GEOGRAPHICAL PROGRESS. 



absorbed by the thirsty inter- Andean section and 

 the western part of the Argentine Republic. On 

 the lofty table-lands barley did not ripen, and 

 above 10,000 feet elevation the bleak valleys and 

 mountain slopes gave no adequate response to the 

 food quest of man, but thirsty Nature prodigally 

 rewarded irrigation on the desert lands of the Pa- 

 cific slope. A geographical analysis showed that 

 in general man found himself confronted by 

 severe conditions in his struggle with Nature in 

 South America. Thus far, however, his efforts to 

 develop and utilize its vast resources had made 

 its commercial history an epic." 



Sir Martin Conway, noted as a mountain climb- 

 er and explorer, on returning from his third ex- 

 ploring journey in South America, reports- that 

 in the heart of *the Andes are gold-fields of greater 

 richness than those of the Klondike or the Rand. 

 The eastern slope of these mountains is, he says, 

 a region practically unknown, both as to its bo- 

 tanical and mineral resources; but even aside from 

 its scientific interest, the commercial value of the 

 country demands recognition. Sir Martin says 

 that while he is interested from only the scientific 

 standpoint, he believes the country to be so rich 

 in minerals that American and English capitalists 

 must soon look to that region as the most prom- 

 ising field for investments. In 1898 he visited 'the 

 Andes region and surveyed the western slope. 

 Returning to Peru last July, he spent several 

 months completing a map of the mountain range. 

 His records for exploration have extended over 

 ten years, while for thirty years he has devoted 

 himself to scientific research. 



The pass in northern Patagonia discovered by 

 Padre Menendez called Bariloche, Buriloche, or 

 Vuriloche connecting southern Chile with the 

 great lake Nahuel Huapi, and thereby with the 

 Atlantic, has heretofore baffled all attempts at re- 

 discovery, although these have been made repeat- 

 edly from both sides of the range. Now it ap- 

 pears to have been found again by Capt. Barrios, 

 of a Chilean engineering force. Passing up the 

 Rio Blanco, he reached the famous warm springs 

 of Padre Menendez. Near these the river issues 

 from the great Tronador glacier. Passing east- 

 ward by the narrow valley of an affluent of the 

 Blanco, he found that it widened southeast of 

 the glacier to a broad and convenient pass open- 

 ing into a long and wide valley. Here the Rio 

 de los Nadis (formerly Arroyo Barros Arana) 

 flows to Lake Mascardi. It is the source of the 

 Rio Manso. From Lake Mascardi, M. Barrios 

 passed easily along Lake Gutierrez to the Nahuel 

 Huapi. Along the Rio Blanco he found ancient 

 cut stumps, perhaps dating from Padre Menendez, 

 and old traces of a path at Lake Mascardi. 



Prof. W. Sievers gave in Petermann's Mitteil- 

 ungen a detailed account of the explorations in 

 South America in the nineteenth century, with 

 maps showing the known and unknown territory 

 in each decade. In conclusion he says: 



" In looking over the exploring work of the 

 century, it is seen that it was done for the greater 

 part by private enterprise; that not until 1875 

 did the states take part in the examination of 

 their territory, and even then only the southern, 

 especially Argentina; and that there is great in- 

 equality in the degree of knowledge of the various 

 regions. In Argentina a large atlas of the coun- 

 try has been published under Seelstrang's direc- 

 tion since 1882, and there are geological and 

 meteorological stations in that country, with a 

 staff of foreign scholars engaged in scientific re- 

 search; but the cordillera states, from Bolivia to 

 Venezuela, have scarcely emerged from the stage 

 of the first exploration by foreigners, and are 



almost destitute of official surveys. In Brazil the 

 Government as such has heretofore done nothing 

 toward the scientific exploration of its territory, 

 though some of the states, as Minas, Sao Paolo, 

 and Para, have taken steps in this direction. The 

 interior is still wholly unknown, with the excep- 

 tion of the river-valleys, and even the northeast- 

 erly states, from Maranhao to Pernambuco, have 

 scarcely been traversed. Guiana is at the stage 

 of the very beginnings; the great wilds between 

 the affluents of the Amazon, throughout the sys- 

 tem of this great stream, are still terra incognita ; 

 and other regions, as the territory at the source 

 of the Tapajoz and of the Madre de Dios, as well 

 as the interior of the Chaco Boreal, still await the 

 first exploration, so that there is need there of 

 pioneer activity, as great as in some parts of 

 Africa. But the great obstacle to systematic sci- 

 entific exploration of South America is the in- 

 stability and the financial condition of the re- 

 publican states, and therefore it may be that the 

 recently discovered interior of Africa may become 

 known scientifically sooner than the greater part 

 of South America." 



Recent explorations in South America have been 

 made by Dr. Hermann Meyer, J. R. Hatcher, and 

 Dr. H. Steffen, among others; and Dr. C. Sapper 

 has made scientific observations in the Central 

 American states during a residence of almost 

 twelve years. 



Europe. Dr. Hugh Robert Mill, of England, in 

 a recent address, made the first public announce- 

 ment of a scheme of geographical research on a 

 national scale by private enterprise. Sir John 

 Murray and Mr. Laurence Pullar have decided 

 to complete the survey of all the fresh-water lakes 

 of the British Islands. Sir John Murray, of 

 course, will direct the scientific work, and Mr. 

 Pullar has made over to trustees a sum of money 

 needed to carry out the researches in a thorough 

 and comprehensive manner. All the lakes will 

 be sounded and mapped as a preliminary to com- 

 plete investigation. Five years, at least, will be 

 required to make these observations and to in- 

 corporate them in memoirs, each of which will 

 be a complete natural history of the lakes of one 

 river-basin. 



About twenty-five years ago an arm of the 

 Zuider Zee was transformed into fertile soil, and 

 now a step has been taken toward reclaiming a 

 large part of the land submerged by an irruption 

 of the German Ocean in 1282. Texel, Vlieland, 

 Terschelling, Ameland, and Schiermonnikoog 

 islands stretch in a semicircle from the northern 

 extremity of the province of North Holland to 

 the northern tip of the province of Friesland. 

 These are the remnants of a coast line that for- 

 merly constituted a breakwater against the North 

 Sea. Towns that had been flourishing centers of 

 trade in the middle ages have remained engulfed 

 since this inundation. A bill for the drainage of 

 sections of the Zuider Zee has been introduced in 

 the States-General, with a memorandum giving 

 all the details of the proposal. It is proposed to 

 enclose the Zuider Zee by a dam extending across 

 its mouth from Wieringen in Holland to Piaam in 

 Friesland, and to create two polders, or areas re- 

 claimed from the sea, by constructing dikes 

 and pumping out the water. The first reclaimed 

 area, comprising nearly 70,000 acres, will be called 

 the Wieringen, or Northwest Polder; the second, 

 which may cover either 78,000 or 116,000 acres, 

 between Hoorn and Marken, will be termed the 

 Southwest, or Hoorn Polder. The remainder of 

 the Zuider Zee will remain for the present, what 

 Flevo used to be more than six hundred years ago, 

 a fresh-water lake. It is computed that the work 



