from side to side with dog or other sledges, provided the party started under experienced guidance, and sufficiently early in the year before the snow was melted off the ice. Whether they could return without assistance on the other side was, however, a matter of doubt. No fjords now stretched across within the explored limits of West Greenland. If they did, it was north of Smith's Sound, where perhaps Greenland ended in an archipelago of broken islands. Little doubt existed but that in former times one or more fjords stretched across the country, but these are now permanently closed by the spread of the "inland ice."

Cagayan Sulu Island. By Captain CHIMMо, R.N.

On the Second German Arctic Expedition.

By Dr. COPELAND, Astronomer to the Expedition.

It stated that the two expeditions sent by the German nation in the year 1868 and 1869 to endeavour to add to the geographical and general scientific knowledge of the Arctic regions were equipped entirely by private contributions, and the honour of starting and forwarding the whole scheme belonged to the eminent geographer Dr. Petermann, of Gotha. The object and aim of the second expedition was the scientific examination and discovery of the Arctic central region contained within the 75th parallel of north latitude, taking the coast of East Greenland as a basis. The aim involved two problems:-(1) The solution of the so-called polar question; (2) the discovery, survey, and examination of East Greenland, and those countries, islands, and seas connected with it, and extending in a northerly direction towards Behring's Straits, a measurement of a meridional arc in East Greenland, excursions on the glaciers of the interior of continental Greenland, &c. The two vessels engaged in the expedition were the 'Germania,' 145 tons, Captain Koldeway, and seventeen men, and the 'Hansa,' 100 tons larger, Captain Hegemann, with a crew of twelve. The expedition sailed from Bremerhaven on the 15th of June, 1869, and after a tedious voyage of five weeks up to the parallel of 75°, the vessels were separated in a dense fog. The Germania' reached Sabine Island on the 5th of August, and four days were spent in surveying the neighbouring country, observing an eclipse of the sun on the 7th, determining the magnetic constants, &c. On the 10th they proceeded northwards, but their progress came to a dead stop on the 13th, in latitude 75° 31', or 23' further north than had been reached by Clavering and Sabine forty-six years before. At this point the land-ice lay quite fast, and extended fully ten miles in a N.E. direction from the nearest land, since called Cape Börgen; while against its outer edge the enormous fields of pack-ice were so heavily pressed as to render all progress impossible. Towards the N. and N.E. no water was visible; this was just as Captain Clavering and Sir Edward Sabine found matters twenty-three miles further to the south, and within a day of forty-six years before, and it was also their lot to encounter the same obstacles in latitude 75° 29′ in the following summer. Captain Koldeway determined on returning to the Pendulum Islands, and there to await in safety a change in the state of the ice. The remainder of the month of August and the beginning of September was spent in obtaining geological, botanical, and ethnological specimens, and in making various observations. A sledge excursion, under Koldeway and Payer, into a fiord to the N.N.W. of the Pendulum group, from the 13th to the 22nd of September, resulted in a confirmation of a previous supposition of the existence of a large island on that part of the coast, and showed how much might be attempted in the exploration of the interior of Greenland at this season of the year. A second sledge excursion at the end of October and beginning of November was made by Payer and himself round the north of Clavering Island, thereby proving its insularity, which had been suspected by Clavering in 1823. On the 5th of November the sun disappeared for the winter, but still they accomplished about 180 nautical miles in nine days, including the penetration into a new fiord, whose termination they succeeded in reaching. From the 12th of October to the beginning of May, while frozen in, observations were

made as to the temperature and pressure of the atmosphere, the direction and velocity of the wind, the amount of cloud, and the height of the tide from hour to hour. In making these and other observations the scientific members of the expedition were zealously assisted by the two mates, Messrs. Sengstacke and Tramnitz, and the talented seaman Peter Ellinger, whose subsequent death at the early age of 24 has robbed nautical science of one of its most promising supporters. January 1870 was the coldest month, with a mean of 11°9 Fahr. below zero; and towards the end of February the thermometer reached its lowest, -40°·5; but samples of pure mercury did not show any sign of freezing. The mean of the whole year was remarkably low, being only +11°3 Fahrenheit. Magnetical and astronomical observations were made from time to time. The magnetical constants of their winter quarters in lat. 74° 32′ 16′′ N., and 18° 49′ W. long. were:declination, 45° 8′ 8′′; inclination, 79° 48′; and horizontal force 0.956 Gauss's scale. The northern lights were not in general particularly brilliant, but were extremely frequent, and the convergence of the streamers was found to coincide with the direction of the freely suspended magnetic needle. The spectroscopic examination of the auroral light fixed the place of the green line at 1245 of Kirchhoff's scale. The main direction which the labours of the expedition took during the spring was the prosecution of a sledge journey to the north under the leadership of the Captain, who was accompanied by Payer and six seamen. An advance was made of 150 miles in a straight line from his winter quarters, and added at least one whole degree to our maps of the coast of East Greenland. A week afterwards Payer conducted another party towards the fiords to the north-west of the Pendulum Islands, and they succeeded in bringing back a magnificent collection of fossils and minerals. At the same time Dr. Börgen and himself were engaged in the measurement of an arc of the meridian, commenced in the beginning of March, by measuring a base of rather more than 709 metres in length on Sabine Island. On the 14th of May, Dr. Copeland and his companions started on their geodetical tour towards the north, intending to select and signalize their stations as they advanced northwards. All the angles at sixteen out of seventeen selected stations were measured, and the latitude of the north end, as deduced from eighty-two circummeridian altitudes of the sun, was 75° 11′ 30′′ 12, with a probable error of 0"-78; that of the south end, 74° 32′ 15"-86, probable error 0'58. The highest station was 10084 metres above the level of the sea. They took advantage of the opportunity thus afforded for comparing altitudes determined with the barometers with those deduced from purely trigonometrical operations. The whole of the barometrical heights were slightly in excess of the trigonometrical ones. Their geodetical labours were very much restricted and embarrassed by the setting in of the thaw as early as the 3rd of June. The ship was freed from her winter prison on the 11th of July, but they did not sail till the 22nd. So far as examined, the botanical and zoological collections had yielded no absolutely new varieties, but had taught much about the distribution of plants and animals. Perhaps the most important discovery in that department was that of the musk ox, which animal was found plentifully up to the 77th parallel. With regard to natives, although the whole coast from the 76th parallel to the innermost recesses of Emperor Francis-Joseph's Fiord, in lat. 73 deg., abounded in vestiges of the aboriginal inhabitants, and although Clavering fell in with a party of twelve on the south side of the island which was now known by his name, this expedition never even met with recent traces of their presence. However, they succeeded in finding eleven skulls, and many interesting weapons and utensils. Being again stopped by the ice in 75° 29′, it was decided in full conclave to try their fortunes in some of the fiords supposed to exist towards the south. They accordingly proceeded southwards along the coast until they rounded Hudson's Hold-with-Hope, and proceeded to explore the interior of the supposed Mackenzie Inlet. A single day, however, served to show

*Note added August 14, 1871.-A letter received from Capt. Koldeway, just after the reading of this paper, enables me to give the following particulars which have been deduced from the tidal observations. At Sabine Island the mean range of the tide was 3-13 ft., range of spring-tides 4.21 ft., that of neap-tides being only 186 ft. The tidal wave advanced from the south towards the north at the rate of about 50 to 60 miles an hour.

1871.

12

that no such inlet existed, and thus that what had been called Bennet Island, was only a hilly promontory. Payer and himself afterwards resolved to ascend Cape Franklin, and from its summit saw about sixteen new islands, and upwards of 170 icebergs of from 100 to 200 feet in height. Towards the S. W., at a distance of 60 nautical miles, lay a chain of mountains of 6000 or 7000 feet high-most probably the Werner Mountains of Scoresby. About eleven o'clock they started for the western or higher end of Cape Franklin, whose height they assumed to be 4000 or 4500 feet. There they found that the bay or fiord bent round towards the N.W., sending branches in a westerly direction, while to the north it seemed to expand into magnificent proportions. It was resolved to take the ship round into the hitherto unvisited waters. On the north shore of the entrance, the green slopes which formed the foreground of the rugged heights of Cape Franklin were dotted with the small, burrow-like, forsaken winter dwellings of the inhabitants, whom some strange mutation of the climate had driven away, and afforded pasture to numerous herds of reindeer. From this point they steamed about 90 miles into the interior of Greenland; and had not the defective state of their boiler and the positive character of their instructions prevented them from risking a detention during a second winter, they might have easily advanced much further. From the summit of a peak (Mount Payer) 7200 feet in height, situated in 26° 18′ west long., a view was obtained of a mountain-chain lying about one third of the breadth of Greenland from the east coast, the loftiest peak of which must have been nearly 13,000 feet in height. No traces of a complete glaciation of the interior were visible. The usual magnetical, astronomical, zoological, and botanical excursions were here made. On the 17th of August, the expedition left the coast, and arrived at Bremerhaven on the 11th of September, 1870. During the whole voyage they determined the density of the sea-water, which was found to increase with the depth, especially amongst the ice. In regard to the 'Hansa,' from which they had been parted, notwithstanding the heroic efforts of her captain to reach the coast, she was nipped in the ice, and went down on the 23rd of October, 1869, leaving her crew to make an almost miraculous voyage of 800 miles on a constantly decreasing ice-floe, exposed to all the rigours of an Arctic winter. They were fortunately able, after at length leaving the ice-raft in their boats, to reach Friedrichsthal with the most incredible exertions.

On the Limpopo Expedition. By Captain F. ELTON.

The lower course of the Limpopo was explored a few years ago by Mr. St. Vincent Erskine, the son of the Colonial Secretary of Natal; and Capt. Elton's object was to trace its higher waters, in order to see whether a more convenient route and water communication could be opened up from the settlement on the Tati river to the sea-coast, a distance of nearly 1000 miles. The difficulties, both natural and artificial, with which Capt. Elton had to contend were often very great; but the physical obstacles to his journey, and the hostility or cupidity of the natives, were successfully overcome; and he accomplished a voyage of considerably over 900 miles. He has also shown, as he believes, the practicability of the route he has opened up, and it is scarcely too much to expect that by so doing he has rendered essential service to commerce and civilization.

On a Self-replenishing Artificial Horizon.

Invented and described by CHRISTOPHER GEORGE, R.N., F.R.A.S.

This instrument consists of a pair of circular disk-like reservoirs about 2 in. in diameter and in. in depth, made of iron, at the same casting: one contains the mercury, and the other is the trough for observing.

The disks are connected at their circumferences by a narrow neck, in which is drilled a hole to allow the mercury to pass from one reservoir to the other; the communication between the two reservoirs is opened or closed by a stopcock, on the cone principle, so that the mercury can be passed from one disk to the other without removing the glass cover or the risk of losing any of the mercury. There are two screw stoppers attached to the mercurial reservoir for admitting air into

that reservoir or out of it as required. The trough-disk is fitted with a glass cover, which is screwed on when the mercury is to be passed to or from the other reservoir. When an observation has to be made this cover is removed, and a disk of glass is placed on the mercury; this gives a clear and steady reflecting surface. The weight of the instrument is 14 lb. The instrument is made by Messrs. Gould and Porter, successors to Cary, optician, No. 181 Strand, London.

Further disclosures of the Moabite Stone. By Dr. GINSBURG.

Ascent of the Atlas Range. By Dr. J. D. HOOKER, C.B., F.R.S. In this paper the author described his ascent of the Greater Atlas, accompanied by Mr. Ball and Mr. G. Maw. Permission was given him to visit the whole range of the Atlas from a point eastward of the city, westward to the ocean; but he was obliged to promise to confine himself to collecting plants for the Royal Gardens and to practising as a Hakim, so that he was unable to take any exact topographical observations. He, however, reached the crest of the main range visible from the city of Marocco, which has long had the repute of being the loftiest of the whole great Atlas range. The mountains present, as seen from Marocco city, a long ridge, apparently of tolerably uniform height throughout its whole length, about 13,000 feet, steep and rocky in the upper regions, with long streaks of snow descending in deep steep gulleys; but it offers no snow-capped peaks or slopes of any extent, nor glaciers, and the loftiest points of the jagged sky-line are not snowed at all. The party took, from Marocco, first a south-easterly course to the foot of the Atlas, in the province of Misfuia, and thence a south-westerly one to the province of Reraia, whence they had been assured that the crest of the range was accessible. Their camp, at an elevation of 4400 feet, was surrounded by olive and walnut groves, fig-trees, prickly pears, vines, mulberries, and almonds. The native trees were poplar, ash, juniper, willow, and callitris (the famous Thuja of the Romans); the bushes are lentisks, honeysuckle, cistus, elder, rose, alaternus, phillyræa, ivy, bramble, and shrubs allied to the broom. The climate is temperate, and the scenery rather pretty than grand or mountainous, except up the valleys, which are backed by the rugged, black, but snow-streaked crest of the range. At 6000 feet the party came upon the first indubitable signs of old glacial action, in a huge moraine projecting apparently from the flank of a lateral valley, with two smaller moraines nearly parallel with the greater one. All were loaded with enormous blocks of porphyry and other metamorphic rocks, and, except for the walnuts and little terraced fields, are nearly bare of vegetation. At about 9000 feet they came upon a mule-track, up which they pushed over rocks and débris. Dr. Hooker and Mr. Ball were botanizing, and Mr. Maw alone reached the crest, where he read his aneroid, which gave a height, by comparison with another aneroid and the boiling-point, of 12,000 feet. The temperature was 24° F. The most remarkable feature of this part of the range is the downward extent of the snow in steep deep northern gulleys to 7000 or 8000 feet, up to the end of May; but these snowstreaks are not connected with any snow-fields or snow-capped peaks above. This seems to be due to the climate and to the steep contour of the axis, which is now scorched by a blazing sun, now swept by dry Sahara winds, and throughout the year exposed to the very prevalent N.W. oceanic wind laden with vapours that fall as snow and hail-storms. There is thus probably always snow on this part of the Atlas, but there is no perpetual snow proper; in other words, all the snow that falls annually on fairly exposed surfaces melts in the same year. Botanically, the upper region is as bare as the middle region is rich, and the author described in some detail the characteristics of each. The Atlas has a special interest as presenting the southern limit of the Mediterranean, and indeed of the North Temperate flora.

The party proceeded from the beautiful valley of Reraia westward over the northern spurs of the Atlas to the province of Sectana, whence they travelled on to that of Amsmiz, crossing the Wad en Fys, the principal feeder of the Temsift, where the author and Mr. Ball ascended a peak 11,000 feet high in the main range,

and from thence saw across the Sus valley to the southward. The snowy axis here approaches to within some fifteen miles of the foot of the mountains, and consists of more isolated tops and far less steep ridges, though snow came down to 8000 feet on northern exposures. The floor of the valley, like the others, is very narrow, and clothed with walnut and olive cultivation, threaded by a brawling stream. The valleys of the upper feeders of the Wad en Fys occupy an area probably not less than twenty miles broad. Dr. Hooker saw no forest in any part of the range, clumps of brushwood and isolated stumps of oak, juniper, carob, and ash being all that remain of the primeval woods. These mountains are extremely bare; even moss and lichens are poor and rare compared with what other alpine and subalpine regions present. Low as is the latitude of Marocco, its vegetation shows that the North Atlantic determines its climate, favouring the dispersion of northern types up to the tops of the Atlas, and forbidding the entrance of southern forms that elsewhere prevail in similar latitudes. From Amsmiz the party continued to travel along the base of the Atlas, and made some minor ascents, obtaining a general idea of the character of the chain in this longitude (8° W.), where there is another broad depression, through which the road runs from Maroceo to Tarodant in the Sus valley-a place once of immense commercial importance, and still one of great resort. The party returned to Mogadore on the 3rd of June, and succeeded in bringing their collections safely with them, which will enable Dr. Hooker to elucidate the flora of a hitherto almost unknown region. The Moors and Arabs of Marocco are described as being vile beyond a proverb. The Government is despotic, cruel, and wrong-headed in every sense. From the Sultan to the lowest soldier all are paid by squeezing those in their power. Marocco itself is more than half ruinous, and its prisons are loaded. The population of the whole country is diminishing; and what with droughts, locusts, and cholera, and prohibitory edicts of the most arbitrary description, the interior is on the brink of ruin. But that two thirds of the kingdom is independent of the Sultan's authority, being held by able mountain chiefs who defy his power to tax or interfere with them, and that the European merchants maintain the coast trade, and the Consuls keep the Sultan's emissaries in check, Marocco would present a scene of the wildest disorder.

A Journey from Yassin to Yarkand. By IBRAHIM KHAN.

Interior of Mekran. By Captain B. LOVETT.

Note on the Geographical Distribution of Petroleum and allied products.
By Colonel R. MACLAGAN, R.E., F.R.S.E., F.R.G.S.

The extent and variety of the uses to which petroleum and other allied products have come to be applied, and the vast quantities in which, within the last few years, they have been obtained, give a special interest and importance to the observation of their geographical range and positions. The places are numerous, and the circumstances varied, in which these substances, in some one or other of their forms, have for long ages been known.

The classification of these products having certain general common characters, and probably a similar origin, is not now essentially different from that of Linnæus, and exhibits relationships before recognized in a less formal and systematic way by Pliny and others*. They belong to Linnæus's class of “inflammable minerals," consisting, according to his arrangement, of bitumens, coals, amber, and ambergris. The bitumens he specifies as fluid bitumen or naphtha, rock-oil or petroleum, mineral tar or maltha, mineral pitch or múmia, asphalt, mineral tallow, elastic bitumen, and hard bitumen or jet. And next to the bitumens and coals he places honey-stone (found associated with asphalt), common amber, and ambergris. Prof. Archer, in a paper on the oil-wells of Pennsylvania and Canada (Art

* Pliny, N. H. lib. xxxv.; Strabo, xvi.; Herod. vi. 119, &c.