The Revue Française (May, 1891) contains a brief exposé of the claims of France to the territory, in dispute with the Congo Independent State, on the M'bangiWellé. It contains also a paper by M. Ribot on slavery in Tunis.

Mr. James Glaisher publishes in the Quarterly Statement (Jan. 1891) of the Palestine Exploration Fund some useful tables illustrating a comparison between atmospheric pressure in Palestine and in England, in the ten years ending 1889.

The Izvestiya of the Russian Geographical Society, Part 11., 1890, contains a complete map of Captain Grombtchevsky's Travels. Unlike the sketch-maps previously published, the present one has a network of meridians and parallels, so that the relative positions can be determined from it.

The Mouvement Géographique (22d March and 19th April 1891) publishes information concerning the formation in Brussels of a commercial company for the exploitation of Katanga (M'siri's kingdom), together with an exposé of the claims of the Congo Independent State to that country. The former issue is accompanied by a map.

Captain Stairs, acting on behalf of an Anglo-Belgian Syndicate, has left England with the object of conducting an expedition from Zanzibar to Katanga. The main object of the expedition is to "take possession" of Katanga, an auriferous region which, having recently been exploited by agents of the Congo State and the British South Africa Company, is still in dispute between them, as regards priority and validity of legitimate claims.

The Bulletin (4ème Trim., 1890) of the Paris Geographical Society publishes the following serviceable papers :-Journey in Central Asia and to the Pamir, by Gabriel Bonvalot; the Pamir and Chitral (with a map), by Guillaume Capus; M. Paul Crampel's journey north of the French Congo (with map), by L. Mizon ; and the concluding portion of a paper by Dr. Nicolas Severtzow, referring to the old itineraries across the Pamir.

The Sixth Report of the Committee of the British Association appointed to investigate the physical characteristics, language, and industrial and social condition of the North-Western Tribes of the Dominion of Canada, has been published. Dr. Boas contribes the bulk of the report on the tribes of British Columbia. This is accompanied by a linguistic map, and preceded by remarks on British Columbian ethnology by Mr. Horatio Hale.

Dr. Konrad Ganzenmüller has published in the Zeitschrift für wissenschaftliche Geographie (Bd. viii. Heft 1) a learned and able paper illustrating his hypothesis that the Ukerewe, or Victoria Nyanza, is identical with the Eastern Nile sources of Ptolemy, with the "Crocodile Lake" of an unknown Greek writer, and with the "Kura Kavar" of the Arabs, and that fairly accurate knowledge of the territory of the Nile sources was formerly possessed, but subsequently was lost.

The Harbour of Saloniki is threatened with the same fate as that which has befallen Smyrna. Owing to the alluvial deposits of the Vardar, the harbour is becoming useless as a trading port; the entrance through the sand banks is very difficult; and the delta of the river has advanced to the neighbourhood of Cape Kara-Burun. The prospective value of Saloniki to Austria-Hungary may therefore be questioned.—Mitt. der K. K. Geogr. Ges. in Wien, Nov. 1, 1891.

The recent census of Bengal, says the Times' correspondent, in his despatch of 27th March, throws an instructive light on the sanitary condition of the province. The districts showing a decrease in population are mainly those where defective subsoil-drainage produces malaria. This is especially marked in parts of Nadiya and Jessor, and is due to the fact that the natural drainage-channels have been

blocked by injudicious cultivation, and the want of sufficient provision for a waterway in the construction of the railway.

Despatches from Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, says a "Dalziel" telegram of 9th April, state that some time ago Mr. Kaufmann, a mine-owner in the gold-fields of British Guiana, discovered a diamond mine, in which he collected 638 stones. He sent them to an expert in London for analysis, and has just received news to the effect that out of the entire number only five stones are of no value, the remaining 633 being genuine diamonds of pure "water." Lord Gormanston, the Governor of British Guiana, in a recent speech at the opening of the Legislature, referred to the diamonds as opening up a new and unrivalled source of prosperity for the colony.

NEW BOOKS.

The History of Sicily from the Earliest Times. By EDWARD A. FREEMAN, M.A., Hon. D.C.L., LL.D. 2 Vols.: Pp. 609 +583. With Maps. Oxford: at the Clarendon Press, 1891.

These two volumes are the first instalment of a work which, for completeness of design and elaboration of treatment, will undoubtedly rank with the standard historical achievements of our time. Professor Freeman's attention was specially directed to Sicily when writing the history of the Norman Conquest of England; and his original intention seems to have been to give a companion-picture of the Norman Conquest of Sicily, treated from the special point of view of its analogy with that of Britain. But, in order to give their full significance to the events of the eleventh and and twelfth centuries, he has found himself obliged to go back to those earlier times, when the struggle between Saracen and Norman was foreshadowed by that of the Phoenician and Greek, and to demonstrate how the eternal "Eastern Question" may be taken as the characteristic motto of Sicilian history.

From its geographical position as the central island of the Mediterranean, placed midway between Europe and Africa, Sicily invited colonisation from the earliest times. Its history, in one sense, may be called a history of colonisation ; for, though the meeting-place and battle-field of many Powers, it has never become the home or the chief seat of any one nation. The island took its name from one section of its inhabitants, but its historic interest came from other sources, and its greatness was due to settlers from other lands. Though in this sense a secondary history, existing mainly in its relation to that of other countries, yet, on the possession of Sicily, so large an issue was at stake-the supremacy of the Aryan or Semitic race on the Mediterranean-that its importance can hardly be over-rated.

Professor Freeman's account of the geography of Sicily is in itself a complete and valuable monograph. He points out how the compactness and quasi-continental character of the island, with its long range of coast and mountainous interior, determined the nature of its settlement,--the native races retiring to inland heights as Phoenician and Greek colonies arose on the seaboard. Etna and the lesser volcanic seats of disturbance, actively at work from the earliest times, played a peculiar and important part in the physical and historical development of Sicily; whilst the native religion derived its special characteristics from the phenomena connected with the powers of the under-world. In the legend of Demeter and Persephone we have the most familiar example of this aspect of Nature-worship, which, though enriched and adorned by Greek imagination, was essentially local in its origin.

In spite of the scanty materials at command, an account of the earliest-known inhabitants of Sicily (the Sikans, Sikels, and Elymians) is given in considerable

detail. This is succeeded by a lengthy and exhaustive chapter on the Phoenician settlements in Sicily-at first independent, and later mere dependencies of Carthage. Here, as elsewhere, Professor Freeman illustrates his meaning by a wealth and variety of historic parallel, which gives a special and universal interest to every section of his work. The analogy between Cyprus and Sicily, the contrast between Sardinia and Sicily, the study of Carthage as a type of the "ruling city" compared with Athens, Rome, and Venice-all these sketches are in the highest degree suggestive and instructive. When we come to the description of the Greek settlements, the foundation of Naxos recalls the landing at Ebbsfleet in Britain, though in other respects the Greek colonisation of Sicily has more in common with the English settlements in America in the seventeenth century than the English settlements in Britain in the fifth and sixth. The history of Syracuse and the Sicilian Greeks occupies the remainder of the first volume and the whole of the second, up to the beginning of Athenian intervention in Sicily.

The text is fully illustrated with one large general, and many small sectional, maps; and the voluminous appendices add largely to the value of the work as a book of reference.

We admire the systematic and orderly way in which the material is handled, the side-notes and digest of contents affording considerable assistance to the reader.

Denmark. Edited by H. WEITEMEYER. With a Coloured Map. London : W. Heinemann. Copenhagen: A. F. Höst and Son. Pp. 268.

Mr. Weitemeyer has made an earnest, and on the whole highly successful, attempt to present to English eyes a picture of the interesting little country of which he is a patriotic son. With the aid of competent assistants, he describes Denmark and the Danes from many points of view. The history of the kingdom is sketched from the period of the "kitchen middens" down to the general election of last year, the political bearings of which are, we fear, as obscure to the average Briton as the prehistoric annals of the Cimbric peninsula. The editor also contributes a detailed account of the topographical features of the land, and the traits of the people, followed by briefer notices of the Danish dependencies and colonies. Here, as nearly everywhere, we stumble upon the geographer's bugbear the spelling of place-names. Mr. Weitemeyer naturally and rightly prefers the native names and orthography. But there are some that come too late for easy acclimatisation, the more especially that the correct Danish reading is often uncouth to the English eye. Copenhagen will hardly consent to yield place to "Kjöbenhavn ;" and in "Jylland" and "Fyn" it is not easy to recognise the familiar Jutland and Funen. A protest might be raised against the adoption of "Ostersöen" and "Vesterhavet" for the Baltic and the North Sea, which are not Danish possessions; and the Great and Little Belt, as translations of the "Storebelt" and "Lillebelt" might be allowed to keep their places. Measurements of distances and areas also require some little revision and amplification to render them intelligible to the popular mind of the country. The description of Iceland as "A roundish island, about 350 kilom. from north to south, and 500 kilom. from west to east, the whole area 150,000 square kilom. (1900 square miles)" is, for example, not in terms that are universally understood among us. Valuable chapters are added by Mr. Weitemeyer's coadjutors on the Danish language and literature, Danish art and music, the Danish law and constitution, and Danish statistics and economics. There is a useful index and a coloured map which might well have been more detailed; and the volume is dedicated to the Princess of Wales.

VOL. VII.

2 A

New Light on Dark Africa: being the Narrative of the German Emin Pasha Expedition. Related by Dr. CARL PETERS, the Commander of the Expedition. Translated from the German by H. W. DULCKEN, Ph.D. London: Ward, Lock, & Co., 1891. Maps and Illustrations. 1 vol., pp. 597.

Among recent narratives of African travel we know of no book that can be compared with Dr. Peters' for sustained dramatic interest, and, incidentally, for the practical lessons it teaches African adventurers. It is not always pleasant reading— far from it; but, whether one is ready to condemn or to excuse the leader of the socalled German Emin Pacha Expedition, one cannot fail to recognise in him and in his deeds the Nemesis of African earth-hunger. The expedition was, in the first instance at least, a legitimate undertaking inspired and promoted by the generous thought and support of the German people; but political intrigues and subsequent events gave to it the filibustering character which robbed it, not only of glory, but even of its legitimate ends. Unexpected opposition at home and abroad eventually confronted Dr. Peters, who, in consequence, had to adopt methods that were in themselves reprehensible, but which, undoubtedly, were partly forced on him. It became a question whether, in spite of all opposition and the waning necessity of carrying relief to Emin Pacha, the expedition should be abandoned, or whether it should be proceeded with in the hope of some ultimate humanitarian or political benefit arising therefrom. Dr. Peters can scarcely be blamed for adopting the latter alternative. From a man of his determination, enthusiasm, fertility of resource, and patriotism, nothing else could have been expected.

The main incidents in the expedition are sufficiently known to our readers to obviate the necessity of further allusion to them in this place. With a mere handful of men, Dr. Peters adventured to the relief of his countryman on the Upper Nile by a route which in a measure was forced on him, but, still, by a route which was supposed to be impassable to even a strong expedition like that under Mr. Stanley. Obstacles met him at every step; but these he swept aside with a relentless determination and an indifference to suffering for himself, for his men, and especially for his enemies-which some are ready to condemn and some to extol. For our part, we cannot approve, or even excuse, many of the uncalled-for cruelties and raids in which he and his companions engaged, except on the ground that he was a political outcast. Dr. Peters' method partook too much of the "blood-and-iron" policy to be held up as an example to future African travellers. He affects to scoff at the conciliatory methods of Thomson and other predecessors in the same field; and he considers that it is for the ultimate benefit of Africa that the natives should be impressed with the superiority of European arms and of their European masters. Indeed, his arrogance of thought and action led him to make a painful exhibition of himself and his nationality; but it may also serve as a warning to others. Europe's mission in Africa is not to enslave and misuse the natives, but to enter into co-partnership with them, for mutual profit. Dr. Peters, however, appears to think that the possession of the German flag and of a position of serfdom are as much as they are entitled to expect.

But in spite of all that has been said, there were some occasions on which Dr. Peters acted in a manner that deserved the approbation and praise of Europeans. Geographical exploration was entirely subsidiary to the main objects of the expedition, but was not altogether overlooked. In the exploration of the Upper Tana, the expedition, following for the most part in the steps of Mr. Pigott, Count Teleki and others, was successful in eliciting some useful facts.

We have nothing but praise to give the publishers for the handsome production of Dr. Peters' English edition. The illustrations are beautifully produced, by the

Meisenbach process chiefly. The translation reads smoothly, but is sorely in need of revision by a geographical expert, the translator being evidently ignorant of the geography of East Africa.

Rulers of India: The Earl of Mayo. By Sir W. W. HUNTER.
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1891. Pp. 201.

This memoir is carefully condensed from the Life and Work of the Earl of Mayo, a work published in two volumes in 1876, by the same author, and will be much appreciated by those who have not the leisure to peruse the larger book. Lord Mayo was born in Dublin in 1822. At the age of 26, as Richard Southwell Bourke, he was returned as one of the members of Parliament for Kildare, and thus began his useful public career. In 1852, on the accession to power of the Conservatives, Lord Derby offered him-then Lord Naas-the Irish Secretaryship, much to his surprise and delight; the Conservative Government resigned shortly afterwards, but, on the return of the party to power for a short time, in 1858, he again held the same office, and for the next seven years was the parliamentary leader of the Irish Conservatives in Opposition. In 1867 Lord Naas, on the death of his father, succeeded as sixth Earl of Mayo. In 1868 Disraeli offered him the choice of Canada or India, and he wisely decided on accepting the more brilliant sphere-the Viceroyalty of India. The appointment was made before the date of the actual vacancy, and in the meantime there was a change of Ministry; a clamour arose, and the Liberal papers seriously discussed the necessity of a new appointment, Lord Mayo not being considered by them a fit and proper person for such an important office. The new Government, however, made no objection to the choice of their predecessors, and Lord Mayo took over the office of Viceroy from Lord Lawrence on 12th January 1869.

The most important work undertaken during his term of office was to bring about financial reforms. For a series of years there had been heavy deficits; in the year previous to his arrival, the expenditure exceeded the income by nearly three millions sterling; but his first year's work brought about an equilibrium, and the following three years showed a surplus of nearly six millions.

To Lord Mayo also fell the task of reconciliation after the active work of putting down the mutinies had ceased. His commanding presence, his genial manners, and his love of sport made him a general favourite; and, as he made a point of travelling through all the provinces, he made many personal friends among all classes. He founded several colleges for the education of young chiefs; orphan minors were placed under the direct supervision of selected military officers and civilians, with the result that many of the present rulers of Native States are well qualified for their position as feudatories of the Empire.

Lord Mayo's last tour of inspection was to the great convict-settlement on the Andaman Islands, in the Bay of Bengal. On completing a hard day's work on shore, and while he was passing down the quay to rejoin H.M. frigate Glasgow, he was fatally stabbed by a convict, and expired before he reached the ship.

The following eulogy, passed on Lord Mayo by Mr. Disraeli at the time of his appointment, came in with remarkable appropriateness after his death:-" Upon that nobleman, for his capacity, for his judgment, fine temper, and knowledge of men, Her Majesty has been pleased to confer the office of Viceroy of India. I believe he will earn a reputation that his country will honour, and that he has before him a career which will equal that of the most eminent Governor-General who has preceded him."