Page:The National Geographic Magazine Vol 16 1905.djvu/556

Rh The National Geographic Magazine southeast wind of winter than could be evaporated in the closed Red Sea. Such return undercurrents have in somewhat similar circumstances been shown to exist in the Dardanelles, Strait of Gibraltar, and in the Suez Canal. The observation at Bab-el-Mandeb was difficult. The wind is strong and the disturbance of the sea is considerable, while the water is 120 fathoms, or 700 feet, deep. But a surveying vessel maintained herself at anchor there during four days, and, by the aid of an in- genious apparatus sent from England for the purpose, clearly proved the existence of a current of 1½ knots flowing steadily at depths below 70 fathoms out of the Red Sea, while in the upper strata there was a similar current flowing in. In such ways is interchange of water provided for by nature in places where tidal action does not suffice.

In what I fear is a very discursive address I have not mentioned the interior of Africa. In the first place, it is a subject of itself ; and as we shall have, I hope, many papers on African subjects, I have thought it better to deal mainly with generalities. Still I cannot refrain from a few words to express the astonishment I always feel when I hear people complain that Africa goes slow. When I look at what has been effected in my own lifetime, it appears to me that, on the contrary, it has been rushed The maps I learned from as a boy showed the whole interior as a blank. There are now no parts that are not more or less known. The great lakes have all been revealed; the great rivers have all been traced; Europeans are now firmly fixed with decent governments in parts formerly a prey to tribal wars and the atrocities of the inland slave traffic. Railways are running over regions unknown forty years ago, and one of the most astonishing things to me is that I should be able to hope now to visit in comfort and luxury the great Victoria Ealls, which my old friend Sir John Kirk — whom I left the other day hale and hearty — was, with the exception of Livingstone, the first white man to see, after a long and laborious journey in his company in 1860.

I could not help being amused as well as interested at seeing a short time ago a proclamation by the government of Northern Rhodesia, dated not far from Lake Bangweolo, calling on all concerned to observe neutrality during the present war between Russia and Japan. I think that if any one had prophesied to Livingstone, as he lay in 1873 lonely and dying by the shores of that newly discovered lake, that such an edict would be issued in thirty years he would have expressed a doubt as to its fulfillment. To southern Africa nature has denied two of the features that facilitate rapid progress — good harbors and sufficient rainfall — but the energy of man has done wonders to provide the former where possible, and will doubtless do more, while I believe that the lack of the latter will also be overcome in the same way. The coordinated — or, in other words, the scientific — observations made in many other countries have pointed out a possible solution. On the other hand, the height of the inland plateaux makes it possible for the white man to live and work in latitudes which would under other conditions be tropical. South Africa must have a great future before it ; and, while some present circumstances may delay development of its natural advantages, I am inclined to think that in the long run prosperity may be more solid and material for being reached in the face of difficulties, as has so often occurred in the history of the world.