GEOGRAPHICAL EXPLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES IN 1871. 



343 



lasso, though they also eat at their feasts the 

 flesh of their horses, of which they possess 

 considerable numbers. They have no written 

 language, and of course no literature, but their 

 memories are wonderful, and there is a mass 

 of interesting tradition which could be gath- 

 ered up by any one who had won their confi- 

 dence. They do not worship idols, though 

 they salute the new moon, and have some 

 belief in tutelary spirits of caves, forests, lakes, 

 and valleys, somewhat akin to the Dryads and 

 Naiads of the old Greek mythology, from 

 whom they ask blessings. Setebos, so long be- 

 lieved to be the name of their principal divin- 

 ity, is, Lieutenant Musters says, only the name 

 of a tutelary spirit of the caverns. They be- 

 lieve in a Good Spirit, but their active worship 

 consists in propitiating the Evil Spirit, which 

 they call Gualichu, and to which they sacrifice 

 mares. They make no representation, either 

 in the way of idol or picture, of either the 

 good or evil spirit. The clothing of both sexes 

 consists of dressed guanaco-skins, ornamented 

 in various patterns for outer garments, while, 

 for under-clothing, they wear cotton or Jinen 

 ehiripas, and boots of horse-skin with the hair 

 on. They formerly wore coats-of-mail of cow- 

 hide with metal bosses, but, since they became 

 acquainted with the use of fire-arms, they have 

 thrown them aside. Lieutenant Musters rep- 

 resents them as an affectionate and generally 

 good-tempered race, though liable to sudden 

 fits of passion. 



V. EUROPE. Aside from the nautical sur- 

 veys already alluded to, and the trigonometrical 

 surveys which have been in progress for many 

 years past in most of the countries of Europe, 

 there has been but little of special geograph- 

 ical interest to record. The war between 

 France and Germany, and the civil war be- 

 tween the French Provisional Government 

 and the Commune in Paris, with sympathetic 

 outbreaks in other cities, and the necessity on 

 the part of the German Government for keep- 

 ing a large army of occupation in France, pre- 

 vented, during the first half of the year, the 

 prosecution of scientific researches in either 

 study ; and, though the French Societe de Geo- 

 grdphie has maintained its meetings during the 

 last half of the year, they have not been fruit- 

 ful in great results. The Mont Cenis Tunnel 

 through the Alps, connecting Bardonneche and 

 Fourneaux, a distance of 7| miles, which had 

 been fourteen years in progress, was completed 

 and formally opened, a train passing through 

 it in twenty minutes, on the 17th of Septem- 

 ber, 1871. The cost of the tunnel was about 

 $13,000,000. At the highest point it is 4,377 

 feet above the sea, and 3,480 below the crest 

 of the mountain overhead. 



Archaeology is near akin to geography, and 

 often contributes essentially to our knowledge 

 t)f ancient geographical sites and facts; it is, 

 therefore, pertinent to our subject to say that, 

 since the addition of the States of the Church 

 and the city of Rome to the Italian kingdom 



in September, 1870, archaeological explora- 

 tions in regard to ancient sites and buildings 

 in Rome and Ostia have received a new im- 

 pulse, and that the Italian Government is pros- 

 ecuting them liberally and systematically, and 

 with very gratifying results. Separate explo- 

 rations are also being pushed by the British 

 Archaeological Institute, and it has been deter- 

 mined to dredge very thoroughly, and to as 

 great a depth as may be necessary, the bed of 

 the Tiber, whose yellow sands are known to 

 conceal great quantities of valuables in the 

 way of statues, bronzes, and even precious 

 gems, and gold and silver. And, in connection 

 with these explorations, we may with pro- 

 priety notice a work, recently published in Eng- 

 land and republished here, " Walks in Rome," 

 by Augustus J. 0. Hare, a work which is not 

 only exhaustive in regard to the geography, 

 but the history, incidents, and legends of Rome, 

 and the best and only complete guide to all its 

 places of interest and attraction. This is high 

 praise, but it is deserved, and is corroborated 

 by all who have had occasion to use the work. 

 The new edition, greatly enlarged, of Sir John 

 Lubbock's " Pre-Historic Times," is also a most 

 valuable addition, both to European archaeol- 

 ogy and its ancient geography, and shows his 

 unwearied diligence in collecting facts. 



VI. ASIA. On this vast continent the work 

 of geographical exploration and discovery goes 

 on unceasingly. The Russians on the north 

 and in Central Asia, the British explorers on 

 the south and approximating to their north- 

 ern neighbors in the central districts, the 

 French on the east, the Americans and Dutch 

 on the southeast, and English, French, Ger- 

 mans, and Americans on the west, are each 

 emulating the other in zeal, and each striving 

 to win new laurels in geographic discovery. 

 Beginning with the west, as nearest to the 

 European boundary, we have to record : The 

 island of Cyprus has been very thoroughly ex- 

 plored by our enterprising and accomplished 

 consul, General di Cesnola ; many of its an- 

 cient sites, long lost, have been rediscovered ; 

 and images, idols, and antiquities, ofPhcenician, 

 Greek, and Roman origin exhumed. General 

 di Cesnola's antiquarian collection is one of 

 great extent and beauty, and should be secured 

 for some of our new museums of art. The 

 Palestine Exploration Fund Committee has 

 been reenforced by an American committee, 

 who have raised a considerable amount, and 

 have sent some valuable assistance in the way 

 *of explorers. Their labors in various direc- 

 tions during the year have been constant, and 

 they have accomplished much in the way of 

 discovery. Among the most interesting of 

 these discoveries are those of Mr. E. H. Palmer, 

 in ancient Moab, the Negeb, or " south coun- 

 try " of the Bible, the Tih Desert, and the 

 peninsula of Sinai, which he has embodied in 

 a valuable work on " The Desert of the Exo- 

 dus," published in the beginning of 1872; the 

 finding of three other inscribed stones in the 



