400 GEOGRAPHICAL PROGRESS AND DISCOVERY. (SOUTH AMEBICA, AUSTRALASIA.) 



described as capped with snow, lined with ice, 

 thousands of feet high, and presenting a mag- 

 nificent spectacle when in a state of eruption. 

 After examining the Copper and its tributaries, 

 the explorers crossed the Alaskan range, and 

 traveled for 800 miles along the course of the 

 Tannak. Then crossing by a portage to the 

 Kuokuk, they descended that stream 750 miles 

 to the Yukon, which they followed to its mouth, 

 having spent eight months on the journey. 



Small bands of Indians were found scattered 

 about the region visited, who gain a precarious 

 living by fishing. Copper and iron abound; 

 small deposits of gold and silver ore were dis- 

 covered ; a good quality of coal that was found 

 gave indications of being abundant. Several 

 new fossil animals and one new living species, 

 a kind of sheep or goat, were found by Lieut. 

 Allen. His report, with the maps and charts 

 of the region, will be of great value. 



Another party of explorers were taken to 

 Alaska in the spring by the United States rev- 

 enue cutter "Corwin" from San Francisco, 

 and returned in October. The explorers di- 

 vided into two parties when they arrived at 

 Hotham Inlet. One, under the command of 

 Lieut. J. C. Cantwell, went up the Korvak river 

 in a steam-launch as far as the rapids. The re- 

 mainder of the stream had to be ascended in 

 skin boats, and even that was done with diffi- 

 culty. About 100 miles up was a gorge with 

 perpendicular walls, in some places 600 feet 

 high, through which the water rushed with a 

 deafening noise. Beyond the gorge the stream 

 widened again, and, following it up, the ex- 

 plorers found its source to be a large lake sur- 

 rounded by high and steep mountains. Sev- 

 eral smaller lakes were connected with it. A 

 portage was found connecting the Korvak with 

 the Koyoukuk, a branch of the Yukon. 



The other expedition from the *' Corwin " 

 was made by Engineer S. B. McLenegan, who 

 passed up the Nortak, the most northerly of 

 the streams explored, in a skin canoe, attended 

 by one seaman. About 250 miles from the 

 mouth of the river they found it passing 

 through immense gorges or canons 1,000 feet 

 in depth. They penetrated 400 miles into a 

 region not known to have ever been explored 

 before, entirely within the Arctic Circle. 



South America. Mount Roraima, on the bor- 

 der between Guiana and Venezuela, has at 

 length been successfully ascended. Everard 

 Im Thurm reached the summit in December, 

 1884, from the southern side (see "Annual Cy- 

 clopaedia " for 1884, page 539). His report is 

 contained in the August number of the pro- 

 ceedings of the Royal Geographical Society. 

 The ascent is attended with great difficulty. 

 The plateau of the Roraima produces nothing 

 that will serve for food. The summit, 2,600 

 metres in height, is a desolate sandstone waste. 

 With the exception of a few swamps in clefts 

 of the plateau, there is not a trace of plant- 

 life. The masses of water that fall from it 

 form numerous waterfalls, and subterranean 



streams break out here and there from the 

 sides. 



Recent exploration of the head-waters of 

 the Ucayali river in Peru, by the engineer 

 Samanez, promises to result in improved fa- 

 cilities for communication in the region of the 

 upper Amazon, and open a convenient water- 

 way for the export of the ores from the prov- 

 ince of Cuzco. 



According to the truce between Chili and 

 Bolivia of Nov. 29, 1884, the territory of Me- 

 jillones remains in possession of Chili. The 

 boundary extends from the source of the Rio 

 Loa, at the volcano Sua, across the lagoon of 

 Ascotan and the summit of the volcanoes Ca- 

 bana and Licancaur to Sapalequi or Sapalesi. 



The Indians having been driven from the 

 southern pampas of the Argentine Republic 

 southward over the Rio Negro, the region is 

 partly open to settlers, though the neighbor- 

 hood of the Indians makes it not altogether 

 safe for colonists. A thorough investigation 

 of the country was undertaken by the Minister 

 of War Victorica, who sent out three large 

 parties for exploring, surveying, and examin- 

 ing the minerals, plants, and animals of the 

 entire region. 



An examination of the west coast of Pata- 

 gonia, by Capt. Serrano, of the Chilian serv- 

 ice, shows that the Fallos and Picton channel 

 affords a safer route for ships than the more 

 easterly Messier channel between the mainland 

 and the Wellington Islands. Capt. Serrano 

 had previously undertaken an excursion by 

 boat up the river Palena, which passes through 

 the principal range of the Cordilleras and en- 

 ters the sea opposite the southern point of 

 Chiloe Island. After fourteen days' travel, the 

 journey was interrupted at the second mount- 

 ain-chain by rapids, in which one of the boats 

 was lost. He describes the valley of the river 

 as very rich and fertile. 



Australasia. Fears are entertained for the 

 safety of the Australian expedition sent to 

 New Guinea by the Geographical Society of 

 Australia, the scientific part of whose mission 

 was under the care of Dr. Haacke. Violent 

 monsoons made the shallows at the mouth of 

 the Aird so dangerous that the party betook 

 themselves to the Fly river, designing to as- 

 cend its first northern tributary and explore 

 the supposed mountain and table-land of the 

 interior. Cases of the murder of white traders 

 have become more frequent in that region, and 

 hence the anxiety caused by the want of recent 

 intelligence. 



The papers of Prince Roland Bonaparte on 

 the part taken by the Netherlanders in the ex- 

 ploration of New Guinea have been published 

 in a volume, with accompanying maps. These 

 exploring expeditions were no doubt under- 

 taken to forestall any attempt at colonization 

 and annexation by Australia of the regions 

 claimed by the Dutch. 



By the agreement between England and the 

 German Empire, England gives up the eastern 



