The Sun.
London, England, 1865-01-10 00:00:00

Royal Geographical Society.

Yesterday evening an ordinary meeting of this
society was held in Burlington House—Sir Roderick
Murchison (president) in the chair. The first paper
was read by Mr. Taylor, describing a visit to the
sources of the Tigris and Euphrates. The numerous
sources of these rivers were explored by Mr. Taylor,
who described very clearly the main features of the
physical geography of a region that has been seldom
visited by Europeans. As a geographical commu-
nication the chief value of the paper consisted in the
maps of the sources of the rivers, which were accu-
rately depicted. The principal source of the Tigris
issues from a cavern about two miles long, at the
entrance of which he 'perceived an ancient inscription
carved on the rock, with the figure of an Assyrian
King. He stated that the mountains whence the
sources of the rivers flow abound in caverns, and one
stalactite cave was of vast dimensions, reaching
much farther than he was enabled to penetrate.
Sir HENRY RAWLINSON threw much light on the
value of Mr. Taylor's labours as a geographer and
discoverer of antiquities. He said that some of the
most ancient monuments now in the British Museum
had been contributed by Mr. Taylor, who had ex-
plored several ruined cities of the Chaldees, and had
discovered many monuments of that people that were
of several hundred years earlier date than Nineveh
marbles. He mentioned a curious and interesting
coincidence connected with the inscription and figure
carved on the rock of the cavern. In deciphering the
inscriptions on the Nineveh monuments that had been
made by order of the great King-of the Assyrians,
Sir Henry Rawlinson said he found it was there
stated that that monarch had extended his conquests
to the sources of the Tigris, and that on the
rock out of which the river issued he had com-
manded an inscription and figure to be carved to
commemorate the event. Mr. Taylor was not aware
of what he had deciphered, nor did he at the time
know of Mr. Taylor's discovery; therefore the com-
bined testimony was entirely independent. Sir
Henry Rawlinson alluded to the great difficulty
which all travellers experienced when deviating from
main routes, in consequence of the very defective
state of all maps, and the contribution of Mr. Tay-
lor's map of the region he had visited was a valu-
able acquisition. The paper which that gentleman
had read he hoped would be followed by another
giving a more extended account of his travels. One
matter that had been mentioned to him by Mr.
Taylor which poqessed great interest was the suc-
cessful result of the labours of American missionaries

in Aleppo, and he thought the meeting would like
to hear a statement on the subject.

At the request of Sir Roderick Murchison, Mr.
TAYLOR mentioned that when the American mis-
sionaries first went to Aleppo they were insulted by
the boys and men in the streets, so much that they
could scarcely stir out with safety; but by steady
perseverance they succeeded, with very inadequate
means, to completely change the state of feeling
towards them, and 500 families become converted,
The converts were not hastily received, but were
made to undergo probation, and the moral conduct
of the people had been greatly improved. The mis-
sionaries have now got two churches, and though
they had done so much, he believed the money ex-
pended by them did not exceed 2,0001. or 3,0001.
A communication by M. ABRAMOF, a Russian
gentleman, " On Lake Nor Tzai-san," was next
read. The lake described is one of the largest among
the chain of mountains along the frontiers of
Russia and China, and is about 120 versts long and
30 wide.
It was announced that at the next meeting an in-
teresting communication by Captain Sherard Os-
born would be read.