The Sun.
London, England, 1866-07-11 00:00:00

Ethnological Society.

The last meeting of the season of this society was
held yesterday evening in their rooms in St. Mar-

tin's-place—the president, Mr. J. Crawfurd, in the
chair.

The first paper was read by Mr. S. W. BAKER,
" On the Tribes of the Nile Basin," in which he de-
scribed many of the native tribes in the centre of

Africa with whom he and Mrs. Baker came in con

tact during his exploration of the sources of the Nile.
He confined himself principally to a description of
those tribes which appear to have been completely
shut out from the world's history, having been
barred out from the earliest ages from the rest of
the world by the almost interminable marsh through
which the White Nile winds its course. Without
any exception they are without a belief in a Su-
preme Being, nor have they any form of idolatry or
superstition. The men are perfectly naked, appa-
rently not knowing that they are so ; the girls, up
to the aged about 15, are also entirely naked, after
which period they wear a slight fringe of a few
inches in length. They are physically strong, ex-
ceedingly tall and muscular ; they build small cir-
cular huts, congregate in villages, and generally cul-
tivate a small amount of grain (dhurra) on the
drier portions of their land. There is no actual
negro type, excepting the woolly hair; the fore-
head is rather low, the head broad, the back of the
skull heavy, but neither is the jaw prominent
nor are the lips extraordinarily full, nor is the
nose flattened. They possess large herds of cat-
tle, which they never kill, contenting themselves
with bleeding- them periodically, sometimes
drinking the blood raw, sometimes boiling
it. Milk is their chief diet, invariably mixed with
cow's urine. They catch game in pitfalls, spear fish
with harpoons, by casting at random, and they are
continually at war with neighbouring tribes owing
to razzias upon their herds. They have no laws of
marriage, the number of a man's wives depending
upon his wealth in cattle, a wife being invariably
purchased for her value in cows. This may be
accepted as a general outline of the tribes bordering
the White Nile. They are armed with lances, some
with bows and arrows, clubs of iron wood, and they
are governed by chiefs, none of whom appear to
have much control over their subjects. Glass beads,
and both copper and iron rings, iron hoes, and lance
heads are the common articles of barter. They
work in iron, forming lances, arrow heads carefully
barbed, and they prepare charcoal for smith's work.
Their ornaments consist of beads, iron rings, with
which the women load their ankles, and strings of
rounded pieces of river shells wound round their
waists and necks. In some countries, such as the
Shir, where no iron ore exists, the arrow heads are
formed of hard wood. The absence of articles and
weapons of metal in no way proves their excess of
savagedorn : having no metals to work there are no
blacksmiths. The hard wood supplies the want of
iron, as the hard stone is used by the New Zea-
lander, and flint stones formerly served for arrow
heads. The Sytch tribe is the exception to all others
in abject misery and in the lowest state of savage-
dom. They never cultivate, probably owing to the
miserable marsh, which would render it impossible.
Thus they are dependent upon fishing and trapping
for their existence, neither of which appears to be
productive, as the natives zre a race of skeletons.
They wander over the country searching for lizards,
mice, snakes, locusts, and white ants. Hours are
spent in digging field mice from their burrows.
The men are of course naked, and their hair is
stained red by a
.plaater of cow dung and wood
ashes, the change of colour being the effect of the
potash. The women are equally naked as the men,
not having the slight attempt at clothing common
among other tribes. Should a man become old his
eldest son occupies the place of his father in the
domestic establishment, and succeeds to his parent's

wives. 'Nothing can be lower in the human race
than this wretched tribe ; there is hardly a remove
in advance of the chimpanzee, except the power of
speech. In the sth degree of North latitude the
Bari tribe commences, and the natives of that dis-
trict are far superior to the three previously de-
scribed. The country is dry and fertile, and diver-
sified by mountains. The men and women are tall
and muscular, the mountains are rich in iron ore,
which they smelt and work with great dexterity.
They cultivate the ground and use manure for their
crops. Their huts are, like those of all African
tribes, circular, having a low doorway, about two
feet high, like the entrance to a dog kennel. Mr.
Baker attaches considerable importance to the gene-
rally circular form of the buts of the African tribes,
as characteristic of their similarity. The distinc-
tions of tribes are marked, almost without excep-
tion, by distinctions in head-dress,which in all cases
is accompanied by a distinct language. On reach-
ing the western head of the Nile, in North latitude
2 deg. 15 min., a sudden change takes place. The
river is the boundary of savagedom, and on cross-
ing the ferry to the south bank Mr. Baker came to
people differing totally in their appearance and
habits from those on the north. That country,
named Unyoro, is governed by a despot, and it ex-
hibits a degree of order and civilisation unknown to
the northern tribes. Nakedness is considered a
disgrace, and both men and women are carefully
clothed with bark cloth or prepared skins. They
are excellent smiths, they draw fire, and make good
knives and lances ; cultivate the ground with
great care, grow tobacco, and indulge in the use
of double pipes, two bowls being united to a single
stem, and they are thus enabled to smoke two qua-
lites of tobacco at one time. Their huts, though
circular, are much larger and more lofty than those
of the other tribes, and have an entrance six feet
high, with portico. Mr. Baker then proceeded to
notice the tribes on the borders of Abyssinia, who
are in a still superior state of civilisation. The
Abyssinian affiuents of the Nile, he observed, sprung
from a land inhabited by the only independent
Christian country in the whole of Africa, among
whom reading and writing are common, and where
the features and form of the inhabitants are closely
allied to the European, forming a strong contrast to
the tribes who inhabit the banks of the White Nile.
Dr. BEKE made some remarks on the retrogression
of civilisation among the African tribes. In his
opinion they are becoming more and more savage,
and he asserted that nearly all travellers in Africa
were of that opinion. He referred to the period,
1,500 years ago, when the people of Abyssinia were
in a highly enlightened condition, and far above the
state of civilisation now existing there. Dr. Beke
produced a letter which he had that day received
from the Emperor Theodore, in which it was stated
a paper on
that
u et
uh
te e captivesnant-c o
lhoande bFe eynnl illbEe rtahteend.
read
the aborigines of the Andaman Islands, giving an
account of the conduct of three of the natives who
had been captured and attempted to be civilised,
but whom it was found impossible to accustom to
the habits of civilisation, the wearing of clothes
having the effect of producing consumption. After
having been instructed ae much as it was possible,
they were sent back to their tribe.
Dr. MOUET also mentioned the attempts that had
b weheinchn:aindethtoe
casecivi of a
civilise some of the Andaman islanders,
young girl, had proved very
successful.
Mr. CULL read an obituary notice of the late Dr.
Conolly, one of the early founders of the Ethno-
logicalmr .eSRocAs uileytFy.
RD then adjourned the meeting till
November next.

•
Dr. Charles H. Stedman, a widely known and
highly esteemed physician of Boston, died in that city
lately.

Royal Visit to a Brewery.

Yesterday the Prince of Wales visited the brewery
of Messrs. Truman, Hanbury, Buxton, and Co., and
spent a considerable time in viewing the various de-
partments of that great establishment. His Royal
Highness, who was accompanied by the Duke of
Sutherland, and attended by Col. Grey, arrived at
the brewery about half-past 1 o'clock. He was re-
ceived by Mr. R. Hanbury, sen., Mr. R. C. Han-
bury, M.P., Sir T. F. Buxton, M.P., Mr. C. Bux-
ton, M.P., Mr. A. Pryor, Mr. C. A. Hanbury, Mr.
T. F. Buxton, Mr. H. Villebois, and Mr. Alexan-
der Fraser, manager of the brewery. Having en-
tered the premises through the counting-house in
Brick-lane, Spitalfields, the Prince was conducted
to the engine-house. The malt loft was next
visited. Here 17,000 quarters of malt are kept for

immediate brewing ; but in the premises out of town
the firm usually stow about 120,000 quarters, so
that they have stowage for the enormous quantity
of 137,000 quarters of malt. The machinery for
mixing the malt is very extensive and ingenious.
The grain is placed in huge vats, and revolving jets
throw boiling water upon it, which percolates evenly
and-gradually through the grain. The water used
in the various lofts is pumped by steam power to
the amount of 250,000 gallons daily. A series of
prongs, something like those of a field rake, revolve
through the liquid malt and thoroughly mix it up
before the process of fermentation. In the produc-
tion of the various kinds of beer brewed in Messrs.
Truman's establishment no less than 174,674 qrs. of
malt and 900 tons of hops are used annually. The
refuse of the hops are utilized by being mixed with
coal dust, the combination making: excellent fuel,
which is thrown into the furnaces as required by
self-acting cylindrical fire-feeders. Notwithstand-
ing the large number of furnaces in the brewery and
the immense quantity of coal and waste hops used
in them, the smoke is all consumed. While the
Prince was looking at the wetting and mixing of the
malt and hops, and the endless band with small
buckets attached to it by which the malt is raised
from below and carried to a height of 40 feet, a
small lever was touched by one of the partners.
Instantly a bell rung, and within three or four
seconds all the machinery in the brewery was at
rest. This arrangement is provided in case of
accident to any of the workmen, or of anything
going wrong with the machinery in any of the de-
partments. On a signal of " all right," pistons were
again shooting up and down, fly wheels were spin-
ning round, boiling water was being sprinkled over
the malt, and malt and hops were being worked up
like so much porridge, within as short a time as that
required for the suspension of all this mechanical
exertion. Having ascended and descended narrow
ladders, and heard explanations from the foreman as
to the nature of the preliminary processes of the
manufacture, H.R.H. entered the fermenting lofts.
These form one of the most interesting portions of the
establishment. As you pass along them you walk
over acres of fermenting tuns, while still larger tuns
rise in pyramids on each side of you. In one of
them, which the Prince saw half full of the ferment-
ing malt yesterday, no less than 80 men sat down
to dinner on one occasion. A windlass must have
been provided to enable the company to reach their
seats, and to bring them to the surface again, for to
look down this monster vessel is like looking into a
large pit lined with timber. There is a strong efflu-
vium of carbonic acid gas from the vats, and though
a large section of the sides is removed so that some
atmospheric air is constantly entering, the gas is so
strong over the surface of the fermenting material
as instantly to extinguish any light which is held in-
side. The Prince of Wales tried the experiment by
setting fire to a match and introducing it when in
full flame. Passing across to another part of the
brewery his royal highness entered the cellars, in
which there is a stowage for nearly 100,000 barrels
of beer, and which are five or six acres in extent.
The scene that presented itself here was curious
and picturesque. Leading from the door is a
long avenue formed by beer casks in line piled
one above the other. From the roof hung a num-
ber of lighted candles in three branch sconces.
In front and along the sides of the passage stood a
number of brewer's men—stalwart fellows, in white
coats and red caps, each holding a candle on the
end of a portable bracket. One of these candles was
handed to the Prince himself, who, preceded by a
body guard of the dray-men, all holding their candles
and marching in procession, made a circuit of the
great storehouse. When he was about half-way
through, the gentlemen of the firm drew his atten-
tion to an immense porter vat, called "the Prince
of 'Wales," from the fact that it was finished and
baptized on the 9th of November, 1841, the day his
Royal Highness was born. While the Prince was
in this part of the cellar, one of the men approached
him with a large silver jug, and, pouring out a half-
pint measure of Truman and Co.'s stout, presented
it to his Royal Highness. The Prince, having
drunk some of it, the men, waving their lights,
and removing their red caps, gave three stentorian
cheers for his Royal Highness, which were re-echoed
again and again through the vaults. Before leaving
this part of the brewery the Prince witnessed the
operation of loading a dray with barrels ready for
delivery, which is effected by means of machinery
worked by gas-engines. The barrels are taken up
on a couple of bent prongs, which carry them to the
top of an inclined plane, whence their own gravity
carries them down to the level of the dray. The
stables and stable-yard were next visited. As every
one knows some of the finest draught horses to be
seen anywhere are those of the London brewers.
Messrs. Truman keep about 170 of these animals,
which cost on an average some 70 guineas each.
Notwithstanding the fine condition which brewers'
horses are always in, the work they do is 'very
severe, and experience has shown that they could
not stand it long except for the great care that
is taken of them. It is generally believed that
their plump appearance:is owing to their being fed
principally upon grains. This, however, is a mistake.
They never get grains, but are kept entirely upon
hard food. Most of Messrs. Truman's horseswere
out at work when the Prince visited the stables ;
but there were about 20 of them there, and his
Royal Highness examined them with much interest,
both in their stalls and subsequently when they were
brought out for inspection in the yard. Inside the
gate was a large and very fine picture, by Mr. Watts,
of a brewer's drayman with his dray and two
horses. The man whose portrait the artist has
painted happened to be in the yard when the
Prince was looking at the picture. He was called
forward and paid his respects to the Royal visitor.
From the stables the Prince went to see the process
of cleansing the casks, which is done by steam
machinery. Pieces of chain with bullet knobs on
them are put with some liquid into the casks, which
are then placed in a frame and turned about by an
eccentric rotatory motion. A great saving of time
and money is effected through this cleansing by ma-
chinery as compared with the old method of hand-
washing ; and the importance of such saving must
be considerable in a brewery which has 93,968 casks
in constant use. The brewery keeps nine steam-
engines and two gas-engines at work, and consumes
about 9,000 tons of coal annually, besides between
8,000 and 9,000 tons of spent hops. Before the
Prince left the yard the men surrounded him at a
respectful distance, and raised a peal of hurrahs,
wethrhouiwseihasmust have been heard at a long distance from
the brewery. The cheers were taken up by a dense
d
outle t side,
greeting
a who as
hvee
alplispeßaroeydailnHthigehsntreseseta.nTehne-
Prince of Wales subsequently honoured the firm by
his company at luncheon.

General Beauregard is stall in Paris, and has had
an audience of the Emperor. It is remarked that while in
America ho called himself plain
"General Beauregard,"
ho has had his name engraved on his cards thus
Monsieur le G6n6ral Toutain de Beauregard."
[ADTERTISEMENT.]-110lloway's Ointment and Pills.—
A Cure for Abscesses, Piles, Fistulas and Sores.—The
very satisfactory results arising from the use of this in-
valuable Ointment in cases where patients have been suf-
fering from abscesses, ulcers, piles or fistulas, have induced
many of the medical profession to introduce it into the
hospitals and their private practice, and in many instances
where the sufferer was considered incurable. Holloway's
Ointment, in conjunction with his Pills, healed the most
desperate wounds. They are also unequalled for the cure
of scrofula, scurvy, and other diseases of-the skin. The
balsamic and healing properties of Holloway's ointment
render it invaluable in the nursery ; for healing cuts,
scratches, and allaying inflammations, reducing swellings,
and cleansing unhealthy skins, it is unequalled.