The following Papers were read : 1. On a Journey in Tarhuna and Gharian in Tripoli. This short excursion was made with the express purpose of investigating a series of megalithic ruins, which were known to exist, but of which nothing has been hitherto known, except brief notices on one or two sites mentioned in the writings of the travellers Barth and Von Bary. The author travelled first south-west, and entered the Tarhuna district by the Wadi Doga, which appears never to have been entered previously by an English traveller. The Wadi Doga is a fine valley about 800 feet above sea-level, surrounded by hills about 800 feet higher, and contains numerous ancient sites of megalithic temples, some in a fair state of preservation. Thence the author passed by Kasr Doga, a magnificent Roman monument described by Barth, on to the Tarhuna plateau, a grassy and partly cultivated plain, twentyfive miles from east to west and of unascertained width. Here the remains were even more numerous than in Wadi Doga, there being hardly a hillock on the summit of which the remains of one of these megalithic temples could not be found. Mr. Cowper camped on this plain with the family of his guide, and was throughout treated with hospitality by the Tarhuni Arabs. These people are pastoral Arabs of pure race, rigid Mussulmans, but apparently not fanatically inclined towards Christians. They live in rows of tents during the winter, and in wattle huts among their crops during summer. Some of them inhabit underground chambers dug in the soil below the level of the ground. Leaving the Tarhuna plateau, the author rode north-east, and crossing the Wadi Daun (which with two smaller Wadis which join it are full of Roman ruins and crossed at frequent intervals by Roman dams) he reached the foot of Jebel Msid, lying at the east end of a wide and beautiful valley called Kseia. Having examined the ancient sites here, he retraced his steps to the Tarhuna plateau, which he crossed to the south-west, and entered a country of more mountainous character. These hills are partly in Tarhuna and partly in Gharian, and his route was crossed at frequent intervals by important watercourses running north towards the coast. The country, like the Tarhuna plateau, is nearly treeless, and in March very poorly supplied with water. A few crumbling ruins, probably of Roman date, cap the hills, but the megalithic sites are comparatively rare. Houses in Gharian are, as in Tarhuna, unknown, except at the Kasr, where there are Turkish troops. Throughout the district game of any sort is most rare, nothing being seen except quails, partridges, a few hares, and a wild cat. After crossing the Wadis Bir el War and Gethathet Dum, the author arrived at Wadi el Ghan, a southern prolongation of the important Wadi Haera, which leads straight to Tripoli. The scenery down this Wadi is very fine, as it runs between grand cliffs of limestone and sandstone, and at one place there is a fine hill of ferruginous clay. Emerging from the mountains, the author passed a curious isolated group of hills lying on the plain like islands, and from this point a two days' journey across the plain brought him to Tripoli. 2. On Rockall. By MILLER CHRISTY. 3. On Western Siberia and the Siberian Railway. By Dr. A. MARKOFF. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13. The following Papers were read : 1. A Voyage to the Antarctic Sea. By C. E. Borchgrevink. More than half a century ago Sir James Clark Ross discovered the South Victoria Continent. Nobody had visited those southern shores until last year, when the whaler 'Antarctic' forced her way through the ice-fields and ran into that large ice-free bay which stretches from Cape Adare down to the volcanoes Erebus and Terror. It seems strange that fifty-four years should have elapsed without any attempt having been made to finish that work which was so bravely commenced by an illustrious Briton. The more strange does this fact seem as the journals of the Erebus and the Terror tell about vast new and promising fields for science and commerce. The recent antarctic expedition was a commercial one, and it was commercially a failure because we did not find the black or 'right' whale, so valuable for its whalebone. The Antarctic' was fitted out for the hunt of that particular kind of whale, but I have nevertheless no doubt that the commercial result of the recent expedition would have been much better had we worked under more favourable auspices. I by no means consider the fact of our not having met with 'right' whales in those seas as a proof of their not existing in the bay at South Victoria Land. It would seem to be incredible that Sir James Clark Ross made a mistake as to the existence of this valuable whale in southern latitudes. Of great commercial importance are the guano beds which we discovered, and which ought to be well worth the attention of enterprising men of business. From the analysis of specimens of rocks which I brought back from the mainland, the presence of valuable minerals on the continent is proved, although the lava flows and volcanic aspect of the coast-line do not speak favourably for the presence of heavy metals near the surface. The discovery of a brownish grey mica schist, evidently a very ancient sedimentary rock converted by heat and pressure operating through a long period of time into its present schistose and crystalline condition, together with the presence of 'granolite,' indicates the possibility of finding ore deposits, and is strongly in favour of a probable continuity of land from Victoria Land across the south pole to Graham Land. Somewhat similar schistose rocks are known to occur in the South Shetlands, south-east from Cape Horn. The specimens from Possession Island are entirely composed of volcanic rocks. They are chiefly fragments of what seems to be a basaltic rock apparently belonging to flows of two different ages. The fragments belonging to the older flow show evidence of the lava having been much frothed up by steam escaping from its pores. It is of a reddish to pinkish brown tint. The newer lava is more dense and is of a blackish grey colour. It is, however, impossible to describe these rocks in detail until microscopic sections of them are completed. An investigation of the origin and consequences of the north-east current which we experienced in the Victoria Bay is of great interest. When we look upon the phenomena which cause and accompany the great currents of the ocean in the northern hemisphere, we are justified in anticipating that also in the southern hemisphere similar phenomena occur. The meteorology of the antarctic circle might throw a valuable light on the origin of oceanic currents; and it is not improbable that the warm current in the bay at Victoria Land plays a similar, if even an inferior, part in the southern hemisphere to that of the Gulf Stream in the northern. The constant light pressure of the air within both the arctic and the antarctic circles seems remarkable. There is probably a similar movement from and towards the pole in the air as there is in the water, so that there is constantly a rush of cold air from the pole towards the equator, and this, combined with the slow movements of the globe, with its air so near the axis of rotation, would form the chief cause of this low pressure. All through our voyage the westerly winds were predominant, but gradually decreased in strength as we drew south of the Roaring Forties. In noting the strength of winds, Sir James Ross's scale 0 to 12 was used. The strongest winds were noticed before we entered the antarctic circle, and not before we returned to the Forties again was wind of force 12 observed. We experienced then a very furious gale of distinctly cyclonic character, turning spirally from north-west to south, and reaching its maximum strength from the south. We had to use oil to protect the ship from the furious breakers. All the time spent in the bay at Victoria Land we experienced light southerly to south-easterly winds, and not once a wind of strength above 5. From the formation of the snow peaks I should think that the westerly winds prevail on the plateaux, and, should this be the case, a land expedition would be greatly assisted in returning from the south magnetic pole towards the bay by the use of sails on the sledges. Our heaviest snowfall was experienced just before we entered the icefields on our return. On the night of January 25, in latitude 69°, when the air was one dense white mass of snow, the wind being once up to 10 in strength, and surrounded by icebergs, our position was far from safe. Although the thermometer did not fall below 30° F., it was a cold and anxious watch in the crow's nest. We always observed the reflection of the icefields in the air, and we were thus warned from far off, even of the presence of a narrow stream of ice or of an iceberg; this ice blink and the presence of the Procellaria nivea never deceived us. When the swell is heavy in the icepack, it is often very difficult to ascertain from which side the swell comes, and as difficult as this is, so is it important, for the safety of the ship depends upon a right judgment in these emergencies. When the huge ice masses begin to move and screw and press on the sides of the vessel, which rises and falls in the heavy swell, there is but one escape-namely, to work the vessel into the fields away from the side from which the gale blows. Birds of the snipe family were discovered at the Campbell Island. Nests of the black-bellied storm-petrel were found on the rocks of Victoria Land, which is, therefore, the home of this hardy petrel. The white petrel, the Procellaria nivea, seemed also to nest at Cape Adare, where it lived in peace with the penguins. The penguins on Possession Island, and on the mainland, were all distinctly different from those seen at the Campbell Island. The northern penguins, rock-hopper penguin (Eudyptes saltator), were all crested, that is to say, they had over each eye a tuft of long yellow feathers, which gives them an appearance of Mephistopheles in miniature, and their hoarse scream just suits their peculiar look. The penguins which we met in the pack on Possession Island, and on the mainland, were the short-bellied penguin (Eudyptes adelia). Four specimens of Aptenodytes Forsteri, the large, lonely penguin, were secured. They had several pounds of pebbles in their stomachs. It was noticed that the plumage of birds gradually changed into lighter colours as we drew southwards. Four kinds of seals were seen the white seal; the sea-leopard; the earless seal; and the common grey seal. The difference in the formation of arctic and antarctic ice is known to be very great. While the northern bergs mostly consist of a large ice mass running up in numberless towers and arches resembling the very mountain peaks which surrounded the glaciers which gave rise to them, the antarctic bergs are solid masses of floating ice with perpendicular walls, and an unbroken plateau on the top. All the bergs showed distinctly whether they were broken from the large southerly barrier, or were discharged from the glaciers of South Victoria Continent. All the barrier bergs had very distinct blue lines across their walls, indicating their annual growth by snowfall; these lines were, of course, not to be found on the glacier ice, which showed more likeness to the northern ice than did the former. The peaks and towers of the arctic icebergs are supposed to have been formed by the influence of ocean-currents wearing away the softer part of the ice mass under water until the natural action of gravitation causes them to upset. But why have the antarctic icebergs a different form, for there are great currents in the antarctic waters? And icebergs which have reached as far north as the south of New Zealand maintain this antarctic character. I can see no other reason for this dissimilarity between the bergs of the north and those of the south, but that the arctic icebergs as a rule must pass through climates which in temperature rapidly change from one extreme to another, and that they take much longer time in floating southwards than the antarctic icebergs do in moving northwards. 2. The Oceanography of the North Sea. By H. N. DICKSON, F.R.S.E. This paper gives some account of recent physical work in the North Atlantic, the North Sea and the Baltic, in which the Swedish, German, Danish, Norwegian and British Governments have co-operated. The surface phenomena at different seasons are discussed, a special report on that section of the joint work having been drawn up by the author. The importance of further research, especially in the interests of our fishing industries, is pointed out, and an international scheme, due to Professor Pettersson of Stockholm, described. 3. Oceanic Circulation. By Dr. JOHN MURRAY, F.R.S.E. 4. The Maps used by Herodotus. By J. L. MYRES, M.A. The geographical digressions in the History of Herodotus are intended to supply the place of an atlas, and can be partially reinterpreted into pictorial form. That such pictorial maps were used, even before Herodotus's time, is clear from v. 49. Herodotus's descriptions are intentionally diagrammatic, and only give skeleton-outlines, on which the details are understood to be filled in. The general proportions are indicated, not by formal latitude and longitude (ascribed to Eratosthenes), but (1) by lists of places which are in the same straight line (ii. 34, iv. 181 ff.), and by columns of names which run up and down or across the map (iv. 37, v. 49), which is thus subdivided into rectangular areas (iv. 37, 99), or parallel strips (iv. 181); (2) by the presumption that a general symmetry is maintained in the distribution of land and water N. and S. of a natural equator' (ii. 26, 33; iii. 115; iv. 36, 37). 6 This equator is indicated in two different real-latitudes in the different digressions, and these two equators' are associated with different principal N. and S. meridians. Hence we may infer that Herodotus used two distinct maps based upon independent traditions and explorations, each best adapted to illustrate a different section-namely, the Greek and the Persian halves' of the known world—but not consistent with one another in the parts where they overlap. A. The Ionian navigating-chart of the Mediterranean and Euxine: an early edition is used by Aristagoras of Miletos in v. 49. Its principal meridian lies through the mouth of the Nile, the Cilician Gates, Sinope, and the mouth of the Danube; its 'equator' is the line of the Royal Road, extended from Miletos on the Mæander to the ford of the Euphrates, produced westwards through the Pillars of Herakles, and eastwards (a) by Aristagoras, down the Choaspes conceived as flowing east, past Susa into the Eastern Ocean; (b) by Herodotus himself superimposed on the Pactyas equator of Map B. B. The chart founded on Phoenician and other Oriental sources, and completed by Skylax of Karyanda, as a survey for Darius of the Persian empire. Principal meridian: a line of nationalities from the mouth of the Choaspes to the mouth of the Phasis (iv. 37) taken as parallel with the Euphrates-Tigris basin, and perhaps representing the meridian either of Susa or of Ecbatana. From this project westward two promontories-Asia Minor and Arabia-washed respectively on their outward sides by the Euxine and the Red Sea.' Arabia in theoretical geography leaves off' at the Isthmus of Suez, as Asia Minor does at the Dardanelles, but is 'practically found to be continuous' with Libya (iv. 39). Between the Peninsula lies the Mediterranean' Sea, with Cyprus in its axis (cf. v. 49); the Equator bisects the Mediterranean from the Pillars of Herakles, through Cyprus, to the Phoenician coast; thence (probably through Ecbatana) down the Pactyas river (perhaps the Ganges) into the Eastern Ocean. The southern coast line of Asia is determined by the voyage of Skylax (iv. 44); the northern is inferred thence by symmetry, and accommodated to the known Caspian (iv. 40). The current controversy as to the frontiers of the continents refers also to these same maps (iv. 36, 39, 41, 45, 197), and to the map of Hecataeus (iv. 45), and is explained, together with the distortion of the eastern half of the known world, by the difficulty of apportioning a circular world among three traditionally equal continents, one of which, Libya, has since been determined to occupy only one quadrant of the circle, and to be bounded by the S. half meridian and the W. half equator, while the opposite quadrant remains still practically unknown. 5. On the Sixth International Geographical Congress, London, 1895. By MAJOR LEONARD DARWIN, Sec. R.G.S. A short historical account of the Congress may be usefully included in the proceedings of the Section, so as to make them a complete record of the scientific year. Five international geographical congresses have been held in various European centres during the last twenty-five years, but this is the first time that this international gathering has assembled in England. The Royal Geographical Society took the initiative in the matter of organisation, and the President of the Royal Geographical Society, Mr. Clements Markham, was, according to precedent, nominated President of the Congress, Mr. J. S. Keltie and Dr. H. R. Mill being appointed Secretaries. An exhibition was arranged in connection with the Congress which, whilst it entailed much labour on Mr. Ravenstein, Mr. Coles, and Mr. Thomson, who organised it, proved an attractive feature of the meeting. The Congress was formally opened on the evening of Friday, July 26, by H.R.H. the Duke of York, one of the honorary presidents. On the following day the President delivered his opening address, in which he reviewed the present position of geographical science. In the afternoon two sections met. The question of surveying by photography was dealt with in one section, whilst in the other a very interesting discussion on education took place. Professor E. Levasseur discussed the French educational system, and pointed out the desirability of making geography less a matter of memory, which could only be done by making it embrace a wider area of thought. Dr. Lehmann and Mr. Herbertson advocated higher training for geographical teachers, the latter pointing out that instruction in geography in England in secondary schools was even in a worse position than in primary schools. Mr. H. J. Mackinder, in opening the discussion, showed that in England we are far behind both France and Germany in University and in secondary geographical training, and suggested the establishment of a geographical institute in London. Mr. H. Yule Oldham spoke in favour of the development of geography at Oxford and Cambridge. A small committee drafted the following resolution, which was afterwards adopted by the Congress: The attention of this International Congress having been drawn by the British members to the educational efforts being made by the British Geographical Societies, the Congress desires to express its hearty sympathy with such efforts, and to place on record its opinion that in every country provision should be made for higher education in geography, either in the Universities or otherwise.' Monday, July 30, was devoted in great part to the polar regions. Dr. G. 1895. 3 c |