GEOGRAPHICAL EXPLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES IN 1873. 



317 



Christianity, with traces of the Jewish law, 

 all strangefy blended. The report of the Pal- 

 estine Exploration Society also contains fac- 

 similes of the casts or " squeezes " from the 

 famous " Harnath inscriptions," which are sup- 

 posed to relate to the exploits of two Hamath 

 kings who flourished about 800 years B. c. 



The Russian campaign of the summer of 

 1873, which culminated in the capture of Khiva, 

 has produced and will continue to produce 

 important geographical and political results. 



Among the most important of recent geo- 

 graphical explorations is that of Mr. Jacob 

 Halevy, in the southern part of the Arabian 

 Peninsula, through the interior of Yemen, a 

 country little known, and where traveling is 

 perilous. His journey extended from Hode- 

 geda, on the Red Sea, in a northerly direction 

 through the Wadi Flabouna, 18 55' north lati- 

 tude. The first civilization in Arabia was de- 

 veloped in Yemen, and was the work of a people 

 who were not nomadic, but who were attached 

 to the soil, and who believed in a plurality of 

 gods. It was to study the monuments, ruins, 

 and inscriptions of the ancient Sabean civili- 

 zation that this perilous journey was under- 

 taken, which involved an examination of the 

 geographical features of the country, the ruins 

 of ancient cities and of interesting monuments, 

 from which Mr. Halevy brought back 686 in- 

 scriptions. On several occasions he owed his 

 safety to being an Israelite, to whom he found 

 tin; inhabitants comparatively tolerant, espe- 

 cially in Djaonf, east of Cana. In this part 

 of the country he found many Sabean inscrip- 

 tions, and 'saw the source of the river Kharid, 

 which runs toward the interior of Arabia and 

 disappears, after fertilizing the numerous oases 

 of the Djaouf. This seems to be the river 

 alluded to by Strabo as having been crossed 

 by the Romans under ^Elius Gallus, before 

 entering the country of the Sabeans. Innu- 

 merable ruins in a crumbling condition cover 

 the soil on the banks of the Kharid and its 

 affluent, the Medheb. 



Mr. Ney Elias, an English geographer, with 

 but a single Chinese servant, made an im- 

 portant and diflirult journey from Peking 

 through Chinese Tnrtary and across the desert 

 of Gobi to St. Petersburg, determining posi- 

 tions by astronomical observations at certain 

 points on the route. The geography of the 

 region can now be correctly laid down. One 

 of his chief objects was to search for the ruins 

 of the ancient capital of Genghis Khan, Kara- 

 kornm, but they could not be found in the 

 vicinity where the city was said to be by Du 

 Ilnlde and Ydle. In the thirteenth century 

 it was a vast camp of the great Khnn, and 

 the traveler Riibruqnis found there goldsmiths 

 from Paris, and traders from other parts of 

 Europe. Mr. Elias has also given in the 

 "Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Po- 

 . ." vol. xviii., No. I., for January 16, 

 1^74, a very interesting resume of Captain 

 Prshewalsky's explorations in Mongoia and 



Northern Tibet from 1870 to 1873. Cap- 

 tain Prshewalsky is a well-known Russian of- 

 ficer and geographer, and the region over 

 which he passed, traversing part of it several 

 times, coincides in part with that of the AbbiS 

 Hue, but has not been visited by any other 

 European traveler except in some small por- 

 tions. His narrative will throw much light 

 on the country and condition of the Tibetans. 

 Dr. Martin, the physician of the French lega- 

 tion of Peking, has written a paper upon the 

 population, geographical position, and climate 

 of Peking. His conclusion respecting the 

 population is that it has been greater than it 

 is now, that it has decreased during the pres- 

 ent dynasty, that it has never been as great 

 as has been supposed in Europe, and that it 

 now consists of between 800,000 and 900,000 

 Chinese, 85,000 Mohammedans, and about 200 

 Europeans. 



Rev. Francis Mason, D. D., an American mis- 

 sionary in Burmah, and well known as an em- 

 inent naturalist, explored in November and 

 December, 1873, Bhamo and the region around 

 it, in Upper Burmah, and gave in the Mission- 

 ary Magazine for April, 1874, a very full de- 

 scription of the scenery, climate, people, and 

 geography of' that region. Bhamo is in N. 

 lat. 24 6', E. long, (from Greenwich) 96 84'. 

 It is a place of great enterprise and trade, 

 being situated at a navigable point on the east 

 bank of the Irrawaddy, and is surrounded by 

 mountains peopled by tribes of Shans, mostly 

 independent, and Ka Khyens, a branch of the 

 great Karen family. The mountains rise to 

 a height of from 6,000 to 10,000 feet above the 

 sea near the city, and render its climate very 

 mild and pleasant. Dr. Mason died at Ran- 

 goon, on his return from Bhamo, March 3, 

 1874. Mr. Vincent's "Land of the White 

 Elephant," published February, 1874, is a con- 

 tribution of great value to the geography, 

 natural history, and life in Burmah and Siam. 



Dr. Schliemann, a German archseologist, a 

 man of large wealth, and self-educated, has 

 been for nearly two years engaged in explor- 

 ing and excavating on the snpposed site of 

 ancient Troy. After long and difficult labor 

 he succeeded in laying bare what he believes 

 on very good grounds to be Priam's house, 

 and in exhuming a box of treasure of un- 

 doubtedly remote antiquity, containing an im- 

 mense gold goblet, jewels, precious stones, bat- 

 tle-axes, shields, ornaments, and arms of of- 

 fense, but was robbed of this by the Greeks. His 

 discoveries threw much light on the "Hind," 

 and especially suggest a new reading of the term 

 " Glaukopis Athene," which he in the light of 

 the thousands of terra-cotta images of Minerva, 

 with prominent breasts and the face of an 

 owlet, renders the "Owl-faced Minerva." The 

 representation of the owl by the side of the 

 armed goddess, was, he says, centuries later. 



Mr. J. T. Wood, whose labors in exploring 

 the site of the Ephesian Temple of Diana we 

 have noticed in previous volumes, has at last 



