The Sun.
London, England, 1865-04-26 00:00:00

Ito 3 al Geographical Society.

The 11th meeting of the present session of the above so-
ciety was held at Burlington House on Monday evening,
the 24th inst.—Sir R. I. Murchison, President, in the chair.
Previous to the reading of the papers announced for the
evening, the President read portions of a despatch iron:,
Col. Lewis Pelly, her Majesty's Resident, Persian Gulf
(communicated by the Bombay Government to the social),
on the subject of the Exploration of Inner Arabia. The
writer had learnt from the "Proceedings" of the Roial
Geographical Society issued in April, 1864, that it Was 6•
desideratum to determine with scientific accuracy the posi-
tions of the Wahabite capital, and some other points of in-
terest in the interior, and had determined, notwithstanding
the accounts of the difficulties and dangers of such a jour-
ney, to lead at once a party of competent officers and well
of science into the country. He was unwilling that it
should be supposed insuperable difficulties existed in ille
way of penetrating any Asiatic territory adjacent to WS
jurisdiction, for it had been his habit to consider that al;
English officer could go anywhere when his duty required
it. Accordingly he announced to his Government that h°
was then on his march (Feb. 14). His plan was to land
at 'Kwait, and from that point to proceed to the capital, re-
turning to the Persian Gulf by another route. The PI
consisted, besides himself, of Lieut. Dawes (who carne
with him all the necessary instruments), and Dr. Colvill, AS
botanist and mineralogist.
Sir H. RAWLISSON said the success of an expedition
of this kind depended mainly on the qualifications,
the officer who undertook it, and Col. Pelly was well war'.
ranted in speaking with the confidence which appeared in
this despatch. He had given proofs of his courage and tact
13
by travelling on horseback in 1861 in his uniform as a '-
tish officer through the whole of the Affghan country frog
Teheran to Calcutta—one of the most adventurous jour-
neys which had been performed in that region. We should
have to wait some months before the results of the Arabiant
expedition could be known, but it was possible they laigh_
arrive before the conclusion of the present session of tio,

society.
of
The first paper was "On the Bayanos River, Isthmus
Panama," by Lawrence Oliphant. This was a short nerr3-
tive of a journey which the writer had made from PaY3llla;
to the Chepo or Bayanos River, which enters the Pad
about 30 miles to the westward of the former place.
tween this point and the Gulf of St. Blas the Atlantic and
the Pacific approach nearer to each other than they do in
any other part, and the object of the paper was to call At'
tention to the fact that during the many surveys which
had been undertaken with a view to discover the 11,°st
practicable line for a ship canal, this part had been neglected.
The neck of land which divides the Atlantic from that point
on the Bayanos River to which the tide of the Pacific
tends is only 15 miles across, and, however incredible it
might seem, this short distance had never been crossed,
much less explored, by a white man. In 1837 Mr. Wheel-
wright attempted it, but was driven back by the Indians,
and some years later Mr. Evan Hopkins started with
view of exploring this route,.but was compelled to ab
don it for the same reason. The object *of the writer in
his visit was simply areconnaissance, the persons in wil°7ca,
company he made the trip having no idea of explorsti°-'
but merely of visiting the little settlement of Chepo, whams
,r
they had bought an estate. He was unable to reach so
ends'
and Terabla, where the influence of the Pacific tides eo'l
and where an expedition to cross to the Atlantic WOW'
have to start from ; but he saw from Chepo a very remarl"-
able depression in the mountian chain about ten mile 9
distant. He was repeatedly assured, both at Panama and at
Chepo, that the Darien Indians were in the habit of hauling
their canoes on wooden slides across the Cordillera, froci
the Mandinga River, and launching them in the Bay-flocs'
Surely it was a discredit to the civilisation of the 19th cOr

tury that the Indians should be said to pass with boats fOril
the Pacific to the Atlantic, and that we should never 113'1°
had the curiosity to verify this fact, or explore the 004
section of the Isthmus of which it could be stated with ail
appearance of truth ?

A second paper was " On a Journey from Chimborazo to
Bogota across the Central Andes," by Robert Cross. rr",;„-
was a narrative of a journey performed by the writer la':
employed by the India-office in collecting seeds of the Pital"
cinchona tree for planting in India. The valuable specie:
cinchona appears to be now reduced to a few specinlet
growing in Popayan, from which the writer succeeded P-
obtaining a good supply of seeds. His journey from the
Pitayo forests in the valley of the Magdalena was over the
high and bleak plateau of Guanacas, where his mules had
narrow escape of perishing of cold, and where he saw' the
road strewed with skeletons of men and animals. of
General MosQuEnA (Minister of the United States ,
Columbia to Great Britain), at the invitation of the Presi-
dent, addressed a few remarks to the meeting in English, 1,4
which he describes the efforts which the Government Ofbi
native country were making to open a road across the Coi:
dillera at the point mentioned in Mr. Oliphant's paper.
This was one out of many enterprises which were now Lein,"
pushed forward with a view to increase the trade betwe%
New Granada and Great Britain in the abundant prodlle-
of that part of tropical America.
Mr. Evert Honims, C.E., who had been employecl
General Mosquera to survey various parts of New Gra o'7,
confirmed the statements of Mr, Oliphant with regard to !holt
geography of the Isthmus. As to the vast region NY111„f
Mr. Cross had given them an account of, the difficulties
travelling described by him were due to the want of praiele
precautions. He had himself crossed all the ranges Of ts,
Cordillera fire times without suffering any great privation a
and a more magnificent region for beauty of scenery au
_ _ _

fertility of soil he had never seen.
Mr. GERSTENBERG reviewedthe capabilities of the vo,riol
routes which had been proposed for a ship canal, and Pl
o.
his reasons for preferring that which had been first Oft:
gested by Humboldt,-namely between the Gulf of Lt
Miguel and Caledonia Bay, which was the only line t'or-
presented the indispensable requirement of a good httO°

at each end.
Mr. OLIPHANT differed from Mr. Gerstenberg in OPP co
ing that a good harbour at each end was of more import°
than a depression in the intervening ridge.
4. ;7, di°
Mr. CRAWFURD and DT. HODGKIN also took part,
discussion, and
of
The PRESIDENT, in summing up, said the questi°ll
crossing the Isthmus of Panama had been productive, in
years past, of frequent and lively discussions in the soci° co
but he agreed with Mr. Oliphant that it would be a dise,ll-
to British geographers if they did not complete the ei3lo,
nation of this region. This was one of the great desideru'la
which now remained, and he hoped General Mosquera
use his influence to induce his countrymen to aid their
the exploration.

EMIGRATION FROM Tlih MINING DISTRICTS.----biL
gration has commenced at this early period of "11
year from the mining districts of the kingdom, tuicinje
South Wales it is beginning to be a frequent ocetirr7:l
for 40 or 50 hands to leave at every pay from the
iron and coal works of the district. A few ereio.4oio"
Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and other British e
flies, but at least 90 per cent. are bound for the N° their
States. The great inducement to leave the laud °f,„- the
birth is the reported high wages to be received
States, and pamphlets and American newspaPers tr:llvg.
dustriously circulated among the working classes, bi ;or-
a glowing account of the state of the country to"
nately, a great number of the miners believe die „ "",lbi
ments made, despite the warnings addressed to the;r of
even American citizens of position, such as the 314Ydjo- 06
New York, who has publicly condemned the POceeoo
of the American Emigrant Society in inducing el"
to come over with no ether object than to scare II
labour for the capitallot,

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