356 



GEOGRAPHICAL EXPLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES IN 1867. 



given to the French Societe de Geographie a 

 very full account of its climate, surface, pro- 

 ductions, and commerce. It is one of the least 

 known of the Spanish provinces, and the account 

 of it which he presents is very interesting. 



In Hungary, and the Austrian provinces ad- 

 jacent, a census was taken in 1867, which gives 

 the inhabitants by nationalities. .From this 

 census it appears that the Magyars, or true 

 Hungarians, are only found in Hungary, Sieben- 

 burg, and the Military Districts (except less 

 than 5,000 in Slavonia), and that the popula- 

 tion of these states or provinces and that of 

 Fiume and the Adriatic Littoral was 12,248,042 ; 

 of whom 6,150,259 were Hungarians, 2,247,263 

 Roumanians, 1,505,368 Slovaks, 1,202,211 Ger- 

 man, 455,047 Servians, 391,458 Rut.henians, 

 170,100 Croatians, 56,926 Shokats, 44,707 

 Wends, 12,048 Bulgarians, 9,472 Italians, and 

 3,183 Greeks. In Hungary proper there were 

 5,466,239 Magyars, out of a total population 

 of 9,975,973. 



The exploration of the mouth of the Danube, 

 in Roumania, by M. Ernest Desjardins, a French 

 engineer and geographer, during the past year, 

 has resulted in the opening to navigation, free 

 from obstructions, of the mouth of Ivilia, hith- 

 erto so nearly closed as to be almost impass- 

 able. This was effected, like that of the Rhine, 

 by the same engineer, by the ancient plan of 

 canalization, by which the main current of the 

 river was made to clear its own way. This 

 enterprise insures a brilliant future for the com- 

 merce of Roumania. 



The question of nationalities in European 

 Turkey has assumed a new significance from 

 the recent attitude of Russia toward the Ot- 

 toman empire. It has long been said that the 

 Osmanli race only pitched their tents in their 

 European possessions, and it seems from recent 

 investigations that they are but a very small 

 fraction of the inhabitants of European Turkey. 

 Three very eminent ethnographers, M. Lejean, 

 the Baron de Reden, and Ilerr Ficker, have 

 estimated the numbers of the population of 

 each nationality in the country, a'nd their esti- 

 mates differ so little that a mean of the three 

 would probably be very near the actual truth. 

 These estimates are as follows : 



Lejean's : Servians, 1,666,000 ; Bulgarians, 

 4,200,000; Bosnians, 1,300,000; Roumanians, 

 4,202,000 ; Albanians, 1,309,000 ; Greeks, 990,- 

 000; Armenians, 400,100; Tsiganes, 390,000; 

 Nogai's Tartars, 33,000 ; Germans, 1,200 ; Mag- 

 yars, 44,000. 



Baron Reden: The Slaves are 7,700,000, 

 consisting of Bulgarians, 4,500,000 ; Servians, 

 1,500,000; Bosnians, 1,450,000; other Slaves, 

 250,000; Roumanians, 4,300,000; Albanians, 

 1,600,000 ; Osmanlis, 1,055,000 ; Greeks, 1,050,- 

 000; Armenians, 150,000; Jews, 125,000; 

 Tsiganes, 80,000; Nogai's Tartars, 25,000. 



Ficker : Bulgarians, 4,500,000 ; Servians, 

 1,600,000; -Servians of Croat race, 100,000; 

 Slaves of Russian and Polish race, 100,000 ; 

 Roumanians, 4,400,000; Albanians, 1,300,000 ; 



Osmanlis, 1,500,000; Greeks, 1,000,000; Ar- 

 menians, 400,000; Jews, 200,000; Tsiganes, 

 500,000; Nogai's Tartars. 40,000; Germans. 

 10,000 ; Magyars, 50,000. 



The Slavonic races, then, the kindred by 

 blood and race of the Russians and Roumani- 

 ans, are, so far as numbers go, the people of 

 Turkey, and, in the general movement for gov- 

 ernment by nationalities, it may reasonably be 

 expected that ere long they will come under 

 Russian sway. 



On the 6th, 7th, and 8th of March, 1867, the 

 whole Grecian Archipelago and considerable 

 portions of the mainland, extending as far as 

 to Constantinople, were shaken by earthquakes. 

 The island of Mitylene, in the Archipelago, 

 containing a population of about fifty thousand 

 souls, was the central point of the disturbance, 

 and suffered very severely. From eight hun- 

 dred to one thousand lives were lost in the 

 capital of the island, and about as many per- 

 sons were maimed more or less severely. Tho 

 little port (Meteli) is in ruins; a considerable 

 number of the houses were swallowed up, and 

 the remainder, though mostly of solid stone, 

 reeled and fell together like houses of cards. 

 The. castle, the cathedral, the Governor's kiosk, 

 the mosques and the consular residences, all 

 shared in the ruin. The sea heaved and boiled 

 into and out of the ports, and has, it is said, 

 taken possession of what was formerly one of 

 the principal business streets of the town. 



Entering ASIA by way of Asia Minor, we 

 find an abundance of interesting facts gleaned 

 by the numerous explorers in all parts of that 

 continent, but none of such profound interest 

 as those which, in some former years, have 

 drawn attention to the Asiatic explorers almost 

 exclusively. MM. Mauss and Sauvaire, two 

 French geographers, made in 1866 an expedi- 

 tion in Southern Syria from Kerak (the ancient 

 Kiriath or Kirjath-Moab) to Shobak, a point 

 in the mountains to the east of the Gulf of 

 Akabah, as a complement to the Due de Lignes's 

 Dead Sea Expedition. Their expedition re- 

 sulted in more important discoveries for the 

 arclueologists than for geography. They found 

 numerous ruins of towers, temples, and tombs 

 of the periods before Christ, traces of Roman 

 buildings, ruins of churches and of mosques, 

 and towns of the Mohammedan era. 



"W. H. Colvill, Esq., a surgeon connected 

 with the British consulate at Bushire, made a 

 land journey with a number of attendants from 

 Bushire to the port of Lingah, along the east- 

 ern or Persian side of the Persian Gulf. Tho 

 country has seldom been visited by European?, 

 and is in part governed by Persian Khans, and 

 in part by Arab Sheikhs. The inhabitants he 

 describes as industrious, and for the most part 

 prosperous. The Sheikh of IJamerun, the 

 country lying nearest to. the mouth of the gulf, 

 manufactures and exports gunpowder through 

 the port of Lingah. 



The northern frontiers of India, and the 

 course of the Himalaya range of mountains, 



