340 



GEOGRAPHICAL EXPLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES IN 1872. 



20 south, in the province of Minas Geraes, 

 near the source of one of the smaller affluents 

 of the San Francisco River. In conjunction 

 with the Bolivian Government, the Brazilian 

 Emperor has taken measures to overcome the 

 difficulties which have hitherto prevented the 

 navigation of the upper waters of the Madeira 

 River. This noble stream, one of the largest 

 tributaries of the Amazons, has its sources and 

 a long stretch of navigable waters in the in- 

 terior of Bolivia ; but free navigation with the 

 Atlantic is prevented by a series of rapids and 

 cataracts nearly 230 miles in length, midway 

 in its course. These obstructions will be 

 obviated by a railway connecting the lower 

 course of the river with the navigable waters 

 above the rapids. The contract for the build- 

 ing of this railway has been taken by Colonel 

 G. E. Church, an English engineer, who is con- 

 structing it as rapidly as possible. It is said 

 that its completion will bring two millions of 

 people, now separated from Europe and the 

 United States by the long passage ma the An- 

 des, and Cape Horn, or the Panama Railroad, 

 within easy and speedy communication with 

 both countries, greatly to the advantage of 

 commerce. 



The Argentine Republic, under the able ad- 

 ministration of President Sarmiento, is making 

 rapid progress in material and intellectual de- 

 velopment. Its population in 1872 was about 

 2,100,000. Its imports in 1870, $50,290,000, 

 and its exports, $28,980,000. At the end of 

 1872, there were 1,188 miles of railway com- 

 pleted, and grants for 1,200 miles more to be 

 completed by 1877, under a state guarantee 

 of 7 per cent. At the same date there were 

 3,200 miles of telegraph-lines in operation, and 

 1,450 more in course of construction. The 

 public schools were increasing in number and 

 in efficiency. 



In Paraguay, the details of the treaty of 

 peace with the allied powers not having been 

 confirmed, the Argentine Confederation, one 

 of these powers, has seized and occupied the 

 province of Gran Chaco, lying along the west 

 bank of the Paraguay River, and it will hence- 

 forth form a part of the Confederation. 



In Chili a new volcano has become active 

 in Araucania, between the volcanoes of Villa- 

 rica and Llaima. Dr. Peter Moller, a Chilian 

 physicist, gives its name as Lhagnell. The half- 

 crazy Frenchman, who has for some years 

 claimed to be the Emperor of Araucania, with 

 the title of Orelie I., was in July, 1872, reported 

 as being in France (where just now both kings 

 and emperors are at a discount), endeavoring 

 to obtain the recognition of his claims. 



In Bolivia, notwithstanding some political 

 disorders, the opening of the country to com- 

 merce by the new railway around the rapids 

 and cataracts of the Madeira River will un- 

 doubtedly greatly facilitate the development 

 of the country. The export of the gum caou- 

 tchouc, or India-rubber, from the valley of the 

 Amazons, is stated to have been 5,760 tons, 



and Colonel Church predicts that it will be 

 doubled when the vast groves of rubber-trees 

 in Northern Bolivia become accessible. 



In Peru, the Peruvian Hydrographic Com- 

 mission of the Amazons have ascertained with 

 great accuracy the latitude and longitude, and 

 in most cases the altitude, of about sixty point 

 on the upper Amazons. We have room fo 

 but a few of the most important : Iqi 

 tos: on the Amazons, lat. 3 44' 15" S.; lorn 

 73 07' 34" W. from Greenwich. Mouth of\ 

 Ucayali River : lat. 4 30' 00" S. ; long. 73 

 00" W. from Greenwich. Mouth of the Rii 

 Tamlo : lat. 10 41' 00" S. ; long. 73 14' C 

 W. of Greenwich. Moyolamba: lat. 6 02' 1( 

 S. ; long. 76 54' 20" W. of Greenwich. Eleva- 

 tion above sea-level, 3,044.5 feet. Lamud : 1; 

 6 05' 38" S. ; long. 77 51' 06" W. of Green- 

 wich. Height above sea-level, 7,529.6 feet. 



In Ecuador, recent measurements of the 

 highest of well-known peaks in the Ecuadori- 

 an Andes confirm the belief that from soi 

 cause the height of these mountains is dimin- 

 ishing. Quito was found by La Condamine ii 

 1745 to be 9,596 feet above the sea; by Hum- 

 boldt in 1803, 9,570 ft. ; by Boussingault in 

 1831, 9,567 ft.; by Orton in 1867, 9,520 ft., 

 and by Reiss and Stiibel in 1871 (after the 

 great earthquake), only 9,356 ft. Panecillo, ac- 

 cording to Humboldt, was 10,244 ft. ; accord- 

 ing to Orton, 10,101 ; according to Reiss anc 

 Sttibel, 10,006. Pichincha, according to Hur 

 boldt, was 15,922 ft. high ; according to Orton, 

 15,827, and according to Reiss and Sttibel, only 

 15,704. The crater of Pichincha, according to 

 Wisse and Moreno, was 13,600 ft. above the sea- 

 level ; according to Orton, 13,300 ; according 

 to Reiss and Stiibel, 13,175 ft. The crater 

 Antisana has sunk 165 feet in 64 years. The 

 uniformity of these diminished altitudes in all 

 the best-known summits forbids the idea thj 

 they can be due. to any inaccuracy of measui 

 ment either in the earlier or later observers. 

 Reiss and Sttibel give the height of the thi 

 peaks of Cotacachi as : N. W. peak, 16,291 ft. ; 

 S. E. peak, 16,272 ft. ; N. peak, 15.842 ft. 

 Late in 1872, Dr. Reiss ascended Cotopaxi, 

 and ascertained that its height was 19,827 feet. 



Father Wolf, a geologist of Ecuador, has 

 been reporting to the Government on the fos- 

 sils of the Manobi coast, in the neighborhood 

 of the Rio Bamba. The oldest of the volcanic 

 beds is entirely covered with bones of various 

 mammifers. Here are found the bones of nu- 

 merous mastodons; of a fossil horse which 

 seems to have existed in great numbers in 

 antediluvian times ; of bears, etc., etc. 



IV. EUROPE. Though the starting-point of 

 numerous geographical expeditions, and ac- 

 tively engaged through its numerous geographi- 

 cal societies, and government exploring expe- 

 ditions, the geography of Europe itself seems 

 to have been somewhat neglected the p:r.l 

 year. The Admiralty surveys have been main- 

 tained, topographical and geodetic explora- 

 tions and measurements ordered ; a consider- 



