THE YEAR 1936 IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The greatly improved economic situation was reflected in the increased activities of the Land and Survey Department in all its branches. The Registration of Titles Ordinance which came into force on the 1st July and the extension to Nigeria of the Empire Air Mail Service were the two most important events of the year.     

REPORTS. THE YEAR 1934 IN CEYLON

Abstract

The Ceylon Survey Department is gradually returning to its normal activities after the period of depression. The programme of work is again being increased as the demand for survey work grows with returning prosperity in the Colony. The Survey Department Training Classes have been reopened for training new recruits to fill the vacancies in the upper and lower grades which have been left unfilled during the retrenchments. It takes a year, however, to train a subordinate office: and two years to train a probationary Assistant Superintendent, Including one year at Cambridge. Recruiting is consequently rather. a slow process, and it will be some years before the Department is again at full strength, as there are now 27 vacancies in the Field Staff and 34 in the Office Staff to be filled, out of a total of 705.     

GEORGE EKEM FERGUSON: AN AFRICAN PIONEER

Abstract

THE present Survey Department of the Gold Coast came into being in the year 1901 on account of the mining boom which necessitated a large number of concessions being taken up by Companies. In the absence of an effective central organization most of these concessions, which were indifferently surveyed by private surveyors, resulted in much overlapping of boundaries, involving a considerable amount of litigation. The Department has justified its existence by producing maps of the Colony and its Dependencies, providing plans for townplanning and communication roads as well as by training Africans as surveyors. Before the institution of the Survey Department Government surveys, mainly cadastral, in the Colony were controlled by the Public Works Department.     

THE YEAR 1930 IN NORTHERN RHODESIA

Abstract

The year 1930 in Northern Rhodesia has been particularly busy for the Survey Department. This was chiefly due to the mining activity in the northern area and to the rapid development of new townships and the expansion of old, owing to the large influx of traders and business houses. The staff has been augmented; but, although the office accommodation has improved, we still find ourselves somewhat cramped at headquarters, especially when the local field staff returns there during the rains. A general review of the instruments and equipment has been made, resulting in the scrapping of old and obsolete material and its replacement by modern equipment. In this connection it is interesting to note the general adoption of the new Zeiss, Wild and Tavistock theodolites.     

FINANCIAL CRISIS AND SURVEY—A UNITED STATES PRECEDENT

Abstract

It generally happens that, when trade is bad and there is a sharp drop in the revenue of a country such as to necessitate immediate economy, one of the first of the public services to be affected is survey; and, of all the different branches of surveying, the one that suffers most is usually the trigonometrical surveyor its equivalent. This is in spite of the fact that, taking the long view, the tdgonometrical survey is perhaps the most fundamental of all. The trouble is, of course, that it is very difficult for the non-technical individual or official to appreciate the importance of the work—indeed, it is doubtful if all surveyors realise this.     

THE HYDROGRAPHIC DEPARTMENT OF THE ADMIRALTY: (I) HISTORY AND ORGANIZATION

Abstract

The Hydrographic Department of the Admiralty performs a number of functions appropriate to its status as an Admiralty Department but it is also responsible through its head, the Hydrographer of the Navy, for the compilation, publication and distribution to the Merchant Navy and the public, as well as to the Fleet, of Admiralty charts and of other nautical publications concerned with the safety of navigation. The latter comprise the “Admiralty Sailing Directions”, the “Admiralty Tide and Tidal Stream Tables”, the the “Admiralty List of Lights” and the “Admiralty List of Radio Signals ”.     

THE TRAINING OF AFRICAN SURVEYORS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Whenever the Government wants to receive new students to be trained as surveyors for the Government Service it is usual for the public to be informed by means of a Gazette Notice outlining the conditions of entry into the Survey School which is attached to the Land and Survey Department. Nowadays students are admitted through the Government Higher College at Yaba by means of the Entrance Examination of that college. It is one of the conditions that before a candidate applies to take this Entrance Examination he must have passed his Cambridge School Certificate Examination, the Matriculation Examination of any British University, or its local equivalent, and must possess also a certificate of character.     

THE UGANDA MAlLO SYSTEM

Abstract

The survey of “mailos” or native estates in the Kingdom of Buganda has taken a prominent place in the annual programme of the Survey Department of Uganda for over 30 years past. The survey, which has covered some 17,000 square miles and is now practically complete, has some unusual features, and although it has no claims to refinement or to great precision, a short account of its history and workings may be of general interest. The system of land settlement introduced by Sir Harry Johnston has already been described in the Empire Survey Review (“The Surveyor and the Politician”, by H. B. Thomas, vol. ii, p. 28).     

THE STATE OF NORTH BORNEO

Abstract

In 1924, when my application for a position in the Survey Department of North Borneo had been accepted, a surprisingly large number of my friends thought that my destination was somewhere in Africa or South or Central America. Of course everyone had heard of the “wild man of Borneo.” To be quite candid, my own knowledge was limited to the position of the island. As this. country seems to be so little known, a brief outline of its history and of the development of the Survey Department may be of interest.     

THE YEAR 1934 IN SARAWAK

Abstract

General.— The year 1934 has seen on the survey side an active continuation of trig. and cadastral surveys and on the land side standardization of procedure and routine. Good progress has been made in both branches. The surplus of revenue over expenditure, noted last year for almost the first time, has been very considerably increased, being of the order of eighty-two thousand dollars.     

THE YEAR 1935 IN NIGERIA

Abstract

This report covers the period of the first full year since the amalgamation of the Land and Survey Departments under one administration. The general scheme of amalgamation to which reference was made in the report of the Survey Department for 1934 has functioned satisfactorily and calls for no particular comment.     

Cartographic Design and Production in the Internet Era: The Example of Tourist Web Maps

Abstract

Some, but not all, branches of the tourist industry make heavy use of maps. The industry has discovered the marketing potential of the Internet but in many cases has not yet fully exploited the extra potential of web maps compared to the traditional paper maps. Web maps can up-to-date tourist information very well but they have to be carefully designed to take account of the limitations of the medium. To be most effective, web maps should be basically simple and convey sufficient information interactively, on request. The map and symbol design should convey intuitively where and how this interaction can take place. This paper summarizes the typical faults found in tourist web map design and provides suggestions on good design practice.     

DEPARTMENTAL AIR PHOTOGRAPHY IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The article which follows is an attempt to estimate the present position of Aerial Photography in the Survey Department of Nigeria after thirteen months experience of departmental working. The success of the project is now almost a certainty but it is evident that it could not have been undertaken at all without the presence of the H.Q. of a fairly large Airways Corporation in the Colony.     

THE YEARS 1935–6 AND 1936–7 IN THE GOLD COAST

Abstract

THE Gold Coast can now be said to have recovered from the slump which caused such disastrous consequences in 1931–2 and resulted in a heavy reduction in the establishment of the Survey Department. So far there has been no increase in staff, but more badly needed money for buying stores and increasing the labour staff has been available, and authority has now been given for an increase of 12 in the establishment of African Surveyors; this will result in the re-opening of the Survey School in 1937.     

STANDARDIZING EQUIPMENT OF THE GOLD COAST SURVEY DEPARTMENT

Abstract

The following account of the standardizing equipment of the Gold Coast Survey Department has been written, at the request of the Editor of the Review, because this equipment includes a completely enclosed standard of length 300 feet long which is believed to be one of the very few enclosed standards of this length in any of the Crown Colonies.     

A TRIANGULATION SYSTEM FOR NEWFOUNDLAND

Abstract

Following a request from the Commission of Government of Newfoundland, the Canadian Government has consented to an arrangement whereby the Geodetic Survey of the Department of the Interior will assist the Island Government in laying down two main nets of triangulation as the basis for the survey development of Newfoundland. The completion of the final practical details was reached in Ottawa recently, and the work, it is expected, will extend over a period of five years.     

THREE YEARS AND MORE OF THE RISING SUN or A COLONIAL SURVEY DEPARTMENT UNDER A NEW MASTER

Abstract

The late war has been responsible for many unusual situations—not the least of which was that of certain British Colonial Surv1ey Offices passing under the control of an Asiatic Invader, and it is thought that the story of one of them—the Survey Department of Malaya—will not be without interest to readers of this Review.     

THE APPLICATION OF AN INFRA-RED FILTER TO SURVEYING INSTRUMENTS

Abstract

The following note may be of interest to those responsible for or engaged in trigonometrical reconnaissance and observing, precise levelling, topographical mapping, and other branches of surveying where telescopes or field-glasses are used for long-distance work, especially when visibility is low.