The Sun.
London, England, 1858-11-24 00:00:00

;".

ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY

A crowded meeting of this society was held on
Monday evening at Burlington-house, Sir R. I.
Murchison, president, in the chair. Amongst those
present were the Right Hon. Sir J. Pakington, the
Earl of Albermarle, Lord A. Churchill, Sir T. Fre-
mantle, Sir C. Nicholson, Sir J. Sheil, Sir J. Login,
Admirals Sir T. Herbert and R. Fitzroy, Generals
Phillips and Alexander, the Right Hon. J. Wort-
ley, M.P., the Hon. A. Kinuaird, M.P., Mr. Joseph
Locke, M.P., Mr. J. A. Warre, M.P., Mr. R. W.
Grey, M.P.; Captains Sir E. Belcher, W. H. Hall,
Byron Drury, R. Barnett, ani E. 'Wilmot, R.N.;
Cols. Everest and Sotheby, &c. Sir J. Pakington,
Mr. J. Locke, M.P., Mr. Ald. Rose, and Mr. E.

Beldam, were presented upon their election as Fel

lows of the Society. Lord Ashburton, Viscount Cran-
bourne, Lord Skelmersdale, Sir Alexander Ban-
nerman, Captain Charles D. !Cameron, Vice-Consul
at Radout Kale ; Captain Hammel J. Strutt, Cap-
tain the Hon. Sudeley C. G. H. Tracy, the Rev.
Richard Leah, 8.A., and Messrs. James Barrett,
John Botterill, Francis W. Davis, R.N., John
Donne, Edward J. Hawker, David Kaye, Joseph
Mayer, James Pincott, H. Birch Reynardson, J.
Northcote Ryder, and Theodore Uzielli were
elected Fellows. The papers read were :-1.
"Notes, Geographical and Commercial, on the Gul
of Pecheli and the Peiho River," by Captain S.
Osborn, R.N., F.R.G.S., her Majesty's ship
Furious. The first portion of the paper bore
reference chiefly to the geographical and commer-
cial aspects of the countries passed in the journey
from Shanghai to the Gulf of Pecheli, her Majesty's
ship Furious having been one of the ships that
accompanied Lord Elgin in his journey up the
Great Canal to Tien-sin, where the late treaty was
signed. The author dwells upon the rapid strides
Shanghai has made during the last 16 years, on its
favourable position and climate, and its extensive
import and export trade, amounting to nearly
£27,000,000, Various causes have combined to force
the old canal traffic between Northern and Southern
China into a coasting trade—such as the rebellion
in the valley of the Yang-tse-Keang, the occupa
tion of Tching-Keang-foo, and to the change in the
course of the Yellow River. After describing the
shoals which run out from the Shantung coast, Capt.
Osborn urges the necessity of an active nautical sur-
vey, which he considers ought not to be confined to
British surveyors, and remarks that all the many mil-
lions worth of property carried to and fro on the
coasts and on the rivers are indebted for safety to
the charts of English officers. The second portion
of the paper referred to the Gulf of Pecheli and the
Peiho river. The author remarked upon the secure
anchorage in the Min-tao Straits, affording a gene-
ral rendezvous for the trading junks, and furnished
a description of the anchorage off the Peiho River.
The Peiho has its source in the highlands not far
from Pekin, and runs for the greater portion of
its tortuous course through a level country,
the velocity of its stream, rather than the volume
of its waters having scoured out a narrow bed in
the stiff clay which forms the substratum of the
plain of Chi-le. This scouring force, however,
becomes so weakened as it approaches the
sea, owing to the low level of the shores allow.
ing a constant overflow, that, instead of cutting a
12 feet channel straight out into the Gulf of Pe-
cheli, the depth of the river suddenly decreases, and
the river discharges itself over an area of several
miles in extent. The author notices particularly the
altered course of the Yellow River, which empties
itself in the gulf 200 miles north of its original
mouth; and the mud banks that were forming there,
threatening to block up the navigation of the river
to Pekin. The paper contained some observations
upon the direction of the tides, and character of
the country in ascending the Peiho, with a descrip-
tion of the towns, the customs of the inhabitants,
and on various other subjects. Capt. W. H. Hall,
R.N., and Mr. Lockhart corroborated Capt. Osborn's
statements respecting Shanghai and the altered
course of the Yellow River, which confirmed the
account given by Mr. Lockhart in a paper he had
read before the society last session, and which was
printed in the " Proceedings" and copies sent out
to Lord Elgin and other authorities on the China
station. The second paper read was "On the
Search of Leichardt and the Australian Desert,"
by the Rev. W. B. Clarke, of Sydney, F.R.G.S.
The meeting then adjourned to December 13th.