—Dr. Holub is preparing to start for the Cape of Good Hope, from whence he will travel towards the interior of the continent, with the expectation of coming out at some point on the Mediterranean. Although his trip is essentially a scientific one, he will not neglect the commercial question. He is connected with important houses of Vienna, with which he will attempt to establish relations with the tribes of the interior of Africa.
—On his return from Bahr-el-Ghazal, Gessi found Khartoum very different from what he had seen it three years before. The European colony had transformed it. The Catholic mission had become the instructor of the population. The traders had imported all the products of European industry. Houses with magnificent stores had been erected, and one could obtain there all that was required for modern civilization. It had become a centre of exportation for the products of Soudan. To remedy the inconvenience of expensive voyages, they already thought of establishing in the neighborhood a permanent place for receiving the wax, rubber and ivory which they brought from the more central countries.
—The French missionaries who are in the Egyptian Soudan complain that the slave trade is more active than ever, and that far from taking measures to prevent it, the regular troops take part in the plunder in the neighborhood of the White Nile, where they capture thousands of slaves of both sexes and all ages. One of the missionaries saw at Fachoda a number of children taken to the slave market. Another reports that the mountains south of Kordufan are inhabited by a very beautiful race of negroes, who have resisted all efforts of the proselytizing Mussulman. These are sold at high prices, and the slave-hunters regard them as a favorite prey. This missionary also relates that a dozen valleys were recently ravaged by the Bagarahs.
—In British America, during the past 20 years, more than 13,000 Indians have been received into the Church of England.
—There is a church organization at Fort Wrangel, Alaska Territory, among the Stickenn tribe of Indians, with a membership of about forty. In connection with this, an industrial school and home for girls has been established.