and Herat, contributed to strengthen the relations of the Indian Government with a considerable section of its inhabitants. But it is mainly the diplomatic and administrative enterprise of Sir Robert Sandeman that has, during the last eight years or so, practically established British supremacy over Western Baluchistan. In fact, the whole of that dependency of the Indian Empire, which is now known to us geographically and politically as Baluchistan, may be said to be Sir Robert Sandeman's handiwork. The climate of Western Baluchistan is in the summer exceedingly hot, but in the winter it is very pleasant. It is true that the greater part of the country, owing to the want of water, is uncultivated, but it is by no means the desert that it is generally supposed to be, especially the portion about Kharan and Panj-gur. The northern portion bordering on the Helmund and the Reghistan (the sandy desert SW. of Kandahar) is little more than a desert. With the introduction of an improved system of irrigation, such as the Indian Government would introduce (similar to that in Sind, albeit Baluchistan cannot boast of an Indus), the fertility of the country would be greatly developed. Moreover, the establishment of a strong government means the suppression of inter-tribal feuds and reciprocal raids. Peace means prosperity and commerce. It is but four or five years since the well-known chieftain and freebooter, Azad, Khan of Kharan, died. His name and fame will long live among the Baluchis, but they will never see his like again. The days of great freebooters in Baluchistan are over. Not that it is to be expected that so extensive a tract, with a population so wild and independent, will be annexed without trouble. The recent murderous attack on Major A. Muir is an instance of what will, or may, happen. The importance of Western Baluchistan as a link between India and South-Eastern Persia, and between the Mekran coast and Sistan, must not be overlooked. There will be lines of railway through it ere long."

Central Asia.—At the commencement of the year the brothers Grum Grzhimailo returned to St. Petersburg from their journey across Asia, and M. G. E. Grum Grzhimailo read a paper before the Imperial Russian Geog. Soc., which was published in the Izvestiya, No. 3, 1891. Some of the discoveries related are of great interest. Perhaps the most singular is that the lower parts of the oasis of Turfan are below the level of the sea. Major-General von Tillo states in Petermann's Mitt., Bd. 37, No. 5, that he has calculated the depth of Lukshin Kyr below the level of the sea to be about 160 feet. This spot is in 42° 30′ N. lat., and 89° 30′ E. longitude. Formerly extensive beds of reeds grew in all parts of the Turfan oasis. These have now disappeared, but where they grew water is still found below the surface, and it is drawn off by the natives for the irrigation of their fields. Where there is no subterranean supply of water, sand is gradually taking possession of the surface, and a great deal of land which was once green fields is now a barren waste. Advancing further towards the south, the explorers discovered the Tchol-tau and Tiu-ghe-tau mountains, parts of a vast range which, commencing at the Tarim river, extends north-eastwards to the mountains of Khami, and eastwards to the Ala Shan. It covers an area of nearly 154,000 square miles and, at its eastern extremities, contains summits rising to a height of 10,000 feet. To this range M. Grum Grzhimailo gave the name Pei Shan, or Northern Mountains, by which the Chinese distinguish its eastern portion from the adjacent Nan Shan, or Southern Mountains. Only one lake, the Tchagan Nor in the east, is to be found within the limits of the range, the small lakes marked in maps to the north and north-east of Su-chow having no existence. Of the lakes on the northern skirts of the range M. Grum Grzhimailo cannot speak with certainty, but apparently Shan Nor is still in existence. Another point to which

the Russian explorer drew particular attention is the tracing out of a Chinese military road, which runs from Lan-chow to Khami and Barkul. The natural history collections brought home contain 30,600 specimens ; among them are four of the wild horses of Dzungaria, first discovered by Przhevalski and named after him. A large number of photographs were taken, and the meteorology, etc., of the region traversed were carefully noted. M. Grum Grzhimailo's journey, in which he travelled nearly 4000 miles by new routes, will contribute a large quantity of new data for cartography.

The Lake Aïbu-Ghir, Sea of Aral.-M. Ed. Blanc, in a letter to the Paris Geog. Soc. (Compte Rendu, No. 6, 1891), announces the discovery of a lake of fresh water to the south-west of the Sea of Aral. Twenty years ago a long and narrow gulf named Aïbu-Ghir figured on many of the maps of this district, but after the Khiva expedition had marched in 1872-3 from the Urals to the mouth of the Amu Daria without encountering this gulf, it was omitted in subsequent maps, and the Sea of Aral was delineated in the compact form with which we are familiar. The recent surveys of Colonel Koslofsky have shown that this gulf was not a purely arbitrary addition of cartographers by revealing the existence of a lake of fresh water to the north of the Sari-kamish depression, which, it seems reasonable to suppose, was at one time in communication with the Sea of Aral. It is always filled with water, whereas the Sari-kamish hollow, though occasionally filled by the overflowing of the Oxus, has been dry for ages, except in the lowest part, where two small lakelets are always to be found. Aïbu-Ghir must have been separated from the Sea of Aral many centuries ago, for it is no doubt this lake which Jenkinson reached in 1558, twenty days after leaving the Gulf of the Tsarevitch, and even then its waters were sweet and fit for drinking. It is still an open question how its separation from the sea was brought about, whether by subterranean disturbances, or by the action of the river Oxus. It is supplied with fresh water by a stream which drains marshes fed by the Oxus. As however, the lake has no outlet, the fact of its remaining fresh requires some explanation. M. Ed. Blanc refers to the Caspian, the salinity of which is decreasing. Here the largest amount of evaporation takes place in land-locked lagoons, where the salt left behind by evaporation forms beds instead of being diffused through the remaining volume of water. Some such process may have reduced the salinity of the Aïbu Ghir, but it is hard to believe that the water has thereby been rendered quite fresh and kept in that state.

The Indian Census.-This census was taken on February 26th by nearly a million of enumerators. The population was found to be nearly 286 millions, of whom 220 millions live in British territory, and 65 millions under feudatory governments. The increase during the past decade has been 26 millions, or 29 millions if newly acquired districts be included. The density of population is 474 to a square mile in Bengal, 442 in the North-Western Provinces, and 248 in Madras. In Sind the growth of population has been very marked, amounting during the decade to 18 per cent. Burma has also made rapid progress, owing to the abundance of land ready for new settlers. The increase of population is 22 per cent., and Lower Burma is now as densely peopled as Portugal. regards the towns, Calcutta now stands first and Bombay second, but changes in town areas and errors in the preliminary report render it impossible to give an accurate comparison of urban populations at present.-The Times, 18th May 1891.

As

Further India. The general staff of the French army of occupation is engaged in the construction of a map of the French possessions. The scale chosen is

1: 200,000, and the whole work will consist of 40 sheets, 12 for Tong-king 13 for Annam, and 15 for Cochin China and Cambodia. At the same time a reduced map on the scale 1: 500,000 will be produced, comprising 16 sheets, and a general map on the scale 1: 1,000,000. To avoid trouble and delay the sheets are printed in Indo-China, and are therefore not artistically on a par with European maps. The map of Tong-king on the reduced scale is now ready, and contains much that The frontier towards China is delineated so far as it has been definitely fixed by treaties. Towards Siam the boundary is quite indefinite, and is, therefore, not shown in the map.-Petermann's Mitt., No. 4, 1891.

is new.

The Population of Japan.-The Chamber of Commerce Journal, May 11th, states that at the commencement of 1889 the total population of Japan amounted to 39,607,234 persons, 20,008,445 being males, and 19,598,789 females. The increase over the population of the preceding year was 537,543, but from this number must be deducted the 117,648 persons omitted in the former census. The average density for the whole empire is 401 to a square miles. The district of Tokio is the most thickly populated, the number of inhabitants to the square mile being 536, while Yezo has only 1'1 to the same area. The town of Tokio contained 1,313,299 inhabitants on January 1st, 1889. Then follow, in order of size, Osaka, Kioto, Nagoya, and Yokohama, the last having 119,783 inhabitants.

AFRICA.

Great Britain and Portugal in South Africa.-On June 11th the new AngloPortuguese Treaty was signed in Lisbon. The principal changes in the frontier therein laid down are as follows:-From the mouth of the river Ruo the boundary will follow the mid-channel of the Shiré southwards to a point a little below Shiwanga. Thence the northern limit of the Portuguese territory will run due westwards till it meets the watershed between the Zambesi and the Shiré, and will follow this watershed and that between the former river and Lake Nyassa up to the parallel of 14° S. lat., where it will turn to the south-west, and continue in that direction to the intersection of the 15th parallel with the river Loangwa. It will then follow the mid-channel of this river to the Zambesi, and then run due south to the 16th parallel. From the Mazoe (Mudzi ?) river it will follow the meridian of 33° E. long. southwards, as laid down in the draft of the abortive treaty of August 20th, but only as far as 18° 30' S. lat. Thence it will follow the upper part of the eastern slope of the Manica plateau to the main channel of the river Sabi, along which it will run to the confluence of the Lunde, and then in a straight line to the north-eastern point of the South African Republic. In the delimitation of the frontier along the skirt of the Manica plateau it is understood that the Portuguese territory shall in no case extend to the westward of 32° 30′ E. long., or the British territory beyond the 33d meridian eastward, but the line may be deflected, if necessary, so as to leave Mutassa in British, and Massi-Kesse in Portuguese, territory.

Great Britain undertakes to make no objection to the extension of the Portuguese sphere of influence from Delagoa Bay southwards as far as a line drawn from the confluence of the Maputa and Pongola along the parallel to the coast.

On the west the British frontier will follow the Zambesi from the Katima rapids to the territory of the Barotse kingdom. That territory will remain within the British sphere, and its western boundary will be determined by an AngloPortuguese Commission.

The transit of goods across Portuguese territory shall not, for a period of eighty years, be subject to a duty exceeding 3 per cent., and Her Majesty's Government

shall have the option, within five years, of commuting the dues for the remainder of the period into an annual payment of £30,000. Goods, however, shall pass free through the districts adjoining the Zambesi above the confluence of the Shiré on the left, and of the Ruenya on the right, bank. The navigation of the Zambesi and the Shiré and their branches shall be free for the ships of all nations, and the Portuguese Government undertakes to facilitate the traffic on the Pungwe, the Busi, the Limpopo, and the Sabi. The Portuguese are also bound to construct a railway between the British territory and Pungwe Bay and to carry a road from the highest navigable point of the Pungwe River to the frontier. Telegraphic communication with the coast is also to be established. Notes are to be exchanged with regard to leases to be granted to merchants and others of sites for warehouses, etc., railway rates, and the prohibition of the importation of ardent spirits.

British Protectorate over Nyassaland. The following announcement is taken from the London Gazette:

Foreign Office, May 14, 1891.—It is hereby notified for public information that, under and by virtue of agreements with the native chiefs, and by other lawful means, the territories in Africa, hereinafter referred to as the Nyassaland districts, are under the protectorate of Her Majesty the Queen.

"The British Protectorate of the Nyassaland districts comprises the territories bounded on the east and south by the Portuguese dominions, and to the west by a frontier which, starting on the south from the point where the boundary of the Portuguese dominions is intersected by the boundary of the Conventional Free Trade Zone, defined in the 1st article of the Berlin Act, follows that line northwards to the point where it meets the line of the Geographical Congo Basin, defined in the same article, and thence follows the latter line to the point where it touches the boundary between the British and German spheres, defined in the second paragraph of the 1st article of the Agreement of the 1st July 1890.

"Measures are in course of preparation for the administration of justice and the maintenance of peace and good order in the Nyassaland districts."

The Mobangi and Lake Tsad.--M. Paul Crampel ascended the Mobangi last autumn, making treaties as he went with the chiefs on the French bank. The observations made by M. Lauzière, an engineer who accompanied the expedition, confirm those of M. le Marinel (S. G. M., vol. vii., p. 210), and show that the river extends northwards to about 5° 11'. The natives of the upper Mobangi are very numerous, and possess large quantities of ivory and caoutchouc. M. Crampel established a camp at Dukua-Mossua, and then set out towards Lake Tsad. In February, if all went well, he would arrive at Baghirmi.-Compte Rendu of the Soc. de Géog., No. 6, 1891.

AUSTRALASIA.

Hampton Plains, South-west Australia.-These plains, which lie to the northeast of Lake Lefroy, were first visited in 1864 by Mr. Hunt, and in 1888 Mr. George Simpson, M.E., made a journey to them on behalf of a syndicate of English capitalists, who were desirous of constructing a railway from Esperance Bay to a large area of land leased by them in that region. In December of the same year Mr. Simpson gave a description of the country in a paper read before the Victorian Branch of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia (Transactions, vol. viii. pt. 2). Starting from York, he travelled eastwards for 300 miles over a sandy plain, from which rise at intervals of 6 to 20 miles granite hills, all, except Mount Stirling and one or two others, of low elevation. A creek 22 miles from York was

the only one crossed, and the party had to depend for water on a few wells sunk along the track. At 200 miles from York are two new gold-fields, which promise to be rich in ore, but the want of sufficient capital and water is likely to hinder their development for the present. The plains are covered with stunted scrub, and there is a remarkable absence of flowers so often found on the sandy plains of Australia. Occasionally patches of grass and salt-bush were met with, and a large climbing plant (Marsdenia Leichhardti) was noticed once or twice. Several dry lake beds were passed, which seemed at some remote period to have formed the channel of a river. The Hampton Plains are not true plains, but undulating lands, forming large flats and low hills 20 to 100 feet in height. The soil is a rich red loam of volcanic origin, having a depth, as may be seen on the sides of creeks and gullies, of 5 to 15 feet. The rocks are chiefly of eruptive origin. Mr. Simpson believes that the geological formation is the same as at Ballarat and Bendigo, and he found indications of rich deposits of gold, both in alluvial soil and in quartz reefs. Most of the hills are well clothed with grass suitable for stock and salt-bush. Among the timber-trees are various kinds of gum, Casuarina, the ordnance tree (Codonocarpus cotonifolius), so called because the leaves resemble the broad arrow, and a pretty variety of cypress suitable for fencing. Sandalwood is very abundant, as also a variety of the same tree called the Quondong, the fruit of which is eaten, sometimes made into jam. Raspberry-jam wood was also found. It yields a beautiful and durable timber, and its seeds are made into bread by the natives. The wood, when freshly broken, gives off a scent resembling that of raspberry jam. Fresh soft water was found in several creeks, water-holes, and native wells, and in several gullies large deep piles of driftwood showed that heavy rains must at times descend over the country. Animals are scarce. Kangaroos live only on the hills; emus and wild turkeys are more numerous, and Mr. Simpson found nests of the Australian pheasant. On the lakes swam a few ducks and other water-birds. Singing birds, on the other hand, are remarkably plentiful. The party met with eleven natives on the plains. Their colour was brownish black. They wore no clothing, and carried no weapon or implement of any kind. It seems, however, that, though generally peaceful, they do occasionally fight, for some spears, boomerangs, and a shield were found concealed under a log. The natives live almost entirely on the large white grubs that attack the jam trees. They also roast the fruit of a climbing plant something like a gourd, and sometimes eat the fruit of the Quondong. They sleep on the open ground, keeping themselves warm by fires. In their appearance there is nothing repulsive, and, though living in such a barbarous fashion, they show no lack of intelligence. Mr. Simpson was particularly struck with the accuracy with which they repeated any word spoken to them, even imitating the Scotch accent and Irish brogue to perfection.

GENERAL.

The Meteorological Results of the "Challenger" Expedition.-Seeing that water covers nearly three-fourths of the surface of the globe, and exercises an important influence on the temperature of the air above it, and, by the intervention of winds, extends that influence over the land surfaces, it was impossible to give a satisfactory account of the meteorology of the earth in the absence of records of a complete series of observations taken in the open ocean. It was, therefore, of the utmost importance that the records of the Challenger Expedition should be thoroughly digested, and this work Dr. Buchan, after seven years' labour, brought to a