THE PROGRESS OF (1 E0(;R APHICAL KNOWLEDOE. 8i)9 



Ik'itisli iissoc-iiition mcctiiiL;- at Hi'uclford two yrurs ano in favor of the 

 ein])loyinent of natives in Afriea for African work, just as Indian 

 natives are eniployetl in India, is thoroua'hly sound. A\'e want schools 

 in Africa as well as in Knt^land. Only in this way will the vast areas 

 still iinniap})e(l in our African })rotectorates be dealt with at reasonahle 

 cost and in a reas()nal)le s})ace of time. 



IM 1()T< )T(n'( )( ; RAPIIY. 



Certain devtdopnients in the practical fi(dd of si-eoo-raphy have lately 

 been brought to the test of continued experimental api)lication, and 

 the progress of these experiments deserves a passing recoi'd. Nota))ly 

 the application of photogra})hy to purposes of geographical illustration 

 has received immense impetus from the apparent facility with wliich 

 the experimentiil media can be handled. In fa\'or of tlu' hapliazard 

 landscape illustrations, with wdiich we are usually deluged by travelers, 

 there is little to be said. They are far more frequently illustrations 

 of the personal progress of the author than of the general character of 

 the country he progi-esst'd through. Neither is there umch more to 

 conmiend in photographs designed to reproduce geological or tectonic 

 features, glacial contiguration, si)ecial orographical conditions, or the 

 like, unless the position of them and the direction of the line of sight 

 from the point of view are very clearly indicated on a corresponding 

 map. At the l)est they are apt to l»e deceptive for the reason that they 

 can but deal with one side of a subject and with only a partial \iew of 

 the ])articular feature they re])resent. Everyone knows that an appar- 

 ent range, or even a system of ranges, of mountains may be nothing 

 but the revetment of a high plateau or ta))ledand, 1)ut the photograph 

 of such a mountain system will give no indication of the platt^au beyond 

 wdiich can indeed only be determined l)y a surA'ey and proj)erly illus- 

 trated by a ma}). I need hardly say that a to})ogra})hical deliiunition 

 of ground derived from ol)servations made by the aid of photograi)hy 

 demands as much technical skill on the part of the topographer and as 

 much systematic application of the use of instruments as any other 

 survev. It nuist be a cond)ination of careful ti'iangulation and skillful 

 plane tabling precisely us is the product of a topographical survey. 

 It demands, if anything, moi'c special training and :i more elaborate 

 method of procedure than does oi-dinary survey. So far as the results 

 of experiments made over suitable titdds in Canada can teach us, the 

 verdict is in favor of the process only undei- certain conditions of light 

 and climate when it is desirable to obtain a i-(H'ord of observations in 

 as short a space of time as possible, either in high altitudes, when 

 passing clouds afford but a fleeting view of the landsc,a|)e, or in low- 

 lying districts, wdiere active tribal hostility in the tield or some similar 

 condition renders it desirable to curtail oi)erations as nmcli as i)ossible. 

 SM 19U2 'M 



