Page:Science vol. 5.djvu/130

 114 SCIE

of Ihe greater portion of the partiiiona separaUng the chambers, pillars of chalk only being left to aup- porl llie roof. The usual height of denehole cham- hers may be paid to 1)0 from ten to twenty feet. A leading characteristic of ileneholes is the separation of each pit from its neighbor, though they are often so close together lliat much care must have been ejercUed to prevent IntercommuDication. Another Is the fnct, that, while they are here and there abun- dant ill bare cluilk, ilicv :ir.' nfti'ii i.'specially nuiner-

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��tr'fthere the lop of the chalk is BfCy to sixty fe«t below. Tbas at Hangman's Wood, for example, the top of the chalk is fifiy-six or fifty-seven feet below the surface, while there Is plenty of barechalk within

Though there are more than fifty separate dene- hole.1 In Hangman's Wood, each shaft being at an average distance of about Iwenty-Sve yards from its nearest neighbor, only five 'shafts are'now open, the rest having falieu in at various times. In most in- glances, however, there is nothiog to suggest that . the chambers below have been materially, If at all, injured, the funnel-shaped hollow at the surface be- ing but little greater than those around the mouths of shafts still open. This closing of the great majority of the shafts is not by any means simply disadvantageous to denehole explorers, though it certainly increases the cost of exploration; for it is obvious Ihai closed pits necessarily afford more satis- factory evidence than such as have been visited from time to time, either from curiosity or to recover a lost sheep or hound.

Preliminary examinations of six of ilic deneholes in Hangman's Wood were made during the summers of 18S2 and 1S83. A more thorough iuvcsllgatlon is

��|Voi.. v.. No. 108.

��RECENT AFRICAN EXPLORATION.

Ko news has been received at Zanzibar from Giraud sini'e he was deserted by his caravan. A number of the deserters have been arrested and Im- prisoned under grave charges, but their trial will be deferred until some definite Information of the trav- eller's fate has been received. The French consul asserts, with reason, that an example must be made if it proves that Oiraud has been betrayed; otherwise there can be no safety for future explorers.

The distressing news has been received of the tolal destruction by fire of the fine estalilishmenl of the missionaries du Saint-Esprit at Mrogoro. They were left without food or clothing, and the result of their severe labor for two years was destroyed at one blow, The fire would seem to liave been accidental ; since the natives about them are friendly, and have modi- fled, at the suggestion of the mlssionariei, many of their savage customs, especially that of human sacri- fices, which a year ago were common. Assistance 1ms been sent to the sufferers.

From the Zambezi, news of the death of f^m- mander Foot has been received. It occurred at Blan- tyre, where he had been appointed English consul. His wife and two children, unable during the preva- lent disorders on the upper Zambeci to reach the coast, have taken refuge at the Protestant mission at the junction of the Euo and Sheri rivers. The deceased was well known in connection with African exploration, and especially with routes of trade and travel in cenlrui Africa.

Mr. Hore of the English missionary society has recently started for Ujiji, with his fomily, a consider- able caravan, and two young missionaries, who will assist him in his work.

Some time since, we referred to the operations of Paul Soielllet In the region of Shoa, and his suc- cess ill establishing friendly relations with King Menellk. The traveller, who left France about three years ago, has now returned to civilization, and, lA a recent stance of the 5oc!£t£ de geographic, gave Inter- esting details of his journey, and of the character o( the region explored by bim in the interests of French commerce. The port of Obok, opposite the English military station of Aden, has been occupied by France since 18S6, but has only been n^scd to the rank Of t naval coaling-station during the past year.

Behind Obok rises the irregular surface of the Ethiopian highlands, exlending westward to the Nile, and southward to the little-known region which en- closes the great lakes of equatorial Africa. At dif- ferent aliltudes on Its ridges, which rise from Svq thousand to eleven thousand feet, one Suds a succes- sion of all the climates of the torrid and temperate zones. Tlie olive, cypress, indigo, and coffee plants grow wild there; while cotton, sugar-cane, the vine, and cereals are successfully cultivated. In the same regions where the elephant, buffalo, and rhinoceroa flourish in a state of nature, one finds innumerable herds of cattle, sheep, and horses. Soielllet succeeded in opening a caravan route to Kaffa by way of Shoa, which Is suliject to the nsual objeclions of' tirai

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