Puslapio vaizdai
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The Raiyan project, then, is in "a complete and perfect state" (Willcocks, p. 322). The Khedive, as befits the ruler of Egypt, displays that disposition to further its execution, which his judgment, tact and practical acquaintance with the needs of his people approve. The native officials and the inhabitants co-operate. The British Government assumes all the responsibility for the delay, basing the attitude on the recommendations of its representative. Sir Evelyn Baring has authorized me to make public his personal recognition of the value of the work, and expression of regret that circumstances should not permit it to proceed as rapidly as seems to me desirable.

Lord Salisbury has given the subject some attention, but whether from recondite motives of profound policy, or influenced by the qualified, and in some respects erroneous, information laid before him, this most able of Foreign Secretaries has not allowed his hand to close upon the powerful weapon which has for some time. been well within his reach.

Mr. Gladstone, with his keen love of Hellenic literature, has thrice sought occasion to offer words of encouragement and commendation. On both sides of the House of Commons, but especially from the Liberal side, assurances have been given that this question would never be treated as political.

The King of the Belgians early manifested a personal interest, expressed in terms which were flattering in the

extreme.

The French Government, also, I am credibly informed, would further the project as tending to improve the state of Egypt, without regard to purely political considerations.

If, as Sir Samuel Baker points out in the Fortnightly Review, October, 1889, every river tributary to the Nile should be controlled by weirs, or dams of masonry, "the scheme for the restoration of Lake Moeris (in the Raiyan depression) as the great reservoir of the Nile, proposed by Mr. Cope Whitehouse for the security of Lower Egypt, would be accomplished as a natural result of engineering science, which had bridled the untrained jaws of Egypt's river, and guided its course to the service of mankind." A true Fountain of the Sun, it would bring Light and Life to the heart of Africa. It would once more challenge the admiration and esteem of the world for those who thought that by such great works they reared an imperishable memorial to attest the splendor of noble purpose when applied to guide and restrain the capricious hand of Nature for the health and wealth of the distressed inhabitants of the Valley of the Nile.

NOTE. The author of this paper is not responsible for the spelling of the names in quotations, or on the maps and cuts reproduced.

GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES.

THE INTERNATIONAL GEOGRAPHICAL CONGRESS.-The International Geographical Congress met in Paris on the 5th of August, and closed its sittings on the evening of the 10th with a banquet. The opening address was made by M. de Lesseps, President of the Paris Geographical Society, and the different Sections then entered upon their work, which is fully reported, in the order of the classification adopted, by La Géographie.

In the Mathematical Section a communication was received from M. Lallemand, mining engineer, on the subject of a zero for altitudes in Europe. He showed that, according to the results of the new survey of France, the difference of level between the Mediterranean and the Ocean was but from 1 to 2 decimetres (.3281 to .6562 of a foot) instead of 1 metre (3.2809 feet) as previously supposed; and he thought it would be well to establish a mean level for each country before deciding upon a fundamental horizon. M. Lallemand

dwelt also on the necessity of correcting the surveys operated in mountainous regions by taking into account the influence of the variations in gravity. M. Defforges pursued the subject with a detailed criticism of the methods and the instruments employed during the past century, and on his motion the Section adopted a programme of observations to be applied to the determination of variations in gravity resulting from elevation.

There were discussions on the observation of ocean currents and especially those of the North Atlantic, the advantages of the decimal division of time, and the proposition of Father Tondini, delegate of the Bolognese Academy of Sciences, for the adoption of the meridian of Jerusalem as the initial meridian for longitudes, as well as for the universal hour. This proposition, with which Father Tondini's name has long been identified, has received the support of many competent authorities, among others, of Dr. Supan. One argument in its favor is, that, Jerusalem being for Christians and Mohammedans as well as for Jews a holy city, the selection of that meridian would recommend itself to all mankind; unless, indeed, it were thought proper to include among men the inhabitants of Eastern Asia and some other parts.

It must be admitted that the choice of Jerusalem would put an end to national rivalry for the possession of the prime meridian, and France, at least, would find some compensation for giving up her own preference in the establishment, delicately suggested by the President of the Bolognese Academy, of an observatory on the "anti-meridian of Jerusalem" in Tahanea, one of the islands in the French Archipelago of TuamOn the final question there were twelve votes for, and twelve votes against, Father Tondini's proposition, and this result probably settles the matter.

otu.

An ideally perfect meridian were an excellent thing, if it could be had, but most persons will agree with General Kaulbars that, while one meridian is intrinsically as good as another, that of Greenwich is to be preferred. Months, like meridians, are part of the machinery of

life, and it does not seem to distress the logical mind of Father Tondini that he is obliged to designate the tenth month of the year by the name of October.

In the Section of Physical Geography the Japanese delegate, Mr. Wada, read a paper on the organization of seismological research in Japan, M. de Saussure gave a sketch of what Switzerland was doing in the same line, and Baron von Schwerin presented a report on his explorations of the country at the mouth of the Congo and on the western coast of Africa. Through the whole extent of this region the sea is retreating and the land is rising; the rains are less and less frequent and the soil dries up and contracts, and there ensues a sinking in of the continental mass upon itself along the

coast.

M. Turquan presented to the Section of Economical and Statistical Geography a work on the immigration. of foreigners into France and the emigration of Frenchmen to foreign countries. Other works presented were: one by General Kaulbars on geographical achievement in Russia, and one on emigration by M. Metzger. With regard to the destruction of forests, the Section, speaking for the Congress, unanimously voted a resolution that shows a lack of faith in the unassisted efforts of kindly Nature. "The Congress, considering that the disappearance of woods from the surface of the soil produces and will produce consequences the most disastrous from every point of view, physical, economical and meteorological, expresses the hope that the nations, which still have the good fortune to possess the forest growth that protects the soil, will make every effort to preserve it, and that the others, whose forests are

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