dispelled from me the slothfulness of declining years, (and encouraged me to take in hand what I should not have ventured upon without your help). When I lay hidden in distant lands and far from home, you procured me the favour of great and renowned friends, who helped me, and by exhortation urged me to this work, [without whose assistance my mind would have despaired, nay, even now would be despairing]. Thus came to me certain times of peace, but if they had favoured me at my desire I intended to add many things which now I must leave to more fortunate minds. I do not fear that the keen intellect of my very vigorous friend, the renowned David Buchanan, will be lacking to the honour of his distressed country; and what studies he works out will in due time see the light; or if there are others, unknown to me, suitable for the work, there is hope that they will bring hither their contribution [with the honour of their names]. And if anything is lacking in the chorographical descriptions, while excuse should be made for my weakness, I have a son trained in these matters, who has now given a public specimen of his powers, with applause. Him I accept as my substitute, that I may receive my discharge. Nevertheless, I shall not desert my post while I have life. For the rest, having experienced now for so many years your friendship, useful and honourable to me, I shall (live and) die your [great lover], (obedient and very loving servant), ROBERT GORDON. Aberdeen, January 24th, 1648." The earliest issue of this letter was unsigned, and to the French issue by some mistake the initials I. G. were appended.

The set of maps is incomplete, inasmuch as it does not include a map of Perthshire or one of Angus. The district of Perthshire is, however, covered by other maps, Upper Perthshire notably by the map of " Braid Allaban." But of Angus no map was issued till some time later. In a letter to Robert Gordon, dated February 2nd, 1648, Sir John Scot thanks Gordon for the honour of the dedicatory epistle, and then continues, "The Earl of Southesk hath intention to send for Mr. James in the spring to draw the shire of Angus, and ought in reason to do so, seeing he lost Mr. Timothy's map, and I hope you will be counsellor of him to come, that the work may be the sooner perfected and brought to a wished end, and not be left defective in the want of so good a shire." This letter leaves it somewhat doubtful who lost Mr. Timothy's map, whether James Gordon or the Earl of Southesk. It may also be noted that among the manuscript maps that still survive there are sixteen dealing more or less with Angus. It seems that the proposed arrangement for the preparation of a new map of Angus was not carried out, for Blaeu did not issue such a map, and the Atlas is normally without one. After the destruction of Blaeu's place of business by fire in 1672, a map of Angus, with descriptive text, was prepared by Robert Edwards, minister of Murrose," and published by Valk and Schenk in a style that matches the maps in the Atlas. Copies of this map are not common, but I find that the map without the text has been added to the copy of the Atlas in the Advocates' Library, and a somewhat small-type copy of the text without the map has been added to the copy in the Edinburgh University Library.

Of such a work as this Atlas some copies may be more interesting than others. I have in my possession a copy that is of very special interest in connection with the history of the preparation of the Scottish volume; it is the copy presented by John Blaeu to Robert Gordon of Straloch. This is an issue in five volumes, dated 1. 1644, II. III. and IV. 1645, and v. 1654, and bears manuscript on the title-pages in Blaeu's handwriting, which with some variation follows this form :-" CLARISSIMO VIRO ROBERTO GORDONIO A STRATHLOCH, IN PERPETUAE SIGNUM AMICITIAE ATLANTEM HUNC D. D. J. BLAEU." By a refinement of courtesy the Scottish volume did not receive any such inscription, Blaeu's preface showing that in regard to it he considered Scot and Gordon the givers and not the receivers of favour. Robert Gordon has inserted at the beginning of this volume, in his own handwriting, his dedication to Charles, Prince of Wales, afterwards Charles II. Presumably he intended. that this should be printed in the future new edition that he looked forward to, but apparently no printed copy exists. The dedication is of course in Latin, and I here offer a translation:- "To Charles, Prince of Wales, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Ormond, etc., the eldest son of Charles, by the grace of God King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, and heir apparent of all his Kingdoms,-a prince powerful, of highest rank, of the greatest hope, and of noble disposition-Robert Gordon, in his own name and in that of those who in addition have brought their own contributions, humbly presents and dedicates these attempts to illustrate Scotland and all the islands that lie round about it and look to the authority of its crown; attempts undertaken long ago and with great spirit by Timothy Pont, before untimely death carried him away, and now rightfully wrought over again, with many interpolations, completions, enlargements, additions, and corrections, and with the descriptions added that were obviously desirable;-this posthumous offspring, and his own care in bringing it forward." In the University Library copy of this volume, again, I find this same dedication, also in Robert Gordon's manuscript. This I take to be the first draft, as there are changes made in the course of its composition, whereas mine is a clean copy without changes. To the University Library copy there is added this note by David Gregory, who was Mathematical Professor at the University from 1683 to 1691: “HANC ESSE NUNCUPATIONEM IPSAM QUAM HUIC OPERI A SE EXARATAM ET AD JOANNEM BLAEU TRANSMISSAM ROBERTUS ILLE GORDONIUS À STRALOCH MIHIQUE TRADIDIT ROBERTI FILIUS JACOBUS GORDONIUS ECCLESIASTES ROTHEMAYUS UT IN BIBLIOTHECA ACADEMIAE EDINBURGENSIS ASSERVARETUR NOMINE MEO ADSCRIPTO TESTOR. D. GREGORIE. MATH. P." Unfortunately this note is either incomplete or faulty in construction, and its exact meaning is not clear. It confirms, however, the genuineness of the document, which is also amply proved in each copy by the handwriting.

My own copy of Blaeu's Atlas ran a risk somewhat comparable to that of Pont's maps, for it passed into the hands of people who did not understand its value, and it probably escaped the fate of waste-paper by a mere chance. A friend of mine was present at the displenishing sale of an Aberdeenshire farmhouse some years ago. In the advertisement

of the sale there was no mention of any books, and so, when the sale reached the stage of "Kitchen Stuff," my friend was somewhat surprised to see handed out a pile of large folio volumes in soiled white vellum covers, and a roll of engravings. Though he knew nothing of old Atlases, my friend at once saw that the books and engravings were not "Kitchen Stuff," and he bought them for a trifle, and passed the Atlases on to me. In view of such an adventure, one would like to know whether Sir John Scot and James Gordon had similar copies, and, if so, where they now are. Also it may be worth while suggesting that there should be some record of the ownership and place of deposit of books, etc., of special interest. Is there no bibliographical society that could collect and make available such information?

Having now given this account of the history of the Scottish volume of Blaeu's Atlas, I may briefly comment on some bibliographical and historical errors that have been made in regard to it by previous writers. The chief authorities are: (1) Archdeacon Nicolson's Historical Collection, 1702; (2) James Man's Introduction to his projected Memoirs of Scottish Affairs, 1741, in which Nicolson's statement is copied almost verbatim ; (3) Gough's British Topography, 1780; (4) The Spalding Club's Miscellany, 1841-42, and Topography of Cunningham, 1858. Unfortunately each of these contains material errors, and these errors are copied from book to book, and tend to become accepted as statements of fact. Thus too often the date of publication of the Scottish volume is given as 1662 instead of 1654. Nicolson says that Pont was employed by Scot to make the survey, and this statement is repeated by Man, by Gough, and in the Miscellany. But there does not appear to be any foundation for it, and it is directly opposed to Gordon's statement. Indeed, there is no evidence at all that Scot was acquainted with Pont, and it is not even known how the existence of Pont's maps came to the knowledge of King James or of Scot. Again, Nicolson makes the strange statement that "Gordon was much abused in the edition of 1655 by the publisher," and this has been repeated in the article on Gordon in the Dictionary of National Biography. But there was no edition of 1655, and certainly no terms used by Blaeu in reference to Gordon can by any possibility be supposed to be abusive; they are, indeed, very much the contrary. the Introduction to the Topography of Cunningham there appears the curious statement that "the map of Mid-Lothian being dedicated to King James plainly shows it must have been engraved before that king's death." This reasoning sounds all right, but the facts are not as stated. The Atlas contains no map of "Mid-Lothian"; but it does contain one of Lothian and Linlithgow, and this map is not dedicated to King James, but to William, Earl Lothian. It is certainly difficult to see how the editor could have made the double mistake. Besides the errors already noted, the Dictionary of National Biography makes others. In the article on Pont it gives the date of the publication of the Atlas as 1668. In the same article it is said that Pont died between 1625 and 1630, and in the article on Scot the date is given definitely as 1630. I have already noted that after his death Pont's maps, by King James's orders, passed into official custody; and as King James died in 1625 it is evident that Pont must

have died at some earlier date, not improbably about 1614. In the article on Scot the same Dictionary says that Scot purchased Pont's maps after his death. This also is obviously contrary to ascertained fact.

The manuscript maps prepared for the engraver by the Gordons were sent to Amsterdam, and presumably perished in the fire at Blaeu's place of business. But the original sketch-maps of Pont and some duplicates of the maps of the Gordons remained in Scotland in the possession of James Gordon. According to Gough, when Sir Robert Sibbald, geographer to Charles II., projected a new geographical account and Atlas of Scotland, he received from James Gordon all the suitable material, cartographical and other, that remained in his hands. But Sibbald's proposal was not carried out, and on his death his collection passed by purchase to the Advocates' Library. Gough quotes a list of the maps, as supplied to him by his "ingenious and communicative friend, Mr. George Paton of the Custom House, Edinburgh." From this list it appears that the maps have since been rebound into the large folio volume in which they are now kept in the Library. It is much to be regretted that they did not receive a more intelligent and considerate treatment, for the mounting of them is by no means satisfactory or conducive to their good preservation. Many of them are mounted with folds, and every fold is, of course, a means of damage; and in some cases the maps are mounted back to back on a common sheet. The volume contains one hundred and seventeen maps, the work of Pont, the two Gordons, and a later cartographer, John Adair. Twelve of the maps are by Adair, and are quite easily recognisable by their style of workmanship, which is entirely different from that of the others. Five maps bear the name of Timothy Pont, two that of James Gordon, and five that of Robert Gordon, three of them, however, being statedly based on maps. by Pont. Of the remaining ninety-three the authorship is not indicated, and is not in every case easy to determine. Many of them are obviously the work of Pont, but some may quite possibly be the work of the Gordons. In a large number of cases the maps are the surveyor's rough sketches, made and corrected on the ground, and sometimes apparently under difficulties from lack of materials. In looking at them I have been forcibly reminded of the straits Dr. Livingstone was reduced to during one of his later journeys in the lake district of the Upper Congo, when he wrote his diary on pieces of newspaper, using the brown juice of berries as ink. For Pont's ink often has the same brown, faded look, making it occasionally extremely difficult to decipher; and in several cases the amended map has been drawn over the lines of the first draft, so that at a first glance the map is a confusion of lines, requiring some care to disentangle. Other maps, again, have been worked over with a better ink, so that the corrected lines or names stand out legibly above the faded original draft. In yet other maps the workmanship is neat and clean, and speaks of more favourable conditions. Gordon says distinctly that Pont visited all the islands of Scotland; but among these manuscript maps there is not any of the Shetlands, nor of the Hebrides, though these appear in the Atlas, where of the eleven maps dealing with the islands nine are attributed to Pont.

It is greatly to be desired that these manuscript maps, unique and invaluable as they are, should receive the attention and careful treatment that is their due. At present, owing to the form in which they are kept, and the somewhat frequent handling that they receive, they are undergoing a process of slow but sure destruction. They ought to be arranged and mounted in some manner that would tend to their preservation; a detailed study of them should be made by some expert with a view to assigning each to its author; and, lastly, they should be facsimiled, so that the information on them, not all of which appears on Blaeu's maps, should be at the service of students of the history of Scottish topography, without the need for so frequent handling of the originals, and with the possibility of easy comparison with other sources of information. One looks to such a learned society as the Royal Scottish Geographical Society for a lead in such a matter, and possibly under its auspices and those of the Society of Advocates, some one may recognise that here is a piece of work worth doing, and, by doing it, at once confer a boon on students, and raise a memorial to the men to whose ability and energy we owe the First Topographical Survey of Scotland.

FRANCE AND THE PENETRATION OF THE CENTRAL

SUDAN.

INTRODUCTORY.

FRANCE has devoted much energy and enterprise within the last decade to the penetration of the Central Sudan. In the preceding decade there. had been several important missions and campaigns, the aims and success of which received their meed of British recognition in the Anglo-French Convention, signed at London, 5th August 1890, by which was recognised the spheres of influence of France to the south of her Mediterranean possessions, up to a line from Say (or Saye), on the Niger, to Barruwa, on Lake Chad, drawn in such a manner as to comprise in the sphere of action of the Niger Company all that fairly belonged to the kingdom of Sokoto. French activity in the Western Sudan, begun by Faidherbe in 1854, was resumed in 1880 by Galliéni, who surveyed the route for a railway to connect the navigable Senegal with the Upper Niger. Several campaigns were conducted, by which France secured her position on the Upper Niger, and finally opened the way to Tombouctou. In 1883 the fortified post at Bammako or Bamakou was founded, and in 1888 a fort was built at Siguiri, at the junction of the Tankisso and the Niger. In 1888-90 Binger, starting from Bamakou, secured for France by treaty the territories between the Niger and the Ivory Coast. And in 1890-2 Monteil made a reconnaissance of the Say-Barruwa line. Starting from the St. Louis on 9th October 1890, he arrived at Tripoli on the 10th of December 1892, having passed through Kano and Zinder to Kuka, on Lake Chad, and thence through Bilma or Kawar and Murzuk to Tripoli. The penetration of the Sudan from Algeria is associated with TransSaharan schemes. The definite proposal for a Trans-Saharan railway