GEOGRAPHY 



of Canada, where, in the neighbourhood of Coronation Gulf, they discovered Eskimo 

 tribes of a peculiarly light colour, with instances of blue eyes and red hair. Their physi- 

 cal characteristics and certain of their customs are identified by the explorer with those 

 of the early Norsemen, and they are held to be descendants of emigrants from Scandi- 

 navia to Greenland (see E. B. xii, p. 547). 



The Danish explorer Mikkelsen, who with a companion had been left in north-east 

 Greenland in 1910 when the rest of his party were brought back to Denmark, had been 

 given up for lost when in July 1912 both were rescued by a Norwegian fishing vessel. 

 They had recovered records of the lost explorer Mylius-Erichsen (see E. B. xxi, p. 953) 

 dealing with his important work in the north of the island. 



Spitsbergen has attracted considerable scientific attention. A Norwegian expedi- 

 tion under G. Isaachsen in June-September 1910, in addition to oceanographical ob- 

 servations between Bear Island and Spitsbergen, carried out a number of journeys into 

 the interior of West Spitsbergen and neighbouring islands, the expedition being divided 

 into five parties. Valuable geological investigations were made. Other expeditions 

 have been numerous. The discovery of coal in the district of Advent Bay and the 

 attempts made to exploit it have drawn special attention to this locality. Three Rus- 

 sian expeditions were at work in 1911 in Novaya Zemlya. Important geographical, 

 botanical and zoological observations were made, and discoveries of some economic 

 interest were those of naphtha and copper. Russian explorers have also been active in 

 Siberia. The expedition of M. A. K. Volossovich between the Kolyma and the Lena 

 and of M. T. A. Yolamchef east of the Kolyma in 1909 (which incidentally revealed 

 considerable errors in existing maps) proved the possibility of a sea-route for trade be- 

 tween the Kolyma and Bering Strait ; this route was successfully exploited in 1911 from 

 Vladivostok, and is considered to be capable of commercial development. 



Asia. 1 Among recent journeys in Central Asia may be mentioned that of Mr. D. 

 Carruthers, whose party, in nineteen months' work (1910-11), covered much ground in 

 the upper Yenisei region, Mongolia and Dzungaria. In the same years the French trav- 

 eller Dr. Legendre carried out important exploration in Western China, especially in 

 the valley of the Yalung between 28 and 30 N. In India, Sir M. A. Stein has investi- 

 gated (1911-12) numerous sites of archaeological interest in the course of an exploratory 

 journey on the North-West Frontier. The punitive expedition (1912) against the 

 Abors in the north-east added considerably to topographical knowledge in spite of ex- 

 treme difficulties of transport, heavy forests, and misty and wet weather. One party 

 explored the river Dihong as far as Shimong for the first time, and carried mapping above 

 that point; another surveyed the Padam Abor country; others, again, broke new ground 

 in the Galong Abor country and in the valley of the Subansiri. Considerable correc- 

 tions were found necessary in existing maps. Major P. M. Sykes has continued his 

 journeys in Persia, and in particular has studied the problems connected with the ancient 

 territory of Parthia. Dr. A. Musil in 1910 made further explorations in northern 

 Arabia, in the region adjacent to the Hejaz railway. He claimed to have accurately 

 identified for the first time the Mt. Sinai of the Bible. 



New Guinea.' 2 The great island of New Guinea offers some of the most extensive 

 areas still unexplored in the world, and here the Dutch have been particularly active. 

 The Mambaro river in the west, which had been visited by Capt. Herderschee in 1909, 

 was ascended in 1910 by Dr. Moszkowski. He at first met with a mishap in the rapids 

 of the river at the Vanrees Range, but subsequently reached the foot of the central 

 Snowy Range, and estimated that its northernmost chain reaches an extreme height of 

 10,000 feet. The rapids again proved treacherous on his return, and he lost most of his 

 collections in descending them. In the same year the German and Dutch expeditions 

 for the delimitation of the German-Dutch frontier covered much new ground. The 

 Dutch Colonial Budget of 1911 contained an appropriation of 20,000 florins in aid of a 

 new expedition to the Snowy Range, and in that year Capt. Schaeffer penetrated the 

 heart of the central mountains by way of Island river from the south, but was unable 



1 See E. B. ii, 738 et seq. 2 See E. B. xix, 488. 



