now resort to the same practices. The most common kind are circles of rough stones placed close to each other, in which are deposited one, or sometimes two or three terra-cotta vessels containing burnt bones and beads or metal utensils. Others of greater pretension are formed by four large stone slabs inclosing a square space, and covered by a fifth slab forming a lid. The front stone, in some cases, has a circular hole in the centre or at the upper edge, which the country people believe to be an entrance to the dwellings of an aboriginal race of dwarfs. Sometimes the structures, which pass under the general name of Pandu-kulis, are oblong, and consist of two slabs on each side and two covering stones. These are occasionally divided by an internal slab into two chambers. The Pandu-kulis are for the most part above ground, but some have been found below the surface and covered with earth. Another sort is peculiar to the Malabar or Western Coast and the table-land above it. They consist of a subterranean chamber, excavated to receive an earthen vessel 4 or 5 feet deep and 3 or 4 in diameter, like a Roman amphora, containing the relics, the whole covered by a large discoid stone, which, from its resemblance to a native kodi or umbrella, has received the name of Kodikal. Similar convex slabs, propped on three or four upright stones, occur with them, and bear the name of Topi-kals or "cap-stones; " but no remains have been found under them. The structures on the Nilagiri Mountains in Southern India, which formed the more immediate subject of the paper, differ from all these. Some, crowning the summits of the hills or elevated ridges are circular walls, constructed of rough stones, having much the appearance of the old-fashioned draw-well. Others are formed of tall, unhewn stones set on end, and inclosing a circular space. A third kind are excavated and lined with similar upright slabs, from which the earth outside slopes down on all sides. A fourth description are conical earthen mounds. In all these, however much they differ in form, the internal arrangement is the same. On digging out the soil from the inner circle one or more horizontal narrow slabs are discovered, always lying N.E. & S. W., the intervals between which and the external boundary are filled with broken pottery of a peculiar character, being the remains of tall cylindrical vases, without feet or handles, formed of a succession of rings, as if turned on a lathe, with lids surmounted by grotesque figures of men or animals, and sometimes by monstrous shapes, the products of the potter's fancy. Underneath each horizontal stone is a flat vessel of finer pottery containing the deposits, generally consisting of fragments of burnt bone, gold ornaments, metal cups and tazzas, iron (or more rarely, bronze) implements, as knives, spear-heads, sickles, razors, &c., mixed with a little fine black or brown mould. The paper then went on to describe minutely the excavation of two of the more remarkable deposits, with the articles found in each, and concluded by an inquiry into the people who had formed them. These were traced to a race called Curumbars, formerly the dominant inhabitants of the Dekhan. They professed the Buddhist faith, were eminent for the culture of literature and the arts, but were destroyed utterly in a religious persecution headed by a Chola King of Tanjore, in the sixth century. This would give the tombs an antiquity of from 1600 to 2000 years. The era so assumed is supported by the fact of a number of irregularshaped silver punch-coins having been found in a kodi-kal tomb in Coimbatore, which were exactly similar to another deposit discovered in the same district, among which was a denarius of Augustus-by no means a rare occurrence, a large number of Roman coins having been dug up from time to time not only in Coimbatore, but in other parts of Southern India. On the Peninsula of Sinai, and its Geographical Bearings on the History of the Exodus. By the Rev. F. W. HOLLAND. The author had twice wandered through the Peninsula of Sinai on foot, tracing its wadys, chiefly with a view to ascertain the route of the Israelites. The author discussed, in the first place, the evidence for fixing the position of Mount Sinai itself. The long range of Jebel Tih, forming a remarkable barrier across the peninsula, enables us to decide that the Mount must lie to the south of this line; and within this limited region the claims of three mountains had been advocated. Of these, the first, Jebel Odjmeh, in no way met the requirements of the Bible narrative, being a mountain not apart from others round which bounds could be placed. The second, Jebel Serbal, was excluded by reason of its having no plain before it, and being approached only by narrow, rocky wadys. The third, Jebel Mûsa, the "mountain of Moses," standing alone and rising abruptly from the plain of Wady Er Rahar, seemed to answer most of the requirements, and is, the author believes, the true Mount Sinai. Yet there are many who believe that the plain in front of it, which is only two miles long and scarcely half a mile broad, is too small for the encampment of the Israelites. The author was surprised last year to discover another plain, similarly situated, at the foot of an imposing mountain, which was at least four miles broad and seven miles long; and this being only eight miles distant from Jebel Mûsa, is a striking proof of how little we yet know of the topography of the country. This plain is called Senned, and its mountain Jebel Üm Alowee. Up to within the last five miles, the road which leads both to Jebel Musa and Jebel Um Alowee is identically the same; so that if the latter be ever brought forward as a rival Mount Sinai, it will in no way tend to unsettle any opinions that may be formed with regard to the previous route of the Israelites. The author next described the situation of Rephidim, which he believed he had satisfactorily determined to be at a spot about twelve miles to the north of the two mounts, where there is a narrow pass through a granitic range, formed by the Wady Es Sheikh, suitable as the post of defence of the Amalekites. All the requirements of the scriptural account of the battle of Rephidim were found at this spot. With regard to the route of the Israelites before reaching this point, the author believed that further research might possibly prove that a large plain called Es Seyh, south of Jebel Tîh, extending for a distance of nearly thirty miles, had the highest claims to be considered the Wilderness of Sin; the distance from the south-eastern end of which to Rephidim was about thirty miles, and would correspond with the three days' march of the Israelites. Along this they may have marched after their journey along the sea-coast as far as Wady Ghurundel, and inland round the back of the headland of Jebel Hummam to Wady Useit. The author had arrived at the conclusion that no great change in the features of the peninsula of Sinai had taken place since the remote period of the Exodus. On the Nomade Races of European Russia. By H. H. HOWORTH. Russia, as the scene of the latest ethnographic changes, offers a good field to begin an inquiry into the earlier ethnology of Europe, it being, according to the author, a more scientific method to commence such an inquiry with the known, working back to the unknown, than the reverse process. A wide induction from facts and a careful balancing of authorities had led him to a generally consistent theory on the peopling of southern Russia by successive waves of nomades,—a story which is very confused as told by earlier writers. The following is a brief summary of the results:-In 1630 the Kalmucks first crossed the Volga with a few Turcomans in their train. Their number had since decreased very materially, and they are all found in the government of Astrakhan. In 1218 the Tartars, or Turcic race, officered by Moguls, crossed the same river, and subsequently founded the three Khanates of Kasan, Astrakhan, and Crim, which were successively swallowed up by Russia. Previous to 1218 the valley between the Jaik and the Volga, known as the Kisschabe, was occupied by a corrupt Turcic race, represented mainly by the Nogais, while in the Western Steppes were found Comans and Petcheneys, both also Turcic races. The extension of the power of the Khalifat and the spread of Islamism first brought the Turcic races in contact with the Volga. In the ninth and tenth centuries they drove the Ughry out of their settlements, a portion of them, the Voguls, northwards; the rest, the Magyars, westwards into Hungary. Previously to this date the Turks were unknown in Western Europe. Under their several names of Huns, Avares, Bulgars, Khazars, and Hungars, or Hungarians, wave of invaders had succeeded wave across the Steppes, and gradually infiltered their blood and even a trace of their language into Central Europe. But these races were all Finnic or Ugrian. They all came from the same area, the crowded cradle-land of Great Bulgaria and Great Hungary, and were essentially the same race under different names. This southward extension of the Ugrian race (the underlying race of all the European area) at so recent a period is an important fact, and seems to offer a key to the unlocking of that Pre-Aryan period of European history known as Pre-histoiric. Rivers and Territories of the Rio de la Plata. By T. J. HUTCHINSON, On the Tehuelche Indians of Patagonia. By T. J. HUTCHINSON, Topography of Vesuvius, with an account of the recent eruption. The topography of Vesuvius was described in detail in this paper, which was accompanied by a map showing the points of interest on and around the volcano, as well as the courses taken by the lava streams emitted during the eruption of 1631 and the succeeding eruptions of the last and present centuries. The portion of the surface of the mountain covered by the lava of the late eruption up to the time of the author's ascent, was also indicated on this map. The author then pointed out that the mountain previous to the first of the historical eruptions, that of A.D. 79, was a simple widely-spreading cone having a single great crater, and that it then had every appearance of being an extinct volcano. Besides overwhelming Herculaneum, Pompeii, and Stabiæ, the eruption of 79 left another great memorial of its occurrence in the destruction of half of the enclosing wall of the great and ancient crater, and in the formation of that which has gradually grown, by the accumulation of the ejectamenta of successive eruptions, to be the present great cone of Vesuvius. It was thus that this memorable catastrophe changed Vesuvius from a simple truncated cone to the double-peaked and picturesque mountain of modern times, to a portion of which the Italians give the name of Monte Somma, and to the remainder Vesuvio. This part of the paper was illustrated by a series of diagrams showing the changes which have successively taken place in the form of the volcano. The succeeding portion of the paper described the author's ascent to the crater during the eruption of 1868, and gave particulars of the phenomena displayed by the volcano and observed during the month of March in that year. The inclination of the sides of the great cone was found to be 40°, and the lava was flowing in many small streams near the Hermitage at the rate of 300 yards per hour. The Gold-field of South Africa. By Dr. MANN, Superintendent of Education and Special Commissioner of the Natal Government. In this paper Dr. Mann described Carl Mauch's discovery of old workings for gold on the high ground between the Limpopo and Zambesi rivers. Herr Mauch has been for some time bent on making his way through the African continent from south to north. He started from Natal some four years since, and in 1864 was in the Transvaal territory. In that year he accompanied an old, well-known elephant hunter, Mr. Hartley, on one of his expeditions beyond the Limpopo. The trip led them from the neighbourhood of Pretoria across the Limpopo, and along its west side, until the river entered upon its eastward bend, when the hunter climbed a high granitic table-land forming the water-shed between the Limpopo and Zambesi rivers in Mosilikatze's territory, about the 28th meridian of longitude. In this region, on the 27th day of July, Mr. Hartley directed his companion's attention to some curious holes that he had stumbled upon, obviously made artificially in masses of quartz rock. Herr Mauch found in the situation indicated a vein of quartz rock about 4 feet thick, penetrated in one place by a pit 10 feet in diameter, and containing at the bottom fragments of quartz, slag, coal, ashes, and broken blast-pipes made of clay. On commencing his search he lit upon a considerable number of other pits scattered about in various directions, and from these pits he collected bright lead-ore containing silver, and fragments of quartz rock impregnated with gold. The pits were spread over a tract of land about two miles long and a mile and a quarter broad. The exploration was subsequently carried in a northeast direction to within 40 German miles of the Portuguese settlement of Tete, on the Zambesi; and other tracts unquestionably gold-bearing were noted. A limited number only of gold-bearing specimens of rock were taken away, in consequence of the jealous watching of natives appointed for the purpose by the chief; but precious metal of the value of 200 dollars was extracted from one of the fragments. The distance from the Megaliesberg, in the Transvaal, to Mosilikatze's chief place was found to be 224 hours of actual travelling by ox-wagon. Gold was observed through a territory stretching around this centre for about 200 miles in a direction from south to north. The southernmost part of the gold district lies on the Umkosi river and in a mountain-range to the east of Mosilikatze's Kraal, and also at Kumalo, near the 19th parallel of south latitude. The water-drainage of this part of the country is southwards into the Limpopo. The northern part of the district lies upon the rivers Sechwechene, Sepakwe, Umzwerve and Umfule, all tributaries of the Zambesi, and flowing to the north. The southern portion of the auriferous tract is upon about the same meridian of longitude as the mouth of the Kei river, the northern portion on the same meridian as the capital of the colony of Natal. Carl Mauch entertains no doubt whatever that there is a very large and rich tract of gold-bearing land in this high table. It is well known that gold is worked for Portuguese goldsmiths at Tete, and that it has been exported for a long period of time from Sofala, possibly the source whence it was sent to Ophir, in the Persian gulf, in the days of Solomon. It appears almost certain that Carl Mauch has stumbled upon the great source whence the gold of Tete, and of the ships of Tarshish, has been primarily derived, and that there were rude workings, most probably by natives, for procuring the precious metal on this very spot in past times. In one place there was a vein of quartz that had been worked out to a depth of six feet, and that had then been filled in with earth, in which trees seven inches in diameter were now growing. Very considerable attention has naturally been drawn to the discovery of Herr Mauch, who had gone down himself into Natal to communicate his observations in detail to the colonial authorities. Various prospecting and exploring parties were in the course of formation, and there is no doubt that under the powerful influence of the proverbial "sacra fames" the exact character and value of this interesting district will shortly be ascertained. On the Physical Geography of the Portion of Abyssinia traversed by the English Expeditionary Force. By CLEMENTS R. MARKHAM. The region traversed by our military expedition consists of a series of mountains and plateaux, extending north and south upwards of 300 miles, and forming the water-shed between the Nile and the Red Sea. It is divided, with reference to the streams which form the sources of Egypt's fertility, into three distinct regions: -1. The region drained by the Mareb; 2, that drained by the Atbara; and 3, that by the Abia, or Blue Nile. From the eastern flanks of these mountains only small torrents flow down, which are dried up by the scorching heat as they approach the Red Sea; while on the western side the rivers have long courses through deep valleys. But the Abyssinian highlands, though from their elevation of 7000 to 10,000 feet above the sea they enjoy a delightful climate, are not so favourably situated with regard to moisture as several other temperate regions within the tropics. But a small sprinkling of rain falls on the eastern coasts, opposite the arid wastes of Arabia, during the winter and spring months, when easterly winds prevail. Abyssinia has to look to the equator for most of her moisture, when the sun marches to the north, after having pumped up the necessary water from the Indian Ocean. Then, from June to September, she gets her rainy season; for her mountains are high enough to reach and condense the moisture that is hurrying northwards, and to bring it down to deluge and fertilize the plateaux and valleys. As the clouds progress northwards much of their moisture has already been discharged, and the northern part of the country, which is drained by the Mared, is consequently much drier than the more southerly provinces. The first part traversed by the British troops comprised the southern portion of the province of Akula-guzay and that of Againé. It consists of plateaux at an elevation of 8000 feet above the sea; of mountain masses and ridges rising to a height of from 9000 to 11,000 feet; of wide valleys surrounded by the plateaux, at a height of 7000 feet, and of deep ravines and river-beds elevated from 4500 to 6000 feet above the sea. The plateaux are composed of sandstone overlying a formation of schistose rock, 4000 feet thick, which rests on gneiss. Grand peaks rise from the plateaux, frequently with flat tops and scarped sides. The valleys, surrounded by the steep, scarped sides of the plateaux, are tolerably well watered and yield good crops of grass and corn. One of these valleys is seen from the road leading from Senafé to Adigerat, and well illustrates some of the most striking features of Abyssinian scenery. Just as peaks rise from the surface of the plateau, so hills rise up out of the valley itself, from sides exactly like those descending from the plateau, and with flat-topped summits corresponding exactly with the plateau level. One of these valley hills is the Amba of Debra Damo, famous in Abyssinian history. The general effect of such scenery is most striking. It gives the idea of a dead level plain, which had been cut into by floods, forming ravines and valleys, but leaving portions of the plateau in their midst as islands, just as navvies leave earth-pillars to measure the depth of their excavations. The third great physical feature is the deep ravines and river-beds, which carry off the drainage, on the one hand to the Mareb, and on the other to the coast. The deepest of these gorges are towards the Red Sea, and form the magnificent scenery of the passes. On leaving Adigerat the expedition entered upon the second physical region, drained by the affluents of the Atbara, and extending to the valley of the Taccazé. The northern half, as far as Antalo, consists of sandstone and limestone, the southern half wholly of volcanic rocks. The important mountain knot of Haral ends abruptly towards the south at a point about eight miles south of Adigerat, and divides the drainage of Mareb from that of the Atbara. Looking at these mountains from the great plain of Haramat to the south, they appear like a mighty wall rising suddenly from the plain, bold sandstone cliffs with flat tops, surmounted here and there by truncated cones, with higher peaks in the interior of the mountain knot rising above them. At the southern end of the plain of Haramat the character of the country changes; there is a descent of upwards of 1500 feet, and the scenery passes from a temperate to a dry subtropical type. A broken hilly country continues thence to the great stony plain of Antalo. The country between Antalo and Magdala is a mountainous region entirely composed of volcanic rock, but it is divided into two very distinct parts by the river Taccazé. That to the north is an elevated ridge, crossed by several lofty ranges of mountains; that to the south is a plateau of still greater height, cut by ravines of enormous depth. The latter is drained by the principal affluents of the Blue Nile. South of Antalo the scenery becomes grander, the vegetation more varied and more abundant, and the supply of water more plentiful. The peculiar feature of the whole region is that, while the backbone of the mountain system runs north and south, it is crossed by ranges of great elevation running across it in the direction of the drainage and dividing it into sections. The mountainous country between Makhan and the basin of Lake Ashangi is about fourteen miles across. It is well wooded, the hill-sides being covered with junipers as tall as Scotch firs, flowering St. John's-worts growing as trees, and a heath with a white flower. The view from the southern edge of this highland is magnificent. Far below lies the bright blue lake of Ashangi, bordered by a richly-cultivated plain and surrounded by mountains on every side. The lake is without an outlet, although lying on the edge of a vast extent of country at a much lower elevation. It is some 4 miles long by 3 broad, and lies 8200 feet above the sea-level. As the water is fresh, the outlet is probably obtained by percolation at some point on the eastern side. The part of the Lasta province south of the lake is broken up into a succession of mountain spurs and deep ravines, fertile and well watered. South of the Taccazé the nature of the country again entirely changes. A mighty wall rises up, 2600 feet high, and ends in a level summit, forming the edge of the |