Sections. Hitherto the Sections have all met at the same time; the consequence of which is, that the members of one Section are deprived of the pleasure of attending any of the rest; and they return home mortified at not having heard particular papers in other Sections,-seen particular instruments and experiments, and become acquainted with particular individuals. The only method of removing this evil, (and after all it will only be a partial removal of it,) is that some of the Sections should meet at eight in the morning, some at ten, some at twelve, and others at two o'clock. This method was adopted by the Foreign Association at Hamburgh; and notwithstanding its obvious inconveniencies, it deserves a fair trial. The public evening Meetings were well conducted in Edinburgh. If eminent individuals are willing to give popular lectures on any branch of their own subject, there can be no better way of amusing and instructing a numerous audience. The lectures of Dr Buckland, at these meetings, were agreeable specimens of blended instruction and amusement. The discussions and debates which were got up on some occasions, will, we trust, never more be heard of. They excited much ridicule in Edinburgh; and their tendency was to degrade rather than to advance science, and to claim for presumption and vanity that meed of praise which should have been reserved for unobtrusive merit.

With regard to the great objects contemplated by those who originated the British Congress, and which are so well stated in Mr Harcourt's address already quoted, the General Committee, at their first sitting, should appoint several sub-committees, chosen by ballot, to report to a general meeting on the following import

ant matters :

1. On a direct national provision for men of science.

2. On the revision and repeal of the patent laws.

3. On the advancement of astronomy, navigation, and general geography, by fitting out ships of discovery.

4. On the advancement of general science, by the erection of physical observatories.

5. On the most scientific and economical method of lighting the coasts and harbours of Great Britain.

6. On the improvement and extension of the lines of communication throughout the kingdom, by roads, railways, and steamboats.

7. On the formation of a scientific board for improving our naval architecture.

8. On the improvement and extension of the British fisheries. 9. On the mines and minerals of the kingdom.

10. On the formation of a statistical board.

11. On the propriety of having an annual exhibition of inventions, and of the products of British industry, at the place of meeting of the Association.

12. On the propriety of intrusting to each metropolitan and provincial society certain specific objects of enquiry, and furnishing the means, when necessary, to carry them into effect.

13. To arrange a system of prizes for the successful prosecution of particular branches of science.

When such committees have been organized, the public will recognise the utility of a national union, and the science of Britain will soon feel its power. But even should it fail in all these attempts to do good, and should it strive in vain to excite an unfriendly government, and rouse a torpid population, there is happily one result which it will never fail to secure that of blending in unity and peace the hearts and sympathies of the friends of knowledge, and creating a moral force which will ultimately overpower the enemies of the best and most permanent interests of their country. It was well stated by Lord Brougham, as one of the principal advantages of such associations, that they bring together, on the neutral ground of 'science, men of all countries, of all religions, and of all shades of political opinion.' Nations, and communities, and individuals, separated by exasperating feuds, by religious creeds, by speculative differences, and by personal distastes, find here one kindly tie, which unites them in the common brotherhood of intellectual natures, cherishing the love, and admiring the wisdom, of one common Father. The repulsive elements of clashing opinions, and dissevered hearts, are compressed into closer contact by the force of aggregation, which binds them but for a while; and ties which were assumed only as temporary, become the bond of unbroken concord, and the cement of enduring friendship.

ART. VIII.-Travels into Bokhara ; being the Account of a Journey from India to Cabool, Tartary, and Persia; also, Narrative of a Voyage on the Indus, from the sea to Lahore: performed under the orders of the Supreme Government of India, in the years 1831, 1832, and 1833. By Lieutenant ALEXANDER BURNES, F. R. S., of the East India Company's Service. 3 vols. 8vo. With a Map, by J. Arrowsmith. London: 1834.

IF

F, seated on the summit of Kantal, or some other towering pinnacle of Himaleh, and seeing beneath us innumerable streams glancing in silvery lines from the skirts of its everlasting snows, and swelling into mighty rivers, which portion out the earth, and distribute the blessings of abundance among populous nations—if, we say, throned on such an eminence, we were called on to point out the region over which we should choose to wander, we should unhesitatingly select the very country which Mr Burnes has had the good fortune to visit in safety. It is true that the eastern horizon might promise us an ampler field of novelty, and an infinitely richer display of barbaric greatness; but still, between the Indus and the Oxus lies the scene of the deepest historical interest: here we find the traces of the Macedonian and the Mongol,-the demigod and the demon, -of Alexander and Zengis Khan; and the face of nature glows with a more lively expression in the rays shed on it from the epochs of history. The day is not far distant, we believe, when a flood of light will be thrown on the Bactrian kingdom, or Macedonian India, and when the passes of the Paropamisus or Hindu Kush will be all made known. In the mean time, we hail with gratitude and pleasure the volumes now before us, the adventurous author of which, though not the first European who has crossed the Hindu Kush from Cabùl to the Oxus, is yet the first who has given us a circumstantial account of that almost unknown country. In our analysis of Mr Burnes's volumes, however, we shall adhere to the chronological order of his journeys, rather than to the publisher's arrangement, or rather disarrangement of them, founded on the doubtful title of relative interest; and shall therefore commence with the voyage on the Indus which occupies the third volume. Or rather, we shall begin from his earliest peregrinations, and mark by what course of training his active spirit was prepared for difficult and important undertakings. In the year 1828, Mr Burnes being at that time attached to the Quarter-Master-General's department in Cutch, conceived the project of exploring the Rajpút country along the river

Loonee, and between that river and the Indus. This plan, so well calculated to complete our knowledge of the frontiers of British India, was approved of by the government of Bombay; with some restrictions, dictated by the fear of awakening the jealousy of the governors of Sinde. Mr Burnes accordingly visited Jaysulmere, the castle of which place is the grandest of the Rajput strongholds; the mountain of Aboo, and its exquisitely carved temple; the fertile country near Ajmere, and a portion of the desert north of Cutch. It may be easily imagined that this tour among the independent Rajpút princes, afforded our author an opportunity of acquiring not a little insight into the character of the native Indian courts. In the mean time, the design on the Indus had ripened into a scheme more interesting and comprehensive.

In the year 1830, the King of Great Britain sent as a present to Maharaja Runjeet Sing, five dapple-grey horses of the largest description; and Mr Burnes, who was returned from his tour in Rajputana, was appointed, on the recommendation of Sir John Malcolm, at that time Governor of Bombay, to proceed as the bearer of these presents to Lahore, by way of the Indus. The survey of this great river was, in fact, the most important object of the expedition.

In addition, therefore,' says our author, to the complimentary mission on which I was to be employed, I had my attention most specially directed to the acquisition of full and complete information regarding the Indus. This was a matter of no easy accomplishment, as the Ameers, or rulers of Sinde, had ever evinced the utmost jealousy of Europeans, and none of the missions which visited the country had been permitted to proceed beyond their capital of Hyderabad. The river Indus likewise, in its course to the ocean, traverses the territories of many lawless and barbarous tribes, from whom both opposition and insult might be dreaded. On these matters much valuable advice was derived from Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Pottinger, political resident in Cutch, and well known to the world for his adventurous travels in Beloochistan. He suggested that it might allay the fears of the Sinde government, if a large carriage were sent with the horses, since the size and bulk of it would render it obvious that the mission could then only proceed by water. This judicious proposal was immediately adopted by government.' (III. p. 2.)

These arrangements, with sundry letters of a political complexion, had all for their object to outwit the Sindian Princes, and to parry their repugnance to the exploration of the Indus. It more sterling kind of prudence which determined Mr Burnes to forego the doubtful protection of a military escort; and to rely wholly for personal safety on the kind and generous feelings of the tribes with whom he was about to mingle. All pre

parations being completed, our author, accompanied by Ensign J. D. Leckie, of the 22d Regiment N. I., a surveyor, and a doctor, both natives, and a suitable establishment of servants, sailed from Mandivee in Cutch, with a fleet of five native boats, on the morning of the 21st of January, 1831. On the evening of the 24th, he anchored in the Koree, once the easternmost branch of the Indus, but now only an arm of the sea.

'We followed,' says he, 'the Sinde coast for four or five days, passing all the mouths of the Indus, eleven in number, the principal of which we entered and examined, without even the observation of the inhabitants. There was little indication of our being near the estuary of so great a river; for the water was only fresh a mile off shore from the Gora, or largest mouth of the Indus; and the junction of the river water with that of the sea was formed without violence, and might be now and then discovered by a small streak of foam, and a gentle ripple. The number and subdivision of the branches diminish, no doubt, the velocity as well as the volume of the Indus; but it would be supposed that so vast a river would exercise an influence in the sea far from its embouchure; and I believe this is really the case in the months of July and August, during the inundation. The waters of the Indus are so loaded with mud and clay, as to discolour the sea for about three miles from the land.'—(III. p. 8.)

The coast of Sinde is so low as to be rarely discernible a league off shore; and it has no trees which might serve as marks, or at least to give warning to mariners. On the evening of the 28th, the expedition anchored in the mouth of the Pittee, the most western branch of the Indus; and Mr Burnes having sent a notification of his plans to the authorities at Darajee, ventured to anticipate a welcome, by ascending the river about 35 miles from the sea. He was obliged, however, to retrace his steps; and in so doing, was so rudely treated by the natives, whose boats were gathering round him, that he thought it prudent to yield to their menaces, and await in the eastern branch of the river the effect of fresh remonstrances to the Ameer of Hydrabad. A letter soon arrived from this prince, which urged, in the strongest manner, the difficulty of navigating the Indus; but, as it did not refuse permission to make the attempt, Mr Burnes returned, and in spite of bad weather, succeeded in entering the Pieteanee mouth of the river. Still, no explicit permission to ascend the river arrived, the natives were uncivil, and our author, after spending a month on the inhospitable coast of Sinde, returned to Cutch.

Now came a fresh struggle of negotiations. Eastern duplicity vainly contended with the profounder artifice of European diplomacy. The one side pretended all friendship; the other affected to feel insulted. While the Ameer, with little regard for truth,