19 DECEMBER 1908, Page 3

On Monday the Royal Geographical Society held a special meeting

to celebrate Speke's discovery of the Victoria Nyanza. Sir W. Garstin read a most interesting paper in which he reviewed the exploration of the Nile since Speke's time, and described the great engineering works which have been carried out. To-day the main facts about the Nile are all known, although much surveying in detail remains to be done. Among the unsurveyed districts is that west of the Bahr-el- Ghazal. Little is known of the Didessa and the Yabus, important tributaries of the Blue Nile. Finally, a correct survey of Lake Albert Edward is still wanting. The only fault that can be found with Sir William Garstin's paper, as Lord Cromer said in a letter, is that it scarcely did justice to Sir William Gantin himself. His labours have turned to account the discoveries of Speke and others, and posterity will regard them as among the very noblest engineering chievements of our time.