The Geographical Journal (Journal of the Royal Geographical Society): Volume X, No. 6 [‎124r] (100/186)

THE MONTHLY RECORD.
6:>&
river, is given by Herr von Bruchhausen, in the Deutsches Kolonialblatt for October
1 , chiefly from the point of view of their suitability for colonization. The writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping.
divides the country surrounding and including the mountains, which forms the
part of Uhehe most suitable for settlement, into three zones, viz. (1) That of the
grassy treeless plains, with a laterite soil and little humus; ( 2 ) that of transition
between the grass and the bush; (3) the bush zone with a luxuriant vegetation.
Both of these last have an excellent soil; the summits of the hills are chiefly
cultivated by the natives, but good alluvial soil is also present in the valleys. The
hills are unusually well watered, the numerous ravines and valleys all possessing
springs and streams of excellent clear water. The climate is temperate and bracing,
and fever is little to be feared. The rainy season proper lasts from November to
May, but rain falls in the hills throughout the year. The grass-lands are pre
eminently suited for cattle-rearing, and herds have already been successfully sent
down to the coast. With steamers on the Ituflji above and below the Pangani
falls, communication with the coast would be easy.
Antidote to African Arrow-poison. —Major Ternan, who commanded the
British forces during the late fighting in Uganda, has now arrived in England,
and during the course of an interview has described the successful use of an
injection of strychnine solution as an antidote to the native arrow-poison. It
was tried by Dr. Macpherson during Major Ternan’s operations against the Kamasia
tribe on the Mau mountains, with the result that the wounded men so treated
recovered in a couple of hours, whereas previously people wounded with the
poisoned arrows had always died. Should this remedy prove generally successful,
one of the chief risks of savage warfare in Africa will have been removed.
AMERICA.
The Jessup Expedition to the North Pacific Coast. — Science (October 8 )
contains a short account of the results of the work performed during the past season
by the expedition despatched by Mr. M. K. Jessup for the investigation of the
ethnology of the regions bordering on the North Pacific. The field chosen for
work during the present year was British Columbia, whither Dr. F. Boas, Mr. L.
Farrand, and Mr. II. T. Smith proceeded in May last; Messrs. Teit and Hunt
joining the party later. The investigations included the examination of archa; 0 -
logical remains—which, though dating from periods preceding the arrival ot
Europeans, mostly appeared capable of reference to the immediate ancestors of the
present inhabitants—the study of the traditions and languages of the Bella Kula
and other Indian tribes, and of the physical types of the tribes of British Columbia
generally. One hundred casts were obtained, representing four distinct types.
The Geology of the Bermuda Islands.—The Bermudas are still vexed
by discussions amongst geologists as to their structure. Ihe latest contributor to
the subject is Mr. Ralph S. Tarr, who publishes a paper in the American Geologist,
reviewing a number of the older arguments in the light of some original observa
tions. The history of the Bermudas, Mr. Tarr concludes, is somewhat as follows.
A base rock was at first formed by the waves on the flat volcanic summit by the
pounding up of shell fragments on the beach; the shell sand was then consolidated
into a dense limestone, eroded in the air, and finally attacked by the weaves. Ibis
stage would involve elevation and subsequent depression. Next follows the partial
covering of this base rock by beach deposits of pebbles and shells: this must have
occurred in comparatively recent times, so far as appears from fossils. Ihen came
an uplift, during which land-shells lived on the beach deposits; but these were
soon covered by blown sand, and through this sand accumulation the outline of
the Bermuda hills was perfected. This acticn occurred when the land was certainly