LECTURES. 145 



meuts, there is still another fact which makes the proposed plan every 

 ilay more difficult of execution, and which finds its cause in tlie pecu- 

 liar position of this country. The features of the old countries of 

 Europe are already well known, and it is easy to combine the compar- 

 atively small portion of novelty which is brou*;ht ont with the long 

 settled facts. But in America, geographical discovery is still every 

 day at work. Each hour brings us something new. Every travelling 

 report, geographical work, or map, which is published, shows us new 

 features, and corrects old ones or represents them otherwise. The 

 exploring expeditions })erformed by government officers, by railroad 

 companies, and by private travellers, extend every year further to the 

 west, to the south, to the north. Of late years Americans have gone 

 where they never did before — to the vicinity of the North Pole, and afe 

 the same time they have explored and re-explored Chile, Patagonia^ 

 and the Antarctic seas. The great valley of the Amazon has become 

 quite a fashionable route for American enterprise, and the bosom of 

 the Pacific has been furrowed in every direction. The great topo- 

 graphical, geodetical bureaus, the numerous land offices of the United 

 States, are constantly active in correcting the geography of the interior 

 of the country, producing a vast quantity of interesting maps, which, 

 increases daily in number and value. 



That excellent institution, the Coast Survey, is bringing to light 

 every year new and important facts respecting the nature of the coasts 

 and of the surrounding American seas. In short, we may say, that 

 not only is American discovery not ended, but that it is progressing 

 at a more rapid rate than ever. 



Accordingly, it is evident that while, on the one hand, our work be- 

 comes daily less easy to perform as regards the old materials, from 

 their rapid destruction, growing scarcity, and increasing price, it also 

 becomes, on the other hand, more difficult of execution with respect 

 to the new materials, owing to their rapid increase and their enor- 

 mous diversification. 



The historical, as well as the physical sciences, are becoming ex- 

 tended and ramified in such a way, that it is easy to see that the time 

 is fast approaching when it will be incomparably more difficult to 

 master their results than it is at present. If we do this now, if we 

 create a well organized institution for the reception and preservation 

 of every new map along with the old ones, we shall then be prepared 

 for every emergency ; the subsequent discoveries, however numerous 

 they may be, can easily be added to the acquired treasures. 



Since the destruction and dispersion of the American chartograplii- 

 cal collection of King Ferdinand at Seville, the concentrating of all 

 American maps and historical and antiquarian documents into one 

 focus is now, for the first time, made possible again. Now there 

 exists again a government and nation, the interests of which are so» 

 intimately interwoven with all parts of the whole continent, that the 

 name "Americans" has been given to them, pao' excellence. The whole- 

 continent of America finds in the United States a central power nearly 

 in as high a degree as formerly in Spain. In fact, the United States, 

 the commerce of which enters every harbor, inlet, and river of the con- 



10 s 



