the Lar river for the ascent of Demavend, accompanied by Lieutenant Rosen of the German Artillery, a servant, a groom, and a muleteer. We forded the river about two miles below the camp and proceeded in the direction of the village of Rehua, from which the ascent is usually made. The natives call the distance from the Camp to Rehua four farsakhs, but it is really nearer seven. After passing the night at Rehn we set out on mules with the guide and one servant about 6 A.M. in splendid weather, intending if possible to camp at the first snow. The road was very rough and we had to walk nearly all the 16 miles which lay before us. After a long climb we reached, at 3 P.M., the tent of M. de Speyer, the Russian chargé d'affaires, who was making the ascent on that day. It was pitched at about 12,500 feet, and in the distance we saw the party making their way slowly down the face of the mountain, and I walked on some way to meet them. On arriving at the tent we found they had made the ascent in eight hours, and had taken rather over two coming down; they had spent about one hour on the top. M. de Speyer was kind enough to give us many useful hints. He told us as we afterwards found, that the ascent was nowhere dangerous but, merely très penible, and only possible for people with perfectly sound lungs and heart. After we had had tea together M. de Speyer proceeded on foot to Rehua, leaving us two of his guides, and we made ourselves comfortable with rugs and went to sleep in the open, meaning to start in the middle of the night. The cold was not excessive, and we slept soundly. Shortly after midnight our servant woke us, and we started with three guides for the summit.

The difficulty of climbing Demavend is that everything breaks beneath your feet. The upper part of the mountain is composed of lava and small stones, and near the top of great masses of pure sulphur. The ascent is made along a crest of rock which runs from the foot to nearly the top of the mountain, with snow slopes on either side and a good deal of ice. About two hours after our start the moon rose lighting the country below, which looked very weird, grey, and dead. At about 16,000 feet my companion began to feel very sick, and we had to make constant halts. I was afraid at one time that he would not be able to go any further. However, he showed great pluck, and after another couple of hours began to feel a little better. Personally I did not feel sick, but my heart beat so violently that I had frequently to stop. Further up we both began to feel very sleepy in spite of the cold, which about sunrise was severe, and more than once as we halted I dropped off, and the guide woke me when we started again. The sunrise was very fine, making the icicles all round us look like flames; but the country is so brown and desert-looking that what should have been a magnificent view was like nothing but a physical geography map. We were then at about 17,000 feet as nearly as we could calculate. It was very slow work, as after every few yards

even the guides had to stop and pant for breath. They gave us garlic to eat which relieved our breathing, nauseous as it was. I noticed that one of the guides spat a great deal of blood, and all seemed to suffer. These men are not guides in the ordinary sense of the word, but merely collectors of sulphur who more or less know the way to the summit. In any emergency they would be utterly useless, and they give no assistance. When near the summit I began to feel much better, and Rosen was evidently less affected. The lava gave way to rocks of sulphur which looked very strange against the snow.

At length we reached the top of the crest of rock along which we had been crawling for so many hours, and the summit appeared quite close. The snow increased very much, but a foot under the sulphur it was so hot that it burnt one's hand, and fumes came out in some places almost violently. At the top of the crest of rock there is a kind of snow-plateau which slopes up to the summit. Here we stopped some time to examine the sulphur-rocks and to gather some fine. specimens of sulphur crystals. We were now about 600 feet from the summit, which we reached at 11 A.M. after ten hours' climb. The great elevation spoils the view and dwarfs all the neighbouring mountains. The view on the Caspian side, though the day was, on the Rehua side, perfectly clear, was much obscured by thick banks of clouds over the sea. Once for a moment the clouds parted, and we could see what must have been water, but almost immediately the two great masses rolled together again, reminding one of Milton's famous simile in the second book of Paradise Lost.' The crater is much smaller than that of Etna, and is completely filled with snow. The whole summit seems to be one mass of pure sulphur, everything being primrose yellow where the rock showed above the snow. In the distance we could see the lake of Kum, the salt desert, and far away beyond Kasvin.

About noon, after a much needed lunch, we started for our camp. The descent of Demavend is extremely simple. You sit on the snow, preceded by a guide, and slide down on your back as far as the snow takes you. Of course one gets very wet, but the relief of doing in a few minutes a distance which has taken ten hours to ascend is immense. It was very enjoyable, and we agreed that it was worth the very unpleasant experiences of the morning. On one snow slope a herd of eight wild goats passed me quite close, and seemed indifferent to my presence. They are usually the shyest of all game. Lower down I saw several royal partridges (Kabk-i-darri) and the traces of many more. It is a magnificent bird, with a strange weird cry. I also saw many coveys of the ordinary French partridge. The last part of the descent after the snow ceases is very trying, the ground being covered with large rolling stones and there being quantities of a kind of thistle-like plant with thorns that go through everything. We reached our mules early in the afternoon and Rehua about dark. It was curious that neither of us felt

very tired though we had been so long on our legs. I put this partly down to the fact that we did not wear boots but Persian "givés," a kind of soft shoe, which for rock-work is preferable to any boot I have ever worn. We did not venture into another Rehua house, but slept on the grass, and next morning rode back to the Minister's camp in time for luncheon."

ANGLO-PORTUGUESE DELIMITATION COMMISSION.

MAJOR LEVERSON and the other members of the Commission for the Delimitation of the Anglo-Portuguese Boundary in East Africa, reached England early in January, having had to suspend their labours in the middle of November owing to the commencement of the rainy season, which rendered further survey operations almost impossible.

The work executed during 1892 includes the determination of the latitude and longitude of Massi-Kessi, and the survey of a narrow strip of territory running south from about latitude 18° S., and longitude 33° E., to the north-eastern corner of the Transvaal (i.e., the junction of the Limpopo, and Pafuri, or Unvubu Rivers). The longitude of MassiKessi was fixed by Captain S. C. N. Grant, R.E., by the method of moonculminating stars in accordance with the recommendations of the Astronomer-Royal. The observations were taken with a portable transit instrument specially constructed for the purpose by Messrs. Troughton and Simms. It was impossible to make use of the telegraph, the nearest station being at Fort Salisbury, about 200 miles distant.

The results obtained were as follows:-Longitude of the observatory in the British camp near Massi-Kessi, 32° 51′ 24′′ E. of Greenwich, and latitude 18° 53′ 33′′ S. Between latitude 18° S. and the Sabi River a regular triangulation was carried out, 6-inch and 7-inch theodolites. being used for the purpose. The detail was sketched in with planetables.

From the Sabi to the Limpopo, owing to the dense bush and total absence of conspicuous points, it was quite impossible to continue the triangulation, and the work done in the section between those rivers consists of route sketches, and the fixation of numerous points by observations for time and latitude. The junction of the Sabi and the Lundi was found to be situated a few miles west of longitude 32° 30′ E., and that of the Limpopo and Pafuri somewhat to the south, and far to the west of what it is shown to be on most maps.

The personnel employed on the survey work included Major J. J. Leverson, R.E., Captain S. C. N. Grant, R.E., Lieutenant C. S. Wilson, R.E., and five non-commissioned officers of Royal Engineers. Captain F. E. Lawrence, Rifle Brigade, and Dr. Rayner, Grenadier Guards, accompanied the Commission. Several Portuguese officers were also engaged

in map-making, but usually worked independently of the British party. An agreement was, however, always come to with reference to the fixation of the most important points.

The most northerly point reached by the Commission is in the valley of the Gaveresi, a little north of the main watershed separating the basins of the Zambesi and the Pungwé. The pass by which this watershed was crossed was about 4600 feet above the sea. Other high passes

crossed by the Commission were the pass between the basins of the Sabi and the Pungwe near Umtasa's Kraal, 5400 feet, and the Chimanimani Pass, 5200 feet. The whole country as far south as the Umswilizi River is extremely mountainous, and is traversed by numerous streams. South of this it gradually sinks towards the Sabi River, and becomes less fertile and less well watered.

Between the Sabi and the Limpopo (locally called the Umiti) the country is almost a dead-level plateau raised a few hundred feet above the rivers. It is covered with thick bush, is very sparsely populated, and has a very poor soil. Water is scarce-all the rivers between the Lundi and the Limpopo being, at the time of the visit of the Commission (September), mere sand-beds with very occasional small pools of water.

The Umswilizi River, of which little appeared to be known beforehand, was explored from the point where it debouches into the plain, near Gungunyane's old kraal, almost to its source, and was found to run for nearly all its length through a beautiful gorge, and to consist of numerous long still reaches separated from each other by rapids.

Where crossed by the Commission the Sabi, the Lundi, and the Limpopo Rivers ran in sandy beds from a quarter of a mile to a mile broad, large portions of which were dry. At the fords the water was nowhere more than 2 feet deep.

About 5 miles above the junction of the Sahi and the Lundi an important series of cataracts and rapids, which it is believed are not marked on any map, were discovered on the former river. Their origin appears to be due to the intrusion of a broad dyke of porphyry through which the river has had to force a channel. The scenery in the neighbourhood of the cataracts is very grand and weird. The site is somewhat difficult of access, and the Commission had, unfortunately, not sufficient time to make a thorough exploration of them, nor to determine their total height or length.

THE WESTERN LOWLAND OF ECUADOR.*

By Dr. Th. WOLF, late Government Geologist to the Republic of Ecuador.

THE Western Lowland of Ecuador forms, of course, the smallest part of the country; but it is the most beautiful district along the Pacific coast of South America, and the one on which nature has been most lavish. Its superficial area is about 28,950 square miles. As late as the end of the tertiary period the waves of the ocean washed the foot of the Western Cordillera of Ecuador; the only parts of the land which may have projected above the water in the form of islands being a narrow chalk ridge of hills, which runs from Guayaquil westwards to the sea, and then northwards through a portion of the province of Manabé, together with some isolated summits of greenstone. At the commencement of the quaternary period a part of the northern half of the lowland appeared above the ocean, while the southern half was covered over by an immense sandstone formation. The latter, containing every here and there the bones of mastodons and horses, was, at a very recent period, subjected to upheaval, which gave to the country very nearly its present configuration. The great low-lying plain east and west of the Gulf of Guayaquil, as well as smaller alluvial plains at the mouths of certain coast rivers lying only a few feet above the sea-level, are quite recent formations, produced by the gradual filling up of the gulf, which was formerly of much greater extent, with the shingle and mud brought down by the streams. It is a true delta formation, and the process is still going on. The highest points of the coast ridge attain an elevation of about 2300 feet in the chalk range between Guayaquil and the sea, and in the Cordillera of Chongon and Colonche. In the tertiary region there are summits of from 650 to 1000 feet. The quaternary marine strata forms a gently undulating country, rising from 65 to 260 feet above sea-level, while the extensive plain of alluvium is quite level. The rivers, which issue from the Western Cordillera, do not flow due west; but, in consequence of the chalk range which runs north and south, form two extensive river systems, the larger and more beautiful of the two-viz., that of the Rio Guayas, with its complicated network of canals, emptying itself into the Gulf of Guayaquil; the other system (northern), that of the Rio Esmeralda, pouring its waters direct, without any delta, into the sea exactly at 1° N. lat. The two systems are divided by some gently-rising ground, where the headwaters of both sides are so interlaced that a small canoe could easily make the passage from one river system to the other. Although the northern and southern halves of the lowland present many points of agreement with each other as regards their hydrographical and orographical features, they are very distinct as regards their climates and in other respects. The northern is virgin country, covered with humid forests, and almost uninhabited, whereas the southern is a cultivated region, very diversified, and well populated. The boundary between the two lies roughly along a line drawn from Cabo Pasado in a south-easterly direction towards Chimborazo.

The ocean north of Cabo Pasado has a mean temperature of 82° (Fahr.), south of the same point, of only 73°. This circumstance exercises an important influence upon the climatic conditions of the Ecuadorian lowland. In the north a hot and fairly moist climate prevails, in which the dry and wet seasons of the year are not sharply defined, and in consequence of which the country is clothed

* Abstract of Paper read at the Berlin Geographical Society, December 3rd, 1892, in continuation of a previous Paper on the High Andes of Ecuador (Proceedings, R.G.S., 1892, p. 126.) Specially reported for the Geographical Journal.