GEOGRAPHICAL PROGRESS AND DISCOVERY. 



349 



while during summer the considerable amount 

 of alluvium that the southwestern monsoons 

 carry from the Indian Ocean almost converts 

 North Thibet into one continuous marsh. The 

 country has no want of mammals and fishes, 

 but few birds. The flora is poor. On the 

 shores of both rivers live the Tanguts, against 

 whose attacks the explorers had twice to de- 

 fend themselves. It is to be deplored that Col. 

 Przewalsky did not reach the proposed end 

 of his summer's expedition, Tsiamdo, which 

 French and English travelers have reached 

 from the south, but which no European has yet 

 approached from the north. According to the 

 latest news, it was the intention of the distin- 

 guished Russian to move his depot to Gast, in 

 West Zaidam (circa 37 N.), and during the 

 winter make excursions through northern 

 Thibet. 



The assertion of M. Paul Bert that man at an 

 elevation of about 18,000 feet would become 

 incapable of exertion, and that a little higher 

 he would be unable to breathe, has been dis- 

 proved by the energetic mountaineer, Mr. W. 

 W. Graham, whose efforts to climb the steep 

 summits of the Himalayas have been crowned 

 by the ascension of Gubour (21,300 feet) and 

 Kabru (24,015 feet). This bold Englishman 

 holds the view that Mount Everest no longer 

 can be considered the highest summit on 

 earth, but must yield this honor to one of two 

 mountains fifty miles northwest of it. (See 

 MOUNTAIN EXPLORATION.) 



In Central Asia the Russians are exploring 

 region after region. It will be remembered 

 that Capt. Putjata, with the geologist Iwanow 

 and the topographer Bendersky, and a strong 

 escort, started in 1883 from Osch, to explore 

 the Pamirs, where the sources of the Oxus lie. 

 The leaders of the expedition separated after 

 their arrival at Muschi, and went in different 

 directions ; yet the communication between 

 them was kept up as much as possible, and at 

 several places they met, but only to separate 

 again. The results of their work are being 

 published, and seem to be very valuable. The 

 heights of numerous mountains and plateaus 

 have been ascertained, considerable geological 

 and botanical collections made, and Mr. Iwa- 

 now has drawn about one hundred maps. In 

 St. Petersburg a preliminary map of the Pa- 

 mirs has been published, whereby new light is 

 thrown upon these regions, as it in some re- 

 spects is in conflict with the latest English 

 map. In this connection we must mention the 

 botanist, Dr. Regel, who for years has trav- 

 ersed and retraversed this region, and who, 

 after spending the winter in Taschkend, started 

 in February, 1884, on a new excursion. He ar- 

 rived, in June, at Merv, having passed through 

 the Desert of Tschardschui. It was then his 

 intention to travel along the northern bounda- 

 ries of Afghanistan to the Pamirs. Although 

 botany is the doctor's chief study, he is all the 

 time making observations of great value in 

 other fields. This excursion will probably be 



his last, as it is his intention to spend some 

 years in publishing the results of his travels. 



So far, no steps have been taken to realize 

 the Russian project for diverting the Oxus into 

 the Caspian Sea, which, in spite of the water 

 received from the Volga, Ural, and other riv- 

 ers, is rapidly drying up, in consequence of the 

 great evaporation. There is strong evidence 

 that, in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, 

 an arm of the Oxus reached the Caspian Sea ; 

 but the old bed has almost disappeared, and 

 the difficulties of its restoration are so many 

 that the expenditure seems out of all propor- 

 tion to any benefits to be expected. 



Of the greatest importance to the study of 

 Asia's geography are the publication of a " Map 

 of Asiatic Russia," issued by the Russian Gov- 

 ernment, and a " Map of Asiatic Turkey," by 

 the German Professor H. Kiepert ; the former 

 being the outcome of eight years', the latter of 

 not; less than thirty years' work, and both of 

 them giving the results of the latest explora- 

 tions. 



Central America. The following figures will 

 give an idea of the rate at which the canal- 

 works at Panama are proceeding : During 

 January, 1884, 580,000 cubic metres were ex- 

 cavated; in February, 633,657; and in March, 

 615,831. A cubic metre is 1-308 cubic yards. 

 The total quantity of excavation to be done in 

 a length of 46'6 miles is estimated at 100,000,- 

 000 cubic metres, but will probably be far 

 greater. At the end of March, 1884, 4,590,022 

 cubic metres were excavated. It is confidently 

 hoped that the whole work will be finished in 

 1888, if the engineers succeed in overcoming 

 the great difficulty presented by the river Cha- 

 gres, which cuts the line of the canal nearly at 

 right angles. The stream will be arrested by 

 an enormous dike across a valley, and out of 

 the reservoir so constructed the overflow will 

 be led by two artificial channels. Another 

 difficulty appears in the necessity of making a 

 cutting 110 to 120 metres deep, and 500 feet 

 wide at the top. Yet the great mechanical 

 skill of the leaders of the enterprise, and the 

 gigantic power of the machines employed, will 

 undoubtedly overcome these and similar ob- 

 structions. 



North America In 1883, M. Napoleon Co- 

 meau called the attention of the Geographical 

 Society of Quebec to the supposed existence 

 of a great lake between Hudson Bay and Lab- 

 rador, and the society at once procured the 

 money necessary for the equipment of an ex- 

 ploring party, in charge of John Bignell and Mr. 

 A. J. Lowe. The main expedition was, in June, 

 1884, preceded by Mr. F. H. Bignell, of Que- 

 bec, who, accompanied by nineteen men, with 

 great difficulty reached the northern bound- 

 aries of the Province of Quebec, the water- shed 

 between the rivers flowing into Hudson Bay 

 and those flowing into Lake St. John and the 

 St. Lawrence. The elevation, however, is very 

 small, nowhere more than six to eight feet 

 in height, and at times most difficult to trace 



