13 FEBRUARY 1909, Page 2

Dr. Sven Hedin delivered a remarkable lecture before a special

meeting of the Royal Geographical Society in the Queen's Hall on Monday. No living nian has added so much as Dr. Sven liedin to our knowledge of Central Asia, and his account of the third of his journeys in Tibet was as important as any he has given. We were accustomed, he said, to think of Tibet as an enormous plateau between the tremendous ranges of X.wen-lun and the Himalayas, but the map revised by his discoveries showed a large number of ranges separated by very broad latitudinal valleys. In the valleys, many of which took three days to cross, there were innumerable small ranges. Dr. Sven Rodin described the wonderful sensation of camping at the " little rock from which the Indus comes out as an abundant spring." We should think it was comparable with Speke's feelings when he dis- covered the sources of the Nile. An agreeable incident of the evening was Lord Morley's graceful speech, in which he congratulated the explorer, and spoke of his regret at being forced to prohibit him three years ago from entering Tibet from the Indian side. Dr. Sven Hodin humorously replied that Lord Morley had saved him not only from a bad route, but from all competition, and that ho realised now that Lord Morley was his best friend.