GEOGRAPHICAL EXPLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES IN 1873. 



309 



lived, he might have reached and entered this 

 circumpolar sea, if one exists; the European 

 expeditions, though making some discoveries 

 on other points, threw no light on tins ques- 

 tion, and did not reach so high a latitude as in 

 former years. 



In African discovery, though we have learned 

 many interesting facts concerning some tribes 

 hitherto unknown or but little known, and a 

 British army has penetrated to Coomassie, yet 

 the question of the ultimate sources of the Nile 

 can hardly be said to be solved. 



At no period of the century has death reaped 

 such a harvest among geographers as in the 

 two years ending with November, 1873. 



Captain C. F. HALL, whose death occurred 

 from apoplexy or heart-disease November 8, 

 1871, was a man whom the cause of geograph- 

 ical research could ill afford to lose. He was 

 not an eminent scientist in any direction ; bred 

 to journalism, he knew little of astronomy, and 

 less probably of the other physical sciences ; he 

 was not a sailor, and had found it necessary to 

 confide the actual command of his vessel to an 

 experienced whaling-captain ; but with all these 

 deficiencies he was full of a grand and noble 

 enthusiasm which enabled him to surmount all 

 obstacles, and to push on in spite of obstruc- 

 tions till he reached a latitude within 7} of 

 the pole. He was, moreover, a keen observer, 

 a c.-ireful and thorough explorer, and his brave 

 heart and strong common-sense compensated 

 in a large degree for his lack of science. 



Of Dr. LIVINGSTONE we have spoken at 

 length elsewhere (tee LIVINGSTONE, DAVID, in 

 this volume). 



But, aside from these, there are many others 

 to whom geographical science owes a debt of 

 gratitude, who have passed away within the 

 year. Vice-Admiral Sir ROBERT J. L. McCniBE, 

 the arctic explorer, died October 17, 1873. 

 He first practically demonstrated the pos- 

 sibility ofthe Northwest passage (McCLrRE, 

 Yii-e-Admiral ROBEBT J., in October Foreign 

 Obituaries, in this volume); JOHU ARROW- 

 SMITH, F. R. G.S., F. R. A. S., the celebrated 

 limp-maker of London, died May 2, 1878, 

 whose maps forhalf a centnry have maintained 

 the highest reputation for accuracy and beauty 

 (tee ARROWSMITH, in May Foreign Obituaries 

 in this volume); Mrs. SOMERVILLE, the author 

 of works on " Physical Geography," " The 

 Connection of the Sciences," etc., died in De- 

 cember, 1872; MATTHEW F. MATRY, LL. D., 

 hydrographer and professor in Washington 

 and Loe University, Lexington, Va., and author 

 of " Physical Geography of the Sea," and of a 

 series of geographical text-books, died Feb- 

 ruary 1, 1873 (tee MATTRY. MATTHEW F., in this 

 volume); Count de Strzelecki, a famous Aus- 

 tralian explorer of thirty or forty years ago, 

 died October 6, 1873 (tee STRZELECTCI, in October 

 Foreign Obituaries in this volume); Captain 

 HKN-RY BLOSSE Lrscn, 0. B., ofthe late Indian 

 navy, died in Paris, April 14, 1873, a brilliant 

 and" daring explorer, whose discoveries in 



Asiatic Turkey, Persia, and India, were of great 

 importance (tee LYNCH, II. B., in April Foreign 

 Obituaries in this volume) ; Rev. Prof. ADAM 

 SEDOWIOK, LL. D., an eminent geologist and 

 geographer in the infancy of geological science 

 (tee SEDOWICK, ADAM, in this volume) ; and 

 General CHARLES RICHARD Fox, son of the 

 third Lord Holland, an extensive traveller and 

 accurate observer, died in April, 1873. His 

 services to the Royal Geographical Society of 

 London were of great importance (see Fox, 

 General CHARLES RICHARD, in April Foreign 

 Obituaries in this volume). The literary con- 

 tributions of the year to geographical science 

 have been somewhat numerous. The principal 

 volumes published in this country, having a 

 direct relation to geography during the year, 

 were the following : 



Report of the Colorado River Expedition to the 

 Smithsonian Institution. 



Lieutenant George M. Wheeler's Second Report 

 to the War Department of Explorations in Arizona 

 and Nevada. 



Report of the Colorado Expedition (Professor F. 

 V. Hayden's) to the Bureau of Geography. 



Report of the Chief Signal-Officer to the War De- 

 partment. By General A. J. Slyer. 



Vol. II., Geological Survey of Ohio. By Prof. J. 

 8. Newberry, State Geologist. 



Report of Geological Survey of Maine. By Prof. 

 C. H. Hitchcock. State Geologist. 



Report of the Yale College Expedition of 1873 to 

 the Rocky Mountain Region. By Prof. O. C. Marsh. 



Topographical Survey of the Adirondack Wilder- 

 ness. By V. Colvin. 



The Land of Moab. By Rev. H. B. Tristram. 



Physical Geography. By Matthew F. Maury, 

 LL. D. 



Physical Geography. By A. Guyot, Ph. D., LL. D. 



Physical Geography (Science Primer). By A. 

 Gcikie. 



A "Deep-Sea Exploring Expedition" left 

 England on board II. M. ship Challenger in 

 December, 1872, for a three years' cruise in 

 all the oceans, to make constant observations 

 on the depth and temperature of the waters, 

 and also collections of marine vegetable and 

 animal products. The scientific corps of nat- 

 nralists who accompany the naval surveyors 

 in this expedition are under the direction 

 of Prof. Wy ville Thomson, F. R. S. Accounts 

 of their progress and discoveries have been 

 forwarded by Prof. Thomson to Nature, a 



Feriodical of which he is one of the editors, 

 t is expected that the expedition will throw- 

 much light on the variations of temperature in 

 different parts of the great oceans, on the pos- 

 sibility ofthe maintenance of the lower forms 

 of animal life at great depths and under enor- 

 mous pressures, and on the countless new forms 

 of life in the ocean-depths. The English Ad- 

 miralty have for many years been engaged in 

 surveys of the coast-lines as well as of the 

 oceans and large seas which at any point wash 

 the coasts of their numerous colonies. The 

 United States Coast Survey has been doing a 

 similar work on its coasts, and has also estab- 

 lished in the interior stations connecting geo- 

 detically with the triangulation of the coasts, 



