360 



GEOGRAPHICAL PROGRESS IN '1890. 



of them are connected together by low land. 

 The elevation of the highest was estimated at 

 600 feet. 



Europe. It is proposed to increase the com- 

 mercial facilities of the United Kingdom by the 

 building of a large ship canal through Scotland, 

 from west to east, which will be better adapted 

 to the conditions of to-day than the Caledonian 

 and the Forth and Clyde canals. The new Forth 

 and Clyde Canal is de'signed to be about 30 feet 

 deep and 72 feet in breadth. It is to start from 

 Alloa, near the mouth of the Forth, and, using in 

 part the river channel, take its course to Loch 

 Lomond, reaching it by a tunnel 2 miles in 

 length. Three routes are under consideration 

 for the remainder of the course first, out of the 

 northern part of the lake from Tarbet to Loch 

 Long, an arm of the Firth of Clyde ; second, by 

 the enlargement of the Leven, the outlet to the 

 Clyde; third, from the southern part of the 

 lake, from Arden to Ardmore Head, at the mouth 

 of the Clyde. As Loch Lomond lies 22 feet 

 above the sea, a lock would be required on each 

 side. The estimated cost is 8,000,000. 



America. Lieut. Seton-Karr, sent by the 

 London Geographical Society to examine the 

 borderlands of Alaska and British America, has 

 found that Altschik river flows into Dry Bay, 

 and not into the Yukon, as has been supposed. 

 Setting out from the Chilkat, he followed its 

 upper course -to the mouth of the Klaheena, or 

 Wellesley, then crossed the water-shed and made 

 a dangerous voyage on the Altschik, which 

 abounds in rapids. A tributary of considerable 

 size comes from the north, probably from Mount 

 St. Elias. 



Some facts of interest have been discovered by 

 the gentlemen sent to Alaska in the summer by 

 the National Geographical Society at Washing- 

 ton. Prof. J. C. Russell examined the glaciers, 

 discovering among others the great Hubbard 

 glacier, at Disenchantment Bay. Mr. Kerr took 

 trigonometrical measurements of the highest 

 peaks of the region and determined their exact 

 positions. He found that Mount St. Elias does, 

 after all, stand on United States territory, and 

 that its height and those of neighboring peaks 

 have been overestimated. By Mr. Dall's meas- 

 urement in 1869, the height of Mount St. Elias 

 was rated at 19,500 feet ; the present measure- 

 ment makes it only 13,500 feet. If this is cor- 

 rect, Mount St. Elias no longer holds the rank 

 of highest point in North America, but is ex- 

 ceeded by Mount Wrangel, if the present esti- 

 mate of the height of that peak proves to be 

 correct, and Mount Orizaba, the latest measure- 

 ment of which gives its height at 17.879 feet. 

 Mount Cook was found to be 10,250 feet instead 

 of 16,000 feet, and Mount Vancouver 9,400 feet 

 instead of 13.100 feet. The earliest measure- 

 ment of Mount St. Elias by La Perouse, in 1786, 

 gave it 12,661 feet. 



In a paper read before the Field Naturalists' 

 Club of Ottawa, Dr. G. M. Dawson, of the Cana- 

 dian Geographical Survey, gave the boundaries 

 and extent of the areas still remaining unex- 

 plored in Canada, as follow: 1. 9,500 square 

 miles between the eastern boundary of Alaska, 

 the Porcupine, river, and the Arctic coast, an 

 area somewhat smaller than Belgium, and wholly 

 within the arctic circle. 2. 32,000 square miles, 



somewhat larger than Ireland, west of the Lewes 

 and Yukon rivers, and extending to the bound- 

 ary of Alaska. 3. 27,000 square miles, nearly 

 equal to the area of Scotland, between the Lewes, 

 Pelly, and Stikine rivers, and to the east of the 

 coast ranges. 4. An area of 100,000 square miles 

 between the Pelly and Mackenzie rivers, about 

 twice the size of England, including nearly 600 

 miles in length of the main Rocky mountain 

 range. 5. 50,000 square miles, about equal to 

 the area of England, between Great Bear lake 

 and the Arctic coast, and nearly all north of the 

 Arctic circle. 6. 35,000 square miles, more than 

 the area of Portugal, between Great Bear lake, 

 the Mackenzie, mid the western part of Great 

 Slave lake. This region was partly traversed 

 by Abbe Petitot. 7. 81.000 square miles, more 

 than twice the size of Newfoundland, between 

 Stikine and Liard rivers to the north, and 

 Skeena and Peace rivers to the south. This in- 

 cludes a portion of the western Cordillera, and, 

 between the Liard and Peace rivers, a large 

 tract of the interior plateau region of the conti- 

 nent, parts of which, there is reason to believe, 

 consist of good agricultural land. 8. 7,500 

 square miles, about half the size of Switzerland, 

 between Peace, Athabasca, and Loon rivers. 

 9. 35,000 square miles, equal to the area of Port- 

 ugal, southeast of Athabasca lake. 10. 7,500 

 square miles east of the Coppermine and west of 

 Bathurst inlet, half as large as Switzerland. 11. 

 31,000 square miles, about equal in extent to 

 Ireland, between the Arctic coast and Back's 

 river. 12. 178.000 square miles, much larger 

 than Great Britain and Ireland, surrounded by 

 Back's river, Great Slave lake, Athabasca lake, 

 Hatchet and Reindeer lakes. Churchill river, and 

 the west coast of Hudson Bay. The lakes and 

 rivers shown in this great region depend entirely 

 on the result of the three journeys made by 

 Hearne in 1769-'72. 13. Area of 22,000 square 

 miles, more than Nova Scotia, between Severn 

 and Attawapishkat rivers and the coast of Hud- 

 son Bay. 14. 15,000 square miles, about half the 

 size of Scotland, between Trout lake, Lac Seul, 

 and the Albany river. 15. 35.000 square miles, 

 about equal to Portugal, to the south and east 

 of James Bay. 16. 289,000 square miles, almost 

 the entire interior of the Labrador peninsula or 

 Northeast Territory, though several lines of ex- 

 ploration and survey have been carried for a 

 certain distance into the inteiior of the penin- 

 sula. This area is more than equal to twice the 

 area of Great Britain and Ireland with the addi- 

 tion of that of Newfoundland. To sum up, 

 while the entire area of the Dominion is placed 

 at 3,470,257 square miles, about 954,000 square' 

 miles, not including the detached Arctic lands, 

 remains unexplored. 



An expedition under Angelo Heilprin left 

 New York, on Feb. 15, to explore Yucatan, the 

 expense to be defrayed by the Academy of Sci- 

 ences in Philadelphia. Prof. Heilprin says that 

 a month was spent in examination of the penin- 

 sula, which was found not to be a coral reef. A 

 visit to the plateau of Mexico, with measure- 

 ments of the highest mountains, gave somewhat 

 different results from those of former measure- 

 ments. Orizaba, or Citlaltepetl, the highest, es- 

 timated at 17,879 feet, he places at 18,205 ; Popo- 

 catepetl, estimated at 17, 734, at 17,523; Iztacci- 



