GEOGRAPHY. 361 



communicate with the party at Lady Franklin Bay, but failed to reach 

 that place on account of unusually heavy pack ice. Depots were estab- 

 lished on Cape Sabine and Lyttelton Island for use in case Lieutenant 

 Greely's party should be forced to retreat, and as soon as the season 

 opens in 1883 a determined effort will be made, under command of Lieu- 

 tenant Garlington, United States Army, to reach the beleaguered 

 colon}*. 



The British station has been established at Fort Rae, in tbe northern 

 part of British America, under the direction of a committee of the Eoyal 

 Society. 



On the island of Jan May en a party of Austrian observers have 

 been left, to be relieved in 1883. The Danes have chosen Godhaab, in 

 Greenland, where six skillful observers under the leadership of Mr. A. 

 Paulsen have been placed ; and the Dutch party, under charge of Dr. 

 Snellen, of the Utrecht Observatory, are established at Dickson's Haven, 

 at the mouth of the Yenesei. The Norwegian station is situated at Boze- 

 kop, on the Alten Fiord. The Russians have chosen a point at the mouth 

 of the river Lena and at Moller Bay, in Novaya Zemlya. The Swedes 

 Lave established observers on Spitzbergen ; and the Germans, in addi- 

 tion to placing a stall' of observers under command of Dr. Giese on the 

 shores of Cumberland Sound, Davis Strait, have sent another party, 

 imder Dr. Schrader, of the Hamburg Observatory, to the island of South 

 Georgia, 1,100 miles east of Cape Horn. 



ASIA. 



The most important geographical event relating to Central Asia is 

 the completion of the expedition commanded by Colonel Prejevalsky, 

 and the return of its members to Russia. The first part of the account 

 of this famous journey in Thibet and China has been issued. It is di- 

 vided into two parts, and is illustrated with maps and engravings. A 

 German translation is in course of preparation. Under the auspices of 

 the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, Colonel Prejevalsky ijro- 

 poses to start in March, 1883, on his fourth expedition to Central Asia, 

 chietly with a view to studying the volcanic phenomena presented by 

 the Tien Shan, and also to penetrate, if possible, into the mountains of 

 Thibet. 



In an address before the British Association, Sir Richard Temple, in 

 giving a summary of all existing knowledge relating to the geography 

 of the central plateau of Asia, calls attention to the imperfection of that 

 knowledge, the importance of the region, and the field offered by it for 

 research and discovery. The principal geographical problems in Asia 

 yet unsolved relate largely to this unknown region. 



The Pamir, by which name is known the elevated region immediately 

 south of Chokand,in Central Asia, and called by Asiatics the "Roof of 

 the World," has frequently been described by geographers as a part of 



