HOW THE EARTH WAS EXPLORED IN 1876. 563 



mercial importance to the United States of direct and regular commu- 

 nication from this country by steam with the mouth of the Amazon, 

 in view of the importance of the regions of the Upper Amazon and its 

 tributaries, which are now made accessible by steamers." 



In Europe initiatory steps have been taken for the measurement 

 of an arc of the meridian parallel with Algeria. The surveys in Aus- 

 tria have been actively prosecuted ; 2,066 square miles have been sur- 

 veyed in Galicia and Hungary, and 200,000 altitudes determined. The 

 whole of the Tyrol, the greater part of Transylvania, and parts of 

 Lower Austria and Bukowina, have been mapped. Surveys in Turkey 

 and Greece promise at an early day a good map of the Balkan Penin- 

 sula. Deep-sea soundings have been made between Norway, the Shet- 

 lands, the Faroes, Iceland, and East Greenland. 



The Russians and others have been active during the year in Asia, 

 in the regions around the White Sea, in the country of the Caspian, 

 the Altai and trans-Altai Mountains, the northern part of Pamir, in the 

 lower part of the river Obi, upon the Irkoort River, from Wjernga to 

 Kashgar, in the valley of Fergani, of the Shueli, and in the western 

 part of the Chinese province of Yunnan ; also in East and North- 

 west Mongolia, between the Himalayas and the Tian-shan, China, and 

 Turkistan, in Japan and Siam, and the river Mekong in Cochin-China. 

 The Siberian coast has been surveyed between parallels 45 and 52 

 north latitude ; the soil is good, vegetation luxurious; lead, copper, 

 gold, silver, and coal, were found. 



The German Arctic Society, in pursuance of a plan for polar re- 

 search, "dispatched an expedition which last July reached Obdorsk, 

 the most northern settlement on the river Obi, where they met the 

 Russian expedition, organized for the survey of the rivers Bar and 

 Chuca, that flow into the sea of Kara, and the course of the river Obi, 

 to determine the possibility of connecting these rivers with a canal. 

 Thence the party made their way to the Kara Sea, a very difficult 

 route ; and, upon their return last autumn, they passed through the 

 Kara Sea and the strait without any impediment from the ice, and 

 have transmitted a very interesting account of their journey in Si- 

 beria. Prof. Nordenskiold has again passed safely into the Kara Sea 

 and to the mouth of the Yenisei, and has already returned. He found 

 the Kara Sea free from ice in September, and declares that the navi- 

 gability of the Yenisei is now ascertained, and is confident that 

 a trade-route may be established to that river through the Kara 

 Sea." 



In Thibet, in Japan, in Siam, and in Persia, extensive explorations 

 have been made. The great survey of India is going on at the rate 

 of 40,000 square miles per annum. The American Palestine Explo- 

 ration Society has suspended work, in accordance with the advice of 

 the advisory committee in Beyrout, partly because of the disturbed 

 condition of Turkey, and the continued commercial depression at 



