professor James Geikie, LL.D., F.E.S., The Monbuttu and their Country. By Emin Pasha and Captain Casati, Upper Burma during 1886, .....
Mr. Fulford's Journeys in Manchuria, ....
Geographical Notes, ......
New Books, ...•■•■•
Map-
Bathy-Orographical Map of the British Isles and Surrounding Seas.
No. IX.— SEPTEMBEE.
The Colorado River of the West. By H. M. Cadell, B.Sc, F.R.S.E., Her
Majesty's Geological Survey of Scotland, The Australian Alps, Geological History of Lake Lahontan, The Norwegian: North Atlantic Expedition
Oxon., F.E.S.E., Geographical Notes, . New Books, ....
By William E. Hoyle, M.A
Map axd Illustrations —
Canon District of the Colorado River. Illustrations to Mr. Cadell's Paper.
PAGE
398 407 410 421 425 438
441 460 466
472 478 492
No. X.— OCTOBER.
The Caves of StaflFa. By Cope Whitehouse, M.A., F.Am. G.S., Report to Council. By Hugh Robert MiU, D.Sc, F.R.S.E., F.C.S Currents, Ice, Winds, etc., of Iceland, Geographical Notes, ......
New Books, .......
New Maps, .......
Illustrations —
Illustrations to " The Caves of Staffa."
498 521 530 533 547 550
No. XL— NOVEMBER.
On some Recent Deep-Sea Observations in the Indian Ocean. Murray, of the " Challenger " Expedition,
By John
553
CONTENTS. xi
PAGE
The Norwegian North Atlantic Expedition. {Continued.) By William E.
Hoyle, M.A. Oxon., F.R.S.E., ^ ..... 561 The Physical Geography and Trade of Formosa. By Archibald TJ. Col-
quhoun, ■••..... 567
The Cold Lakes of New Zealand. By W. N. Blair, C.E., . . .577
Journey of Messrs. Browne and O'Donnel in the Graza Country, East Africa, 588
Geographical Notes, ....... 590
New Books, ......... 605
Maps —
Indian Ocean ; Showing Depth of Water and Height of Surround- ing Land. Journey in Gaza Country.
No. XII.— DECEMBEE.
Report 'on a Journey from Tuaran to Kian, Province Keppel, and Ascent of Kinabalu Mountain, Borneo. By R. M. Little, Assistant Resident
in Charge, Province Keppel, British North Borneo, . . . 609
The Relations between Commerce and Geography. By Hugh Robert Mill,
D.Sc, F.R.S.E., ....... 626
Proceedings of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, . . . 638
Geographical Notes, ........ 641
New Books, ......... 651
Report of Council of Royal Scottish Geographical Society, Session 1886-87, 659
THE SCOTTISH
GEOGRAPHICAL
MAGAZINE.
A^NNIVERSARY ADDRESS.
PALESTINE : THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE AS THEY ARE.
By Sir Charles Warren, G.C.M.G., F.E.S.
There are few amongst us who are not still interested in the dreams and fanciful imaginations of childhood, and who do not look back with pleasure to the era when so much was dim and unknown, the blanks filled up with the creations and constructions emanating from our brain. And however much we have in later life grappled with stern realities, there are few, who still keep youthful hearts, who do not cling to the romances of old, ever ready to rehearse them again and discuss them with children. The matter-of-fact details of everyday life would pall upon and weary us if we could not dress them up according to our fancy and give them a pleasant guise — if we could not turn many of our gravest trials into ridicule, and make merry over our misfortunes. It is our power of sympathy with the foibles of youth^and living again in our children and young people, that enables us to thoroughly appreciate the past.
So also with ourselves as a nation, — ever eager to look back to the wonderful old times that have passed away, of which we can so readily imagine the pleasure, and with so much difficulty realise the discomforts and difficulties. How many of us have loved to live and linger in imagination among the chivalrous Normans, the indolent and yet energetic Anglo-Saxons, the cultivated soldier-like Romans, the im- petuous devotional Celts ! How delightful it is to revel in,those glorious old days, when all was mystery and uncertainty ; to strip our thoughts of their modern gai'b, and discard the medium of our everyday ^associations ; VOL. in. A
2 PALESTINE : THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE AS THEY ARE.
to people the world again with fairies and gnomes and giants and dwarfs : or, to take another line, and find ourselves among the religious rites, and pantheon, and old civilisation of the Mediterranean shores.
What a wonderful world we appear to have missed, in which every rock and everj fountain — even the teeming earth — were instinct with life divine; Avhen the very festivals and religious ceremonies, dances, philo- sophy, and music were accounted but as means for withdrawing the thoughts from human occupations and business, and turning to the love and worship of God. In those days, however much di^dne worship was contaminated, yet it was a pervading portion of the life of the people ; whereas to-day there is too great an inclination to put it off and on as convenient, or to conceal its very existence.
So it was with the science of Geography : when Strabo and Tacitus wrote, there was still a veil over all, and every discovery was considered a step further to the great unknown ; the mind of man was full of enthusiasm, and his body filled with energy to compass the diffi- culties to be overcome. There were great works to be done — works worthy of heroes — and men nerved themselves to the task. In those days the exact sciences were little known, and men could give full vent to their reflective faculties, and learned to think and to speculate.
Little by kittle, discoveries have shown that everything is more prosaic than was conjectured, and though the restdts were most valuable to the people of the earth from a practical point of view, yet gradually the romance has worn away — we have awakened to the stern realities of fact — and there might seem a danger of the old enthusiasm gradually evajjorating as a more matter-of-fact view supervened.
But, fortunately, uur natures will not admit of this. As the delightful theories of bygone days pass away, we invent new theories — our search after the unicorn and the missing-link is scarcely over, and we start up some new idea sufficient to keep us in motion. Year by year there is less to discover and less to discuss as to the marvellous ; but we are still starting up questions which occupy the attention of the enthusiastic. Now we apply our knowledge to engineering purposes, to cutting canals or constructing railways, or making huge inland seas, or draining marshes.
On all these matters the science of Geography comes to our aid, with the kindred sciences — leads us to explore untrodden paths, to scale hitherto inaccessible mountains, to descend into unknown depths, to pass through the Dark Continent, until we find, on looking back, that we have, as a nation, in reality, not one whit lost the spirit of our ancestors, but are still pressing on with the same vigour after the unknown, and with the same dauntless recklessness which has always characterised our race, still filled with the romantic experiences of the past, and looking forward to a bright future, AATiile this continues — whilst the sons of Britain will give up their comfort and luxury to take part in the voyages of enterprise and discovery so constantly going on, and to render aid to those in difficulty and danger, we can have no fear that we are declining
PALKSTINE : THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE AS THEY ARE. 3
as a nation, and we must accord to our Geographical Societies credit for assisting in keeping up the freeborn spirit and courage and self-devotion of our race.
At this very moment are two of our most intrepid countrymen offer- ing to risk all in order to render assistance to that gallant Austrian lieutenant of Gordon's, now shut up and surrpunded in the Equatorial Provinces of Africa.
Palestine has not been so prolific a scene for adventures as many more inaccessible countries, but yet it has afforded our countrymen, and many of other EurojDean nations, opportunities for suffering privations and hardships in searching after information. And of all countries it is the one in which there is most food for speculation, the use of the imagi- native faculties, and for gratifying the devotional aspiration of our race. It is not only the cradle of our own religion, but it is that of the Jew's, and in some measure of the Moslem's also. It possesses an ancient people, using the same language, and with the same manners and customs, possessed 3000 yeai's ago. Owing to various reasons, its ruins in many parts have not been touched by man's hand for full two thousand years. There are whole towns still existing in ruins just as they were destroyed by the earthquakes in the early centuries of our era. It is therefore the country through the medium of whose people and manners and customs one has most opportunity of looking directly into the past, and living again in ancient worlds.
Palestine of to-day may, both as to its people and its monuments, be compared to a museum of antiquities gathered together from all parts and of all ages. Of some ages there are but the minutest fragments and vestiges, but yet sufficient to allow experts to allocate them their proper epochs. Palestine contains the remains of people and monuments of many kingdoms and empires now vanished for ever, or entirely changed — the Canaanites, Hittites, Egyptians, Assyrians, Phoenicians, Samaritans, Greeks, Eomans, Arabians, Turks, Crusaders, modern Egyptians, and Hebrews.
Some of its people are still distinct in race, and many of the monu- ments are just as when originally built, save for the destructive earth- quakes. I can do no more this evening than call attention to a few items of infoi'mation as to the past, and say to each of you what I believe is scarcely necessary in such an institution as this.
If you want to have a lasting interest to carry you through life — one which will pervade all your works and your ways, one which will enable you to interest yourself in a great variety of subjects hitherto unthought of — take up the subject of '' Palestine : its people, its history, and its geography," and give it a careful study. By doing so, you will not only understand our great Book of life more thoroughly, but will also learn lessons concerning the races of Europe, and the influence of Judaism and Christianity upon the world, Avhich will be of lifelong advantage. I am sure you will not think that in making these remarks I am wishing to
4 PALESTINE : THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE AS THEY AEE.
infer that most of you do not this ah'eady, in this seat of learning of Xorth Britain, where, of all people in our realm, you have paid such close atten- tion to all matters connected with holy writ; but, while on the subject, I cannot Avithhold testimony on the advantages to be derived from this study.
Palestine is a small territory, about the size of Wales, of strange con- figuration, and peculiarly situated. To the east a desert, to the west a harbourless sea-shore, Palestine was the thoroughfare between the great Assyrian and Egyptian Empires, and has been termed the "battlefield of nations." And yet, owing to its mountainous character, it was shut out from other people. The Israelites were enabled to remain a secluded people, and successfully to resist the assaults of other nations so long as they were true to themselves and worked together for one common cause. Their ruin Avas internal dissensions — they were their own enemies.
The result of the peculiar position of Palestine is that it has become pre-eminently the "Land of Ruins" of all nations — so much so that, for miles and miles in all directions, there is scarcely a hill-top which is not covered by the remains of fort or fortress of bygone ages.
But Palestine is not only most peculiarly placed; it is also most singularly configurated geographically. There you have the greatest varieties of climate. The Jordan, rising at about the level of the Mediter- ranean Sea, flows into the sea of Tiberias at a level of 600 feet, and into the Dead Sea, at a level of about 1400 feet, beloAv the ocean. In journey- ing about the shores of the Dead Sea, you may see clouds floating far above you which you know are below the line of the ocean. No doubt this great fissure on the earth's siu'face was once connected with the Red Sea, and the water was level Avith it. When the ground rose near Akaba, the water was cut off, and, evaporating, diminished in A'olume, gradually exposing Lake Huleh and the Jordan ValleA^, Lake Tiberias, and eventually the Dead Sea — until the time arriA'ed Avhen the evapora- tion was balanced by the amount of water Avhich poured in by the Jordan and other rivers.
Since then — that is to say throughout the historical period— the height of the Dead Sea has remained nearly the same ; some years falling, and again rising a few feet, according to the rainfall in the hill country. The .salt Avhich was left in the soil has gradually been washed out in places, but in others it still remains, and preA'ents A^erdant A^egetation until it is Avashed out by means of irrigation. It Avould be possible now, by means of a cutting from Tiberias, to irrigate the AA^hole of the Jordan Valley and put it under cultivation, giving a large area for groAvth of grain, but this cannot be done under the present GoA^ernment. MeauAvhile the land lies enjoying a long Sabbath, except near the river-side on the Jordan banks, Avhere corn has been groAvn since the earliest time — for certainly close on 4000 years.
Palestine can be divided physically into many portions. There are the rich loamy plains along the Mediterranean sea-shore, Avhose soil groAvs
PALESTINE : THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE AS THEY ARE. 5
the most splendid corn ; tlien the swelling hill country ; and again the mountainous districts, rising to about 3000 feet ; then a steep fall of 4500 feet into the Jordan and Dead Sea Valley ; a rise again of 4000 feet to the land of Gilead and Moab, a narrow district of hilly country ; and then the great level plain forming the desert of Arabia — desert enough in certain seasons, but in others a beautiful grass country, in which corn is grown without difficulty. To the north rise the twin mountain ranges of Libanus and Anti-Libanus, with the tall white peak of Hermon overlooking the rise of the Jordan, a country rich in fruits, and in ruins — and in remnants of ancient races.
The Eesources of Palestine. — It is estimated that Palestine at one time supported a population of at least ten times that which it supports at present. When one comes to view the existing ruins, it is evident that this is not over-estimated, and that the population may have been twenty times its present amount. Then the question arises, Why is it now so comparatively unfruitful and unhealthy ? The reply is most simple : A government which cares not for the people ; its only object being to screw the highest revenue it can wring from them.
The results are no roads, wagons, harbours, boats. Justice is too uncertain to allow of capital being employed in cultivajion. Great carelessness has arisen as to husbandry, knowledge has departed, and a proper succession of crops is unknown. There are not sufficient people to till the land. The terraces on the hill-sides have fallen into decay, and have accumulated in the valley bottoms. The rain which once percolated into the mountain-sides now rushes down those bare slopes, and plays havoc with the vegetation below, running rapidly to the sea. Consequently the perennial fountains have ceased to flow in many cases, and in others the supjjly of water has been greatly reduced. This has reacted upon the atmosphere ; clouds cease to hover over the country at certain seasons, as in former days ; and, lastly, the rain has ceased to fall in proportion to the requirements of the land.
This cause and effect is not hypothetical ; it can be traced out in the minutest details. As regards Palestine, it may be fairly said that, up to a certain point, the more people it has the more it will support, always supposing a just government ; but at present the people are oppressed and wronged, there is no security of property or person, no justice, no honesty among the officials, no freedom of the press. Bribery and cor- ruption, in our sense of the word, are mild terms to use ; and unfortunately, the maladministration commences at the top — no Pasha can afford to be honest, no Governor-General can venture to be just.
Unhappily, the days are gone by when the Moslem rulers were tolerant of creeds, and fostered the trade of Jews and Christians. During the days of Saracenic learning, both Jews and Christians were permitted full freedom of religious worship, and a certain amount of civil liberty, but Siljuk the Turk scared liberty away full eight centuries ago, and it has
6 PALESTINE : THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE AS THEY ARE.
not returned. It was the Turks who, by their intolerance, brought the arms of Europe to bear against them in the Crusades ; and it is the Turks who now oppress the people of Syria — not the Christians and Jews only, but also the Arab Moslem. For the Turk to the Arab is an alien and a barbarian. The Arab is, as it were, a Moslem by nature ; the Turk cannot even become a Moslem by art. If a peasant grows rich and looks fat, he finds himself put in prison and eased of his wealth — for the Pasha can only live by his extortion. Immediately the fellah begins to cultivate, he is taxed heavily, not on what he obtains as fruits of the soil, but on what he is going to obtain several years hence.
Now, as to the present condition of the countrj'. In the plains the soil is wonderfully rich, and wells can be sunk, though at considerable depths ; the hill-sides are bare, the soil having tumbled to the bottom of the steep deep valleys, but there it lies ready for redistribution. The fountains are drj^, the hill-tops are denuded of their trees, the clouds are wanting. This is not the condition of the country as the Promised Land — Moses promised them a " land of brooks," not of dry valleys as now exist, but of jdooIs, fountains, and running waters.
The white skeletons of the old sj^stem of tenancy still visible on the bare mountain-sides, and the roots of trees still peering from the rocky fissures, attest the fact that the hill country of Palestine was once cultivated in a satisfactory manner. The system was verj' simple. Walls of rough stones were built round the hill-sides, 3 to 4 feet high, accord- ing to the steepness of the slope, and the space between them and the hill filled in with fat loam ; then another wall, and another from bottom to top, until the mountain-side presented the api:)earance from the opposite hills of a series of steps — from the bottom it looked like a stone wall, from the top it looked in Spring like a green plateau where the trees did not hide it. Any one who has seen the terraces in France, Italy, or Spain will understand the system.
On these ten^aces were planted the fruit-trees — figs, vines, mulberry, apple, and others, those of a more delicate nature being planted on the northern side, so as to be less exposed to the full efi"ect of the scorching sun's rays. These trees would thrust their roots into the rocks. The rain in falling Avould, instead of rushing down in torrents to the valley, lie on the terraces and percolate over to the roots of the trees, and thence into the mountain-sides, and from thence would issue again by and by as jjerennial streams. The water which remained in the soil about the roots of the trees enabled them to spread out their leaves in thick groves over the land, thus protecting it from the sun. The soil was therefore not burnt up and jiarched, but gave out moisture daily, rising above the trees, and, on reaching the higher and cooler atmosphere, was condensed into clouds, thus protecting the trees and land as it were with an umbrella.
Thus, where there is now a glaring sun, dry winds, dry earth, and absence of vegetable products, were once fleecy clouds floating through the balmy air, the heat of the sun tempered by visible and invisible
PALESTINE : THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE AS THEY AKE. 7
vapours, groves with moist soil, trickling streamlets issuing from the rocks, a verdant vegetation, and an abundant population — and with a good government this might be brought about again.
In spite of the government, the influx of Europeans is altering Pales- tine for the better, and I have seen changes take place under my own eye in the space of three years, and I can point out places where cultivation has been fostered by Societies, and where the whole climate has altered. One great result of terracing the mountain-sides is the increased amount of water in the fountains at the foot available for irrigation purposes, and the raising the water in the wells in the plains nearer to the surface. At present, a great portion of the Avater which rushes in torrents down the wadies forms into unhealthy lagoons along the coast, and is thus almost worse than useless.
The soil in the plains is so exceedingly rich that it still supports a great number of villages, but the ruins of others are visible in all direc- tions. In each village there is at least one common well, with a wheel revolving night and day, worked by animals supplied by the villagers. The water is not only used for ordinary purposes, but also for irrigating the fruit-trees.
One of the great dangers to the plain is the rolling sand, blown up from the sea-shore, and advancing in mighty billows thirty to forty feet high. They have taken hundreds of years to grow to this height, and if not checked will in time engulf the richest })ortion of the plains. In some parts, as down near the Suez Canal, they have reached the height of several hundred feet, and have quite covered up the old Land of Goshen. Here is, then, a most extraordinary sight — a series of wells which existed in the earliest times, and which, by the labour of the inhabitants, has from time to time been kept clear of sand, until at the present time it exists at the bottom of an enormous crater of sand. In the same way, in the plain of Philistia, you may ride over miles of sandy dunes, rising and falling exactly like waves of the sea, which have been suddenly solidified, and in journeying on you come to craters in the sand with, at the bottoms, fruit-trees, then to a cottage, with its little garden — all sur- rounded and engulfed in sand, which the peasant, by toilsome labour day after day, keeps off his treasures. No doubt these isolated farms are but the remnants of villages which have been completely covered over, and as time goes on some of the fairest lands of Palestine will thus be lost. In parts where the winds are very violent, the tops of these sand dunes have a rapid motion, travelling several feet in a year, so that in some places I have seen telegraph posts hanging in the air suspended by the wires, while those which had been in the troughs are nearly covered over by sand.
The People.— Fellahin are the farming population of Palestine. They differ in race from the townspeople, and difter among themselves. There is no reason for suggesting that they are Arabs of the desert. History gives
8 PALESTINE : THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE AS THEY ARE.
US no warrant for supposing this. All testimonj?' goes to show that they are the people of the country from the earliest date. What is the admixture of Hebrew, Egyptian, Babylonian, Greek, or Latin blood, we have no means of ascertaining, but we have every reason for supposing that they are the direct descendants of the hewers of wood and drawers of water who were left in the land at the time of the conquest under Joshua. Language does not serve as a certain guide, but in this instance there is a survival of the ancient names, which goes far to show that the fellahin are of the old race, with subsequent admixture ; and the remnant of idola- trous worship also supports this view.
Our own insular manners and customs are in many respects of ancient date — quite two thousand years old ; and therefore it should not be surprising to find in Palestine a people but little changed for at least three thousand years. Although a sturdy independent race, yet they are accustomed to bow and bend, and not to present stiff necks to the storm.
Thej^ have been credited with many bad qualities and vices : let me say that perhaps we think the worse of them because they are not ashamed of themselves — they know no better. And yet this is a matter for consideration. We are civilised and Christians, and know right from wrong, and are full of vices ; they are very little worse than ourselves, and are ignorant of right and wrong. Many accusations against them fall to the ground when inquired into. It is constantlj'' stated that they are liars pre-eminently. I cannot concede this. I believe there is no liar like the European ; he never knows when to stop. The Arab lies in the most barefaced manner until a certain point ; if he once speaks the truth he sticks to it, and will not A'arv his statement. It was this know- ledge of his character which enabled me to unravel the mysterj- about Professor Palmer in 1882. It is a characteristic of most native tribes, I must confess that I hear fewer lies when among savage races than in Europe. Here we have the story varied in every conceivable manner ; among them the story can have but few varieties — their memories are so good that they can relate Avhat they are told word for word, so that you may have exactly the same story from a dozen sources. In Britain they would all differ. I know scores of Arabs and savages into whose hands I would venture my life. They have their code, and we have ours. An Arab will risk his life to save that of one he vouches for.
At one moment an Arab may cut your throat without compunction ; a moment after, if he has given you his plight, he will save you at the risk of his own. I have employed the most unmitigated scoundrels from the most cut-throat villages in Palestine, and have found them to be as docile and harmless as any one could wish. Many a time have Sergeant Birtles and I been entirel}^ at the mercy of two or three of our fellahin workmen — lowered down by ropes by them into deep gullies, when a slip would have lost our lives, and been accounted a mere acci- dent. I have the utmost faith in the Arab peasant if he is taken in the right way. At the same time I will allow that he thinks nothing of
PALESTINE : THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE AS THEY ARE. 9
stealing behind a stranger, and despatching him with a l)low on the head. An Arab will beat round the bush, and tell all manner of lies, vmtil you drive him to the truth; when he once tells it, it is finished — he Avill say to all your cross-examination, " I have told you, it is finished." He is wonderfully enduring, biit he has his limits, and seems to make his mind up, before he endures, how far he Avill go. I heard of one man who stole and concealed a piastre (2id.), and, after having received one hundred strokes of the bastinado, he spat the piastre out of his mouth — he had arrived at his limit. I cannot agree that they have no sense of humour — they are Ijrimming over with humour, and are as full of chaff" as a Briton. I found chaff the great lever for working among them. When I have been set upon by a village, I have always endeavoured to make one of the jjeople look foolish before the others; as soon as this was accomplished, they Avould laugh at him with me, and I was safe. On one occasion I was on the top of a small hill or ruined heap, which they tried to carry by assault. I had a stick, and the first assailant had a stick, and we came to blows ! The others watched. I managed to avoid showing the pain I felt when struck ; but, whenever I struck my antagonist, I made a face, and jeered at him to come. He could not stand it, and looked foolish ; thej' all laughed at him, aud then crowded round me in great good humour — having come to laugh with me and become my friends. They will readily sympathise with Europeans, especially our countrymen, and very soon attach themselves to us. One has to humour their little peculiarities. They will not sell bread, and they are too poor to give it. How is one to get it from them ? One has to go through a ceremony — make them a present of the value of the bread, and they will bring the bread shortly down as a present ; one can trust them to do that. With them trust begets trust. After I once knew them, I made no bargains as to wages, but paid them what we considered necessary, and got their receipt. If it was a question of renting land, a receipt Avas absolutely necessary — otherwise they would come again next year and claim payment ; but we hear sometimes of bills being sent in a second time even in Eiu'ope !
Though called Moslems, their religion is certainly derived from ancient sources. Mixed up with the Moslem creed, they have certain customs of very ancient date, Avhich have a strong smack of the worship that obtained at the time that the Israelites entered the land.
They have their sacred places, generally on heights, which they call after some saint, known or unknown. Here is built a small square building, with domed roof — called a waly, cubbeh, or Makam. The ground is sacred, and the trees around are sacred. A man dare not tell an untruth Avhen on this spot ; his promise made here is sacred ; articles left here are, as a rule, perfectly safe. On one occasion, however, I was on a journey with a Bedouin sheikh and imaum. The Bedouin wanted corn, and we came to a Makam, where some corn had been left. Our horses were knocked up for want of food. The imaum rehearsed an incantation,
10 PALESTINE : THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE AS THEY ARE.
and desecrated the ground. They took what corn they required, and then reconsecrated it, and passed on their waj-. They said it was an unusual action. The spirit of the sheikh inhabits the sacred spot, and blesses or curses the people — and here vows are made.
Dwellings. — The people are divided into two distinct classes, accord- ing as they dwell in tents or houses. The tent-dwellers, like the Israelites before entering the Promised Land, are nomads, shifting their tents from place to place, as it seems most desirable to them. The house-dwellers are, of course, fixed in position, and therefore more under control. Ibrahim Pasha, when he governed Palestine from Egypt, some forty years ago, recognised this great principle, and reduced the lawless Bedouins to immediate sul)jection by causing them either to live in houses or to vacate their territories. There are in the Adwau country, at the present time, the stone houses which they were forced to occupj- at that time, and at which they looked with the greatest disgust and abhorrence ; for not only was it disagreeable to them to live in so foreign a manner, but it also deprived them of their power to inflict injury on others, as their women and children and chattels were always to be found. The houses, about which I am now going to speak, range in magnificence from straw huts to stone mansions. They are, as a rule, flat-roofed, as in so many parts of the Mediterranean. They are in many cases constructed with a battlement or parapet wall, to prevent any one falling over it by accident (as is provided for in Deut. xxii. 8). These flat roofs are used for a variety of purposes — drying figs, raisins, and other fruits ; airing the corn and flowers, talking over business matters, and sleejiing. When I was in occupation of Tor in 1882, our Marine sentinel was obliged to step over the prostrate form of a slumbering archbishop, whenever he marched round on his beat. In villages, the proclamations are usually made from the housetop of the sheikh, just as occurred in early days.
These flat roofs were in most instances made of mud, resting on brush- wood, supported by joists of fir or other timber ; but in towns cement is frequently used, or a kind of salt mud, beaten in diligently for many hours. In the Lebanon, earth is often used of considerable thickness, and on each roof is a roller of stone, with a moveable wooden handle, which can be taken off and transferred from one roller to another — each roof having its own roller. Immediately rain falls, these rollers are put into use so as to fill up the cracks, and prevent the water from entering the houses. The seeds from grasses and weeds wafted in the air, or brought up with the fruit and wine, take root in the roof, and quickly spring up, and as quickly wither away from want of moisture, giving rise to the saying, "As grass upon the housetop."
At Jerusalem, we read that people lived on and used the housetops for various purposes ; and it has been cited as singular that at the present time the housetops are for the most part domed, and not flat. The reason
PALESTINE: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE AS THEY APtE. 11
of this is very apparent. During the siege of Jerusalem by Titus, the wood for several miles around was cut down to supply the A^arious engines of war — battering rams, etc. The country was denuded of its trees. Up to this time all the houses Avere flat-roofed ; but from henceforth, in re- building the city, a new feature was introduced into the houses. There being no wood readily obtainable, and stone being cheap and easily procured, the houses were built with stone domes, and very thick walls to support them. The result of this has been that the ruins of the various Jerusa- lems destroyed since the time of Titus are much more bulky than those of the Jerusalems which preceded his time. One of the proofs of the erec- tion of stone roofs in Jerusalem in early days is the discovery, during our excavations, of a stone roller for a flat roof, exactly similar to those in use now in the Lebanon, which must have been buried some centuries before the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. In the villages the houses are built of sun-dried bricks, and consist of one or more rooms on the ground floor. In cases Avhere there is only one room, there is often a raised dais, on which the family live, Avhile the cattle occupy the remainder. On the roof, in summer-time, are erected booths of leaves or mats, for sleeping and living in. The doors and window-shutters are of rough wood, and there are no chimneys ; the Avood fires do not require it. One gets very soon accustomed to the wood smoke. The bricks are made of mud, Avith chopped straAv intermixed, and sometimes a little cow-dung. In some parts coAv-dung is flapped against the Avails to dry in the sun, to be used subsequently as coal ; but Avhen Avood is available, the cow-dung is much used for making boxes and jars, by mixing it Avith mud and straAv. Each house usually contains one or more enormous amphorae, made of mud and cow-dung, in M'hich the corn is kept ; and square boxes are also made of the same material for other stores. The furniture of the poor is usually most simple, consisting only of rush- mats, bedding, and cooking utensils. All houses are plentifully supplied Avith pottery-jars for holding Avater, and the potter is constantly at Avork, for jars are continually broken. One of the most certain indications of an ancient site in Palestine is a heap of broken pottery. Herodotus tells us that, in his day, jars of Avater Avere taken from Egypt into Syria ; but this refers, probably, only to those parts of the desert bordering on Egypt. In Jerusalem the potter makes his clay from the red virgin earth found in the limestone port -holes in the neighbourhood, mixed Avith yellow clay from Olivet, in certain proportions.
Glass has been in use in Palestine since A^ery early times. During the Eoman period it Avas common. It is still made at Hebron ; but it is only noAv made into glass bottles, and into bangles and bracelets for the women.
Soap is also made in Jerusalem for the people, of olive oil and soda. The soda is derived from saliferous plants by burning them. In the villages are generally many beehives of pottery or bark. Bees are easily kept in Palestine ; and in some parts they hive in the rocks, and honey may be sucked out of the rocks. Travellers have in some instances
12 PALESTINE : THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE AS THEY ARE.
found the honey exuding ; the Moslem, not requiring the grape for wine, makes it into " dibs " or treacle, so that the culture of bees is not so necessary with them.
In many parts the villages are surrounded by groves of olive-trees, and in some cases, particularly in the mountains, by fruit-gardens. The fellah is a good husbandman, and will Avork all day in the fields with happiness.
Jews. — It is constantly stated that the Jews are returning to Palestine in great numbers. This is true, but as they only go there to die, when at an advanced age, the Jewish population does not naturally increase, although, no doubt, there is a stead)?^ increase. Thej^ occupy four holy cities — Jerusalem, Hebron, Safed, and Tiberias. They are also to be found in the towns on the coast in small numbers. Few of them belong to Palestine — that is to say, they have for the most part returned to Pales- tine in later times, having been wandering or located in other countries.
Eighteen hundred years ago the Jewish nation had spread in colonies over Assyria, Asia Minor, Arabia, Northern Africa, Greece, Italy, and Spain; and six hundred years ago they were in great force in Arabia, govern- ing districts, where they were 300,000 strong, and had spread from Russia to India and China, and from Aral^a to Abyssinia and Nubia. They had also settled in (jermany in great numbers. Since then they appear to have been greatly absorbed or to have died out, as they are now chiefly represented bj' the Jewish population in and about Poland, and the exiles from Spain in Morocco.
The Jews are divided into two powerful sects in Palestine — those from Germany, Eussia, and Poland, called Ashkenasim, and those from Morocco (exiles from Spain), called Sepherdim. There is also a small sect of reformed Jews called Careites, who reject tradition, and adhere only to the Scriptures.
The Jews in Jerusalem may perhaps number 10,000, of whom 6000 are Ashkenasim, and 4000 Sepherdim. The latter, coming from a Moslem territory, are rayahs — i.e., ordinary Turkish subjects : while the former, coming under the Capitulations, are treated as foreigners, and are looked after by the consuls. The Sepherdim assert that they were colonists in Spain at the time of the crucifixion, and are in no way responsible for the rejection of the Messiah ; and reason, in a very subtle manner, that as He was rejected He could not be the Messiah. And one of the rabbins informed me that the second advent of the Christians will be the coming of the Messiah to the Jews. They dress in Oriental costume, speak the Spanish language, and have the same features as the Jews of Morocco. They are a light-haired, sometimes red-haired, race. They are robust, industrious, accustomed to hard work, honest, straightforward, and are fond of agriculture — Avhich liking they have derived from their sojourn in INIorocco, where they till the ground. The Ashkenasim are a very peculiar people, full of the wild fanatical zeal which distinguished the
PALESTINE : THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE AS THEY ARE. 13
race so many hundred years ago ■ full of religious fervour, and at times so carried away by impulses of passion that they are not amenable to reason.
They are fragile in appearance, but their courage and fortitude make up for Avant of stamina. Many of them are entirely supported by the haUukah, or money sent to them for their prayers for those in other parts of the world, who cannot afford to come themselves. With all their fanaticism, there is a frankness and straightforwardness about them, with which our countrymen cannot fail to sympathise ; and I am bound to say of the Jews generally in Palestine, I foimd them of great assistance to me, and most friendly, even in matters where their religious conviction might have arrayed themselves against the work I carried on.
Since the destruction of the temple by Titus, the Jews have been in the habit, whenever permitted, of collecting together in Jerusalem to mourn over the lost glories of their ancient city and the house of God ; and in early times Avere allowed to enter the temple enclosure once a year, to anoint with oil the "protruding rock" of the Sanctum Sanctorum, and "make lamentation, with groans, and rend their garments, and so retire." But in the fourth century they were turned out of the temple enclosure, and only allowed to approach its walls, and there lament, as at the present day. The portion of the old temple now set apart for this purpose is on the Avest side, and is now called the AVailing Place ; and here the JeAvs on Friday CAenings congregate, and read the book of Lamentations, and rock themselves, and shake their bones in anguish ; for they still folloAv in this the practice of their forefathers.
Language. — The language sjDoken in Palestine among the people is Arabic, differing in dialect from the Bedouin people of Egypt and of Damascus. The Turkish officials talk Turkish, and some of them do not know Arabic, and are looked upon as aliens by the native population,
Gerizim and THE Saisliritans. — Much has been said and Avritten on the subject of the fertile Gerizim and the sterile Ebal, the Mountain of Blessings and the Mountain of Curses ; but there is little to choose betAveen them. They stand side by side, north and south, the southern slope of each being equally barren, the northern slopes being fertile, on account of their springs, more numerous on Gerizim than Ebal. But inasmuch as the the town of Shechem lies betAveen the tAvo mountains, and derives all its Avater from Gerizim, the idea has gradually been formed by travellers that there is a difference betAveen the two, accounting for their being chosen for the blessings and curses. It is asserted by some A\Titers that Gerizim is identical with the land of Moriah, where Abraham took Isaac, and some go so far as to say that Gerizim AA^as originally intended as the spot AA^here the ark of the covenant Avas to rest, but that circumstances subsequently forced Jerusalem or Zion upon the people. Of one matter we may be quite certain — of all places in Palestine there is no more fitting place to be found for the ceremony there enacted. In the gorge betAveen the two
14 PALESTINE : THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE AS THEY ARE.
mountains are two natural theatres, half a mile in diameter, and facing each other, forming one amphitheatre, in which the assembled hosts of Israel could meet face to face, to hear and respond to the law read by their leader Joshua. Up the valley, and beyond the theatres, is the ancient city of Shechem, now Xablous. It is a peculiarly favoured spot, and its position is lovely — here alone in Palestine at the present day does water ripple in ducts through the streets and coiu'tyards in .sufficient quantities to enable the inhabitants to use it liberally without regarding it as a luxury. At all seasons of the year the fountains gush out in never-failing plenty. Mahomet has said — " The place which He (Allah) loveth most in the district of Jerusalem is the mountain of Nablous." This city is the headquarters of the Samaritans, whose existence at the present day at the foot of those holy mountains is one of the most astonishing existing testimonies to the historical accuracy of the Bible. A few years ago this interesting people had outposts and colonies in Damascus and other cities of Syria, and a few centuries ago they extended into Egjqit. Gradually they have dwindled in numbers, until at length there are but a few families, numbering in all 130 persons, left as a testimony.
They still cling to the sides of these holy mountains, where they continue to eat .the "Passovei'," as they have done without intermission, except for forty years, for over 2500 years. It is the only known instance of a continuance through so many years of a religious rite. In the fourteenth century we read that they 'WTap their heads in red linen cloth, as a distinction from the others, and this, or brown, is their present dis- tinguishing badge. In the twelfth centur}^, Benjamin of Zudula speaks of the 100 Cvitheans, who are called Samaritans, occupying Gerizim. Josephus tells us that they were Cutheans sent to replace the tribe of Ephraim, transported into Assyria. And we read the same account in the book of the Kings. It is supposed by some that they are of the tribes of Israel, but it cannot be doubted they are Cutheans, sent by the King of Assyria, augmented by recruits from the children of Israel and renegade Jews, taught by priests of the Israelites, sent from Assyria, to lead them to the Avorship of the living God,
The Jews, since the destruction of the temple, have celebrated the Passover with mutilated ceremony, but the Samaritans have continued it in the original manner.
Their religion is remai-kable in its simplicity. It is founded on the five books of Moses, the book of Joshua — beyond this they do not go ; it is their all. They are Sadducees — believe in no resurrection ; therefore they require no prophets as to the future — no Messiah— no scheme of salvation. It is simplicity itself — a code of morality in this world — and there it all ends !
They are bitter enemies of the Jews, and their possession of a volume of the Pentateuch differing in some respects from that received from the Hebrews is a remai'kable confirmation as to the antiquity of our own version. The old scroll purports to have been written by the great-
PALESTINE : THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE AS THEY ARE. 15
grandson of Aaron. That it may have been copied from it, is probable, but this in particular is generally ascribed to the thirteenth century. Their old Pentateuch is spoken of by the early Christian Fathers. There are many reasons for supposing that the present scroll is a direct descendant of that brought to them by the Israelite priest. The char- acters used by the Samaritans closely resemble those on the Moabite Stone and the Assyrian Lion weights. Altogether, the Samaritan customs and records are the most interesting to a biblical scholar that the world possesses at the present day.
I have had the good fortune to be present at the Passover, and to see it celebrated ; and, without any hesitation, I would say it is the most remarkable sight noAv to be seen on earth — it is the one existing connect- ing link with the far-away past.
CONFIGURATION OF THE CLYDE SEA-AREA.
Bead at Meeting of British Association, 1886. By Hugh Robert Mill, D.Sc, F.R.S.E., F.C.S.,
Chemist and Physicist to the Scottish Marine Station.
In a previous paper ^ I was obliged to preface the discussion of tempera- ture and salinity in the deep-Avater basins of the west coast by a short account of their physical features. The present paper deals more fully with the bathymetrical conditions of the Clyde sea-area, and may be viewed as an extension of the descriptive part of Mr. Cadell's discussion of the configuration of the Dumbartonshire Highlands.^
Topography.
The general appearance of the Firth of Clyde and its associated lochs is familiar to every one, and the variety and beauty of the scenery it pre- sents are appreciated by all. There is probably no other region in Great Britain so much traversed by visitors bent on business and pleasure, and there is no other which is such a perfect museum of physical geography. On examining a map of this district we see a wide channel running nearly due north between the peninsula of Cantyre and the mainland. The island of Arran lies nearly in the middle of it, and at the upper end it is bounded by the deeply indented peninsula of Cowal. The western corner of the wide channel runs straight up as Loch Fyne, at first to the N.N.W., then curving towards N.E. The eastern corner is prolonged in a N.N.E. direction into Loch Long, and is joined abruptly by the estuary of the Clyde, which runs W. by N. from Bowling. Thus from a purely topographical point of view the Avater system known generally as
1 Scottish Geographical Magazine, vol. ii. June 1886, p. 347. - Ibid. p. 337.
16 CONFIGURATION OF THE CLYDE SEA-AREA.
the Firth of Clyde appears to be only accidentally connected with the river of that name, and is evidently not a true extension of it, as the Firth of Forth is of the stream which gives it origin. In this relation it is specially noteworthy that all the fresh-water lakes, valleys, and channels of the district, as well as those of the west of Cantyre and the depressions between the islands, have a general north and south trend, with the play of a point or two to east or west ; while the Clyde river-bed alone runs from west to east. The land traversed by the Clyde from Glasgow to Greenock is flat, contrasting Avith the elevated character of that to the west and north. Before discussing the bathymetrical condi- tions I shall describe the commonly accepted geographical divisions.
The Firth of Chjde may be said to commence at a line drawn from the Mull of Cantyre through Ailsa Craig to Girvan in Ayrshire, and measured along this line its width is 30 miles. Its eastern boundary swerves to the east, forming a wide sandy bight which includes the bays of Ayr and Irvine. A few miles further north a flat headland appears, extending for a mile from Fairlie Head, and succeeded by a straight coast-line. Here the character of the land changes, the low, gently-sloping shore rising into a series of hills on the boundary betAveen Ayrshire and Renfrew ; the highest, Misty Law, attains 1669 feet. At Cloch Point the coast-line turns abruptly towards the east, and, broken only by Gourock Bay and the harbours of Greenock and Port Glasgow, stretches up along the river. The only streams of importance are the Girvan, Doon, Ayr, and Irvine. The Avestern boundary of the Firth of Clyde is at first the southern por- tion of Cantyre, then the west coast of Arran Avith its tAvo bays of Lamlash and Brodick, the former converted into a perfect natural harbour by Holy Island. Arran is 21 miles long; the ground rises towards the interior all round and attains its greatest height, 2863 feet, in Goatfell, near the north of the island. From Arran the boundary of the Firth of Clyde is continued across the Sound of Bute b)^ Garroch Head, Kilchattan Bay, and the eastern shore of Bute to Bogany Point. The Cumbraes lie right in the channel, reducing it at the narroAvest place to \^ miles on each side of Little Cumbrae. The boundary crosses to Argyllshire at ToAA^ard Point, where the firth is nearly 4 miles Avide. The Avestern or northern shore rises into a series of picturesque heights, and on the whole folloAvs the outline of the eastern or southern coast ; so that, alloAving for the entrances to the Holy Loch, Loch Long, and the Gareloch, the Avidth of the firth varies betAveen 2 and 3 miles until off" Port Glasgow, after Avhich it rapidly diminishes.
Kilhrennan Sound, the channel betAveen Arran and Cantyre, is 3i miles Avide at its upper entrance, runs at first S.W., then curA^es to a south- Avard course, contracting to 3 miles at Carradale, and finally Avidening out toAvards the south of Arran, Avhere it mei'ges into the Firth of Clyde.
Bute Sound is a short wide piece of Avater betAveen the north-east shore of Arran and the south-Avest of Bute.
Inchmanwch Water, named from the little island of Inchmarnoch to
CONFIGUEATION OF THE CLYDE SEA- AREA. 17
the west of Bute, is the meeting-place of the Kyles, Loch Fyne, and the Sounds of Kilbrennan and Bute.
The Kyles of Bute form a narrow tortuous channel, separating the north end of Bute Island from the mainland. A group of small islets at the northerly bend lies across the mouth of Loch Ridun, into the head of which the rivar Ruel falls.
Loch Fyne bears the same relation to Kilbrennan Sound and the Firth of Clyde that Loch Ridun does to the West and East Kyles. It is the largest of the sea-lochs, being 41 miles in length from Ardlamont Point to the head, and varying in width from 5 miles at Ardlamont Point to \ at Cuill. Loch Gilp terminates the northei'n extension of Loch Pyne, which then turns to the north-east. Loch Gair, a mere bay, and Loch Shira, similar in all but size to Loch Gilp, branch off to the north. The largest streams run parallel to Loch Fyne on both sides, and, with the exception of the Aray, the Shira, and the Fyne near its head, only mountain burns flow into tliis fiord. Loch Fyne is roughly parallel to the upper part of the Firth of Clyde, and all the lochs branching off" the latter run towards it.
Loch Strivan, 9 miles long and from 1 to |^ wide, runs N. by W. from opposite Rothesay Bay. A tongue-shaped piece of land — Strone Point — separates it from the Kyles.
The Holy Loch, a bay 2| miles long, runs M.W., parallel to the Kyles. It is connected by the river Eachaig, 3 miles in length, with Loch Eck, a fresh-water lake running parallel to Loch Strivan and Loch Goil.
Loch Long, separated from the Holy Loch by a tongue-shaped Strone Point, runs N. by W. for 5 miles with a width of 1|- miles to Ardentinny, then, contracting to from § to | a mile, continues in a X.N.E. direction 12^ miles farther, where it terminates at Arrochar, 2 miles from Tarbet on Loch Lomond.
Loch Goil. — Four miles above Ardentinny, the mountain wall on the west side of Loch Long, is broken by the entrance of Loch Goil, which stretches northwards for 7 miles in a gentle double curve.
The Gareloch runs for 6| miles from Helensburgh, N.N.W. and reaches to within a mile of the mouth of Loch Goil.
With the exception of the Gareloch and Holy Loch, all these long narrow inlets are surrounded by lofty mountains, rising to nearly 2000, feet close to the water's edge.
These, the divisions commonly met with on maps, are not by any means truly descriptive of the conformation of the sea-area, which is much simpler than the great number of names employed would lead one to suppose.
Configuration.
I shall now describe the region with special reference to the accom- panying chart, for the construction of which I am indebted to Mr. J. G, Bartholomew. It represents differences of level on the uniform VOL. in. B
J < I
A f
Ki
18
t\>NFl«UlUT10N OF TB CLYDE SE.V-AREA.
plaii of deefHir colours for grtiatcr doUxs. The scales for laud and water a.iv diffoivut. On land, hcij;ht.< alv e 2000 feet are represented in light bi\>\vn, and the s^woes hetweon the uitonr lines of !2000, 1000, 500 feet, and sea level are printetl in doepeing shades. The sea-bottom is cou- iouiMjd at 10, 30, .^O, and 80 fathoiu, and the intervening spaces tinted in pi\>jii\\s&ively darker shades of lue. Loch Lomond is treated as if it were jitart of the sea, hut the otli fresh-water lakes are coloured light Wue irresj>ective of tlmir deptlis, 'he se;i-water under 10 fathoms deep, rvjxre«o«te<l by tlie j>alest shade of lue, may be imagined as a thin film <rf water spilt over the dark brown t low-lying laud.
Taking into account the featuis emphasised by this chart, we maj- define aiul divide tlie tiistrict as idows. To divest the mind of any misleaiding idea as to tlie region unur consideration being a river entrance such as the Firtli of Forth, I use te words " Clyde Sea-.\rea " as a con- venient term for the whole connect ; water-system inside the peninsula of Cautyne^ and, if it were not for an a ;idental 30 feet of laud, would extend it tio include Loch Lomond and Loi £ck as well.
The CJfih Smr-Am^M may be Uxl.n. as bounded on the south by a line drawn from tlie Mull of Cantyrv o Gorsewell Point in Wigtownisliire, almctst coinciding with the conto- of 50 fathoms. The whole area of walU»T at high tide witlun tliis liiu including all the channels, bays, and sea-lochs, is 1300 square miles, i is divided according to depth in the fdUoxFiuis: maimer ; —
„ « 0 „ s<>
abioive,. - - ^, . -
Bejiuan Head in AjTrshire, ■:
depth over a plat;..va of 2rt |(t)iiiing Davaar lj'..uid, off C
|
a': |
' 7 fathom. |
^- Tys t |
|
b. |
ilie deep |
n"Aier on c |
|
fi. |
van, the |
rv-viy isle |
|
dl: |
!^os to |
a heiijht 1 |
|
al. |
liottom. The |
|
|
ti 1 |
low |
water. :Lt |
|
Uili^ ■■ |
I'O |
\sts Ot C:. |
|
water i |
ind soi::. |
|
|
rock 1 |
til.' -. |
|
|
loch-ti |
rlv ' . |
|
|
may tu |
||
|
the |
||
|
nearly |
oocor over 1 0 square miles, hianis, „ 100 „
740
>->uthem boundary line indicated
Cil a Une joining Sanda Island and
25 fathoms deep. The average
iles, which terminates near a line
1 1, to Tumbeny Point in Aat, is
cr Fl.i:;au forms a wide ridge
ud iu :2:e middle of it, 10 miles
I Craig, two-tiiirds of a mile in
t above the water, or 1250 feet
contour Une bounds a double
^ near Ailsa, and che bases run-
.rsliire. Th-:> in to the <:o.^ ; he ridge. Tw.. • the plateau, a
jonto^ir li;
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is de->
Fvre..
\
i
CONFIGURATION OF %E CLYDE SEA-AREA-
19
the Arran Basin, it also partly surronds the Little Cumbrae, runs up the channel past the south of Bute to i ar Bogany Point, and up the west Kyles to near Blair Ferry. The dejli in this basin exceeds 30 fathomB over 340 square miles, of which 100 \ceed 50, and 10 exceed 80 fathoms in depth. The trough of deej^est wa'r (more than 80 fathoms) extends as a submarine gully, about half a mile 'de, for 20 miles in a north-westerly direction through the Sound of Bute, nchmarnoch Water, and Lower Loch Fyne. It attains its greatest depth 107 fathoms) at a point 1 mile west of Skate Island, near Tarbert. A delAied portion of this trough lies in the same straight line, a few miles bey on each end. The contours approach the shore most closely, i.e. the slope i steepest, around the north of Arran.
Bute Plateuu. — A plateau, with a;a\erage depth of about 20 fathoms, passes from the Great Cumbrae atjss to Toward Point, and through Rothesay Bay, dividing the southern i om the northern basins.
Dunoon Basin. — A narrow tract c water, with an average depth of 40 fathoms, runs X. by K from the lorth end of Great Cumbrae, close along the Renfrew shore, and contims up lower Loch Long to the Dog Rock, opposite the entrance of Loch loil, at " Argj'll's Bowling-green," a length of 21 miles. Its greatest depi, 5G fathoms, occurs oft' Dunoon.
Edwinj. — The o-fathom contouiline extends no farther east than Greenock ; and the Estuary of the iyde — a name applied to the water extending from a line drawn betw'ii Greenock and Helensburgh to Bowling — is extremely shallow, tht channel being only kept open for navigation by constant dredging.
The Gardoch, above Row Point, viere the depth is under 5 fathoms, has an area of about o square miles, ;k1 an average depth of 20 fathoms in the centre. It is surrounded by Iv-lying land, the elevation l>etween it and Loch Long being less than jO feet; on the north-eastern side the land is higher, but the hills are cstant. No streams of importance flow into the Gareloch.
Upper Ijjch D/ny and Loch Goil re of equal area, 4 square miles. Each consists of a deep trough cut ot'jy a narrow ridge from the Dunoon Basin, and descending in Loch Long ) a depth of 35 fathoms, in Loch Goil to 47. The sides are precipitos in many places, and present an almost unbroken mass of mountai. The 1000-feet contour comes within half a mile of the water's eae, and hills of over 2000 feet run along both sides of each loch.
Loch Strivan, 5 square miles in an, appears to differ from the other loch basins, in as much as it is a deprssion on the Bute Plateau, not the barred-off end of a submarine gully It is surrounded by land rapidly rising to over 1000 feet, and, as in otbi cases, innumerable torrents score the mountain sides and hurry the raiiull into the water.
Upper Loch F^ne, 25 miles long froi the narrow channel at the great Otter .Spit to the head at Clachan, ha an area of 20 square miles : and a depth, along the centre, gradually incusing from 30 fathoms at Gortans to 40 at Furnace and 80 at Strachur, the. shoaling to 70 near Inveraray, 30
18 CONFIGURATION OF THE CLYDE SEA-AREA.
plan of deeper colours for greater depths. The scales for land and water are different. On land, heights above 2000 feet are represented in light brown, and the spaces between the contour lines of 2000, 1000, 500 feet, and sea-level are printed in deepening shades. The sea-bottom is con- toured at 10, 30, 50, and 80 fathoms, and the intervening spaces tinted in progressively darker shades of blue. Loch Lomond is treated as if it were part of the sea, but the other fresh-water lakes are coloured light blue irrespective of their depths. The sea-water under 10 fathoms deep, represented by the palest shade of blue, may be imagined as a thin film of water spilt over the dark brown of low-lying land.
Taking into account the features emphasised by this chart, we may define and divide the district as follows. To divest the mind of any misleading idea as to the region under consideration being a river entrance such as the Firth of Forth, I use the words " Clyde Sea-Area" as a con- venient term for the whole connected water-system inside the peninsula of Cantyre, and, if it were not for an accidental 30 feet of land, Avould extend it to include Loch Lomond and Loch Eck as well.
The Glijde Sea-Area may be taken as bounded on the south by a line drawn from the Mull of Cantyre to Corsewell Point in "Wigtownshire, almost coinciding with the contour of 50 fathoms. The whole area of water at high tide within this line, including all the channels, bays, and sea-lochs, is 1300 square miles. It is divided according to depth in the following manner : —
Depths exceeding 80 fathoms, occur over ] 0 square miles. ,, between 50 and 80 fathoms, ,, 100 ,,
30 ,, 50 „ „ 450
„ » 0 „ 30 „ „ 740
Clyde Barrier Plateau. — From the southern boundary line indicated above, the water shoals gradually, until at a line joining Sanda Island and Bennan Head in Ayrshire, it is about 25 fathoms deep. The average depth over a plateau of 270 square miles, which terminates near a line joining Davaar Island, off Campbeltown, to Turnberry Point in Ayr, is about 27 fathoms. This Clyde Barrier Plateau forms a wide ridge between the deep water on each side, and in the middle of it, 10 miles from Girvan, the rocky islet of Ailsa Craig, two-thirds of a mile in diameter, rises to a height of 1097 feet above the water, or 1250 feet above the sea-bottom. The 25-fathom contour line bounds a double triangle of shallow water, the apices meeting near Ailsa, and the bases run- ning along the coasts of Cantyre and Ayrshire. Thus there is deeper water to the north and south of Ailsa than to the east and west, and the rock rises close to the narrowest part of the ridge. Two basins and five loch-troughs are clearly marked out inside the plateau, and their outline may be followed on the chart by the 30-fathom contour line.
Arran Basin. — The largest basin, shaped like the letter A, comprises the channel on both sides of Arran, and extends up Lower Loch Fyne, nearly as far as Otter Ferry. Although this depression has been named
CONFIGURATION OF THE CLYDE SEA- AREA. 19
the Arran Basin, it also partly surrounds the Little Cumbrae, runs up the channel past the south of Bute to near Bogany Point, and up the west Kyles to near Blair Ferry. The depth in this basin exceeds 30 fathoms over 340 square miles, of which 100 exceed 50, and 10 exceed 80 fathoms in depth. The trough of deepest water (more than 80 fathoms) extends as a submarine gully, about half a mile wide, for 20 miles in a north-westerly direction through the Sound of Bute, Inchmarnoch Water, and Lower Loch Fyne. It attains its greatest depth (107 fathoms) at a point 1 mile west of Skate Island, near Tarbert. A detached portion of this trough lies in the same straight line, a few miles beyond each end. The contours approach the shore most closely, i.e. the slope is steepest, around the north of Arran.
Bute Plateau. — A plateau, with an average depth of about 20 fathoms, passes from the Great Cumbrae across to Toward Point, and through Rothesay Bay, dividing the southern from the northern basins.
Dunoon Basin. — A narrow tract of water, with an average depth of 40 fathoms, runs N. by E. from the north end of Great Cumbrae, close along the Renfrew shore, and continues up lower Loch Long to the Dog Rock, opposite the entrance of Loch Goil, at "Argyll's Bowling-green," a length of 21 miles. Its greatest depth, 56 fathoms, occurs ofi' Dunoon.
Estuanj. — The 5-fathom contour line extends no farther east than Greenock ; and the Estuary of the Clyde — a name applied to the water extending from a line drawn between Greenock and Helensburgh to Bowling — is extremely shallow, the channel being only kept open for navigation by constant dredging.
The Gardoch, above Row Point, where the depth is under 5 fathoms, has an area of about 5 square miles, and an average depth of 20 fathoms in the centre. It is surrounded by low-lying land, the elevation between it and Loch Long being less than 500 feet; on the north-eastern side the land is higher, but the hills are distant. No streams of importance flow into the Gareloch.
Ujjper Loch Long and Loch Goil are of equal area, 4 square miles. Each consists of a deep trough cut off by a narrow ridge from the Dunoon Basin, and descending in Loch Long to a depth of 35 fathoms, in Loch Goil to 47. The sides are precipitous in many places, and present an almost unbroken mass of mountain. The 1000-feet contour comes Avithin half a mile of the Avater's edge, and hills of over 2000 feet run along both sides of each loch.
Loch Strivan, 5 square miles in area, appears to differ from the other loch basins, in as much as it is a depression on the Bute Plateau, not the barred-ofF end of a submarine gully. It is surrounded by land rapidly rising to over 1000 feet, and, as in other cases, innumerable torrents score the mountain sides and hurry the rainfall into the water.
Upper Loch Fyne, 25 miles long from the narrow channel at the great Otter Spit to the head at Clachan, has an area of 20 square miles ; and a depth, along the centre, gradually increasing from 30 fathoms at Gortans to 40 at Furnace and 80 at Strachur, then shoaling to 70 near Inveraray, 30
20 CONFIGURATION OF THE CLYDE SEA-AREA.
at Dunderave, and 15 at Cuill. The land along Loch Fyne, especially on the north-western shore, has a comparatively gentle slope, and the hills are not very high. The upper 6 miles are, however, surrounded by hills both high and steep; and this portion is particularly subject to the influence of fresh water, as, in addition to the innumerable torrents that spring into being after every shower, it receives several rivers.
The Kyles of Bute, Loch Eidun, and the Holy Loch have not been taken into special consideration, as they seem to be simply extensions of the Bute Plateau and Dunoon Basin.
The ragged peninsula of Cowal, between Loch Lomond and Loch Fyne, has, including Bute its natural pendant, an area of 460 square miles. Of this, 170 square miles, chiefly at the south-western end, have a height under 500 feet; elevations of from 500 to 1000 feet cover 150 square miles; heights from 1000 to 2000 cover 125, and in the north- east there are 15 square miles of the earth's surface covered by mountain summits of over 2000 feet. These 15 square miles of great elevation are associated with the 8 square miles of Loch Long and Loch Goil, and 10 square miles of Upper Loch Fyne ; but some of the drainage of the eastern slopes finds its way to Loch Lomond. The deep lochs winding amongst these mountains are profoundly affected by their surroundings, both as regards the temperature and the salinity of the water. This piece of country is intersected by a number of remarkable valleys, either running from sea to sea like that of Loch Eck, or simply pushing their way into the interior like Glendaruel.
The relation between height of land and depth of sea appears from the chart to be very intimate. In the deep loch basins at the Mull of Cantyre, and round the north of Arran, high and precipitous land is associated with exceptionally deep water and a steep gradient. Along the Ayrshire coast, very low land and a gradually sloping shore are associated with shallow and sloAvly deepening water ; while farther north, where the land rises, deep water comes close inshore. The exceptions to this generally accepted rule are no less remarkable than the concurrences. Between the low-lying headlands of the south of Bute and Little Cumbrae there is water of great depth (more than 70 fathoms), and the plateau of comparatively shallow water between the Mull of Cantyre, the south of Arran, Ailsa Craig, and South Ayrshire, is not apparently connected with any special flatness of the shores. This plateau is a very interesting feature, and suggests many hypotheses to account for its origin. Eegarded from one point of view, it is only a repetition, on a much larger scale, of the bars marking off loch-troughs that characterise this whole sea-area, and might thus appear to have been formed subsequently to the main features. On the other hand, the plateau of 25 fathoms may be supposed to have formerly extended over the whole area, the various basins being scooped out in it. The origin of physical features is not, however, the subject of this paper, and it has merely been alluded to in order to direct special attention to the existence of the plateau.
BATHY-OROGRAPHICAL CHART OF THE CLYDE SEA-AREA
sE-t;
CONFIGURATION OF THE CLYDE SEA-AREA. 21
Observations on the specific gravity and temperature of the water of the Clyde sea-area at all times of the year confirm by their results the divisions just described, viz. : — The Channel, the Barrier Plateau, the great Arran Basin, the Dunoon Basin, the troughs of Upper Loch Fyne, Loch Strivan, Loch Goil, Upper Loch Long, Gareloch, the Bute Plateau, and the Estuary. If the term "Firth," as physically defined,Ms to be applied to any part of the sea-area, it must be to that between Port- Glasgow and Toward.
FA-HIEN'S TRAVELS IX INDIA."^ By J. W. M'Crindle, M.A., M.RA.S.
Between the fourth and eleventh centuries of our era, India was frequently visited by Chinese Buddhists, who came on pilgrimage to view the consecrated scenes amid which their great teacher had spent the years of his earthly existence. They were for the most part devout monks, whose object in travelling so far abroad was not merely to render their tribute of worship at the holiest shrines of their faith, but also to obtain copies of their sacred books, and to learn the Sanskrit language, in which these had been written and authoritatively expounded. On this account their sojourn in India was in some instances extended over a good many years. The names of two of these scholarly pilgrims, Fa-hien and Hiouen-Thsang, are now quite familiarl}^ known throughout the republic of letters, a distinction due to the fact that they wrote accounts of their Indian travels^ which, within the last fifty years, have been trans- lated into several European languages, and have been found extremely useful to students of Buddhism, and to Indian archaeologists.
Fa-hien, who preceded Hiouen-Thsang by a couple of centuries, came from Ch'ang-gan,^ now Si-gnan, a town of Shen-se, one of the northern provinces of China. He started on his long and perilous journey in the year 399 a.d., and did not return home till some fourteen years after- wards. The greater part of the intervening years he spent in India, visiting its monasteries and shrines, learning Sanskrit, and seeking to pro- cure canonical works on the doctrine and discipline of his faith. The work of which he was especially in quest was one which contained the rules of discipline observed at the first great council of Buddhism, which had been held while Buddha was still in the world.* His search was not
1 Mill and Morrison, Tidal Variations in Estuary of Forth, Proc. B.S.E. xiii. 1886, June 7.
- A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms : Being an Account by the Chinese Monk, Fa-hien, of his Travels in India and Ceylon (a.d. 399-414), in search of the Buddhist Books of Discipline. By James Legge, M.A. , LL.D. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1886.
3 This is the Kenjan-fu of Marco Polo, and perhaps the Thinae of Claudius Ptolemy. It was probably, says Colonel Yule, the most celebrated city in Chinese history, and the capital of several of the most potent dynasties.
■* This work was called the Vinaya Pitaka.
22 FA-HIEX'S TRAVELS IN INDIA,
rewarded until he came to Pataliputra, where he found a complete copy of the rules, with full explanations, in one of the great monasteries of that place. Here he remained for no less than three years, studying and copying this work, and improving his knowledge of Sanskrit.
In Pataliputra (now Patna) the reader will readily recognise the Palihothra of the Greeks, and will thus be reminded that this was the city where, seven centuries before the time of Fa-hien, Megasthenes, the Greek ambassador at the Court of Sandrakottos,^ also resided, and where he collected the materials out of which he composed his celebrated Description of India.
From Patna, Fa-hien slowly proceeded southwards till he came to Tamalipti (now Tam-luk), near the mouth of the Hoogly, where he spent two years in copying books and drawing pictures of images. At this i^ort he embarked for Ceylon, and, after spending other two years in that island, sailed for China, which he reached in safety, after having been exposed, however, to many perils and hardships of the most trying kind during the voyage. Soon after his return he wrote, or rather dictated, an account of his Indian travels, at once simple, yet graphic, and truthful as far as what he heard and saw is concerned.
The work was not known outside of China till half a century ago, when it was linearthed by the great Chinese scholar Abel Eemusat, and presented to the world in a French translation which he had himself pre- pared. The work, on becoming known through this medium, was at once seen to be a source of most valuable information regarding one of the darkest periods of Indian history — that which was comprised between the middle of the second century A.D., when Greek authors ceased to write about Indian afiairs, and the era of the Mohammedan conquest, about the year 1000, from which date the course of the national transactions can be clearly enough traced. Sanskrit literature might have been expected to supply the necessary enlightenment, but the Indian sages, absorbed in the dreams of philosophy, cared little for the concerns of practical life, and left the history of their country imtold."-^
Eemusat's version did not long hold the field. He was unfortunately cut off before he had time to revise it, and from this circumstance, as well as from the difficulty— which it took much labour after his time to surmount — of converting Indian names, as phonetically represented in Chinese, back into their proper Sanskrit forms, his version was far from being sufl&ciently accurate. Several other versions have appeared in succes- sion, all from the pens of most competent scholars, and all enriched with copious annotations. The latest is that which has just been published by
'^ He was sent as ambassador by Seleiikos Nikator, king of Syria (from 312 to 280 B.C.), ■who had entered into an alliance with Sandrakottos, king of Magadha (Behar), to whom he ceded the Greek settlements in the Panjab and Kabul Valley, and to whom he also gave his daughter in marriage. Sandrakottos is a pretty close transliteration of the Indian name Chandra, Gtipta.
- No trace has as yet been found in any Sanskrit work of such an important episode as the Macedonian invasion.
FA-HIEN'S travels in INDIA. 23
Dr. Legge, the Professor at Oxford of the Chinese language and litera- ture, and who, when a missionary in China, where he resided for thirty years, made the Confucian classics a special subject of study. We learn from his preface that he spent much time and care in its preparation, and did not omit to make frequent reference to previous translations. It may therefore be accepted as the most authoritative exposition of his author's sense that has yet appeared, and as perhaps superseding the necessity for any further translation being made. Several recensions of the narrative exist, and of these Dr. Legge has chosen the Corean as the best. He has appended it to the translation, together with all the variant readings found in the other recensions, so that the text is exhibited in an altogether com- plete form. The notes, which are copious, are meant partly to explain passages or expressions which would be obscure to an English reader, and partly also to illustrate the history and doctrines of Buddhism. Little more is claimed for them than the merit of selection and condensation, but they give ample proof of the exact and varied learning of the writer. A sketch-map is given of Fa-hien's travels, and also a series of pictures, nine in number, " taken from a superb edition of a history of Buddha, profusely illustrated in the best style of Chinese art."
But we must now pass on to consider the narrative itself. As might be expected, it abounds with details of Buddhist monastic life, and never fails, when an opportunity occurs, to refer to some miracle, hoAvever grotesque in its character, said to have been performed by Buddha. We shall touch, however, as little as possible on such topics, and confine our remarks almost exclusively to questions of geography on which the work throws light. We propose, therefore, while tracing the pilgrim's route, to show how the more important places which he visited have been identified, and in some instances to notice the description which he has given of them. Most of these places have now been, with more or less certainty, identified, thanks to the labours of such scholars as Stanislas Julien, Klaproth, Beal, and Dr. Eitel, and to the researches of General Cunningham (son of our Border poet, Allan Cunningham), who was for many years Director of the Indian Archaeological Survey Department. Two causes operated to make their identification difficult. The first has already been indicated in the statement that Indian names are hard to recognise under the forms which they assume in Chinese. The second is that not a few of the j^laces mentioned by Fa-hien are either now no longer known by their old names, or have long ceased to be numbered among the things that are, some having been destroyed by war, some buried under desert sands, some forsaken by the rivers on whose banks they stood, and some swept away by resistless floods.
Regarding Fa-hien himself little is known beyond what can be gathered from his work. He was a native of Ch'ang-gan, and was brought up in a monastery of that place, even from his earliest years. He was noted alike for his clear intelligence and for the sincerity and fervour of his religious convictions. He had not long finished his novitiate and taken full
24 FA-HIEN'S TRAVELS IN INDIA.
Buddhist orders, when he undertook his journey to India for the objects already stated. After starting from Ch'ang-gan, and passing through Lung, a country in the extreme west of Shen-se, he came to the kingdom of " the Western T'sin," where he and his companions stopped for the summer retreat, which extended from the middle of the fifth to the middle of the ninth Chinese month. AVhen this period of devotion was ended, the pilgrims went forward till, after crossing the mountain of Yang-low, they reached Chang-yih, a trading mart in the province of Kansu, and just within the north-west extremity of the Great Wall. Here they fell in with a party of five pilgrims, bound, like themselves, for India, and with these they remained together in Chang-yih during the summer retreat of that year. We find them, after departing thence, making their next halt at a frontier town of Tangut, called T'un-hwang, which lay at some distance beyond the termination of the Great Wall, and on the edge of the vast "Sea of Sand," the Sahara of Asia, the terrible desert of Gobi. This desert is of vast extent, stretching from the eastern frontier of Mongolia to within six miles of Ilchi, the chief town of Khoten, and thus comprising in length 33 degrees of longitude, while it varies in breadth from 3 to 10 degrees of latitude. " It would take," says Marco Polo, who himself traversed it, "a year and more to ride from one end of it to the other ; and here, where its breadth is least, it takes a month to cross it." It was a great task which the pilgrims had now before them to make their way through the western portion of this desert. The Prefect of T'un-whang, however, supplied them with all the means necessary for their passage through it, which occupied seventeen days, and must have been very rapidlj^ performed, as the distance traversed was about 1500 le, or upwards of 400 miles. Fa-hien's account of the dangers and desolate aspect of this sandy waste agrees closely with the accounts given after- wards both by Hiouen-Thsang and by Marco Polo. " In the desert," he says, " are many evil demons and hot winds. Travellers who encoimter them perish all to a man. There is not a bird to be seen in the air above, nor an animal on the ground below. Though you look all round most earnestly to find where you can cross, you know not where to make your choice, the only mark and indication being the dry bones of the dead left upon the sand." It may seem somewhat singular that the three travellers are quite at one in representing the desert as haunted by evil spirits ; but it is a well-established fact that the solitude of the wilderness, no less than the solitude of night, oppresses some minds with superstitious terrors, which the force of reason is altogether impotent to allay. Hiouen- Thsang relates that in his passage through this desert, both outward and homeward, its demons sought to scare him both by visual illusions and by mysterious voices.
On emerging from the desert the travellers found themselves in the kingdom of Shen-Shen, which is described as a rugged and hilly country, with a thin and barren soil. Its capital city lay not very far from the lake called Lob (or Lop) Nor, into which the Tarim discharges, after a
FA-HIEN'S travels in INDIA. 25
course of 1500 miles. The people were Buddhists after the Indian pattern, and the monks were all students of Indian books and the Indian language. After remaining here for about a month, Fa-hien resumed his journey, and, pursuing on foot a direction towards the north-west, reached Woo-e, a place which has not yet been identified, but which may be located in Karaschar, or between that and Kutscha, in about 44° N. lat. and 81° E. long. This was the culminating point of his advance north- ward. He was here rejoined by some of his companions, whom he had left behind on the other side of the desert. He remained in a monastery of this place for more than two months, when the niggardly hospitality of the people obliged him to depart. His route lay to the south-west, through an uninhabited country, where the streams were difficult to cross, and where he and liis party endured sufferings which he declares to have been unparalleled in human experience.
But this purgatorial region, wliich it took upwards of a month to traverse, ushered the pilgrims into a land which, by the contrast, seemed a paradise in their eyes. Tliis was Khoten, or, as FjVhien writes it, Yu- teen. "It is," he says, "a pleasant and a prosperous kingdom, with a numerous and flourishing population." The inhabitants were all Buddhists, and of monks there were myriads. Great hospitality was shown to travelling monks, from whatever quarter the}^ came. Spare rooms were made for their use in every monastery, and all their wants were abun- dantly supplied. The lord of the country himself lodged our jjilgrims in a great monastery called Gomati, and maintained them there at his OAvn expense. No fewer than 3000 monks were attached to this monastery, all under a discipline of silence like the Trappist monks of the present day. " They are called to their meals," says Fa-hien, " by the sound of a bell. When they enter a refectory, their demeanour is marked by a reverent gravity, and they take their seats in a regular order, all main- taining a perfect silence. No sound is heard from their alms-bowls and other utensils. When any of these pure men require food, they are not allowed to call out for it, but only make signs with their hand." Here Fa-hien remained several months, unwilling to depart until he had seen a great festival which extended over fourteen days, and the main feature of which was a procession of images, attended by the king himself, and all the members of his court. On leaving Khoten, a journey of twenty- five days brought him to the kingdom of Tsze-hoh, where the sovereign was a strenuous follower of Buddhism, and had around him more than 1000 monks. Tsze-hoh cannot be with certainty identified ; it can hardly be Yarkand, as Beal thought ; but Tash-kurgan in Sirikul, Avhich has been suggested for it, seems to answer the indications better. The travellers, after having halted here for fifteen days, Avent southward, and in the course of four days found themselves in Yu-hwuy, among the Ts'ung-ling Mountains, which are a portion of the great Kuen-lun range, and comprise the Karakorum and Pamir ridges. The name signifies " Onion Mountains," and was given either because the region produces
26 FA-HIEX"S TRAVELS IX INDIA.
many onions, or because of the round boulders with which the mountains are covered.
At Yu-hwuy, which corresponds perhaps to the Aktisch of our present maps, the pilgrims halted to keep their retreat ; and, when this was over, went on among the hills for twenty-five days, and arrived at K'eeh-ch'a. This was the capital of a kingdom, and evidently a place of considerable importance, but opinions differ as to its locality. Beal says it is certainly Kartchou, to the east of which flows the Mang-tsin Eiver, and which is placed on all maps to the south-west of Yarkand. Dr. Legge prefers Klaproth's view, that it was Iskardu or Skardo, though he admits that some difficulties attend its acceptance. It has, however, he says, the great advantage in its favour of bringing the pilgrims across the Indus. The passage of the river could be easily accomplished at that point, and this would explain the circumstance, not easy to account for otherwise, that Fa-hien makes no particular mention of this important incident. Be this as it may, he arrived in the city at a very opportune time, for the king was then holding the great quinquennial Assembly, this being an ecclesiastical conference for general confession of sins and inculcation of morality. It is said to have been first instituted by King Asoka, who was the grandson of Chandra Gupta, and who established Buddhism as the State religron of his vast dominions about two and a half centuries before our era. "When this great synod is to be held, the king, we are told, requests the presence of the S'l-amans (priests) from all quarters of his kingdom. They come in clouds, and proceed at once to decorate their assembly hall with silken flags and canopies of state, and a throne for their moderators. The king takes a very prominent part in the pro- ceedings. During the assembly, he and his ministers present their offerings, according to rule and law ; and, when it rises, they distribute among the members all sorts of precious things such as S'ramans require. When the distribution, however, has taken place, the king, it is remarked, redeems whatever he wishes from the monks.
The country, being in the midst of the Onion Range, is cold, and wheat is the only cereal which the climate can ripen. Fil-hien, on going forward through these mountains, found the plants, trees, and fruits to be all different from those of the land of Han (China), excepting only the bamboo, pomegranate, and sugar-cane. He succeeded in passing the range, after being on the way for a month in proceeding westward towards North India. The people of the country, he says, call the range by the name of " The Snow Mountains," since the snow rests upon them both winter and summer. He w^ould have us believe that they are infested with venomous dragons, which, when pro- voked, spit forth poisonous winds, and cause showers of snow and storms of sand and gravel, and also that not one in ten thousand of those who encounter these dangers escapes with his life. He and his party, however, emerged from them in safety, and then found themselves in a small kingdom of North India called T'o-leih. This, Eitel and others
FA-HIEN'S travels in INDIA. 27
would identify with Darada, tlie country of the ancient Dardae, the region near Dardus.^ But Dr. Legge is in more than doubt upon this point, for, as he reads the narrative, Fivhien Avas here on the eastern bank of the Indus, and only crosses to the western bank, as described in the chapter immediately following. The travellers now went on to the south-west for fifteen days, at the foot of the mountains, and following their range. " The way," says Fa-hien, " was difficult and rugged, running along a bank exceedingly precipitous, which rose up there, a hill-like wall of rock 10,000 cubits from the base. When one approached the edge of it, his eyes became unsteady, and if he wished to go forward in the same direction there was no place on which he could place his foot, and beneath were the waters of the river called the Indus. In former times men had chiselled paths along the rocks, and distributed ladders on the face of them, to the number altogether of 700, at the bottom of which there was a suspension bridge of ropes, by which the river was crossed, its banks being there 80 paces apart." General Cunningham's description of the course of the Indus in these parts is in striking accordance with our pilgrim's account. " From Skardo to Rongdo," he says, " and from Rongdo to Makpou-i-Shang-rong, for upwards of 100 miles, the Indus sweeps sullen and dark through a mighty gorge in the mountains, which, for wild sublimity, is perhaps unequalled. . . . Between these points the Indus raves from side to side of the gloomy chasm, foaming and chafing with ungovernable fury. Yet even in these inaccessible places has daring and ingenious man triumphed over opposing nature. The yawning abyss is spanned by frail rope bridges, and the narrow ledges of rocks are con- nected by ladders, to form a giddy pathway overhanging the seething caldron below."
The point where our pilgrims crossed from the left to the right, or Afghan bank of the Indus, must have been upwards of sixty miles above Attok, for at that distance above the great ferry, the river escapes from the mountain gorges, where suspension bridges are required for crossing it. On gaining the other side, they immediately came to the kingdom of Woo-Chang, the Udya,na of Sanskrit writers — a name by which they designated that region lying between the Indus and the river Swat, or Sweti, which is now inhabited by the warlike tribes of the Yuzofzais. It was called Udya,na, that is, " The Park," on account of the rich verdure and fertility of its valleys. It was a flourishing seat of Buddhism in Fa-hien's time. It contained, he says, 500 monasteries, the monks of which were attached to the system called the Little Vehicle, that is, the Canon of the Southern Buddhists (promulgated by Asoka, 244 B.C.), in contradistinction to the Great Vehicle, or the Canon of the North, which was followed in Tibet and China, and was of later origin. The people assimilated not only in their religion, but also in language, dress, and diet to the people of Middle India. They have a tradition that when
1 Legge, in his note, gives the position as lat. 30° 11' N., long. 73° 54' E., but 30° must surely be a mistake for 36'.
28 fa-hien's travels in india.
Buddha came to North India, he visited their country, and left behind him a print of his foot, which is long or short according to the ideas of the beholder on the subject. They show also the rock on which he dried his clothes, and the place where he converted the wicked dragon. A century after Fa-hien's visit, the Buddhism of Udyana was suppressed by a fierce persecution, in which the blood of its priests was shed like water, and the monasteries which lined the banks of the Swat were laid in ruins. In this favoured country the pilgrims kept the summer retreat, and, when that was over, descended south till they arrived in the district of Soo- ho-to, which is perhaps the part of Udyana called Swastene, along the lower course of the Swat River, which is the Sou-astos of the classical writers.
Proceeding eastward from this for five days, they came to the coimtry of Kin-to-wai, the place where Dharma-vivardhana, the son of Asoka, ruled, and where consequently the people were for the most part adherents of the hinayana or "Little Vehicle." Kin-to-wai, or rather Kin-to-lo, stripped of its Chinese disguise, reveals to us Gandhara, a name of old renown, mentioned in the Vedic hymns, and familiar to readers of Herodotus, who includes its people along with three others in the seventh satrapy of Darius. It extended eastward as far as the Indus, and west- ward as far as Jalalabad. "Within its limits," as Cunningham observes, " stood several: of the most renowned places of ancient India, some celebrated in the stirring history of Alexander's exploits, and others famous in the miraculous legends of Buddha, and in the subsequent history of Buddhism, under the Indo-Skythian prince, Kanishka.
On leaving Gandhara, Fa-hien, after joui'neying eastward for seven days, reached the kingdom of Takshasila, the name of which, when inter- preted, means, he says, " the severed head," and has reference to Buddha's act of almsgiving, when he gave away his very head to a man out of pure charit}-. The word, however, means "hewn rock," and the city may perhaps have got its name from its having been built of sto*ie instead of brick or mud, like most Indian towns. Cunningham identifies this place with the Taxila of the Greeks, which, in Alexander's time, was a great and flourishing capital, situated between the Indus and the Hydaspes — now the Jhelam. If he is correct in this, then our pilgrim must have re- crossed the Indus in order to reach it, but he does not appear to have done so till he had visited several additional places of interest which lay to westward of the I'iver. Dr. Legge is inclined to solve the difficulty by supposing that there was a Takshasila on each side of the Indus ; but this is to cut, not to untie the Gordian knot. The pilgrims travelled for two days longer to eastward, and reached the place where Buddha threw down his body to feed a starving tigress, and where also there were splendid topes — that is, pagodas ^ — to which the devout came with their offerings in an incessant stream from all the surrounding country.
1 A tope is a dome-shaped tumulus erected over sacred relics of Buddha, or ou spots con- secrated as the scenes of his acts. The word represents the Sanskrit stujia, of which the Pali form ihupa appears in Chinese as Vah or Vap.
FA-HIEN's travels in INDIA. 29
The next place to be visited was Purushapura, a kingdom Avliich lay southward from Gandhara, at the distance of four days' journey. The name under which it is now known is PeshaAvar, our frontier station beyond the Indus. Fa-hien found it adorned with a pagoda which had been built by Kanishka, and which he declares to have surpassed in solemn beauty and majestic grandeur all the topes and temples which he saw in the course of his journeyings. In this country was preserved one of the most precious relics of Buddha — his alms-bowl — about which many legends were cur- rent. It was kept in a tope, to which a monastery of 700 priests was attached, and was publicly exhibited twice a day ; once before the mid- day meal, and again in the evening, at the time of incense. Every one cast into it an offering of flowers. Those oifered by a poor person, how- ever few, filled it, we are told, far more readily than the many which the rich cast in out of their abundance.
At this place, Fa-hien's companions all left him. Some had gone forward in advance, some had started to return to China, and one came to his end in the monastery of Buddha's alms-bowl. He there- upon resumed the staff of pilgrimage, and went forward alone to the place of the flat-bone of Buddha's skull, which was deposited in a vihara (shrine),^ in the city of He-lo, the present Hidda, which lies west from Peshawar, and 5 miles south from Jalalabad. This relic was held in extreme veneration, and was guarded with the most jealous care. Every morning it was exhibited to the gaze of adoring multitudes, Avhose homage was expressed by offerings of flowers and incense. The precincts, how- ever, of this holy shrine Avere, like the temple at Jerusalem in the days of our Lord, profaned with traffic ; for, as the pilgrim tells us, in front of the door of the vihara there are parties who every morning sell flowers and incense, and those who wish to make offerings buy some of every kind.
The next halting-place Avas only a feAV miles distant from Hidda. This was Nanghenhar, the Nagara-hara of Sanskrit AA-riters, and the Na-kie-lo-ho of Hiouen-Thsang. It Avas called also Udyanapura — that is, " the City of Gardens ; " and this name the Greeks, from some resem- blance in the sound, translated into Dionysopolis — that is, the " City of the AVine-God." It Avas the capital of the kingdom of Nagara — a small territory extending along the southern bank of the Kabul river, from the neigh- bourhood of Jagdalak, as far eastward as the Khaiber Pass. Its site was first indicated by Masson, and afterAvards Avas precisely determined by Mr. Simpson, who, when resident for some months, during the late Afghan AA-ar, in Jalalabad, took the opportunity of investigating the antiquities of its neighbourhood. He states that at the distance of 4 or 5 miles Avest from Jalalabad, he found numerous remains of AA'hat must haA^e been an ancient city lying along the right bank of the Surkhab, a small tributary of the Kabul river. As the natives on the spot applied to the ruins such
1 A vihara is the resideuce of a recluse or priest, and sometimes used as a shrine or temple. The province of Behar was so called from the great number of its viharas.
30 FA-HIEN'S travels in INDIA.
names as "Nagrak," "Nagarat," or " Nagara," and as their situation corresponded in all respects with the description of the position of the old city in Hionen-Thsang, no doubt could remain of the correctness of the identification.
About three miles south from these ruins, is the celebrated rock- cavern in which Buddha left his shadow. " Looking," says our pilgrim, " at this cavern from a distance of more than ten paces, you seem to see Buddha's real form, Avith his complexion of gold, and his charac- teristic marks in their nicety, clearly and brightly displayed. The nearer you approach, however, the fainter it becomes, as if it were only in your fancy. When the kings from the regions all around have sent skilful artists to take a copy, none of them have been able to do so. Amono- the people of the country there is a saying current that 'the thousand Buddhas must all leave their shadows here.' " Fa-hien at this place rejoined two of his companions, who had pushed on thither, a con- siderable time before him ; and along with these, in the third month of winter, he proceeded southward, crossing the Little Snowy Mountains, probably with a view to gain the Kohat Pass. Li the course of this trying journey, an incident occurred Avhich Fa-hien records with a sim- plicity and pathos almost scriptural: "On the north side," he says, "of the mountains,- in the shade, they suddenly encountered a cold wind, which made them shiver and become unable to speak. Hwuy-King could not go any further. A white froth came from his mouth, and he said to Fa-hien, ' I cannot live any longer. Do you immediately go away, that we do not all die here ; ' and Avith these words he died. Fa-hien stroked the corpse, and cried out piteously, ' Our original plan has failed ; it is fate. What can we do ?' He then once more gathered up his strength, and pressed forward on his Avay."
Having succeeded in crossing, with the companion still left him, to the south of the range, he arrived in the kingdom of Lo-e or Rohi. This is a name of Afghanistan, but of course only a portion of it can be here intended. Here the pilgrims stayed for the summer retreat, and, this being over, they Avent on to the south for ten days, and reached the kingdom of Poh-na (that is, the district noAV called Bannu), where there Avere more than 3000 monks, all adherents of the southern form of Buddhism.
A journey of three days from Bannu brought them to the Indus, which they again crossed, but now at a place where the country on each side Avas low and level. When the people on the side to Avhich they had crossed saw their fellow-disciples from T'sin (China) passing along, they were moved, says Fa-hien, with great pity and sympathy, and expressed themselves thus: "How is it that these men, from a border country, should have learned to become monks, and come for the sake of our doctrines from such a distance in search of the laAv of Buddha ? " They accordingly supplied all the Avants of the strangers, and treated them in accordance with the rules of the laAv. Fa-hien gives no details of his journey
FA-HIEN'S travels in INDIA. 31
through the Panjab, and the regions watered by the Jumna, until he reached the great city on the banks of that river, Ma-t'jxou-lo, that is Mathura or Muttra,^ so famous as being the birthplace of Krishna, and the scene of his adventures with the milkmaids. All the country south from this is, he says, named the Middle Kingdom. His description of this part of India, and his impressions regarding the character and condi- tion of its inhabitants, are, in the main, in agreement with the accounts given seven centuries earlier by Megasthenes. " In the Middle Kingdom," he says, "the cold and heat are finely tempered, and there is neither hoar-frost nor snow. The people are numerous and happy ; they have not to register their households, or attend to any magistrates and their rules, only those who cultivate the royal land have to pay a portion of the gain from it. If they want to go they go, if they want to stay on they stay. The king governs without decapitation or other corporal punishments. Criminals are simply fined. Even in cases of repeated attempts at wicked rebellion, they only have their right hands cut off. Throughout the whole country the people do not kill any living creature, nor drink intoxicating liquor, nor eat onions or garlic. The only exception is that of the Chandalas.- That is the name for Avicked men who live apart from others. ... In that country they do not keep j^igs and fowls, and do not sell live cattle ; in the markets there are no butchers' shops, and no dealers in intoxicating drink. In buying and selling commodities they use cowries (shells). Only the Chandalas are fishermen and hunters, and sell flesh-meat." He then refers to a custom which prevailed in the country, both long before and long after his time. The potentates of India, like those of Europe in the Middle Ages, were in the habit of making grants of lauds, houses, and gardens for the main- tenance of monastic establishments, in order that the monks might be able, without let or hindrance, to attend to the duties of their calling, which, as specified by Fivhien, were to perform acts of meritorious virtue, to recite their Scriptures, to sit wrapt in meditation, and to receive and entertain stranger monks in every respect as the law directed. The deeds of gift conveying these grants were generally inscribed on plates of metal. Not a few of such plates have, in recent times, been discovered and deciphered, and scholars have found them useful chiefly in throwing light upon questions of Indian chronology, a subject Avhich the Sanskrit writers neglected as much as history itself.
From Muttra the pilgrims proceeded south-east for 18 yojanas,^ and found themselves in a kingdom called Sankasya, the name of which still remains in Samkassam, a village 45 miles north-west of
1 It is the Modoiira of Ptolemy, who calls it the "City of the Gods."
- Chandala is the generic name for a man of the lowest and most despised of the mixed
tribes, born from a Sudra father and a Brahman mother.
^ The yojana is an Indian measure of distance, varying like the Persian parasang, or the
mile in some parts of Scotland, iu respect of the lengtli which it indicates, from 4 or 5 to &
or 9 English miles. In Fa-hien it is about 7 miles.
32 FA-HIEN'S TRAVELS IX INDIA.
Canouj. This is the place where Buddha is said to have come down to earth, after having been in heaven for three months, preaching his law for the benefit of his mother, who had died seven days after his birth. At one of the Sankasya topes there were about a thousand monks and nuns, who all received their food from a common store, and were adherents, some of the Great, and some of the Little Vehicle. Fa-hien remarks that the country here was very productive, and that the people were beyond comparison prosperous and happy. The next halting-place was Canouj — a city of great celebrity in early Indian history, situated on the banks of the Kalinadi, a branch of the river Ganges. Its name is a contracted form of Kanya-Kubja, a Sanskrit compound, which means the city of the hump-backed maidens, and has reference to a legend concerning the hundred daughters of one of its kings, who were made deformed under the curse of a rishi, whose overtures they rejected. Here Buddha was said to have preached on such themes as the bitterness and vanitA', the impennanency and the uncer- tainty of life, and the nature of the body, which he compared to a bubble or foam on the water.
On leaving Canouj, the pilgrims came successively to A-le (which has not been clearly identified), then to the kingdom of Sha-khe, that is, Sakef, the Sagoda of Ptolemy, and then to Sravasti in Kosala — the pristine kingdom of the Solar race. The city has long since vanished, but the ruins of it have been discovered on the south bank of the river Eapti, about fifty-eight miles to the north of Ayodya or Oude, i.e. of Faizabad. In one of the suburbs of Sravasti was the vihcira of Jetavana, celebrated for the beauty of the gardens by which it was sur- rounded, and held especially sacred as having been for twenty-five years the residence of Sakya-muni himself, after he had obtained the Buddha- ship, that is, enlightenment or j^erfect wisdom. This vihara, which con- sisted originally of seven stories, continually attracted to it the kings and people of the countries around, who vied with each other in their oflPerings, which consisted of flags, canopies, flowers, incense, and lamps, which by their multitude made the night as bright as day. The pilgrim mentions several places in this neighl)Ourhood which he visited, as being famous in the history of Buddha and his immediate disciples. He then came to Buddha's birthplace, the city of Kapilavastu. " Here," he says, " there was neither king nor people. All was mound and desolation — of inhabi- tants there were only some monks, and a score or two of families of the common people. The country is a great scene of empty desolation. The inhabitants are few and far between. On the roads people have to be on their guard against white elephants and lions,^ and should not travel incautiously." The site of Kapilavastu, which was destroyed in Buddha's lifetime, is a short distance north-west of Goruckpore, latitude 26^ 46' N., longitude 83° 19' E.
1 He does not say that lie saw these animals, otherwise his veracity might be called in question.
FA-HIENS TRAVELS IX INDIA. 33
On leaving it the pilgrims journe^-ed eastward, and after halt- ing at Rama or Ramagrama, and other two places with noted topes, reached the Medina of Buddhism, Kusanagara, "on the north of which, between two trees, on the banks of the Nairanjana River, is the place where the AVorld-honoured One, with his head to the north, attained to Pari-nirvana, and died." They found the inhabitants of the city to be but few and far between, and to consist only of the families belonging to the difterent societies of monks. The ruins of Kusanagara are still extant, near Kusiah, one hundred and eighty miles north-west from Patna, and eighty miles due east of Kapilavastu. On leaving this place, and travelling twenty-two yojanas to the south-east, the pilgrims reached the kingdom of ^' aisali, the Passala of Ptolemy, in the capital of which the second great council of Buddhism had been held. This kingdom, which was of no great extent, stretched northward from the Ganges, along the banks of the river Gandak. Its capital, called also Vaisali, was situated at some distance from Hajipur, a station near the junction of these two rivers, and distant about twenty miles from Patna, which is reached by crossing the Ganges. The pilgrims, having crossed the river, and descended south for a yojana, came to the town of Palin-fou, that is Pataliputra, now Patna. " This," says Fa-hien, " is the city where Asoka resided, who reigned over the kingdom of Magadha. The royal palace and hall in the midst of the city, which exist now as of old, were all made by genie Avhich he employed, and which piled up the stones, reared the walls and gates, and executed the elegant carving and inlaid sculpture-work, in a way which no human hands of this world could accomplish." From this, and the rest of his description of the place, Pataliputra "would appear to have been the most important and most magnificent of all the cities which he saAv in India. He speaks with admiration of its monasteries, temples, topes, hospitals, and schools of learning, and describes the inhabitants as rich and prosperous, as striving to outvie each other in the practice of benevolence and righteousness, and as living together in peace and harmony, though professing differing creeds — some being Brahmans, and others Buddhists, both of the Great and the Little Vehicle. The prosperity of the city was no doubt OAving mainly to its advantageous situation at the conflu- ence of the two great rivers, the Ganges and the Son,^ which made it a great centre of commerce. Fa-hien's account of the greatness and splendour of the city, shows that it had undergone no deterioration in these respects since the days of Megasthenes, whose description of it we may here cpiote : "Palibothra is in length 80 stadia (10 miles), and in breadth 15 (2 miles nearly). It is in the shape of a parallelogram, sur- rounded by a wooden wall, pierced Avith openings, through which arroAvs may be discharged. This wall has 570 gates and 64 towers. In front is a ditch, 600 feet in AA^idth, and 45 in depth, which serves the purpose of
1 The Son, with the capi-ice for which Indian rivers are notable, has changed its former course, and now joins the Ganges 16 miles above Patna.
VOL. III. C
34 fa-hien's travels in india.
defence and of a sewer for the city." In another passage he ascribes the foundation of it to Hercules, "who built therein," he says, "many sumptuous palaces, and settled within its walls a numerous poimlation." Though the greatest of the Gangetic cities of those days, it was by no means the most ancient, as it was not founded till after Buddha's death, the date of which is 543 B.C. It was visited by Hiouen-Thsang, about 230 years later than by our pilgrim. By that time all its glory had departed, we know not how, and it had shrunk from the dimensions of a great metropolis to those of a paltry village ; for Hioiien-Thsang saw upon its site nothing but heaps of ruins, and some two or three hundred houses of the meanest description. But even the ruins which he saw have long since disappeared. They lie buried to the depth of more than a dozen feet below the foundations of the modern city of Patna,i which is, perhaps as large and populous as its predecessor, but far from being distinguished, as it was, for the superhuman magnificence of its architecture.
The country extending southward from Pataliputra to the city of Gaya, Avhich is about 60 miles distant, may be regarded as the Holy Land of Buddhism. Here its great founder had spent not a few years of his life; had wandered over its hills, and by the margin of its streams ; had sat upon its rocks, and under the shade of its trees ; hud meditated in its caves, and amid the depths of its forests ; and here — all the while teaching and preaching his law, making converts, and working miracles without number — he had, after practising with himself the most painful austerities, and resisting the strongest temptations, finally attained to perfect wisdom. At the various places which he had consecrated by his presence, commemorative topes had been reared, and monasteries founded, which even to the present day are resorted to by throngs of pilgrims. Fa-hien, as might be expected, visited all these notable localities, and never fails to recount the legends connected with them, at which, however extreme may have been their absurdity, his faith never staggered. He returned from Gaya to Patali- putra, whence he proceeded westward along the course of the Ganges, till he came to the city of Varanasi, in the kingdom of Kasi. Varanasi is the modern Benares, well known as the holiest seat in all India of Bralimanism. From Benares, he returned to Pataliputra, where he remained for three years, occupied in the manner which has already been noticed. From this he proceeded, now left w^ithout a companion, along the course of the Ganges to Tamalipti or Tamluk, which was then the greatest emporium of commerce in the Gangetic Delta. From Tamluk he proceeded by sea to Ceylon, as has been already stated, and it does not fall within our purpose to trace the pilgrim's progress any further. We shall conclude by quoting the well-deserved eulogium written regarding these Chinese pilgrims by Mr Beal : " Never did more devoted pilgrims leave their native country
1 Atout ten years ago, wlien a tank was being dng in Patna, a portion of the wooden wall, mouths of wells, and fragments of earthen vessels, were discovered at a depth cf some 12 or 15 feet below the surface.
FA-HIEN'S travels in INDIA. 35
to encounter the perils of travel in foreign and distant lands ; never did disciples more ardently desire to gaze on the sacred vestiges of their religion ; never did men endure greater sufferings by desert, mountain, and sea, than those simple-minded, earnest Buddhist priests."
NOTES ON PLACE-NAMES OF lONA.
[The Paper in our August number on The Place-Names of lona, by Mr. Alexander Car- niichael, having attracted considerable attention, was submitted to the eminent scholar and ethnologipt, Mr. Hector Maclean, who contributes the following valuable Notes.]
Aoi, s. f., a place, a region, a country, an island. — (O'Beillij.)
Aoi, a place, a region, an island. — (M'Leod and Dcicar.)
"Hi, nom. pr. lova, commonly called lona; the adj. means 'low.'"— Stokes' Goidelica. " Columcille 7 Drostan mac cosgreg adalta tangator ahi marroalseg dia doib gonic abbordoboir," " Columcille and Drostan, son of Cosgrach, his pupil, came from Hi (lona), as God had shown to them, unto Aberdour." Quoted from the Book of Deir in Stokes' Goidelica, p. 108.
"I, iseal, low." Irish-English Dictionary in Llwyd's Archceologia Britannica.
In Adamnan's Vita Columhce, the name for lona is loua and Insula loua. Formerly there was no difference made in Latin between the u vowel and the u consonant, so the name was written since Adamnan's time lova. The Latin v Avas anciently pronounced w; therefore the word might be written Iowa, pronounced Eeowa. As our language, as well as other languages, has changed very much in twelve centuries, the change from loua to Aoi, and even to I, is not very considerable. Com- pare old Claelic aoi, a sheep, and the Latin ov'is, having the same meaning-. The n of lona has evidently replaced m by a misprint, and it has been retained because lona is a more euphonious name. Such is also the case with Hebrides, which was at first a misprint for Hebudes. It is amusing to find names improved by blunders.
The oldest Gaelic form of Calum Cille is Columb Cille, which shows clearly that the first part of the name is derived from the Latin columba ; whence Gaelic colum, a dove, and its diminitive colman or caiman, a little or young dove, which now means dove in general. Amra Cholidmb Chille is the title of a poem composed to St. Columba after his death, by Dalian Forgaill, who was the saint's contemporary, but survived him. Cill is shown also by Celtic scholars to be derived from the Latin cella. It is surprising that a word of Latin origin, caiman, has superseded all the vernacular names for dove ; no doubt this is to be ascribed to the venera- tion in which St. Columba was held by the Gaels, Feardn, a quoist or ringdove, Feardn-hreac, a turtle. — LI. Ar. Br.
loua is a feminine adjective derived from an original lou. The form
36 NOTES ON PLACE-NAMES OF lONA.
Hii, found in various writers, suggests a Gaelic form Haoi — the first i like / in sit, and the second like ee in feet ; and as this form is used by Bede, he would likely rej^resent the sound of oo by the short English sound of /, and the second by the longer sound, which in Bede's time was equivalent toee; also li, and Hii are found in the Saxon ChronicJe. There would be in the olden times, as now, different pronunciations of the same word corresponding to different localities ; I is but an attenuated form of Aoi. Insula loua may be translated into the Gaelic Ims Aoidheach, and lona is occasionally called Eilean I.
" Ai, a region, tract, country, territory, patrimony, inheritance." — ((JBcUhj.)
" Ai, a region, territory." — {M'Leod and Deicar.)
UiDH, a ford, the part of a stream which leaves a lake before break- ing into a current. All these preceding words appear to be cognate. Aoi, denoting an isthmus joining a peninsula to its mainland, would seem to be the primitive meaning. By extension of meaning it would apply to both the peninsula and the mainland tract connected by it, and then it would come to signify region, district, or country. "When such a tract would come into the possession of one lord, then the word would come to mean inheritance. A low isthmus is analogous to a short shallow sound, and so is the sheet of water, vidh, that joins the lake to the stream. Tairbeart — although boats were drawn across necks of land so called — has nothing to do with hata. The word is derived from tar, across, and heir, to bear; that which crosses over between two portions of land. It is really more connected with the passenger that crosses by land from the one district to the other, than with the hauling across of boats. Gaol I is evidently Gaol Aoi, and has either succeeded an Aoi, or has been so called analogically. Inis-Cat is an interesting name. ^ Without assiiming that these isles were at one time connected with the mainland and the centre of an extensive country, how is it possible to account for the huge cairn on the side of a hill in Xorth Uist, and of the vast monolithic remains in Lewis 1 Cafaibh, not Cataobh or Gat-thaobh. Gataibh is the locative plural of Gatach, and signifies in Ihe Cattakh or Catti. Gallaobh is properly Gallaibh, the locative plural of Gall, a "foreign settler," and signifies " in Gaill, or Foreign settlers." The locative of a people's name was used by the old Gaels for the territory inhabited by the people. Ulaidh, Ulster, is the name of a people in the nominative plural ; the genitive plural is Uladh, and the locative plural is Ultaibh, " in Ultonians." " In Leinster " is, in old Gaelic, in Laignibh, in Lagenians ; the nominative plural is Laighin, the genitive of which is Laighean. Gonnaught is Conmichta, which means descendants of Gonn ; the locative is Connachtaibh ; " in Connaught " is expressed by in Connachtaibh, in Gon- nacians. So three of the Irish provinces have derived their names from the names of the peoples that inhabited them. There is no pure Gaelic
1 Inis is older and better spelling than Innia. luuis njeans to tell.
NOTES ON PLACE-NAMES OF ION A. 37
Ills any more than there is a pure Gaelic aig ; both suffixes are modifica- tions of the Norse vie and ness. Some scholars derive even the first part of Caithness from a Norse word, but I am disposed to believe that it is the Pictish Cait, which comprehended both Sutherland and Caithness.
Faoghail — in M'Leod and Dewar's Diet. Faodhail, in which Gaothar occurs for gadhar : ao is always long, and the short sound corresponding to it is that of a in bagh, dragh, cladh, etc. The word might correctly be written faghail or fadhall. The short a in Sanskrit has the same sound. The name of Loch Foyle in Gaelic is Loch Feabhuil, 2:)ronounced foyall. (See Gaelic part of Dean of Lismore's Book, pp. 42, 43.) Feabhuil would seem to be composed of /o, "under," and bual, "water." Feabhuil, then, is equivalent to Fo-bhual, " under water." Now, when those fords ebb and dry, there is a stream below which does not dry, over which the kind natives sometimes carry strangers on their backs. No doulit Loch Foyle abounds in such streams. Feabhitil, then, would appear to be the proper spelling of Faodhail. Caip, foam, feminine, is more akin to the Irish coip, also feminine, than to the Scotch Gaelic cop, which is masculine.
Cladh-nan-druineach, more correctly Cladh nan Dndnneach, does not mean "burial-ground of the Druids," but "burial-ground of the artists."
Druinneach, an artist. — (Lluyd's Ar. Br.)
Druineach, an artist, embroiderer. Druin, needle-work, embroidery. — {ffFeilhj.)
In M'Leod and Dewar's Dictionary we find ^'■Druinneach, a Druid. More properly, Druidhneach." So here a word is coined to make illiterate confusion of druidh with druinneach I'ational. The Highland lexicographers of the eighteenth century preferred to follow their own whims rather than put themselves to the trouble of getting knowledge from Edward Lluyd's great work, to which they had easy access. Eeally we are in need of new Gaelic dictionaries, or else of new editions of those we have. There is an Eilean nan Druinneach on Loch Awe, where gravestone sculptors resided and carried on their work, and there are several place- names in Avhich this Avord is found. There are good grounds, therefore, for inferring that Cladh nan Druinneach in lona is the buryingground of gravestone sculptors residing there.
Knoc Aingil. — In Islay there is Cnoc AngaU, where fires were lighted to give light to vessels coming into Lochindaal in olden times. Angail, in this case, is a corruption of Aingil, genitive of aingeal, light. " Aingeal, sunshine, light." — (Ar. Br.) "Aingeal, fire, light, sunshine." — {CReilly.) The same definition is given ])y M'Leod and Dewar. Ainneal, a common fire, is seemingly derived from aingeal. Ain-i-solas=Ain, that is, light." — (O'Davoren's Old Irish Glossary.) Aingeal would appear to be formed from ain, light, and geal, clear or bright. So, in this respect, it signifies, literally, "bright light." Cnoc-na-nAingel, mentioned in the Introduction to Dr. Reeves's Life of St. Columba, and identified with Adamnan's Collicullus Angelorum, may have been, previous to the time of St. Columba, not the Hill of the Angels, but the Hill of the Bright
38 NOTES OX PLACE-NAMES OF lONA.
Lights or Fires. The cairn and the small circle "would not now be con- sidered Druidical, as in the time of Pennant. Snch circles are now ascer- tained to be ancient and pre-Christian burial-places. The name would likely have been converted to a Christian jmrpose by the followers of St. Columba by giving it another meaning. The ghosts of those buried in the mound resided there, and made themselves occasionaUi/ visible to the material eyes of those who yet dwell in material bodies ! The name Sithean liar tells that the pre-Christian superstition that still covers the whole of Siberia, Tartary, Thibet, and China has survived St. Columba and his followers. "The natives took their horses at the feast of St. Michael, and coursed round it," — no doubt to honour the dead buried there. Has the mound never been opened to see whether the bodies were cremated or not 1
The old form of Ulaidh is Ulaid, "Ulstermen."
"The meaning appears to be barbati, cf. ^\t. pula 'horripilation.' In Gaulish we seem to have it in the tribe name Tri-idatti, Plin. iii. 20, 24, where tri is an intensive prefix, and iibatti a mistake for idati (utdtl?)" Dr. JFliitley Stokes on the Celtic Declension, Transactions of the Philo- logical Society, 1885-6, p. 102.
From this note it appears that Ulaidh or Ulaid, Ultomans, signifies "Bearded Men." Gaelic Ula, a beard. — (JlPLeod and Dewar.)
PROCEEDINGS OF THE SCOTTISH GEOGEAPHICAL SOCIETY.
The Opening Meeting of the Dundee Branch of the Society was held in the Kinnaird Hall, on the 7th December 1886 — Principal Donaldson presiding. Dr. Robert W. Felkin delivered an address on "The Egyptian Equatorial Provinces, and the Relief of the Beleaguered Garrisons." After a vote of thanks had been passed to Dr. Felkin, Principal Peterson, the Convener of the Branch, proposed the following Resolution :— " That this meeting, having heard of the present position of Dr. Emin Bey in the Egyptian Equatorial Provinces, and the reasons which urgently call for his support, is of opinion that means should now be employed by Her Majesty's Government to fulfil the obligations under which they rest towards Dr. Emin Bey and his beleaguered garrisons ; and that the Chairman be requested to forward this Resolution to Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs." This Resolution, having been seconded by the Rev. Colin Campbell, was unanimously adopted by the meeting.
An Ordinary Meeting of the Society was held in the Freemasons' Hall, Edinburgh, on December 1st — Dr. George Smith, C.I.E., Member of Council, presiding. Prince Kropotkin delivered a lecture on "Siberia's Tablelands, Mountains, Plains, and Tundras," which will be published in a subsequent number of the Magazine. A vote of thanks was passed to Prince Kropotkin, on the motion of Mr. "Will. C. Smith, Advocate.
GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 39
GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
EUROPE.
Government Neglect of Science in Scotland. — The 104th sessiou of the Royal Society of Edinburgli was opened on 6th December by an address from Mr. John Murray, of the Challenger, one of the Vice-presidents. The address contained many points of great interest to other Societies in Scotland, and remarks upon Government endowment of geographical and meteorological research which it is desirable to make widely known. The following is a condensed report of the address : —
The membersliip of the Royal Society numbers 507, — about the strength of the Royal Society of London. The publications of the Society have increased in size and value, and those for the current session will include two special volumes of great importance, one on the Botany of Sokotra, the other containing a complete record of the Ben Nevis Meteorological Obser- vations. The valuable and ever-increasing library of the Society now con- tains 20,000 volumes, chiefly acquired by exchanges with other Societies at home and in all countries. The space at the Society's disposal is utterly inadequate for the jiroper arrangement of the library, and reference to many of the volumes is ditlicult, and to some impossible. The Council has laid before the Board of ALanufactures a statement of the strong claims of the library to increased accommodation wdien the removal of the Antiquarian Museum will ])rovide more space in the building. The value to an investigator of being able readily to consult the memoirs of other Societies, and so rapidly gain all existing information on the subject he is studying, cannot be over-estimated. To the existence and completeness of our library we owe the presence in Edinburgh of the office of the Challenger Commission, which has been the means of attracting many foreign savans to the city, and both directly and indirectly stimulating the public interest in many branches of science and exploration.
A Society like ours has a very special interest in seeing a truly complete national library established in Scotland, for to scientific and literary men such a library is the most important instrument of research. There is a great wealth of libraries in Edinburgh, but want of room and restrictions as to access make reference to the works in some of them — e.g. the Advocates' — a very irksome matter. There is a popular belief that the Advocates' Library contains every English book. As a matter of fact, it is very defective in the literature of some periods ; it lacks many important provincial publications, and is, of course, very deficient in Indian, Colonial, and American works, which are every year becoming more important. There are relatively few foreign works in the Advocates' Library, and were it not for the excellent series of foreign treatises in the University Library, Edinburgh would be very poorly supplied in this respect. If we wish to consult all the authorities who have described the ice of the Antarctic regions, we can only find some of the books in Edinburgh. If we w4sh to consult the original authorities who have described the desert of Sahara, we can find only one or two of them in the city, and gaps like these are not confined to scientific and geographical works. It would be well if there were some central Board in Edinburgh to prevent the unnecessary reduplication of books in difi'erent libraries, to suggest what works should be procured to complete deficiencies, and to facilitate access for purposes of scientific research to all libraries. This is in some cases so troublesome that books may be got more easily from some of the learned Societies in London than
40 GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
from Edinburgh libraries. When we reflect on the great sums spent by Govern- ment on libraries in London, and remember that, in addition to the cost of building and maintenance, about £18,000 has been spent during the past ten years on salaries and the purchase of books for the National Library in Dublin, then surely the claims of Scotland deserve some consideration.
Some time ago the Council of the Royal Society drew the attention of the Government to the fact that no bathymetrical survey of the Scottish fresh-water lochs existed, except those of Loch Lomond and Loch Awe ; urged the importance in many branches of scientific inquiry of knowing the depth and form of such basins as Lochs Morar, Maree, Lochy, Assynt, Tay, Ericht, with many others ; and expressed the hope that these surveys would be undertaken at an early date, and at all events before the completion of the Ordnance Survey of the country. The reply from the Treasury was that these surveys could not be sanctioned, because they did not come within the functions of the Board of Admiralty or of the Survey Department of the Office of Works. This matter was subsequently brought up in Parliament by Lord Balfour of Burleigh, but no steps seem to have been taken to carry out the survey. It may be hoped that this matter will not be allowed to drop. Quite recently, Mr. J. Y. Buchanan obtained a sounding of 180 fathoms in Loch Morar. This is the greatest depth that has hitherto been found on the plateau on which the British Islands are situated ; to get equal depths we must go towards the deep gut off the coast of Norway, or beyond the hundred-fathom line off the west of Ireland. There are also geological and biological problems of great interest in connection with the dej^ths of these lochs. Should these 'Surveys not be undertaken, a very important part of the survey of the L^nited Kingdom will be left untouched ; for it cannot be denied that it is at least as important — sometimes much more important — to know the depth of a lake as to know the height of an adjoining mountain.
The Council of the Royal Society has recently had before it the subject of Antarctic Exploration, and has drawn up and printed a number of suggestions as to the investigations which should be undertaken or attempted by such an expedition. The Antarctic Region appears to exert a controlling influence on atmospheric and oceanic circulation, and it presents interesting problems in almost every branch of science. No steam-vessel, protected for ice, has yet penetrated those seas, and although there will be some risk in endeavouring to pass the winter amongst the unknown severities of the southern ice, the attempt must be made, and the duty of making it lies more on Great Britain than on any other nation. If Great Britain is to maintain her position amongst the nations, she must explore the Antarctic, and it is to be hoped that the numerous learned Societies of the United Kingdom will before long press the matter on the attention of Her Majesty's Government.
During the past few years there has been great activity in the examination of the biological conditions of the coasts, lochs, and estuaries of Scotland. The Scottish Marine Station has nearly completed three years' observations on the Firth of Forth and one year's on the Firth of Clyde ; results of much interest to Meteorologists having been ascertained.
In the Ben Nevis Observatory the Fellows have a special interest, for the Observatory buildings and the road thereto are the property of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and the Society has in many ways assisted the work of the observers. Ben Nevis was selected as a site for the Observatory not only because it is the highest point in Great Britain, but because it stands in the very track of the prevailing south-westerly winds from the Atlantic, and it is so near the sea that a sea-level station, 4406 feet below the Observatory, is only four miles
GEOGKAPHICAL NOTES. 41
from the summit. Continuous observations every liour at the high level, and five times a day at the low level, have now been made ibr three years, and all the results are embodied in the forthcoming volume of the Transactions of the Royal Societi/. The climatic difficulties were great, but they have been successfully surmounted by the skill of the architect, Mr. Sydney Mitchell, who constructed the buildings, and by the endurance, and fertility and readiness of resource, dis- played by Mr. Omond and his stafi" of assistants in meeting emergencies as they arose. All the recorded readings from Ben Nevis are made by direct observation— not as in many, if not most, observatories, mainly by self-recording instruments ; and from the peculiar conditions of such a high-level station, it appears that the time will never come when such self-denying services as are now being rendered to science by Mr. Omond can be dispensed witli. High expectations were enter- tained as to the value of the Ben Nevis work, and in every way these have been more than realised. Amongst other things, the rate of decrease of temperature and of atmospheric pressure with height have been more correctly determined, important hygrometrical researches have been carried out, and information of great value for forecasting the weather has been obtained. The erection and maintenance of the Observatory have cost £7000, which was derived solely from private subscriptions and from learned Societies. The directors have to pay the Post-(_)ffice Department of Government £133 per annum as rental for the telegraph wire from Fort-William to the top of the mountain. The Post-Office has moreover received over i'lOO for tourists' messages transmitted by the observers, and the daily despatch of press messages is a considerable source of income to that department.
The annual Government Grant of £15,300 for meteorology is administered by the Meteorological Council, a committee of the Royal Society of London, and from it £100 is given to Ben Nevis — in return for a complete copy of all the observations, for the mere clerk-work of which the grant scarcely pays. All other assistance by Government has been refused ; and until Mr. Buchan's discussion of the meteorology of Ben Nevis is completed, the Meteorological Council decline to use the observations to aid in framing forecasts, nor will they assist the dis- cussion of the data by means of a grant. Some of the directors have more than once placed considerable sums in the bank to the credit of the Observatory, to enable the work to go on without a break. It has been resolved to make anotlier appeal to Government to grant aid to this unique enterprise of national import- ance. Money grants of considerable annual value are devoted to the maintenance of learned Societies in London and Dublin. In Scotland the only grant of the kind is £300 annually to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and this is repaid to a Government Department in the form of rent !
One might well ask what Scotland has done that her learned Societies and scientific men are treated so niggardly as compared with those in England and Ireland. It is sometimes said that in literary matters Scotland, and especially Edinburgh, is a mere shadow of her former self : but in science this is not the case, and it is towards scientific matters that the great ploughshare of human thought and activity is in this age directed, "I question," said Mr. Murray, "if any country in the w^orld, taking its size into consideration, can show a better record of scientific work or a greater mass of scientific literature than Scotland during the past ten or twenty years. The Council are strongly of oi)inion that a portion of the annual grant of £4000 should be administered in Scotland, and it is about to approach Government on this matter. Our Society claims the right to memorialise the Government on scientific aff"airs which it considers of national importance ; and in purely Scottish matters, it
4:2 GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
holds that its President and Council, and not the President and Council of the Roj'al Society of London, are the proper advisers.
" In the attempt which the Coirncil is now about to make, I would bespeak the co-operation and support of all Scotsmen who believe it to be for the honour and well-being of the country that our scientific institutions should not languish or our scientific men be discouraged, but that both should be urged to new advances and greater conquests."
The Clyde Sea-Area in December. — The physical conditions of the Clyde waters have been investigated by the Scottish Marine Station during the greater' part of last year. The sixth tour of the region, including Loch Lomond, was com- pleted by Mr. Murray and Dr. Mill on 31st ultimo. By means of more than forty serial temperature soundings, the distribution of warmth was ascertained, and some interesting conclusions may be drawn from the results. Considerable delay was caused, and plans had repeatedly to be changed, on account of the un- certain nature of the weather. There were very good samples of all kinds — clear, calm days, without a breath of wind ; thick fog; warm south-westerly gales, with a bright dry sky; and squalls of cold rain and sleet from the north-east — all in close succession. In consequence of these changes, surface temjierature was subject to considerable fluctuations ; but omitting the first two fathoms, the distribution of warmtli was probably not affected throughout the mass of water in any abnormal way. The mean temperature of the air for the hours of observation was 39°'0 F. with the dry-bulb, and 37°'8 with the wet-bulb thermometer.
Loch Lomond has been cooling rapidly since Xoveraber. The shallow Balloch Basin has fallen nearly 8°, the temperature on December 20th being 38°"3 at the surface and 39^'3 at the bottom. A few days later this part of the loch was covered with ice. The deeper Luss Basin had a uniform temperature through- out its 30 fathoms of 42°'5, a fall of 5°'5 in a month : and the very deep water (100 fathoms) of the Tarbet Basin, instead of decreasing- in temperature from 47'''3 at the surface to 41°'6 on the bottom, as it did in November, only varied from 42°'9 to 41°"9. On crossing the narrow isthmus at Tarbet to Loch Long, the great difference produced by free access of tidal water became apparent ; but it v>'ill be necessary in this note to deal generally with the sea-lochs and deep basins, not to describe each in detail.
The greatest amount of cooling had taken place in the shallow lochs and the open basins, where the temperatures were from 4° to 5° lower throughout the whole mass of water than they were in November. The cooling was, on the whole, slightly greater at the bottom than at the surface, the result being that the deep water is not now so much warmer than the superficial layers as it was a month ago. On the plateau, where the distribution of warmth is always nearly uni- form, it was 4° colder throughout,_;the temperature being now about 45°. The warmest water met with was, as usual, that in the Irish Channel ; where, in 40 fathoms, the surface and bottom temperatures were respectively 48"2 and 48°'5 on Christmas Day. The weather during November had been too rough to admit of observations being made there : but in September 54'7 was the average from surface to bottom.
The deep enclosed lochs were most interesting. In Loch Goil the bottom water at the deepest part is now warmer than it has been during the year ; in November it was 45° "7, in December 47° '6, an increase of almost 2°. It is not yet ascertained whether it is by conduction or by convection that the summer heat travels so slowly towards the bottom, while the upper layers are rapidly
GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 43
cooling by winter cold. Since the deep open basins have been, notwithstanding their much greater depth, falling in temperature for two months past throughout their entire extent, it is evident that the bar which shuts off the deep loch- troughs from communication with the outer waters is the proximati cause of the slower transmission of heat downwards. In the deepest part of Loch Fyne, off Strachur, the bottom temperature was 44°7 in December, in June it was 44°-2 ; and this change of half a degree is the whole effect of all the subsequent summer on that part of the loch. Since the temperature there was 41'"8 in April, a sudden descent of winter cold may be looked for within the next few months. It was impossible to extend observations to the head of Loch Fyne, because on December 30th a uniform sheet of ice, nearly half an inch thick, covered the entire loch from a point about three miles to the south-west of Dunderave onwards. The sound of the vessel crashing through this thin ice was most extraordinary ; and the sight of the uniform covering rising and falling on either side as the waves from the propellor swept under it gave a vivid idea of the elasticity of this substance, usually considered the very symbol of brittleness. Tliough thin, the ice was so sharp that it would have been dangerous to the Medusa's timbers to have forced her through it for any distance. The remark- able thing was that two inches beneath the ice the temperature was 36^ and six inches beneath it 41°, while on the bottom there was a higher temperature than had been there since last winter. The formation of ice was almost certainly due to the fresh water poured down by the rivers and mountain burns almost at the freezing point, and spread in a thin layer over the denser salt water.
The distribution of temperature in the Clyde sea-area is now that of uniform increase from surface to bottom, except in Loch Fyne and Loch Goil, where the maximum occurs before the bottom is reached, and where, consequenth^, the summer condition of decreasing temperature with increasing depth still con- tinues.
The complete series of observations made on the Clyde by the Scottish Marine Station are published in the last number of the Scottish Meteorological Society's Journal, and it is intended that such observations should be continued for at least another year.
Journey across Iceland. — Dr. Labonue writes from Akreyri, in the north of Iceland, 26th August 1886 :— "I have just crossed the island from south to north by the central desert or Sprengisandr, without taking either tent or provisions with me. I am certainly the first European who has by practical experience shown the possibility of this feat. On 14th July I ascended Hekla in splendid weather, and had the good fortune to get a clear view of a great part of the south of the island. I could also see distinctly Westmann Islands, at a distance of twenty leagues from the volcanic cone. Except for some small columns of steam rising from narrow fissures, there is nothing to suggest that the volcano is not extinct." Dr. Labonne estimates the height of Hekla (by barometric measurement) to be 5095 feet above sea-level. On the plain the temperature was 14° C. ; at the summit the thermometer sank to 8° C. He arrived at the Great Geyser on Saturday evening, July 17th, just in time to witness a magnificent eruption, which threw up its warm-water column to a height of 108 feet. The guide stated that during the past two years the out- bursts had been more frequent, and had shot up to a greater height. The traveller spent three days in the " smoking valley," investigating the problem of the former existence of vegetation in the island, for the Sagas speak of luxuriant vegetation and even of forests. On examining the silicious deposits formed
44 GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
around the basius of the geysers, he obtained, 16i feet below the surface, a hirge slab containing foliaged branches of Betula alba, Salix caprcea, and S. arctica. Considering that the geysers deposit their silicious ejecta at the rate of 2 millimetres a year, it must have taken the Great Geyser a period as long as at least the time that has elapsed since the discovery of the island, in 874, to deposit an accumulation 5 metres deep (I65 feet). Whenever the ice and ice- bergs collect together and remain stationary off the north coast of Iceland, as was the case in 1886, and vessels are unable to double North Cape, Continental Europe enjoys a hot summer, but Iceland a cold one. On the contrary, when the ice passes south between Greenland and Iceland, the climate of this last is one of temperate heat, whilst Scotland, and even the northern coasts of France, suffer much from Arctic winds. — Bull. Soc. de Geogr. de Paris, No. 16, 1886.
Population of Alsace. — The returns for Alsace of the census taken on the 1st of December last have been only just published. The total population was 1,074,626, being an increase of only 669 on the number five years before. There is an excess of 27,668 females, against a similar excess of 29,757 in 1880. The population of Strasburg was 111,987, being an increase of over 6000 within the five years ; Miihlhausen, 69,759 ; Colmar, 26,587 ; Gebweiler, 12,388. These last three towns are practically stationary. The population of Metz, exclusive of the garrison, was 54,072, being an increase of nearly 1000 within the five years.
A Survey ijf Russian Poland. — In Dr. Petermann's Mitteilungen for November 1886, we learn that the Imperial Russian Geographical Society is planning a comprehensive ethnographical and ethnological survey of Russian Poland. This province has hitherto been much neglected by Russian scientists, and is, according to Professor Petri, not even included in the great " Geographical Statistical Lexicon of the Russian Empire."
Construction of a Canal between the Volga and the Don. — In 1696 Peter the Great attempted to unite these two rivers, and trenches were actually dug. Before him Selim 11., son of Soliman the Magnificent, had attempted to do the same thing, when laying siege to Astrakhan about 1563. Since then various Russian engineers have drafted projects with the same end in view ; but their proposals have never come to anything. During the summer of 1885 a survey was under- taken by the French engineer, 21. L(^on Dru, on behalf of the Russian Govern- ment. Already more than 930 miles of the country stretching between the two rivers have been explored, and 2408 feet of borings have been made. The results already obtained are sufficient to prove the possibility of traversing the water- shed between the Don and the Volga. Locks would have to be constructed on the versants of both rivers. Referred to the standard of the Black Sea, the banks of the Don are as -1-39, and those of the Volga as 0"0. The course selected for the canal would be 53^ miles long, and renders feasible the creation of an inland port at Krivaya-Muzga, the terminus of the railway line from Griazi — a matter of first-rate importance for the traffic of the interior parts of Russia. The canal will be fed by reservoirs constructed along its course, each capable of holding from forty-five to fifty million cubic metres of water, as well as by mechanical lifting from the Volga ; but this last is not indispensably necessary. The trenches of Peter the Great were discovered 9 miles from Ivamichinka in a good state of preservation. At the present time more than 500,000 tons of goods pass annually between the two rivers by road and by rail. It is estimated that the canal would soon carry a trattic of 900,000 tons annually. Although
GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 45
the execution of the project is acknowledged to be fraught with great difficulties, yet it is decidedly a work of national importance. It will establish a water- way between the Baltic and White Sea on the one hand, and the Black Sea on the other ; also between the Caspian and the Black Sea, and so the Mediterranean Sea. By this means the traffic of Asia will get a new outlet, and an easy route will be opened for the transference of military stores, etc., by shipment from Sebastopol to the Caspian for operations in Turkistan. Then, the Don being brought into the general system of river navigation of the empire, torpedo boats can be readily transferred from sea to sea, or concentrated in any one of them, without having to circumnavigate three-quarters of Europe. — B^dl. Soc. de Ghirir. de Paris, No. 16, 1886.
ASIA.
Petroleum in the Caucasus.— 7'Ae Coming Deluge of Russian J'etro/enm and its Bearing on British Trade, is the title of a pamphlet lately written by Mr. Charles Marvin, and, although somewhat hysterically garnished, it is well worthy of the earnest and immediate attention of British traders. As has been well known for some time, enormous quantities of petroleum have been found with comparatively shallow borings at both the Black Sea and the Caspian ends of the Caucasus range.
At Baku, on the western shore of the Caspian, one well alone spouts out, from an orifice ten inches in diameter, 11,000 tons of petroleum pe?' diem, or more than all the other oil-wells of the world and the shale-oil factories of Scotland and New South Wales put together. This, too, it must be noted, is only one well in the midst of hundreds, and there is no sign of drying up. This Baku oil is i)ronounced by Mr. Redwood, chemist to the London Petroleum Association, to be in some respects superior to the best American refined petroleum.
The great desideratum for the Caspian oil is to get cheap transport for it to the Black Sea. To obtain this, it is proposed to construct a i^ipe 600 miles long from Baku to a point on the Black Sea. The cost of this pipe is estimated at about £2,000,000; and, as Mr. Marvin points out, the contracts for the con- struction, and for the various works in connection with it, are well worthy the attention of English capitalists.
In addition to the Caspian supply near Baku, there are enormous oil fields at Ilski, in the neighbourhood of Novo Rassisk, on the Black Sea ; and a pipe line 47 miles long, crossing a range of hills, already connects these places.
A most interesting Report, by Colonel C. E. Stewart, on all this oil district, is liublished as a Supplement to the London Chamber of Commerce Journal for November, and all who are interested in the subject should read both this Report and Mr Marvin's pamphlet. It seems impossible to exaggerate the capabilities of these oil fields when they are fairly set agoing. The question is, Who is to control the market — Englishmen or foreigners 1 Steamers are required to carry the oil in bulk, railways and plant for the opening districts, large engineering works, refineries, etc. ; and not only that, but improved petroleum stoves for household use. It is a question worthy the attention of shipbuilders, how far the waste products of petroleum may serve as a substitute for coal in ocean steamers.
We quote the following from Colonel Stewart's Report :—
" Astatki is the Russian name for the petroleum refuse after the benzene, gaso- lene, and solar oil have been distilled off' from the crude petroleum. This astatki, having lost its more volatile particles, has a very high flashing and burning point ; its flashing point varying, according to quality, from 316° to 322° F., or even
46 GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
higher, and its burning point being as high as from 416' to 422" F. It will thus be seen that astatki is not at all a dangerous fuel to carry in steamships for use in marine engines, and the advantages it possesses over coal are very great. Not only is astatki more cleanly than coal, but also it is much more easily stowed on board ship, and requires less room for its stowage than coal. It can be stowed in spaces that could not possibly be available for coal ; for instance, between the outer and inner bottom of the ship. There are no cinders or ashes remaining, the combustion being perfect. Where astatki is used, it does away with the necessity for a tire-crew beyond the number required for cleaning the machinery and regulating the steam. Any one who has watched stokers at work in the hold of a coal-burning ship in a hot climate would appreciate the advantages of doing away with all stoking. A vessel can take on board astatki at the rate of 100 tons an hour, as it is pumped on board through a pipe. At least 200 steamers on the Caspian Sea, the Volga river, and a few on the Black Sea burn astatki as fuel ; and three lines of railroad — the Zaritzin, Griazi — with its terminus on the Volga ; the Trans-Caucasus, from Baku to Batoum ; and the Trans-Caspian, from Michaelofsk to Merv — also burn astatki as fuel. A properly arranged astatki furnace is smokeless, and the fires require little or no attention after they have been once lighted."
Recent Pliysical Otoservations. — J/. Venukoff, writing to the Paris Geographical Society, says : Two important results have been added to our knowledge of Physical Geography, thanks to the investigations carried on last year in Asiatic Russia. J/T Xicolsky has found that the drying-up of Lake Balkhash — that is to say, the continuous decrease of its level— is going on at the rate of 1 metre every fourteen or fifteen years. The southern portion of this vast basin, known under the name of Ala-Kul, is gradually being transformed into a deposit of salt, precisely in the same manner as the Kara Bugas, which forms part of the Caspian Sea. The water there is extremely salt.
Another result, worthy the attention of geographers, is the relative height of the culminating point of the canal that quite recently united the river basins of the Obi and Yenisei. The altitude of this point, which is occupied by Lake Bolshoe, is 19 metres above the level of the Obi at its junction with the Kiti ; while it is 55 metres in regard to the altitude of the Yenisei at the mouth of the Bolshoe-Kas. As Lake Bolshoe is three times nearer the Yenisei than the Obi, it is evident that the eastern slope of the country traversed by the new navigable waterway is much more rapid than the western slope. But, in general, the three figures above given prove that the country between the two great rivers, the Obi and the Yenisei, under the 59tli parallel, is perfectly flat.
M. Potanin. — The St. Petersburg Oriental Review, of November 4th, says that M. Potanin returned safely on the 22d October to the Siberian frontier town of Kiachta, after an absence of three years, spent in the exploration of Mongolia and China. Throughout his long and difiicult journey, 21. Potanin was accom- panied by his wife. The expedition was undertaken by order and at the expense of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society ; and the Oriental Itevieiv says, " We expect the richest and most valuable results from the scientific exploration of China and Mongolia."
AFRICA.
On certain Altitudes in Morocco.— From 5th to 29th May 1S77, J/J/. Frangois and Desportes took twenty-five observations with an aneroid barometer at Fez,
(iEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 47
which gave a mean atmospheric pressure of 73(V56 millimetres ; the extremes were 724 and 735 mm. The altitude corresponding to this mean pressure may be estimated at 342 metres (1122 feet). M. de Foucauld, in July 1883, took, in the Jewish quarter, situated in the highest part of Old Fez, 100 observations, which gave an altitude of 400 metres (1312 feet). In 1885 M. Duveyrier took 129 observations in the low part of the New Town, from which the altitude was calculated to be 352 metres (1155 feet). With respect to the altitudes of the Atlas — in 1830 Washington measured from Morocco a peak which he called Miltsin, and found its height to be 11,401 feet above seadevel. On 14th October 21. de Foucauld crossed the Atlas by the well-known pass of Glawi, and determined its altitude at 8530 feet. The grand passes of the Alps — Simplon, Mt. Cenis, St. Gothard, St. Bernard — range in height from 6562 to 8202 feet ; and since the peaks of the Moroccan Atlas present contour lines very similar to those of the Alps and the Pyrenees, it may be fairly correct to say that in general the highest summits of the Atlas are about equal to those of the two European chains named. In vol. xii. of the Anmcaire de la Sociite MeUoroIogique^ M. E. Renou showed that the limits of perpetual snow fall at an altitude where the temperature of the warmest half of the year is equal to 0° C. In the centre of the Atlas Mountains this temperature at the sea-level is from 23° to 23° "5. Estimating a decrease of \° C. for every 165 metres (541 feet, of altitude in the warm season, this would prove that the limits of perpetual snow on the Atlas should fall at 12,468 feet. According to reports furnished to General Wimpfen, in April 1870, at Wady Guir, travellers crossing the plateau which separates the Ziz from the Guir, and proceeding from Guir to Tafilelt, saw mountains covered with snow at 124 miles distance. One can hardly assign a less altitude than 14,765 feet to these summits, the principal of which, accord- ing to 21. de Foucauld, lie in about 30° 30' N. lat., and 4° 39' W. long.— (J/, de Renou, Director of the Meteorological Observatory of the Pare de Saint-Maur. Paris, in Bull, de la Soc. Geogr. de Paris, No. 16, 1886).
M. Duveyrier. — Up to the present all attempts by Europeans to penetrate the Rif, to the north of Morocco, have failed, in consequence of the resistance offered by the native inhabitants. 2f. Duveyrier, the explorer of the Sahara, says UAfrique, has not been more fortunate than his predecessors ; he has been obliged to abandon the exploration he hoped to carry out this year. In each attempt he was baffled, but he has made a very exact sketch of his itinerary from the Algerian frontier to Melilla, which will be published by the Paris Geograjihical Society.
The French in Tunis. — According to Petermann's 2Iitteilunrien for November last. Dr. Fischer obtained, during his Tunisian journey in March 1886, a favour- able impression of the beneficial character of the French military occupation of Tunis. Dr. Fischer's notes appeared in the Kohiische Zeitung, Nos. 300-304 (1886), under the title Reiseskizzen aus Tunis. Dr. Fischer obtained evidence in Algeria, however, that the French are not well qualified to under- stand and influence foreign peoples. As regards Tunis, the French military stafi''s Geographical Bureau, under Colonel Perrier, has conferred a lasting favour by preparing and publishing an excellent map of Tunis ; and, in the eyes of geographers, the five years' occupation of Tunis by the French will have been well spent should this map remain the sole monument of their presence. True, the " Carte de la Tuuisie " may not be w^orthy of comparison with the military staff maps of European States, but the new map will be of immense utility to travellers, and marks a decided progress in our knowledge of Tunis.
48 GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
Dr. G. A. Fischer's attempt to relieve Dr. Jixnker. — On 3d August 1885 Dr. Fischer set out from Pangani, on the mainhxnd, opposite Zanzibar, to find out Dr. Junker, who since 1879 had been in the Equatorial Provinces of Africa. Dr. Fischer chose the route through Umbugwe in preference to the ordinary caravan route through Bagamoyo, or that through Masai-land. His first object was to reach Kagehe, on the southern shore of Lake Victoria Nyanza ; from there he hoped to carry his caravan across the lake to Uganda. The road along the west shore of Victoria Nj^anza was debarred to him, owing to the extortionate tribute exacted by a chieftain of Usinja. In the country of Ungu (Nguru), not far from the coast, there were no streams of running water ; water to drink had to be gathered from little pools or ponds. On reaching the border-line of the territory of the Masai, the character of the country underwent a total change. At a height of 2887 feet above sea-level, the hill and dale formation gave place to a gradually ascending flat (or nearly flat) plateau, covered with sparse vegeta- tion. The trees, mostly mimosas and acacias, presented a dwarfed and crippled appearance. There were no running streams ; and the only water that could be got was muddy and ill-smelling, and was contained in a few pools, partly drj\ The southern Masai did little to impede the progress of the expedition, and were moderate in their demands for tribute. Probably this was largely due to the fact that the warriors were absent on a raid in Umbugwe. In Usegua and Ungu — the regions passed through before reaching Masai-land— corn had been very scarce and diflicult to obtain, owing to the famine which had prevailed during the previous year (1884). In Masai-land a murrain was raging amongst the cattle, and consequently the tribe were very unwilling to sell their live stock ; but on reaching Irangi (52.50 feet above sea-level) Dr. Fischer found provisions not only plentiful but cheap. From Irangi he proposed to reach Usukuma by crossing the desert of Turu ; but being unable to procure a guide, and water being scarce along that route, he had to abandon the idea and make a detour to the south. At Uwerewere (4364 feet) Dr. Fischer came into Mr. Stanley's route. The country was still very arid, and water was only obtained with great difliculty. The predominant vegetable forms were acacias, mimosas, baobabs, and the African ash {Myoniho).
Proceeding northwards from Uwerewere the expedition entered the Usuri country. Here there was an abundance of negro corn (durrah) and leguminous fruits ; but a very high tribute was exacted, the country being subject to Unyanyembe. In order to reach the land of Usukuma they had to cross the steppe or savannah of the river Wembiire or Mairawa (Muaru), which lies apparently 325 feet lelou' the level of Victoria Nyanza. The whole of this district was arid in the extreme ; not a speck of green was to be seen any- where, except the euphorbia hedges surrounding the native villages. A dry east wind blew with great violence, whilst the sun's rays beat down upon the shelterless plain with unmitigated force. In Usukuma the tribute charges were again heavy. This arose from the political constitution of the people. The country is split up into a great number of nearly independent districts, through each of which a passage had to be bought ; but, on the other hand, provisions were cheap — a sheep or goat could be got for Ij yards of white cotton. In order to escape the exactions levied in Usmau, Dr. Fischer followed the course of the Simiu, which contains no running stream, but only scattered pools. Kagehe, on Victoria Nyanza, was reached on 16th November. There the traveller met with Mr. Stokes, of the English Mission, who advised him not to cross the lake into Uganda without first sending to inform the King of his intention. Accordingly he sent a deputation of two men, and awaited their return in
GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 49
Kagehe. It happened to be tlie rainy season, and 80 per cent, of the expeditior were soon prostrated with fever ; the natives of the part even suffered severely. On the 7th January the two men returned. They reported that the King (the Kabaka) had on 31st October massacred Bishop Hannington, together with all his followers, and that he would visit the like fate upon Dr. Fischer and his men. He was also warned not to approach any of the territories subject to Uganda, such as Usinja, Karagwe, Usoga. Nevertheless he resolved to try and skirt the eastern shore of the lake, though with little hope of being able to accomplish his mission.
North of Speke Gulf, in Shashi Land, they found the dry and in part treeless plains swarming with wild animals — zebras, gnus, pallahs {jEpyceros melamjnis, Alcelaphus lichtensteini), elands {Oreas derhianus), and Senegal antelopes {Damalis senegalensis), as well as the gazelle {Gazella granti) found by Speke in Ugogo. The people — good-natured agricultural and pastoral tribes, who suffer much from the Masai — willingly bartered provisions for white cotton stuffs, wire, and beads, also for spades manufactured in Usukuma. Beyond Shashi it was necessary to have a reliable guide, because the population is much mixed, there being numerous small stocks speaking different languages. The route lay through tall grasses devoid of trodden paths, which, with the streams flowing into the lake, made the march difficult. Then came the populous country of the Kavirondo or Wagaia, which stretches for nearly 70 miles along the eastern side of Victoria Nyanza. These districts are but little wooded ; close along the shore indeed they are without trees or undergrowth of any description. Here the dry season lasts six months or longer. Millet is the principal object of cultivation. Cattle are plentiful. Wire and beads (white and light blue) and cowrie shells are the coveted objects of barter ; stuffs are rejected with contempt. The people dwelling in the south of Kavirondo opposed the advance of the expedition, which only succeeded in reaching the borders of Kavirondo and Kosova at the third attempt. Kavirondo is joined on the north by the territory Njoro, the capital of which (IJkala ; Thomson's Kwa Sundu) is the rendezvous of tlie IMohammedan caravans. At this place the rains had failed to make their appearance — a frequent occurrence of late years— and the people were suffering from famine. Their cattle, too, had almost entirely perished of the murrain. Moreover, Dr. Fischer's supply of wire and beads was practically exhausted. Under these adverse circumstances he had no alternative except to turn eastwards towards Lake Mbaringo. The line of march led across two parallel ridges, separated by the little valley of the Londau. The ridge, or rather plateau, nearest Ul^ala is 7546 feet above sea-level, and possesses numerous brooks and patches of woodland ; that next lake Mbaringo, called the Kamassia Hills, has not quite the same elevation (6562 feet) and is of a waterless character. The same characteristic marks the entire Njemps part of the lake basin, and continues down the narrow depression leading to Lake Nakuro on the south. This was the route followed by Dr. Fischer, who then proceeded southwards as far as Lake Naivasha, where he struck eastwards across the Aberdare ^Mountains. The inhabitants of these mountainous districts, called the Kikuyu, evinced a thievish and quarrelsome disposition, but were very willing to barter their abundant supplies of provisions, such as durrah, millet meal, peas, beans, sweet potatoes, yams, bananas for coloured cotton stuffs. After considerable difficulties with the people, in which blood was shed, the expedition continued its way through a dense damp forest of bamboos, where a path had to be cut with the axe, and in which they ascended to a height of 8957 feet. At length, on descending to 3937 feet, the country assumed the arid, VOL. in. D
50 GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
sandy, monotonous appearance with which they were already sufficiently familiar ; and the same features characterised all the districts traversed till within about a dozen miles of the coast. The entire journey lasted ten months and a half, from 3d August 1S85 to 14th June 1886. — Petermann's Mitteilungen, 32 Band, sii.
Anglo-German Treaty : East Coast of Africa. — In reference to the recently concluded treaty between Great Britain and Germany, the Times Berlin correspondent, writing under date 11th December, says : — The Colorjne Gazette hears from a trustworthy source that the recent Conference in London with regard to East Africa has resulted in a complete agreement as to the frontiers of the Sultanate of Zanzibar, as well as in an understanding between England and Germany as to their respective spheres of interest in that part of the world, similar to the entente come to by these two States with reference to their purposes of annexation in West Africa, and in the South Sea.
As for the delimitation of the Sultan of Zanzibar's territory, the agreement come to assigns him only a striji of land, extending inwards ten geographical miles from the sea, and in length from the Portuguese frontier at Cape Delgado, in the south, to Kipini, and the mouth of the Ozi river in the north ; the Sultan promising to intrust German officials with the administration of customs at two specified ports on this coast-line. The object of this stipulation, it is said, is to secure the transit of German goods to and from the interior from possible chicaneries on the part of the Sultan's servants.
The Sultan of Yitu also, who has been a long time at feud with Zanzibar, but is now under the protection of Germany, is to receive a long-wished-for strip of coast, including the Manda Baj', which is well suited for a harbour ; and from this arrangement great advantages are expected by the German Yitu Company, which was recently founded under the presidency of Prince Hohenlohe-Langen- burg. To the northward of Kipini, the Sultan of Zanzibar has been allowed to retain several points in which he has long kept garrisons and levied customs. These places include Kismaju, where Dr. Jiihlke was recently murdered in a manner not yet clear. As for the delimitation of the respective spheres of interest of England and Germany in East Africi, the latter power is said to have received the immense territory stretching inland from near the mouth of the Rovuma river, and northwards to and including the Kilima-Xjaro Mountains, while England contents herself with reserving proprietary claims to the com- paratively small region extending north-east of these hills to the Tana river, with Mombasa as a main point of ingress and egress. The French Government is also said to have assented to this agreement, while the Sultan of Zanzibar, too, has declared that he can do nothing but submit to the restriction of his sovereignty to the narrow strip of coast which will now be all that remains to him of the huge tracts, extending as far as the Great Lakes, to which he formerly laid claim. A glance at the map of Africa will show what a vast field of colonial and commercial enterprise has now fallen to the Germans ; but it will be very long indeed, all the same, before the tide of emigration from the Fatherland sets towards the shores of East Africa.
Tlie Galla States south of Abyssinia. — In the tenth number of Petermann's Mitteihingen, 1886, there is an interesting account by Herr H. Wichmann on the Galla States to the south of Abyssinia, accompanied by a map on the scale of 1 : 4,000,000. The writer first gives an account of the difficulties which Italian explorers have encountered during the last ten years in their attempts to reach the sources of the Xile through the Galla States. Notwithstanding the-
GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 51
great enthusiasm and energy they have expended upon this object, they have, until now, been unsuccessful, partly on political grounds, and partly on account of the mistrust of the inhabitants. King Menilek of Shoa has at last conquered the small Galla States to the south of Abyssinia, and made them tril")utary, and ten formerly independent States have been added to his empire. Captain Cecchi and Engineer Gr. Chiarini have finally been able to penetrate as far as Kaffa. In this region travelling is now much safer and easier for European explorers, permission having only to be obtained from the King of Shoa, instead of, as was formerly the case, from each petty chieftain as well. It will now be possible for travellers to start from Shoa to explore the districts between the Indian Ocean and the sources of the Nile. We have to thank Captain Cecchi for this result, which is the outcome of his energy, and we have also to thank him for the first thorough exploration of the district as far as Kaffa.
The district to the west of Shoa, as far as Godsheb, is enclosed by a row of high table-lands, which are crossed in places by mountain ranges, and in others are cut through by valleys. In the east, these high table-lands are bounded by the Abyssinian Alps ; and we may take it for granted that there is no connec- tion between the Abyssinian mountains in the north and those in Masai- Land, as was once generally supposed to be the case. Cecchi thinks that the Arussi mountains, from 2800 to 3000 metres high, and running from the north-east to the south-west, have some connection with the Masai mountains, and he considers that they form the watershed between the Nile and the Indian Ocean. This, however, is doubtful, because their waters never flow towards the Nile. Some flow to the Hawash, but most join the Umo or Omo, and the Webi, whose westerly tributaries probably break through the watershed. Cecchi considers that this mountain range is a continuation of the Ittu mountains, which are situated to the west of Harar. The Arussi mountains were seen, from several points on his journey, and, judging from the form of their peaks, it is probable they are of volcanic origin.
The average height, in metres, of the diff'erent sections of the journey may be tabulated as follows : — Soddo Highlands, 2450 ; Kabiena, 2077 ; Gibie Valley,. 1623 ; Pass in Boloi Mountains, 2673 ; High Plains of Chora, 2200 ; Limmu, 1780 ; Jimma, 2044 ; Gera, 2070.
From the Blue Nile the j^lateau gradually falls towards the south ; the districts bordering on it have an average height of 2350 metres, but Langamara in the south is some 600 metres lower. After passing through the district in which the Gibie, Didesa, and Godsheb have their origin, there is again a small rise in the altitude of the country — Lieca and Limmu having an average height of 1700 nifcitres.
The geological formation of the country between Shoa and Kaflfa is volcanic. On most of the mountain peaks are craters, some of which are still in good preservation, others being hardly distinguishable. The best-preserved craters are found upon the Jerer, Redda-Gebabi, and Suquala. Between Hawash and Kafta the rocks are mostly basaltic, and in the districts of Chora and Arussi there are many signs of former volcanic outbursts. Along the whole route no metals were discovered.
The most important rivers are the Hawash, Didesa, Baro, Umo, and Godsheb. The Hawash encircles Shoa in a wide bend ; and in the east and south, the river forms the boundary between it and the Galla States ; it does not reach the sea, but is lost to the west of Tajurrah Bay. All the streams to the south of the Soddo plateau belong to the water-system of the Gibie. According to Cecchi, the Umo is not a tributary of the Nile — as some geographers have
52 GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
thought — but really forms the upper waters of the river Jub ; he believes that the Waira also belongs to the Jub river-system ; but it is more probable that it forms the upper waters of the Webi. The other two principal rivers in the Galla States belong to the Nile system. Cecchi also says that the Bare flows to the river Sobat.
The climatological conditions of the Galla States are not particularly good : ou account of the altitude, the climate is very moist. The rainy season is a long one, from June till November, and during the rest of the year, heavy rain-storms often occur. The land is very fertile, and, notwithstanding the damp climate, Cecchi is of opinion that, with due precaution, Europeans could live there for a considerable time, either as farmers or artisans. He thinks that the Galla people originally came from Arabia, and that they once belonged to the Beni- Asd tribe, but it is probable that ethnographists and philologists will hardly agree with him.
Barberton. — Several interesting particulars appear in a recent number of L'Afrique regarding this new town, which has sprung up in the Transvaal. A few months ago the centre of the Lydenberg district was inhabited only by lions, zebras, and antelopes, and known only to the Boer hunters ; now a town of 6000 or 7000 inhabitants stands there, with numerous shops, two banks, an Exchange, town-hall, several hotels, innumerable public-houses, steam saw-mills, a circus, a post-office, and — crowning mark of civilisation — a newspaper — the Barherton Herald. The townspeople flocked together from all parts of South Africa, on the fact becoming known that gold was abundant in the Kaap Valley. They named the settlement after Mr. Barber, one of the first to supply funds for the mineralogical exploration of the region. Barberton is situated on Queen's River, a rapid stream, in a valley 50 kilometres long and 40 wide, 800 metres above the sea, and surrounded on all sides by hills rising, in some cases, to an altitude of 2300 metres above sea-level. The valley is watered by several afiiuents of the Oliphant River. Although the climate is on the whole healthy, fever is not uncommon.
The stir and activity of the new town has had a most beneficial effect upon trade in the Ti'ansvaal generally, and upon the Government finances. In one month the taxes levied on imports of food and mining implements amounted to £5000 sterling. An agitation has been set on foot to detach the town from the district of Lydenberg, and furnish it with a special landrost and the right of representation in the Volksraad.
Gold is the one object of thought, talk, and work. Gold fever threatens to become epidemic in South Africa. Naturally, it rages in the town which it has created in the Transvaal, but Cape Colony is also aSected, mines having been discovered at Knysna, between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth ; and Griqualand East is similarly moved by the opening of gold mines at Kokstad and Natal. The immediate result is a brisk revival of trade ; the ultimate influence of the excitement remains for the future to reveal.
AMERICA. The Eskimo of Stupart Bay. — In the Proceedings of the Canadian Institute, Toronto, for November, is given a paper, by Mr. R. F. Stupart, on the Eskimo of Stupart Bay. Mr. Stupart lived for twelve months on the shores of Hudson Strait, took a cruise in the steamship Xeptune^ and made a boat voyage from Prince of Wales Sound to Fort Chimo. Mr. Stupart's work was in conjunction with the Canadian Hudson Bay Expedition of 1884 and 1885, which was to report on the feasibility of establishing a commercial route to Europe from the
C4E0GRAPHICAL NOTES. 55
Canadian North-West via Hudson Strait. Six observing stations were established on the shores of the Strait to watch the tidal currents, and to take meteorological and niagnetic observations.
The Hudson Bay Expedition. — The value of the results of the cruise of the Alert to exiilore the region of Hudson Bay, with a view to ascertain whether that sea afforded a practicable route for commerce between Manitoba and England, has been greatly lessened by Lieutenant A. R. Gordon, R.N., with- drawing his report for revision. This, it is said, is due to the arrival of Captain Markham, who was a member of the Alert expedition. The two officers evidently differ as to the value of the route for commercial purposes. Lieutenant Gordon's first officially published report stated that freight steamers could not make a passage before July, and that even after that date there would be delays more or less considerable in diff"erent years. What will the revised version be 1
Preventive Measures against Floods in Montreal. — The Ottawa correspondent of the Scotsman, writing on 6th December, states that Colonel Rhodes, the Vice-President of the Quebec Geographical Society, is strongly advocating a scheme for keeping the St. Lawrence River open for navigation during the Winter months, and, as a result, obviating the recurrence every Spring of disastrous floods in Montreal. His plan is to keep the St. Lawrence at Summer level by a central fracture of the ice in Lake St. Peter — a long, wide, and shallow reach of the river some thirty miles below Montreal — by means of a number of boats of sufficient power to cope witii the ice pressure. Sealing vessels of the class of the Alert, which was used in the Hudson Bay Expedition last Spring, would be well adapted for this purpose. Such vessels would be easily procurable during the Winter, before they start on their sealing expeditions to the Labrador and Newfoundland Coasts. Colonel Rhodes does not go so far as to say that ocean vessels could come up to Montreal in Winter, but local boats between Montreal, Quebec, and the lower provinces, specially constructed for the purpose, he believes could run all the year round — an example of what might be done existing in the Winter ferry-boat service at Quebec, it having been demonstrated by the boats used tliere that a passage can be kept open.
A Puritan Colony in Maryland, by Daniel Randall, B.A., is the subject of the fourth series of John Hopkins' University Studies in Historical and Political Science. Two columns of English settlers entered the New World in the seven- teenth century— the Puritans, who founded, controlled, and moulded the New England States, and the Cavaliers, who took possession of Virginia and other Southern States. The two columns marched for two centuries in almost parallel lines, but at last the principles which each represented culminated in the great fratricidal war which took place between the Northern and Southern United States. Whilst it was mainly the Cavalier stream which flowed south, there mingled with it almost imperceptibly a tiny rill of Puritanism, which has had a great influence on Southern life. The Puritans who settled in Virginia suffered persecution, which, happily, was unknown to the Puritans of New England. So great was this persecution, that it led to an exodus of Virginian Puritans into Maryland, where they founded a colony, and became an important factor in converting what Lord Baltimore had intended should be a feudal State into one governed on thoroughly democratic principles. The struggles and ultimate triumphs of Puritan principles are recorded by Mr. Randall in a thoroughly sympathetic and appreciative spirit. He shows how the old Anglo- Saxon spirit ruled the New World as it did England, and what a congenial soil
54 GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
the United States proved for the political ideas of Sidney, Milton, and John Locke.
The River Camacuam, South Brazil. — In the number of the Deiitsche Kolonial- zeiUmr/, published on 15th November last, Herr Herman So^-aux describes his vo\'age in South Brazil, accompanied by Dr. Hermann von Jhering. They sailed up the river Camacuam as far as the town of Sao Jose de Patrocinio, and paid particular attention to the navigation and physical features of the river, which winds in a manner peculiar to many rivers. A good sketch-map of the Camacuam district by Dr. H. von Jhering is appended to the paper, from which map-makers will obtain several details that should be introduced into modern maps. The conclusions arrived at by Herr Soyaux regarding the Cama- cuam are as follows: — !. It is a river with many windings and periodical changes of deptli ; having a strong current, whicli sometimes alters its banks ; and it contains driftwood, several dangerous sandbanks, and occasional rapids (cackoeire). 2. The Camacuam is at present sufficiently navigable to encourage a considerable traffic in wood and charcoal with the town of Rio Grande. 3. The Camacuam is the centre of such a vast territory that, as a waterway, it must always be preferred, for cheapness, to any mode of transport by land. We may add that this river flows into the land-locked sea called the Lagoa dos Patos, and that the most convenient mouth of the Camacuam for vessels to ascend is the one called " Barra das tres bocas." The river has no fewer than five mouths ; but Herr Soyaux specially recommends that above-mentioned. After sailing, as already stated, up the Camacuam to S. Jose de Patrocinio, a little town of 200 inhabitant!?, he and his companion struck off northwards on horseback to the colony of Sao Feliciano, which is situated on the Arroyo Subtil, a tributary of the Camacuam. Nineteen families of colojiists, chiefly French and Italians, are settled here, but the colony has not been a success. Herr Soyaux, however, recommends its fertile, well-watered soil to German colonists, provided they are industrious, and accustomed to agricultural labour.
AUSTRALASIA.
Waukaringa Gold-fields, South Australia. — Mr. Clement Wragge, our Corre- sponding Member, in sending us some published particulars of these recently discovered gold-fields, says : — " If this be a permanent field — together with the finding of water elsewhere in the colony, as already advised — South Australia will rise from commercial depression to find herself a sparkling jewel in the British Crown." The Waukaringa gold-fields are on Teetulpa run. Waukaringa is 225 miles N.N.E. from Adelaide. The formation is evidently pre-Cambrian (Palaeozoic) and is identical with that of the gold-bearing rocks of the Mount Lofty Hills.
The Islands of Torres Straits. — From a Paper by the Hon. John Douglas, Special Commissioner in British New Guinea, we extract the following : A lightship on Proudfoot Shoal, out of sight of land, is the advance-guard of the Australian coast to vessels approaching the Torres Straits from the Arnfura Sea. Sometimes this ship is three months without communication with the shore. About eighteen miles from Proudfoot Shoal is Booby Island, the old post-office of the Straits. Next comes the Prince of Wales group — one of which, Goode Island, with its signal station, commands the channel used by every large vessel passing round the north-eastern extremity of Australia. Bertie Bay, in Goode Island, will some day, according to Sir John Coade, be a great imperial naval
GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 55
station, but it will be necessary to construct a large breakwater, to break the roll of the waves during the north-west monsoon. Port Kennedy, on Thursday Island, is already one of the finest harbours in Queensland. Prince of Wales Island is quite a considerable little island, about 12 miles square. There is plenty of good water in it ; and though a good deal of it is very rough, stony ground, there is good grass in places — enough for a herd of 1500 or 2000 head of cattle. There is sixty inches of rain per annum, and a fair market for beef at 9d. per pound would be found in Thursdaj^ Island. About 100 natives remain out of a former popu- lation of 500. Mulgrave and Banks Islands are picturesque, but Captain Douglas had no opportunity of landing on them. He spent two days on Jervis Island, or Manbiaz, as the natives call it. It contains a " shelling " station, and a mission compound, consisting of a church, and schoolhouse, and several houses in which native teachers live. On Sunday there were fully 300 natives at church, all neatly clothed, and most reverent in their behaviour. Mr. Douglas could not fail to appreciate the charm of this gracious influence, which had transformed those savage men and women into civilised human beings. In Sabine Island, close to the coast of New Guinea, the people were on a much lower level, many of them being quite naked. Darnley is the most important island in the Straits— with plenty of good ground, and plenty of water, and inhabited by about 300 persons : fifty being South Sea Islanders, three or four Europeans, and the rest Bingi, i.e. aboriginal Australians. Murray is a beautiful little island, volcanic, and very fertile, but very much among the reefs, and the navigation to and from Murray will always be more or less dangerous, until beacons are set up. At the foot of the hills, along the beach, lie the native village of grass houses. A little above them, at an elevation of probably 100 feet, are the houses of the missionaries. Behind the missionary establishment the hills rise rather abruptly till they culminate in a peak about 800 feet above the level of the sea.
Augusta River, New Guinea. — The New Guinea Company's steamer Ottilie, which arrived in Cooktown on 30th August from Finschafen, reports ascending the Augusta River 370 miles, and seeing magnificent country throughout, above the tidal waters. She penetrated to within fifteen miles of the Englishboundary. The river was very tortuous, and the natives were friendly and numerous. Forests of fine timber alternated with downs and rich scrub land, Avhich was very ' fertile.
GENERAL.
Telegraphic Enterprise. — The proposed New Zealand cable, says the Ottawa correspondent of the Scotsman, has given rise to a contemplated gigantic enter- prise, of which Mr. Sandford Fleming, C.E., is the enthusiastic projector, its object being to establish telegraphic communication between Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Great Britain, by means of a line perfectly independent of existing lines, and freed from foreign influences. This it is proposed to secure by a chain of cables from Brisbane or Sydney to some point in the north of New Zealand, thence via the Fiji and the Sandwich Islands to Vancouver Island, tapping, on the mainland opposite, the Canadian Pacific Railway. This it would follow eastwards to Gaspd, in the province of Quebec, whence a new cable would be laid through the Straits of Belle Isle to the United Kingdom. The total length of cables contemplated in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans is 11,135 miles, and the distance across the continent 3450 miles, making in all close on 15,000 miles.
56
GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES.
Height and Length of Waves. — During a recent voyage of the U.S.S. Juniata to South America, observations, saj's Science, were made as to the height and length of waves, with the following results, as reported by Commander Davis : Height of wave, from hollow to crest, 25 feet ; length, from crest to crest, 375 feet ; wave-period, 7"5 seconds. The wind-velocity at the time was 10 miles per hour. The height of wave was measured by the elevation at which an observer could see over the crest when the ship was in the hollow. The wave- period was estimated by counting the average number of waves per minute. The wave-length was determined by the time occupied by the crest in passing a measured portion of the vessel's length.
Lake Soundings. — The following soundings are given in Science of December in a letter from Mr. John Le Conte : —
|
1 |
Heiglit of Surface above sea. |
Maximum Depth. |
|||||
|
1 Fresh-water Lake. |
|||||||
|
Feet. |
Metres. |
Feet. |
Metres. |
||||
|
Temiscouata, . |
400 |
121-9 |
500 |
152-4 |
Bailey. |
||
|
Superior, |
609 |
185-6 |
1,010 |
307-8 |
Lake Survey. |
||
|
Michigan, |
582 |
177-4 |
864 |
263-3 |
5) |
||
|
Huron, . |
582 |
177-4 |
705 |
214-9 |
|||
|
Erie, . " |
573 |
174-6 |
324 |
98-7 |
|||
|
Ontario, . |
247 |
75-3 |
738 |
224-9 |
^\ |
||
|
Tahoe, . |
6,247 |
1,904-1 |
1,645 |
501-4 |
Le Conte. |
||
|
Crater, . |
1,996 |
608-4 |
Button. |
||||
|
Leman, . |
1.226 |
373-7 |
1,017 |
310-0 |
Forel. |
||
|
Como, |
699 |
213-0 |
1,926 |
587-0 |
|||
|
Maggiore, |
686 |
209-0 |
2,612 |
796-0 |
|||
|
Baikal, . |
1,360 |
414-5 |
12,356 |
3,766-0 |
Questions concerning the Condition of Snow in Mountains. — Dr. Friedrich Ratzel, Professor of Geography at the Technische Hochschule, Munich, is at present engaged in the study of the above question, and in the Jahreshericht der Geographischen Gesellschaft in Jlihichen Jiir 1885, he publishes a very interest- ing paper on the condition and effect of the snow in the Bavarian Alps. As appendix to this paper, he gives a list of questions, which he requests all friends of geography to answer. We reproduce them here, as we think that some of our readers will be interested in them, and may probably be able to provide the Professor with some information. He says, " important results for geography, geology, and meteorology may be obtained from an examination of the depth, the extent, and the duration of the snow in mountains." The questions are as follows : —
1. When does the first snow fall upon the mountains in your district 1 How high are these mountains ? If drawings can be obtained of them, please say where.
2. From what date does a complete or partial covering of snow lie on the mountains ?
3. When does the snow generally lie around your place of residence ? What is the height of the same above the sea-level 1
4. Are the mountains in your neighbourhood ever completely free from snow during the winter ? At what height, and upon which side, does this take place earliest I
5. At what date does the greatest part of the winter snow-fall melt 1
C4E0GRAPHICAL NOTES. 57
6. How long do the last remains of the snow lie 1
7. How far down the mountains does the remaining snow extend i
8. In which part of your district is the snow generally deepest ? How deep is it ?
9. In which part of your district are the greatest snow-drifts ? How do the mountain spurs stand in relation to the drifts 'i
10. What influence does the formation of the land have upon the continuance of the snow^-fields 1 (Particular attention is to be paid to the steepness of the cliff's, the peaks, the ravines, the origin of valleys, and the cavities.)
11. What influence has the nature of the surface upon the length of time the snow lies, according to whether it is rock, rubble-stones, sand, or earth ?
12. What influence does the vegetation, especially forest, exert on the length of time the snow lies I
13. What influence is exerted by the neighbourhood of water on the time the snow lies ? Llarshes and moors are also to be taken into consideration.
14. What influence does the greater or less porosity of the soil exert upon the lying of the snow 1
15. After what time does the snow become granular? Under what condi- tions does it change into ice ? Granular, vesicular, and clear ice are to be diflereutiated.
16. Are fissures and crevices noticed in the snow-fields .'
17. Are movements observed in the snow-fields? Or, are traces found in your neighbourhood which point to movements taking place ?
18. Do avalanches occur in your district ? Can their cause be found out ? What can be said of their influence upon the land and vegetation (forests) ?
19. Are any remarkable forms observed on the upper surface of the snow in consequence of the action of wind melting, or of other circumstances ?
20. Are definite strata visible in the snow ?
21. How great is the influence of the melting of the snow (even in winter) upon the height of the water in the rivers or lakes of your district ? How soon after the commencement of the melting of the snow is this noticed (
22. In which watercourses is the influence of tlie melting of the snow first noticed ? Is there any difference noticed in this respect between the various mountain spurs ?
MISCELLANEOUS.
The railway between Algiers and Constantine is now open for traffic.
The maritime frontier between Tunis and Tripoli has been fixed at Ras-Tadjir, about 12 miles from Biban, in the neighbourhood of the Zuara oasis.
The Budget Committee of the German Reichstag has voted 150,0U0 marks, to be used for assisting scientific enterprise in Opening up Central Africa to civilisation.
A movement has been initiated at Caracas, and is now engrossing public attention in Venezuela, for uniting the three Republics of Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador into a great State, to be styled " La Gran Colombia."
Emin Bey has been promoted to the rank of Pasha by the Egyptian Govern- ment, who, besides recognising his position as their representative, have voted a sum of money towards the expenses of an expedition for his relief
58 GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES,
Dr. Junker telegraphs from Zanzibar : " Explored Makua, which is generally navigable, but has some rapids." He has traced it to 22° E. long. — two degrees east of Grenfell's farthest, where it was still navigable at low water.
A Canadian treaty with the Sandwich Islands is being arranged for, which, from the completion of the Pacific Railway, and the establishment of a Pacific steamship line, will probably create a large trade between the two countries.
Colonel Gilder and his assistant, Mr. Griffith, who started on their Polar expedition some months ago, have been heard from at Oxford House, a Hudson Bay port. Colonel Gilder and his assistant were reported as well, and full of enthusiasm over their North Pole expedition.
M. Maigrot, the Italian Consul-General in Madagascar, has obtained the concession for a railway on the eastern coast of Madagascar, to connect Fenoarivo, in the north, with Matitana, in the south. The construction and exploitation of the line will, it is stated by LW/rique, be conducted by a French company.
Professor Forel de Morges, says the Cluh Alpin Francais, has discovered, under the long terminus of the Arolla Glacier, a natural gallery traversing the whole length of the glacier. The height of this gallery is from 2 to 3 metres, its length is 250 (?) metres, and the space between the two sides varies from 6 to 25 metres.
The Deiit'ches TagUatt states that the Sultan of Zanzibar has addressed to Prince Bismarck a letter, in which his Highness informs him that the Treaty of Commerce recently concluded between him and the German Government has resulted in a sensible diminution of his State revenue, and, in order to adjust this deficit, he proposes to partly modify the stipulations in tlie treaty.
Mr. R. E. Peary, according to information received in Cojienhagen, with two companions, has efi'ected his trip into the Interior of Greenland. Mr. Peary went 130 miles into the interior, not meeting with protruding mountain peaks or anything remarkable ; all was one pretty even surface of ice. The journey was made for the most part in sledges, and the return voyage was made with extra- ordinary speed before a south-east gale. The party were about three weeks on the ice, and were warmly welcomed back by the Greenlanders, who had feared they were lost. Mr. Peary proposes to undertake a similar excursion next summer.
To the meeting of the Edinburgh Botanical Society, held on the 11th November, the Rev. D. Landsborough, Kilmarnock, forwarded a contribution on Australian and New Zealand plants growing in Arran. Arran, he said, was the most northern locality where Australian plants had been successfully cul- tivated. Nine species of gums were growing in Arran. These included the most interesting species. They did not, in general, grow with the wonderful rapidity of gums in Australia, though the blue gum added 4 feet yearly to its height, and the white gum 24 inches to its girth. In consequence of the moist, mild, and comparatively uniform temperature of the island, and also the influence which sea air was known to exert in adding to substance and size in foliage, it was believed that they were as luxuriant as those of Australia.
Another railway scheme, says the Ottawa correspondent of the Scotsman, is now on foot in Manitoba — the proposed line to be styled the Winnipeg- and North Pacific Railway. The district through which it is to pass is possessed of a highly fertile soil, and traces of mineral wealth have been found in its vicinitj\ Starting
GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 59
from Winnipeg, it traverses in a north-westerly direction, bending to the west, and strikes the Pacific Ocean at Port Simpson. It will open up the northern habitable section of the Territories in the same way as the Canadian-Pacific has opened the southern. An Act of Incorporation was passed during the last session of Parliament. As a route for trans-continental trade it has several advantages, Port Simpson being four hundred miles nearer Yokohama than Port Moody, the terminus of the Canadian-Pacific, and six hundred miles nearer than San Francisco. This saving of distance will tell materially in its favour.
NEW BOOKS.
Geograjjhy of the British Isles, from Ten Different Standpovits, with 21 Maps. By T. M. Davidson, M.A. London : Thomas Laurie. Price 2s. Qd. The aim of Mr. Davidson's book seems to be the simplification of geographi- cal teaching by means of a systematic division of his subject, according to the diflerent standpoints from which it may be viewed. The author, with some originality, divides the geography of each country into ten separate sections, each illustrated by a special map ; the text is so written that the book is rather a series of lessons on a set of maps than a Geography illustrated with maps. The pupil's mind is concentrated on one subject at a time, treated in its progressive order so clearly and briefly that it cannot fail to be readily under- stood. Altogether, the book will greatly facilitate the teaching of elementary Geography and ought to become popular as a class-book.
James Hannington, D.D., F.L.S., F.B.G.S., First Bishop of Eastern Equa- torial Africa. A History of his Life and Work, 1847-1885. By E. C. Dawson, M.A. Oxon., Incumbent of St. Thomas's Church, Edinburgh. London : Seeley and Co., Essex Street, Strand. 1887. Pp. 451.
The name of Bishop Hannington requires no introduction to the readers of the Scottish Geographical Magazine. In the volume before us, one of his closest personal friends has told the story of his life — the pleasant waywardness of his youth, the heroic devotion of his manhood, and the pathos of his last days of lingering martyrdom — with no small share of literary skill, and with a good deal of that infectious admiration which, when it is not too aggressive, forms the most fitting atmosphere for the biography of a good man.
James Hannington was born at Hurstpierpoint — " Hurst, as the inhabitants call it for brevity's sake — a pretty little village in the south of Sussex, about eight miles from Brighton." The first thirteen years of his life were spent at home, and in travelling and yachting with his elder brother or parents. Much of the experience of that time must have " come in handy " to the explorer- bishop. After his school-days were over, the lad went into his brothers' business — not, however, to remain long. The erratic nature which his education had rather developed than repressed, and still more the religious instincts and con- victions which had been taking hold of him, idtimately prevailed ; and from Oxford, where he took his M.A. degree in 1875, he passed into the service of the Church of England. Mr. Dawson gives a very interesting account of the work at Hurst of the young cleric, who was as energetic, unconventional, and enthusiastic as one could wish, placing himself in direct contact with his people, and sacrificing himself to their interests. At length, in 1882, he was called to labour in a very diff"erent field. The Church Missionary Society
60 NEW BOOKS.
intrusted him with the leadership of an expedition intended to reinforce their mission in Central Africa, where Mr. A. M. Mackay and the Rev. P. O'FIaherty were established at Riibaga. Landing at Zanzibar on June 19th, the company of seven Europeans proceeded to the interior by way of IMpwapwa (August 2d) Uyui (September 4th). At Uyui, Hannington was seized with dysentery, and before the next ten days was brought to the very door of death ; the other members of the mission determined to leave him "in the brotherly hands of Mr. Copplestone, and under the special charge of his nephew, Cyril Gordon." The caravan, now led by Mr. Stokes, had not advanced far on the old road to the Lake Victoria Nyanza when an attempt of the natives to extract an extortionate hongo by force of arms obliged it to return, to complain to Mirambo. This return enabled Hannington again to join his party, though he was so weak he had at first to be carried in a hammock. By the 6th of November he was so much better that he attempted the ascent of a mountain. Two days later they were at Kwa Sonda, and soon after reached the lake at a point to the west of Kagei and Jordan's Nullah. Mr. Stokes now returned to the coast, and as two other missionaries had been left at Uyui to take the place of Mr. Copplestone, Hannington and Mr. Gordon alone were left to proceed to Uganda. Supplies had run short ; the horrors of the rainy season were upon them. The entry in Hannington"s diary for Christmas Day 1881 runs as follows : — " Gordon very ill in bed. Ashe and Wise tottering out of fever beds ; I myself just about to totter in again. In spite of our poor condition, we determiued to have our Christmas cheer. ... I killed a kid, and Ashe undertook the pudding." ... A move was made in the direction of Romwa, the King of U-zinza's camp, on 30th of December. Owing to the roguery of Rashid, the Arab employed to bring up the boat, the party was now almost without cloth — that is, penniless. At Kagei, Hannington and Gordon were received with great kindness by Sayed bin Saif, the white man's friend, and by the French Jesuit missionaries, whose timely succour probably saved their lives. On January 30th, he took leave of the brotlierly priests, but the very day after he was again very ill with dysentery and violent internal pain, and was compelled to return instead of pushing on to Uganda. How bitterly he felt the disappointment is shown by such letters as : — " I am not dull at my broken health and the constant pain I sufler. I am not dull at the verj^ slight prospect that I shall ever reach home. I am dull because I think that a very few pounds extra in outfit would have made an immense difference to me. If I live a little longer I will write out a list of things I have personally suffered much from not having. Ten pounds will, I think, cover them all. I blame no one. It was simply a matter of want of experience. But alas ! it cost both myself and the Society much, for I am a practical failure, and I have suffered terribly." By the 12th of May he was in the steamer at Zanzibar homeward bound. "Already the project was forming in his heart to revisit the dark land from which he had been compelled to flee." On June 24th, 1884, he was consecrated as Bishop of Eastern Equatorial Africa, and on Satur- day, Januar}' 24tb, 188.5, he landed at Mombasa to settle at Frere Town, the central station of the Church Missionary Society. " Here," in the words