The Press.
London, England, 1858-03-13 00:00:00

littrapalitan.

Tin ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY had a very full
meeting on Monday evening, in the new room at
Burlington-bone, Sir Roderick I. Murchison, Presi-
dent, in the chair. Among those present were the
Duke of Argyll, the Earl of Ducie, Rajah Brooke,
Lord Ovorstone, Lord Keane, Sir George Pollock,
Sir Thomas Fremantle, Sir George Back, R.N. Sir
James Shuttleworth, General Monteith, Colonel
Sykte., *4,7 comigs §obpky and .44/07, tto. Pard

HE PRESS, MARCH 13,1858.

Keane and Captain Sidney Webb, Mr. T. W. Atkin-
son, and Mr. Nathaniel Bridges were officially intro-
duced upon their election. A number of inscriptions
copied by Mr. Cyril Graham, and a Japanese hat
from the town of Hakodadai, presented by Lieute-
nant Gilmore, R.N., F.R.G.S., were exhibited at the
meeting. The paper read was—" Further account of
explorations in the Desert east of the Hauran." By
Cyril Graham, Esq., F.R.G.S. 2nd part. —This paper
forms the continuation of one read before the society
at their last meeting. It contains an account of a
journey, first along the Wadi Nimreh, which is a
winter torrent over which high rocks hang on both
sides, and on the summit of them ruins of ancient
places are seen. Near the source of this Wadi is an
old town called Nimreb, which, like all the towns of
Bashan, is built of stone. The course next leads over
the mountains, which are in some places well covered
with grass, as many fine springs take their rise in
these high lands. All this was unexplored ground.
In the midst of these mountains many old towns
were found, for the most part uninhabited, but in
two of which recent settlements had been made by
the Druzes. The author of the paper wished strongly
to bring forward the very high antiquity of all the
cities in and east of Basilan. It is his firm convic-
tion, and it can be supported by the very strongest
argument, that the cities which are now standing
alone and desolate in the plain, as vast monuments
of former days, are the same cities which Og in-
habited, which the Israelites took !bra him, and
which were built by the giant of old, perhaps even
before the time that Abraham came out of Mesopo-
tamia. After a most animated discussion, in which
the Chairman, Dr. Kinkel, Mr. Heneage, Dr. Worth-
ington, Mr. Crawfurd, and Dr. Barth took part, the
meeting was adjourned to the 22nd inst.
Tax "lova. LrrEasav FUND held its Annual
General Meeting on Wednesday. From the fact
that a pamphlet, signed by Messrs. Charles Dickens
and Forster, reflecting on the management of the
Fund, had been freely circulated during the past
week, the meeting was very fully attended. After the
usual minutes had been read, Mr. Dickens moved a
resolution, condemning the management and ex-
penditure of the Fund. Mr. Monckton Milnes, M.P.,
replied, and after a careful detail of receipts and ex-
penditure by Mr. Robert Bell, the resolution was put
to the vote and rejected by 70 to 14. A motion by
Mr. P. Cooper for an inquiry into the expenditure
was, after a long discussion, also negatived by 66
to 18, and the proceedings terminated.

AN EXTRAORDINARY Numsza or FIRES occurred in
London on Wednesday. During the day and night
no less than ten fires broke out in different parts of
the metropolis, of which, one in Earl-street, Kensing-
ton, another at Camberwell, and a third at the Brick•
layer's Arms Station, inflicted loss more or less
serious.

MR. SHEIUFF ALLEN has been elected Alderman of
the Ward of Cheap, vice Mr. Kennedy, of the Royal
British Bank, resigned.
THE QUESTION Or PROSTITUTION IN THE METROPO-
LIS was brought before Mr. Walpole, at the Home-
office, by deputation, on Wednesday last. The Right
Hon. the Secretary of State for the Home Depart.
ment paid great attention to the statements of the
deputation, and said in reply that he had "received
orders " to colleet information on the subject, so
as to be able to form a correct judgment as to the
exact deficiencies of the law.

THE SOCIETY FOR THE PROPOGATION OF THE GOS-
PEL memorialise Lord Derby to divide the diocese of
Calcutta into two sees, and appoint another bishop.
Dr. Cotton, the bishop designate of Calcutta, has, it is
said, signified his assent to the proposal for a new
see for the north-west provinces, the seat of which
shall be at Agra. The new diocese would be about
500 miles in length, and contain an area of 109,000
square miles, with a population of 34,000,000, a dio-
ceee which would be 19,000 square miles larger than
the whole of Great Britain.

Tar Hrarra of LONDON bas been seriously
affected by the recent cold weather. The mortality
returns for the last week (March 6th) show an
increase of deaths from 1,280 to 1,353, an excess of
sixty above the highest average. The births of
1,644 children occurred during the same period.