'The Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society. From December 1854 to March 1856. (New Issue.) Edited by the Secretary. Volume XII.' [‎74] (91/258)

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PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY
mation collected at the Board of Trade will be discussed with the twofold object
in view—of aiding navigators or making navigation easier as well as more cer
tain—and amassing a collection of accurate and well-digested observations for
the future use of men of science.’’
Geographical Research in 1854-55.—The great geographical events of
the past year are the discovery of the North-west Passage by Capt. McClure
betwixt 1850 and 1853, and the return of Dr. Rae from Arctic America, with
accounts of the fate of Franklin and his companions; and that of Capt. Collin-
son, who accompanied Captain McClure to Bherring’s Straits. The two
vessels had mainly in view the discovery of the missing navigators. An out
line of the history of the Arctic Expedition formed the subject of a lecture
delivered before the Society in December, and will be printed amongst its
papers. The subject itself with the two about to be noticed, have become
the property of our great London parent, on whose vast domains it is not per
mitted us to trespass. For the past seven years much anxiety has been ex
pressed for an extension of our acquaintance with that part of the North of
Africa extending from the Gulf of Tadjoura, by which Sir W. Harris entered
the country on his way to Abyssinia in 1841, to Cape Guardafui, a magnificent
ridge of tertiary limestone mountains, rising to an altitude of 1,800 to 3,000
feet, skirting the shore : a second range, of from 5,000 to 7,000 feet, rising a
short distance to the south of them. Here the watershed The boundary between adjacent drainage basins. is believed to occur,
and from this the country is supposed to slope inwards down to the river Nagal,
400 miles to the southward, the source of which, near the shores of the Gulf
of Aden, seems under 500 feet above the level of the sea. The general cha
racter of the rocks, so far as is known, seems the same on both sides alike of
the Gulf of Aden, and of the Red Sea, the two Gulfs occupying a vast crevasse
created by some tremendous catastrophe, which for the space of nearly 3,000
miles, from Guardafui to Suez, has rent the continents ofAsia and Africa asun
der. In 1849 the Royal Geographical Society of London moved in the matter ;
and Dr. Carter, who had just before distinguished himself by his papers on the
Geography of Southern Arabia, prepared Rom materials collected when acting
as Surgeon in 1845-46 on board the surveying brig Palinurus, under Captain
Saunders, and afterwards under Captain Grieve was recommended to be sent on
an exploring expedition into the interior. The matter was warmly taken up
by Sir C. Malcolm, the President of the Royal Geographical Society of
London, under whose auspices our association originally came into existence.
As it is on all occasions requisite to carry presents for the Chiefs, the great
danger comes to be that the first chief or tribe met in with, may feel disposed
to appropriate, in addition to his own lawful share, the gifts intended for
others ; and this is only obviated by travelling in disguise,'—a thing difficult to
accomplish, and sure to lead to mischief should the party endeavouring to
practise it be detected,—or to have an escort of sufficient strength to defy
attack,—this last involving a heavier outlay than societies or individuals are in
general disposed to incur. As the localities desired to be examined lay chiefly
along shore, Dr. Carter proposed to pursue a zig-zag route at no great distance
inland, and to carry with him no more valuables at a time than might be
sufficient for a single chief or tribe. A small armed vessel was to cruize
along shore, as near as could be guessed to the line of march, so as at once
to carry his supplies, and make those who might chance to be unfriendly
aware that he had assistance at hand. A plan so feasible did not meet