The Sun.
London, England, 1864-11-15 00:00:00

Royal Geographical Society,

Last evening this society opened the sessicn for 1564.65
at their apartments in Burlington-house. Among the com-
pany, which included several ladies, were the Duke of Wel-
lington, Earl of Cork, Lord Milton, Sir H. James, Sir H.
Rawlinson, Sir T. Nicolson, Sir A. S. Waugh, Dr Living-
stone, Sir T. Fremantle, Admiral W. H, Hall, Admiral
Collinson, Mr Vamberry, Mr H. Merivalo, Mr Arrowsmith,
and Mr J. M. Stuart.

Sir It, I, MuitculsoN, the president of the society, was
upon his entrance into the room greeted with much ap-

plause. On taking the chair he proceeded to open the ses-

sion with the following observations, which he declined to
call a formal address, as that was only made at the anniver-

sary meeting of the society :—" Assembled as we are now
to commence the 35th session of this society, we begin, as
last year, with the consideration of those geographical pro-

bleins regarding the interior of Africa which are still in

process of solution. This is indeed a very natural course, for
while our enterprising countrymen well know thdt of all
distant regions Africa offers the widest untrodden field for
their researches, they also feel that, being the most difficult

and hazardous, tho greater will be the honour and distinc-
tion gained by its successful exploration. It was this stimu•

[us that urged on the distinguished explorer Speke, who on

his return last year with his companion Grant received, not
only at our hand, but at those of the nation, a tribute of ap-
probation never to be forgotten, and which will long serve

as an incitement to future travellers. In the interval which

has elapsed since the brilliant reception of Speke in this hall
we have had, alas I to lament the loss of that gallant spirit.
The catastropo of his death naturally throw a gloom over
the proceedings of our associates at the late meeting of the

British Association at Bath. As the president of the section

of geography and ethnology it fell to my duty to transmit a
few words of condolence to his afflicted parents, as coming

from the united body of geographers and ethnologists ; and
subsequently I had the sad privilege (in conjunction with
Grant and Livingstone) of following to the grave the remains

of the undaunted traveller who had thus been taken from
us in the zenith of his career, at a time when ho earnestly

desired to win new triumphs in the
.chosen field of his re-
searches, lam sure, gentlemen, you will desire, as I do,
to honour the momory of the man who was the first among
Europeans to traverse Central Equatorial Africa from
south to north, and who, proceeding from his own lake,
Victoria Nyanza, followed its waters to the mouth of the
Nile, Imbued with this feeling, I lost no time, after his
interment, in taking steps towards the erection of a monu-
ment to his memory, by means of :subscription—and I am

happy to find that already a number of my colleagues have
affixed their names to the list which, after the additions it

may receive in the days following this meeting will go
forth as our appeal to the public. At our next anniversary
it will be my duty to give yon:a brief sketch of the life of
this devoted explorer—and in the meantime, while inviting
you to subscribe to his memorial, I may add that our ob•
ject is simply to obtain a sum sufficient to erect an obelisk
similar to that which was reared in honour of Lieutenant

Bellot, who perished in the search after Franklin. On

:his monument the name of John Henning Speke wi:

stand out as the s:mplest and best eulogy of his
main achievement. Apart from this sorrowful epi-

sods, the proceedings of the geographers and ethnolo-
gists at the Bath meeting were eminently successful.
I may say It with satisfaction that this section of the British
Association (a section formed on a suggestion of my own
in 1847) has now become so attractive that it is, if possible,
more numerously attended than that of geology, which
has hitherto taken the lead in popularity. A generous
and healthy rivalry like this is a sure sign that much is
common to the two noble sciences of geography and
geology, and that the cultivation of the one are effectively
throwing light on the researches of the other. Referring
you to the published reports for an account of the nurse-
rous interesting and original papers which were read
before the Geographical Section at Bath, I must here
call especial attention to one portion of our proceedings,
A recommendation was pi oposed by our indefatigable asso-
ciate Mr Findlay, having for its object the continuation of
those researches into the depth of the ocean and the nature
of the sea bottom which attracted so much attention a few
years ago. This was considered to promise such decided
advantages to science that I had sincere gratification in ob-
taining the sanction of the association at large to the recom-
mendation, and a committee was nominated (consisting of
Admiral Cellinson, Mr Findlay, and myself) for the purpose
of requesting her Majesty's Government to cause the Tessels
of the royal navy to be furnished with the apparatus adopted
by Dr Wallich and used in her Majesty's ship Bulldog,
commanded by Sir Leopold M'Clintock, in order to pursue
those important investigations. It is to be hoped, in the
wording of the recommendation, that the exigencies of her
Majesty's navy and the discipline of her chips may permit

these researches to be carried out, at least to some extent,
and that the records may be forwarded to the Hydrographie
Department, and the specimens to the Geological Museum,
where they may be rendered available to the public. To
Sass on to the subjects for consideration at this our opening
meeting, I have to say that the first memoir to be read is
one by Capt. Burton on the interesting subject of the drain-
age of Central Atrica, particularly as regards the head waters
of the Nile ; and I have no doubt that this energetic and
accomplished traveller will so put the case as to arouse in
us the strongest desire to see cleared up, by renewed expe-
ditions, this great question, which was so ably set forth by
Dr Beke, whose views have since been supported by the
geographer Findlay, as well as by the antiquarian researches
of Mr John Hogg and Mr Virus. It is true that one
or more of these points may probably he elucidated by the
enterprising Baker, direct news from whom we mu-t
patiently await; fir, according to the accounts gleaned
by Petheriek from the men belonging to an Arab trader,
Baker had recently visited some great lake, probably the
Luta Nzigtl, and was safe in the interior. After the
last journey of Livingstone towards the northern end of
his lake Nyassa, when he came to the conclusion that no
large water flowed into it from the north, it has become
evident that no problem concerning the internal drainage of
Africa can be more deserving of attention than the configu-
ration of the country between the northern end of Nyassa
and the southern end of the lake Tanganyika, of Burton and
Speke, an interval of about 360 miles. To fill up this void
in our maps of Africa, and to Settle the great question to be
brought before us this evening, I venture to say that (with
the exception of Livingstone himself) no one is more com-
petent than his coadjutor, Dr Kirk, should ho have the op-
portunity,
en o fknowledge, undaunted per-
severance, tolead an exploring party in this directicn. His
onstitution, not to forget his
conciliatory manners, eminently aarni edd acclimatised natural
fit him for an enterprise
which would task the resources et most travellers. Another
history
constitution,
communication to be laid before you this evening will be a
recent letter from M. du Chaillu, addressed to mysalf—ona
of several which he has written to his friends in this coun-
try on the eve of his departure for the unknown interior of
Western Equatorial Africa. I doubt not this letter will meet
with approval even on the part of those who most criticised
the narrative of his former journey; for it exhibits the ho-
nesty and tenacity of purpose, as well as the lofty aims, of
this courageous explorer. Our society may be well pleased
that it should have supplied Du Chaillu with new instru-
ments, to replace those which he had procured for himself,
but lost by the upsetting of a canoe when he 'a as disem-
barking in the Gaboon country, After occupying the inter-
val in accumulating large collections of natural history ob-
jects, which he has forwarded to London (including large
specimens of the gorilla in the preserved state for presenta-
tion to the British Museum, and a live gorilla to be offered
to the Zoological Society), the solitary explorer has now de-
parted on his errand to reach the central watershed of Africa,
where ho supposes the Congo and the western branches of
the Nile take their origin, Our assistant-secretary, Mr
Bates, has performed the useful duty of abridging, for com-
munication to this meeting, a portion of the voluminous
notes of the late Richard Thornton, referring to his
exploration of the snow-capped mountain of Kilimadjaro.
Mr Thornton, in the earliest and last parts of his scientific
career, acted in co-operation with Dr. Livingstone on the
Zambesi, and in the interval was the companion of Baron
von der Decken in his first remarkable expedition. The re-
sults of the labours of this fine young man, so prematurely
cut off, must be divide:; between the Geological and the
Geographical Societies ; for Richard Thornton possessed
just the character which I can best appreciate—viz., that
of a man who unites in his own person the power of deci-
phering the outlines of the surface of the earth with that of
explaining the structure of its crust and the changes it has
successively undergone. Before we proceed to the business
of the meeting, let me inform you that I have received
letters from our medallist of last session, the Baron Charles
von der Decken, Written from the Seychelles Islands, on his
way to Zanzibar, where, doubtless, her Majesty's Consul,
at the instance of Earl Russell, and our naval officers, by
the direction of the Duke of Somerset, will do everything
in their power to facilitate his putting together the river
steamers which he takes with him, and by which he hopes
to ascend the Jub, or some neighbouring river. To carry
his enterprise to a successful conclusion, this eelfesacrifleing
explorer will need the assistance of the Egyptian authori-
ties, as it is intended, if possible, to cross the water-shed
which divides the Eastern African rivers from the basin
of the Nile; and, possessing only a formal passport of the
Pasha, he has applied to mo to procure for him a finnan of
a more influential character. This, lam happy to say, is
in a fair way of b ine; arranged, as I have obtained from Sir
11. Bulwer, her Majesty's Ambassador at Constantinople, a
promise that he will take such steps as he doubts not will
speedily procure the transmission of Zanzibar of a firman
giving to Baron von der Deckers the means of obtaining the
aid he desires. Thus wa may hope that from the east as
well as the west side of Africa successful explorations will
soon lay open many portions of the interior of that conti-
nent which still remain unknown. The interest which the
public and ourselves take in all questions of African explo.
ration will, lam happy to say, be kept alive through the
ensuing session by the application of Dr. Livingstone and
Mr Charles Livingstone's narrative of the expedition to the
Zambesi and Lake Nyassa ; and also by the issue of a
volume by the gallant Capt. Grant before he returns to
military service is India, entitled "A Walk across Africa,
in which the domestic scenes of the natives of Equatorial
Africa will be vividly described. In concluding, allow me
to say that in describing any African questions in which
theory is involved I trust our proceedings may be conducted,
as heretofore, with that mutual good feeling which has
always characterised them. Let discussions which assume
too disputatious a character be confined to the various