Sixth Meeting, 14th February, 1876Source: Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London, Vol. 20, No. 3 (1875 - 1876),pp. 182-184Published by: Wiley on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of BritishGeographers)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1799763 .

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182 ACCESSIONS TO LIBRARY AND MAP-ROOM. [Feb. 14, 1876.

of Khiva and Bokhara were shut up, the Turcomans were gradually giving up their marauding habits, and becoming agriculturists. If, indeed, they would only turn their swords into ploughshares, they had a magnificent country at their disposal, watered by the Murghab and the Tejend, and well-adapted to cultivation, and they might thus become a blessing to Persia instead of a curse.

The President then moved the usual vote of thanks to Captain Napier for his valuable paper.

Sixth Meeting, 14th February, 1876.

Major-General Sir HENEY C. EAWLINSON, k.c.b., President, in the Chair.

Presentations.?F. J. Horniman, Esq.; D. G. Butherford, Esq.; Dr. Arthur Leared ; J. A. Christie, Esq.; Philip Bawson, Esq.

Elections. ? Commander A. T. Broohe, r.n. ; Bev. Thomas E. Brown, m.a. ; Bobert Hamilton Few, Esq.; Cecil G. S. Foljambe, Esq. ; Colonel Malcolm Green, c.b. ; George Grove, Esq.; Bev. James Jeahes; J. 0. Lever, Esq.; A. C. Marzetti, Esq.; G. G. Newman, Esq.; Colonel William Thomas Laird Patterson ; George Shaw, Esq.; Francis Clement Taylor, Esq.; James Wainwright, Esq.; Henry Woods, Esq.

Donations to the Library, 24th January to 14th February, 1876.?Historia geologico-geogratlca de la Eepuhlica Oriental del

Uruguay, par 0. B. Posada (cuttings from ' La Demoeracia' news-

paper), Montevideo, 1875 (Author). The Armed Strength of Italy, translated by Lieutenant W. A. H. Hare, 1875 (War Office). First Annual Eeport of Commissioners of State Parks, and Eeport on

Topographical Survey of the Adirondack Wilderness, New York, 1874 (Verplanck Colvin). The position of Turkey in relation to British interests in India, by the Eev. J. Long, 1876 (Author). Eeport on the trade of Kiukiang for 1874, by H. Kopsch (Author). South Australia : Eeport on the Lake Eyre Expedition, 1875 (H. M. Secretary of State for Colonies). Eadcliffe Observations for 1873 (The Badcliffe Trustees). Palestine and Syria, by K. Baedeker, Leipsic, 1876 (Editor). Angola and the Eiver Congo, by J. J. Monteiro, 2 vols., 1875 (Messrs. Macmillan and Co.). The Threshold of the Unknown Eegion, by C. E. Markham, 4th edition, 1876

(Author). The first 40 years of intercourse between England and Eussia, 1553-1593, by G. Tolstoy (in Eussian), St. Petersburg, 1875 (The Hakluyt Society) ; and the current issue of publications of corresponding Societies, &c.

Donations to Map-room from 24th January to 14th February, 1876.?Twenty-three Sheets of Admiralty Charts (Hydrographic

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Feb. 14, 1876.] RETURN OF LIEUT. CAMERON'S COMPANIONS. 183

Office). Map of Algeria, Depot de la Guerre, Paris, 1874; Surveys in Galilee, executed in 1870 by MM. Mieulet et Derrien, Paris, Depot de la Guerre (Societe de Geographie de Paris). The Nile from Eagaf to Makede; Map of the country between Debbe on the

Nile, and Obeiyad, Kordofan (General Stone, Chief of the General

Staff, Cairo). Parts 29 and 30 of Stieler's Atlas of Modern

Geography; Part 13 of Spruner's Atlas of Medieval Geography (Justus Perthes, Esq., Gotha). Eight Maps from Petermann's c Geo?

graphische Mittheilungen' (Dr. A. Peterrnann). Eelief-Map of Ger?

many (J. N. Fazakerly, Esq.).

The President, in announcing the latest news with regard to Lieutenant Cameron, said that on the application of the Council to the Admiralty for assistance to enable Lieutenant Cameron to send his attendants to the Cape of Good Hope, from whence they might proceed to Zanzibar by the regular mail-steamer, the Lords Commissioners at once agreed to send orders to the senior officer in command on the West Coast of Africa, directing him to detach any ship that might be disposable for the purpose of conveying the men from Loanda to the Cape of Good Hope; thus, in the most liberal and ready manner, acquiescing in the wTishes of the Society. A few days after? wards, however, further accounts reached England, stating that the Consul at Loanda had decided?in consultation with Lieutenant Cameron?that it would be most economical and expeditious to buy a vessel at Loanda, and send the men round in her to Zanzibar; where, it was hoped, she could be sold without any great loss. Accordingly a schooner, which happened to be there, and which was re-named the Frances Cameron, was purchased for 1000L by the Consul, and was to leave early in January for Zanzibar, with the whole fifty-seven of Lieutenant Cameron's followers on board. The com? mand of the vessel was entrusted to a Swede of the name of Alexandersson, who had a very good acquaintance with the African coast, and who had recently forwarded to the Society a large, and apparently accurate, survey-chart of the River Quanza. The vessel would probably reach Zanzibar in the course of two months or two months and a-half after leaving Loanda, and would then be sold. By the last accounts, Lieutenant Cameron was still at Loanda. He had wished to take the vessel round to Zanzibar himself, in order to be sure, as far as he could, of the safe arrival of his men; and also, probably, to avoid exposure to the severe climate of England during the winter months. The Consul, however, had thought it of such importance that he should come home immediately, or, at any rate, should place himself within hail of his English friends, that he had persuaded him to go by the next steamer at least as far as Madeira. Whether he would remain at that island, or come on to England, would depend upon the state of his health. Should he come on direct, he might be expected home in the course of a week or ten days, as he would have left Loanda about the 10th or 12th of January; even if he was detained at Madeira, he would probably be in this country before Easter. His observations were being worked out at Greenwich, so that on his arrival he might have all the materials ready to make such use of as he might find necessary.

While speaking of the West Coast of Africa, he took the opportunity of correcting an error into which he had fallen at the last Meeting, and which, much to his regret, had given pain to the family of Dr. Livingstone. In speaking of the dangers incurred by the natives in crossing the continent, he had said that Livingstone's followers, in attempting to return from Loanda,

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184 EXTRACTS FROM MR. MARGARY'S DIARY : [Feb. 14, 1876.

had encountered difficulties, and, in fact, had never reached their homes. He had since found that that remark applied, not to the followers of Livingstone, but to those of an Arab merchant named Said bin HubSeb. Livingstone returned from Loanda to Quillimane, passing the Makololo chiefs camp on the way; his followers remained at Quillimane till he returned from England, when they accompanied him back to their own country; so that Livingstone, as far as was known, was not responsible for the loss of a single African. Still, if he had not been with them in person, they probably would have met with the same dangers and difficulties as the Arab chiefs followers; and the argu- ments which he had used at the last Meeting applied with equal force, showing the extreme danger of crossing the continent, and the consequent necessity of sending back Lieutenant Cameron's followers by sea.

Passing to the immediate business of the evening, the President said the Paper to be read was one which had never been published in England, though it had been printed in China?the Journal of the unfortunate Mr. Margary, member of Colonel Browne's Mission, who was murdered last year on the frontier of China and Burmah. Every one felt at the time the utmost com- miseration for his fate, and sympathised with his bereaved family. The whole story was a very melancholy one. Mr. Margary was a young man of the greatest promise; he was spoken of in the highest terms, not only by his companions, but also by all those superior officers with whom he was brought in contact, and who had the best means of judging of his capacity. He had performed one of the most successful and important journeys that had ever been carried out in Central Asia. He had crossed from the sea-coast of China, through the length and breadth of the land, to the Burmese frontier, and on to Bhamo, which is well within the Burmese territory. It was on his return that he was cut off; and the only fruits of his journey were the Journal which the Secretary was about to read, and the letters which were written subsequently. The Journal was continued only as far as Tali-fu. His pro? ceedings from Tali-fu to Bhamo, and back to Manwyne, were communicated to his family in a series of letters from the Burmese frontier?some. during his life, but the greater part after his death. The whole story was a very melancholy one; and still more melancholy from the fact that his father, a very distinguished officer of the Royal Engineers, seemed to have never recovered the blow which he suffered on hearing the news of his son's death. During last year he had three paralytic attacks, from the last of which he never rallied. These circumstances rendered the memoriai of Mr. Margary's journey which was to be read all the more interesting ; and it was fortunate that the Meeting was favoured with "the presence of Sir Eutherford Alcock, who had had so much personai experience of China; of Colonel Yule, than whom there could be no higher authority on such matters; and of Dr. Ander? son, who was with Colonel Browne in the Burmese Mission.

The following was then read :?

Extracts from the Diary of the late Mr. Margary, from Hankow to

Tali-fu.

I left Shanghai on the night of Saturday, 22nd August, 1874.

August 2%th.?Eeached Hankow in exceptionally hot weather, and unfortunately in a very bad state of health, which continued for several days, and retarded my final preparations. Mr. Consul

Hughes had called upon the Viceroy with the letter from the

Tsungli Yamen, and found he had already received despatches

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