The Sun.
London, England, 1866-06-26 00:00:00

Royal Geographical Society.

Yesterday evening the last meeting of the session
of this society was held in Burlington House—the
president, Sir Roderick Murchison, in the chair.
A very interesting paper was read by Mr. BAKER,
describing his researches in Abyssinia and his attempt
to trace one of the chief affluents of the Nile to its
source, some years before he explored the sources of
the White Nile to the Albert Nyanza. Mr. Baker
started from Kartoun in 1861, and endeavoured to
trace the courses of the Utbarra river, which flows
into the Nile about the 14th degree of north
latitude. He stated that the White Nile, which
takes its rise from the great equatorial lakes
of Africa, is a turbid though continuous stream
until it receives the waters of the Blue Nile, and
that the increase in the quantity of water in
those two rivers during the rainy season is not
sufficient to account for the extent of the
periodical overflow. It was with the uiew of ascer-
taining to what cause that overflow is to be attri-
buted that he undertook to explore the other princi-
pal affluent which flows into the Nile not far from
Kartoun. In early spring, when he commenced his
exploration, the bed of the river was quite dry, but
its course could be traced by the mimosa trees grow-
ing on the banks, the intermediate space resembling
the sandy desert on each side. In pursuing his
course in a south-easterly direction towards Abys-
sinia he occasionally came to large deep pools or
lakes, one of which was a mile long, wherein all the
animals that had lived in the river thronged, in-
cluding great numbers of crocodiles and hippopo-
tami. Mr. Baker gave an interesting account of 1
the condition of those lakes, and of the animals and 1
birds that resorted to them from distant quarters
for drink, and of the plans adopted by the natives
to kill them. After having progressed for several
hundred miles along the banks of the dried up river,
he was disturbed during the night of the 23d June
by a great commotion in his encampment, and a
loud noise was heard approaching, which was occa-
sioned by the rush of water. In a few hours the
bed of the river was full, and a stream 20 feet deep
and 500 yards broad flowed where there had been
only a sandy hollow. The rainy season on the moun-
tains of Abyssinia had commenced, and the country
which before was arid became suddenly covered
with herbage. This continued until the end of
September, when water began gradually to decrease.
It is a curious fact that the natives are obliged to
leave the country as soon as the water flows, on
account of the swarms of flies that accompany it,
and which destroy all the animals. These flies are
about the size of a wasp, their bodies are striped,
and their bite is so virulent that the animals they at-
tack are killed. Mr. Baker mentioned that millions of
them settled on the body of a cameleopard he had shot
and prevented him from skinning it. He penetrated to
themountains of Abyssinia, where the river took its
rise,and found the country most beautiful, though an
extensive tract of land was a wilderness in conse-
quence of the hostility of the tribes to each other.
He stated that one of those tribes is distinct from
Arabs and from Egyptians, being quite black, with
woolly hair, and between them and the Arabs there
exists a deadly hatred. Mr. Baker gave an amusing
account of the manner in which he had been received
by one of the chiefs, who sent a minstrel to receive
him, accompanied by a man bearing a violin, on
which he performed and sang an ode recounting
many fabulous adventures that Mr. and Mrs. Baker
had passed through, for which there was no foun-
dation. When Mr. Baker returned to the Nile, he
observed that nearly at the same period of the year
that the river he had traced became flooded the
waters of the Blue Nile also increased ; and he in-
ferred that the principal cause of the periodical over-
flow of the Nile in Lower Egypt is the drainage of
water from the mountains of Abyssinia during the
rainy season, for many large streams from those
mountains flow into the affluent Mr. Baker explored
before it enters the Nile.

Another highly interesting paper connected with
Abyssinia was read, being a communication from
Mr. Rassam, the gentleman appointed to deliver a
letter from the Queen to Theodore, the King of
Abyssinia, for the delivery of the English and other
Europeans who were in captivity there. The com-
munication was addressed to Colonel Playfair, Bri-
tish o
Consul at Zanzibar, and it described very
minutely
im with great
reception of M.* Mr. Rassam by the King,
hattention and profuse
w treated
r e ate thed
him
hospitality,
and insisted on making him a present
of 10,000 dollars.
The King received him reclining
on a couch within a silk tent, and when the letter
from the Queen was presented to him, he received
it with great respect, but as there was no inter-
preter present, it was merely laid on the couch.
morning Mr. Rassam was
On the following mor
sent for again, and the King, after having expressed
much desire to be on friendly terms with the Queen,
consented to the liberation of all the captives-18
in number. The cause of their being placed in
captivity was afterwards read to them openly, and
they admitted that they were to blame. The King
seemed to be anxious to make it appear that he had
had sufficient cause for detaining them prisoners.
They were at the date of the letter in April last re-
siding near the borders of a lake, not far from the
royal residence, and were well treated, though the
means of leaving Abyssinia had not been accorded.
Mr. Rassam was in the
meantime treated with the
same honour as the King himself, and on one occa-
sion a procession of 80 priests came to honour him.
Dr. BETE made some remarks on the subject, in
which he mentioned that it was a project of the

King of Abyssinia to direct the course of one of the
affluents of the Nile to the Red Sea.
Colonel PLAYFAIR stated that the communication
was not intended to be read in public, for it was
only a private letter to himself, which, however, he
thought it would be interesting to make known to
the Geographical Society.
The PRESIDENT congratulated the Society on
having had a very successful session, and adjourned
the meeting to November next.

Railway Intelligence.

LONDON, BRIGHTON, AND SOUTH COAST.

A Wharncliffe meeting of this company was held
yesterday at the International Hotel, London-
bridge ; Mr. P. N. Laurie in the chair.
Mr. Slight, the Secretary, having read the notice
convening the meeting,

The CHAIRMAN said he had two bills to submit for
their approval. The first was for defining the un-
dertaking and railways of the London, Brighton, and
South Coast Railway Company, and for defining
and regulating their capital and mortgage debt and
their powers of raising moneys, and for authorising
them to make and maintain new lines of railway,
and for other purposes. The present company was
incorporated in 1846, and during the last 20 years
they had obtained different Acts of Parliament,
making altogether about 60 Acts ; and it was some-
times difficult to find the powers conferred on the
company. The bill he had to submit would define
in one Act the stock and borrowing powers of the
company, the powers of voting, and other matters.
The preamble alone occupied 25 pages. The various
powers were consolidated in the bill, in which they
had authority to issue 5 per cent. consolidated pre-
ference stock. They had at present 16 different
stocks, including 7 per cent., 6 per cent., 5 per cent.,
rand 4f per cent. preference stocks. They would
have power to convert the different preference stocks
into the 5 per cent. consolidated stock he had men-
tioned. So that any proprietor receiving £lOO a
year from his holding in those stocks would be able
to convert it into £2,000 of the 5 per cent. consoli-
dated stock, giving him exactly the same income.
They had power to make a few short junction lines.
One at Worthing by which they would be enabled
to bring their friends direct to London over the
Henfield ani Mid-Sussex branch.

COL BARTTELOT, M.P., seconded the motion, ap-
proving the bill, and it was carried unanimously.

The CHAIRMAN said the next was a bill to enable
the company to make new railways in substitution
for portions of their St. Leonard's line, a new rail-
way at Hastings, and other works. It authorised
about four miles of railway, and by means of an
arrangement with the South-Eastern Company it
would be unnecessary to make the new line between
Hastings and St. Leonards. They would have the
joint use of the existing line and a joint station at
Hastings, which was so far satisfactory.
A formal resolution approving the bill was unani-
mously adopted.
The CHAIRMAN then alluded to the company's
campaign in Parliament respecting the Lewis and
Brighton Bill with disappointment and regret, but he
said they were by no means disheartened, as they
hoped to have justice done them in the House of
Lords. A new principle seemed to be adopted in the
Commons, of aiding competition between two ter-
minal points, as no intermediate or additional ac-
commodation was wanted between London and
Brighton. The directors would do their best to de-
feat the decision in favour of that bill, which was
founded purely on competition. There was, unfor-
tunately, no fixed or settled principle of legislation
on railways. A principle upon which a bill seemed
to be approved in one committee would be rejected
in another. They opposed the Clapham and Ken-
nington Bill of the South-Eastern and London, Chat-
ham, and Dover on financial grounds, showing that
the object of the line was opposition, and not for
the purpose of meeting the requirements of the dis-
trict, and the bill was rejected. But the committee
on the South-Eastern and London, Chatham, and
Dover (Lewes and Brighton) Bill would not allow
the Brighton Company to tender evidence on any
of the points which in another committee caused the
rejection of the Clapham and Kennington Bill ; in-
forming them that if they did not tender evidence
on these points it would have ito effect on the deci-
sion. This excluded what the directors considered
was important evidence. As to the statement by
the chairman of the South-Eastern Company, that
the directors of the Brighton Company did not meet
him in a conciliatory spirit, it was not exact. They
felt that the projected line to Brighton was a hos-
tile line, and that it was their duty to oppose it.
They would soon open a second line to Brighton, and
if more accommodation was requisite they would
soon after have a third line available for Brighton
traffic. So the directors of the Brighton Company
could not possibly admit that there was any neces-
sity for a competing line to Brighton, nor could
they take any part in its construction. Neither
the South-Eastern nor the Chatham and Dover
Company had any right to go to Brighton. They
could not possibly receive them in a conciliatory
spirit on such a subject. The Fenians were not re-
ceived in a very conciliatory spirit in Canada, and it
was not to be expected that the invasion of those
companies could be received in a conciliatory spirit
at Brighton. They were quite as ready as those
companies could be to make arrangements for a
lasting peace ; leaving it to be settled by arbitration
with respect to places, such as Hastings and
Dorking, to which they both ran trains. They had
given notice to the Chatham Company, who were
under a Parliamentary obligation to accommodate
the Brighton Company's trains to Ludgate. With
respect to the user of the Charing-cross and Can-
non-street stations the terms asked were of such an
amount they could not be acceded to, but if left to
settlement by arbitration, that would be a different
thing. They fully anticipated that the Brighton
Bill would be dealt with differently in the House of
Lords. They had already undertaken to complete
55 miles of railway in East Sussex alone, at a cost
of £1,400,000, and in addition to that the Brighton
Company two years ago had considerably reduced
the rates and fares on their lines. Supposing the
present Brighton Bill lost, there would be access
to Brighton from Kensington station, Victoria
station, Pimlico, Ludgate-hill, and London-bridge,
and also by means of the East London line from
Broad Street, city, through the Thames Tunnel, to
the Brighton line at New-cross. They would leave
no effort unexhausted to promote the interests of
the company, and no doubt they would be
successful.
The proceedings concluded with a vote of thanks
to the chairman.