432 



GEOGRAPHICAL EXPLORATIONS. 



there must be branches northward and south- 

 ward from the main trunk to enable emigrants 

 to reach these regions, so rich in the precious 

 metals. The discoveries of gold in Idaho indi- 

 cate its existence in quantities sufficient to make 

 mining profitable iu almost every portion of 

 that vast territory ; and though in the eastern 

 section, along the Big Horn Mountains, the In- 

 dians are ferocious and troublesome, there can 

 be little doubt of the speedy opening of mines 

 there, and the eventual expulsion of the Indians 

 from the region. In Arizona, the mines as yet 

 opened are mainly in the vicinity of the Colo- 

 rado, and the yield is represented as enormous. 

 In connection with these mines there is much 

 interest in the discovery of a good harbor and 

 port near the head of the Gulf of California, 

 accessible to steamers of large draught. The 

 attention of geographers during the past year 

 has been called to the canons on the Upper 

 Colorado in this territory. These were sur- 

 veyed by an exploring party sent out by the 

 United States Government in 1860, and the re- 

 port of the survey published by the Govern- 

 ment in 1861. The caflons or perpendicular 

 ravines through which the river has cut its 

 way are deeper and reveal the successive strata 

 of the plateau more perfectly than any rock 

 cutting, natural or artificial, heretofore known. 

 The Big Canon, the highest of these, has 5,500 

 feet of perpendicular descent. The scenery is 

 more terrible and sublime than any which has 

 previously been discovered in the wonderful 

 regions on the Pacific slope. 



In California, the geological survey under 

 the direction of Prof. J. D. "Whitney is making 

 fine progress, the superintendent having made 

 two reports. The survey proposes the con- 

 struction of a series of maps mostly of the 

 mountainous portions of the State, which con- 

 stitutes f *ths of its area, and also of the vicin- 

 ity of the bay of San Francisco, on a large 

 scale (1-126.000). The survey has determined 

 the heights of the principal mountain peaks of 

 the State, and has settled the point that Mt. 

 Shasta is the highest mountain in the United 

 States, being 14,440 feet above the sea level or 

 almost three miles, while Mt. Hood, which has 

 hitherto been considered the highest, is only 

 fourth, having an altitude of only 11,394 feet. 

 Prof. Whitney believes Popocatepetl, which, 

 according to Sonntag, is 17,783 feet in height, 

 to be the highest mountain in North America, 

 and not Mt. St. Elias, which he adduces reasons 

 for regarding as under 15,000 feet (the meas- 

 urement of the English hydrographical charts, 

 probably Capt. Dunham's, gives its altitude as 

 14,970 feet), which is probably below the 

 height of Mt. Hooker and Mt. Brown in Brit- 

 ish Columbia. In connection with geograph- 

 ical progress the physical wall-maps of the 

 United States and South America, and also 

 of the Eastern Continents, prepared during 

 the past year by Prof. Arnold Guyot, and 

 published by Charles Scribner of New York, 

 are worthy of notice. The chief physical 



characteristics of the countries represented are 

 designated by the colors, the lowlands hav- 

 ing a green tint, the table-lands brown, the 

 mountain ranges black, and the highest peaks 

 white. The marine currents, isothermal lines, 

 zones of vegetation and other physical phe- 

 nomena are also indicated, and cross sections 

 at the bottom of the map exhibit prominently 

 the principal slopes and elevations. 



The French invasion of Mexico has led to the 

 preparations of many maps and geographical 

 works relative to that country, some of them 

 of great merit, by German and French geog- 

 raphers. Among these may be noticed a sta- 

 tistical essay on Mexico by Berendt, in Peter- 

 in ann'sJfMA027wi<7e?z.; MoritzWelzhofer's "Re- 

 public of Mexico ; " Uhde's " The Region of the 

 Lower Rio Bravo del Norte," all in German ; 

 and monographs on Jalapa and Orizaba, by Dr. 

 Poyet ; " Notices of Sonora," by MM. Berton 

 and Maury ; " Mexico, a Resum6 of its Geog- 

 raphy, &c.," by Count Baril de la Hure ; " A 

 Map and Hydrology of Mexico," by H. de Saus- 

 sure, in French. 



A new archaeological exploration has brought 

 to light much of interest relative to the ruined 

 cities and temples of Southern Mexico, and the 

 results of the examination have appeared in a 

 magnificent volume illustrated with photogra- 

 phic views of the ruins, entitled " American 

 Cities and Ruins," by MM. De Charnay and Viol- 

 let le Due, published the past year in Paris. 



Central America was visited by severe earth- 

 quakes in the winter of 1862-'3, and portions 

 of it have been subject to political convulsions 

 during the year. The German geographers 

 seem to have taken its topography under their 

 especial care; Moritz Wagner, in particular, 

 having explored with great zeal the Chiriqui 

 region, the States of Costa Rica and Panama, 

 and the isthmus of San Bias, and having visited 

 and measured the height of several of the vol- 

 canoes of that region hitherto hardly known ; 

 on all these topics he has communicated inter- 

 esting essays, with maps and charts, to Peter- 

 mann's Mittheilungen. Frantzius, another Ger- 

 man traveller, has also communicated to the 

 same journal some important papers relative to 

 Costa Rica, and especially that portion of it 

 bordering upon the San Juan river. Capt. Bed- 

 ford Pym, of .11. M. S. Gorgon, communicated to 

 the English admiralty his discovery of a new 

 route of transit across the isthmus of Nicaragua, 

 starting on the Atlantic side from a better port 

 than Greytown. This new point of departure 

 he believed to be at the head of a bay situated 

 south of Monkey Point in Mosquitia, which he 

 named Gorgon Bay. M. Alfred de Valois has 

 published an account of his travels in British 

 Yucatan, and M. Gerald Raoul Perry has pive.ii 

 a very interesting, and complete account of 

 Nicaragua. 



New Grenada, or as it now styles itself, Tke 

 United States of Colombia, was explored very 

 thoroughly in 1861 and 1862 by the German 

 geographer Karsten, who published the re- 



