Geographical Journal (Journal of the Royal Geographical Society): Volume VIII, No. 5 [‎57v] (117/154)

516
THE MONTHLY RECORD.
about which hardly anything has been known hitherto, is peopled by a mixture
of Chinese from Yunnan, Kutsongs, Mosos, and Sifans. North of this town the
explorer traversed the Tibetan kingdom of Meli, into which the Chinese even have
never penetrated. It is entirely in the hands of the yellow lamas, to whom the
king himself belongs, and is known to the Chinese on this account as Huang-Lama
(“ yellow lamas”). The lamasery (placed on the side of a mountain) was composed
of three-storied houses with white walls, balconies, verandas, etc., which recalled
a town of South Europe. From Meli M. Bonin crossed the Yalung, and made
his way over several very high passes to Ta-tsien-lu.
AFRICA.
Captain Bbttego’s Expedition. —Letters describing the progress of Captain
Buttego’s Expedition to Somaliland down to March last have been published in the
Memorie of the Italian Geographical Society (vol. vi., 1896, p. 149). The leader him
self writes, first from Lugh, the important Somali town on the middle course of the
Jub, and afterwards from a point a little south of the Dana river, in about 40° 40' E.
long. Captain Ferrandi also writes from Lugh, where he has remained as chief of the
newly founded Italian station. From Brava the route (shown on two sketch-maps
accompanying the letter) led first westwards to the Webi Shabeli; then northwards
to the district of Baidoa, where the population is said to be more dense than in the
most thickly peopled parts of the valley of the Po (apart from the large cities); and
thence again west to the Jub, or Ganana, at Lugh. Baidoa forms a perfectly level
plain, about 1650 feet above the sea, with a soil devoid of pebbles, producing
abundance of durra and cotton. Lugh had been attacked by a band of marauding
Amharas (who had come from Imi by way of the Web) shortly before the arrival
of the expedition, and the inhabitants had abandoned the place. They returned
after Captain Bottego’s arrival, but the prevailing feeling of insecurity had prevented
the arrival of the usual caravans from the Benadir coast for the interior. The
country between the coast and Lugh is partly composed of red sandy clay, rich in
magnetite, and occasionally mixed with fragments of crystalline rock, and partly of
grey or yellowish strata. The former is covered with trees and thorny scrub, with
little grass, while vegetation, and especially grass, is much more abundant in the
grey soil. Beyond Lugh the expedition followed the south bank of the Daua for
some distance, afterwards diverging from the stream and ascending the plateau to
the south. Along the Daua the strata were generally horizontal, and seemed to
represent an old sea or lake bottom. Salt is found over the whole district, especially
east of the Web river, where is a mine, near which ruins of an ancient city were
reported. Captain Bottego heard frequently of a river named Sagan, in the direction
in which he was marching. This river is said to flow into a lake (not Abbaia),
and to be distinct from the Omo. The Amhara Burgi dwell on its banks. Meteoro
logical observations have been made throughout by Captain Bottego, who gives the
broad results in his letters.
French Expedition across Equatorial Africa.— The two French travellers,
M. Yersepuy and Baron de Romans, have accomplished a journey across Africa
from east to west by way of Lake Albert Edward and the equatorial forest
(Hevue Francaise, September, 1896). Their original intention had been to reach
Mount Kenya and Lake Rudolf, but, the road in this direction being closed by
hostilities with the Masai, they were obliged to change their plans. After leaving
Katue, on Lake Albert Edward, they came into collision with hostile natives.
Through the forest—in which they suffered severely from fever—they appear to
have, on the whole, kept to Stanley’s route, though in the reverse direction. We
regret to state that M. Versepuy succumbed at Chantilly, soon after his return to