446 



GEOGRAPHICAL EXPLORATIONS. 



involved in further trouble with the Maoris 

 or native inhabitants. The Maoris, like most 

 of the Polynesian islanders, are fast melting 

 away under the contact of civilization. In- 

 telligent residents of the islands predict that 

 they will not outlive another generation. The 

 Sandwich and Society Islands are becoming 

 depopulated so far as their aboriginal inhabit- 

 ants are concerned, with fearful rapidity. The 

 Sandwich Islands, in the time of Capt. Cook, 

 were reputed to have 400,000 inhabitants ; in 

 1832, by actual enumeration, they had 130,313 ; 

 in 1861, 69,800. The Society Islands had 200,- 

 000 inhabitants in Cook's time ; they have now 

 not more than 10,000 aborigines. 



In New Zealand, M. de Hochstetter has been 

 engaged in the exploration of the northern isl- 

 and, and has visited and described the singular 

 lake, Roto Mohama, or the Hot-water Lake. 

 This lake has its sources in numerous springs 

 rising from its bottom and sides. It has a tem- 

 perature of about 208 F. A German geog- 

 rapher, Julius Haast, has been exploring the 

 southern island, and has made a survey of its 

 lofty mountains; the chain has a mean alti- 

 tude of about 7,475 feet. He has discovered 

 the existence of an immense glacier, which 

 feeds Lake Tapuko, through a river which 

 he ha3 named, from one of the colonists, God- 

 ley river. Dr. Hector, already favorably 

 known by his researches in the Rocky moun- 

 tains, has also devoted himself to the study of 

 the physical geography of New Zealand. The 

 European population of New Zealand, accord- 

 ing to the census of 1862, amounted to 109,308 

 persons. Valuable gold mines have been dis- 

 covered at several points in both of the larger 

 islands, the most productive being in the prov- 

 ince of Otago, in the southern island, and in 

 Coromandel, and the province of Auckland, in 

 the northern island. A learned society has 

 been established in the province of Canterbury 

 in the southern island, called the "Philosophical 

 Institute of Canterbury." 



New Caledonia, one of the Loyalty Islands, 

 is claimed by the French, and is rapidly settling 

 with French colonists. Lieut. Chambeyron 

 was engaged in 1862 in exploring the interior 

 of the island and surveying its coasts. He 

 ascertained the height of Humboldt Peak, the 

 principal mountain of the island, situated be- 

 tween seven and eight miles from the coast, to 

 be about 5,300 feet. The Society or Tdhitian 

 Ides are under the protection of France, and 

 French emigration is commencing thither on a 

 considerable scale. Ah extensive botanical gar- 

 den there has proved very successful in accli- 

 matizing the useful plants of other countries. 



The Fiji or Viti Islands, of whose explora- 

 tion by Dr. Seeman some account was given 

 last year, have been the subject of another 

 volume of great interest by Col. Smyth e and 

 his wife, entitled " Ten Months in the Fiji Isl- 

 ands." Col. Smythe was the commissioner 

 sent out by the English Government to inves- 

 tigate the proposed cession of the island to 



Great Britain. He regards the Fijians as in 

 many respects a superior race, but like most of 

 the Polynesians they are wholly under the in- 

 fluence of their chiefs. They have been, and 

 some of the heathen tribes undoubtedly are 

 still, cannibals, but they are not so fearless or 

 ferocious as the Tonga islanders were before the 

 introduction of Christianity, and those who 

 have come under the influence of the mission- 

 aries are gentle and amiable. Melanesia, under 

 which term are included the several groups lying 

 N. E. of Australia, the Solomon Islands, Santa 

 Cruz Islands, Banks Islands, New Hebrides 

 and Loyalty Islands, has, for the last four or 

 five years, under the constant and self-denying 

 labors of the missionary Bishop J. C. Patteson 

 (of the English Church) and his coadjutors, 

 been improving in civilization. He has visited 

 the different groups every year, and where it 

 was possible, brought off young lads to be edu- 

 cated at the missionary college of Kohi-marima 

 in New Zealand, founded by the liberality of 

 the distinguished authoress, Miss Yonge. These 

 lads, after receiving education and Christian in- 

 struction, are returned to their native islands 

 to exert their influence for good there. 



Philosophical Geography has received a valu- 

 able contribution in a recent work by the Hon. 

 George P. Marsh, entitled "Man and-Nature; 

 or Physical Geography as modified by Human 

 Action," published by Charles Scribner, N. Y. 



The mortality among men eminent for their 

 contributions to geographical science during 

 the year 1863 has been very large. We men- 

 tion the names of the following, of most of 

 whom biographical notices will be found else- 

 where in this volume. Among our own coun- 

 trymen, Edward Robinson, D.D., LL.D., dis- 

 tinguished for his researches in Biblical geog- 

 raphy; Major Howard Stansbury, the explorer 

 of the Great Salt Lake of Utah ; Major-General 

 Amiel W. Whipple, one of the officers on the 

 Pacific Railroad exploration ; Colonel John J. 

 Abert, for many years chief of the corps of 

 Topographical Engineers ; and Rear Admiral 

 Andrew H. Foote, whose explorations on the 

 African coast were of great interest. Of foreign 

 geographers, there were Edme Jomard (Jo- 

 mard rfnstituf), of Paris; Dr. Carl Vogel, 

 father of the traveller Vogel, and author of 

 numerous geographical works and maps; 

 Simon Fraser, the discoverer of Fraser river in 

 British Columbia; Dr. George Robinson, an 

 English Oriental traveller ; Capt. Philippe de 

 Kerhallet, the French hydrographer ; Mallat 

 de Bassilan, an explorer in Malaysia and 

 author of a "Description des Philippines;" 

 Moritz von Beurman, a German explorer in 

 Africa, murdered by the Sultan of Waday ; Dr. 

 Henry Steudner, one of Madame Tinne's suite, 

 who died on the Upper Nile ; Richard Thorn- 

 ton, the geologist of Livingston's expedition ; 

 Rear Admiral Jehenne, a French naval officer. 

 wh\> had explored the coasts of Eastern Africa 

 with great assiduity ; and perhaps also Consul 

 Petheri'ck, of Khartum. 



