The Sun.
London, England, 1866-11-27 00:00:00

Royal Geographical Society.

g
Yesterday evening the second ordinary 'nee'
tioor
for the session, of the Royal Geographical S°c;p —,;ir
was held in Burlington House—the president'
Roderick Murchison, in the chair. The first c;
munication read was a letter from Dr. Livingsb
be
from the Rovuma river, East Africa, in wblchthe
described the progress he had made in purs3'97,ject
course of that river into the interior, with the °"',l
of reaching the north end of Lake N-Yass3i';i: to
thence proceeding to Lake langanyiki, which '7 w,
the south of the Albert Nyanza. The latter
which is at present considered the source of the .L'iters
is suspected by many geographers to derive its 1.C3 be.
from the southern one, which would in that casewo
come the source of that river. Dr. Livingsto.
stated that he had advanced along the 11°1 pot
about 100 miles, and though the natives wereour
to be trusted, he had succeeded in gaining the 53' og
of one of their chiefs, and he felt confident of beibe
able to accomplish the objects he had in view'', bio
experiment of taking camels and buffaloes with tad
had not answered, for several of the anlinals
died.
oD
1.5
Sir RODERICK MURCHISON, in some reglar' .130,
the letter, expressed the opinion that Dr. Lisir;
stone would be at least able to penetrate as faiver
the Nyassa, so as to determine whether anY
entered it from the north, which would be 33 -

portant point to ascertain.
Col. PLAyFAtn, her Majesty's consul at ZanzibArr;
also made some observations respecting the disc°v'io•
of a more accessible means .of penetrating the
terior than the course taken by Dr. Livingstone'
on
Dr. R. J. MANN then made a cotninunicatiellbere
the physical geography and climate of Natal, Iv ais•
be had resided nine years. The sea coast of theutb,
trict stretches in nearly a straight line in a 5° The
westerly direction, facing the Indian Ocean', ztli
shore is bounded by a range of low hills for 3 len he
of 150 miles, immediately after crossing whiclitot
land rises rapidly towards a range of mountains, vs,
partition the district of Natal into three divii°viiis
These mountains are a branch from nottal
still more lofty, which form the frontier of 1 vco
towards the north-west, and thus inclose a 100
about equal to one-third of England. Freillarai
sea-shore there is a steep general incline tclivbout
the first range of mountains, at a distance °f d.
30 miles, until an elevation of one mile is at,taa-lirge
From these mountains five other lower ranges u",ifijere
towards the sea, and these again divide, se tilatti'v to'
are numerous streams which flow independent,
wards the sea in rapid falls and cascades. Fre—,,. to'
middle range of mountains the land sinks d°lvl;sio,
wards the north-west, and forms an extensive " tier•
until it rises to the higher mountains of the frehlitial,
The climate was described as being most cleligh:tro•
and the vegetation combines the produce of ttela-
pies with that of temperate regions. The mean iota
perature in summer is about 69 deg., and ill:a pr.
60 deg., and on only two or three occasions ul
reel
Mann observe the thermometer so low as freecear
point. The average quantity of rain in tho,;iiiog
was about 30in., by far the larger quantity
during the summer months, which is contrary ;ger
times of rainfall at the Cape, and where the 13ee
quantity falls in the winter. The kind of Pr° and
varies with the elevation of the land, pineaPPl:eret
other tropical fruits being abundant near the "030,
and on the table-land of the mountains wheat' -010
and most other European crops grow freelPi ar
of the principal articles of produce mentioned
rowroot. The only drawback to this settlement i 4
stated to be the want of harbours, for the bore
encompassed by sand-bars, excepting in One 6-t.car
places. The harbour of Durban is, bowever'oel4
able of admitting at certain times of the tide /' ivy
of 500 tons burthen, and is capable of being
IA de,
proved so as to admit ships of 2,000 tons. Dr.
scribing the geological character of the distriebt'iute
Mann said the granite,trap, and sandstone eau;s— of
the principal rocks, the lower parts consispta be
lo
granite, on which sandstone and basalt seen' 11
piled without any regularity. The inotint'3"„-t$ op,
Natal, as at the Cape, are mostly flat at e tbe t le'
presenting large extents of table-land at gr-
pa

nations.
At the conclusion of Dr. Mann's comnilleicatri°lli
by
which was given without referring to the PaPeitira
had written, Capt. Toynbee and Mr. Cr os
made some observations, the latter rawer-I'l'7l3e-
the large produce of arrowroot and the small
re 4-01
tity of sugar as not indicating a fertile Bub-f;10.
country. He remarked also on the absence v.tios
Dr. MANN stated, in reply, that the cul"%iace
of arrowroot was being discontinued, to gise
to more valuable crops, but the riches of the c°o,-/-
try had not yet been nearly developed, for the Was
lish had not been settled there 20 years, and i,bieca-
not more than 40 years since any white rollobi
pied the land. With respect to the vine bt,3440-
served that the wet summers prevented the
Lion of grapes. t a i"
Sir RODERICK MURCHISON COngratU.a-e uot
audience on the valuable, interesting,
and cloci
communication which they had heard, an ben
d
journed the meeting to' the 10th December, W
papers relating to Asia will be read.

His Royal Highness the Duke of Canibridc
Commander-in-Chief, has appointed Col. •
Johnson, C. 8., Royal Artillery, to befl ele
aide-de-camp to his• Royal Highness, vice COL ea
lion. 11. F. Keane, Royal Engineers, who has cea.si “e..
to hold that appointment, on being nominated 31,,
de-camp to her Majesty the Queen. Vie appoitit
went is to bear date Aug. 4, 1e766.