GEOGRAPHICAL PROGRESS AND DISCOVERY. 



313 



of the Uvea or Wallis Islands was placed under 

 French protection. The territory amounts to 

 only about ninety-six square kilometres with 

 about 3,500 inhabitants; but it is of some 

 political value to France, tending to strengthen 

 French influence in the Pacific and forming a 

 link between the French colonies of New Cale- 

 donia and Tahiti. 



Mons. A. Marche, after two months of ex- 

 ploration in Saipan, one of the Ladrones or 

 Mariana Islands, says the maps are very incor- 

 rect. It has been supposed that a volcano, 

 either active or extinct, was situated on the 

 island, but he found none and no trace of vol- 

 canic action. Tapachao, the highest peak, he 

 found to be only 1,345 instead of 2,000 feet 

 high. Other hills were not over 600 or 700 

 feet. The northern part terminates in a mount- 

 ain looking like the cliffs at Dieppe, and form- 

 ing a long, narrow plateau. 



Europe. According to a report of the forest 

 department of Russia, the work of draining the 

 swamps in that country has been very success- 

 ful. During the years 1883 and 1884, 1,530 

 square kilometres were drained and opened 

 for cultivation between the Dnieper, Pripet, 

 and Beresina, and about 1,100 between the 

 Pripet, Slutch, the lakes Schid, and Domano- 

 witch, and the basin of the Ossipovka. Dur- 

 ing a space of about ten years after the begin- 

 ning of the work, 2,025 kilometres of canal 

 were made, and 16,600 square kilometres of 

 land drained. The expense was 1,875,000 

 roubles. In the government of Riazan 420 

 kilometres of canals were constructed; in the 

 government of Moscow the canalization of 

 the Dubna was finished; and in the northern 

 governments the work of leveling and exam- 

 ining the land was carried on. 



The Government of Roumania has ordered 

 a triangulation of the country, a work which 

 will fill a gap in the cartography of Europe. 

 All the maps of Roumania are based on the ob- 

 servations of the Austrian troops in the year 

 1855. 



Travelers and students are turning their at- 

 tention of late to the Caucasus, which offers a 

 field for research readily accessible to Euro- 

 peans. Messrs. Dent and Donkin have re- 

 cently published a report of a tour made last 

 year in the group of the Kasch-tan-tau. They 

 did not succeed in ascending that mountain, 

 because they could not persuade the natives 

 with them to wait for favorable weather or 

 bring fresh supplies to the foot of the Besingi 

 glacier. But they climbed the Tetnuld-tau un- 

 der great difficulties, ascertaining its height by 

 aneroid measurement to be about 5,040 metres, 

 or 16,550 feet. Notwithstanding the unfavor- 

 able weather, they were able to learn some- 

 thing of the orography of the central Cauca- 

 sus ; they found that the Tetnuld and Totonal 

 are not identical, but neighboring peaks of 

 about equal height. 



The Tetnuld was again ascended in August of 

 this year by M. Dechy and Mr. D. Freshfield. 



The ascent cost thirteen hours walking from a 

 bivouac of 9,000 feet. The views were clear 

 and glorious. Mr. Freshfield describes Tetnuld 

 as the only one of the great peaks standing out 

 on a short southern spur from the Caucasian 

 water-shed, and therefore most favorable for 

 views. A single observation gave the height as 

 16,700 feet. Four higher summits, 16,900 to 17,- 

 200 feet in height, were close at hand. Of the 

 view from Mount Schoda, 11,128 feet in height, 

 he says : " The glacier and forest scenery is in 

 many parts superb. It would be difficult to 

 imagine a more sublime and fantastic landscape 

 than that of Ushkul, the highest community in 

 Suanetia, when behind its fifty towers and two 

 black castles the frozen ridge of Schkara rises 

 10,000 feet overhead against an unclouded sky. 

 From the valley of the Scena, or western source 

 of the Zenes Skali, the five crests of the same 

 great mountain recall one of the noblest views 

 in the Alps, Monte Rosa from Val Anzasca, 

 and they are seen over virgin forests and fields 

 and flowers which are high enough to conceal 

 a laden horse." 



The travelers say there is no danger or diffi- 

 culty to encounter in travel in the Caucasus 

 district they visited, the one most interesting 

 to mountaineers, except the delay, as in all 

 countries where time is no object. The com- 

 pletion of a railway to Novorossisk, which as 

 a port accessible at all seasons is expected to 

 supersede Taganrog, will open a new route 

 next year to the Caucasus. 



Prof. A. Penck describes a journey to the 

 Boehmer "Wald with two others for the study, 

 of the traces of glaciers. He believes that the 

 walls between the lakes are real moraines, as 

 indicated by the glacier cliffs on the Devil's 

 Lake ; but outside of the lake region he finds 

 no trace of glacial phenomena. 



An examination of the subterranean water- 

 courses in the Karst district of Austria by W. 

 Putik has led to the discovery of several caves 

 of considerable size, among which the Count 

 Falkenhayn Cave is the largest. The practi- 

 cal result expected from this examination is 

 the prevention of overflows by removal of the 

 masses of debris hindering the regular drain- 

 age ; so that in a few years great tracts, now 

 swampy, will be ready for cultivation. 



The following are the soundings obtained 

 in the Swiss lakes by a recent survey of the 

 Topographical Department : The Bodensee, 

 greatest depth between Uttwil and Friedrichs- 

 hafen, 838 feet ; Lake Geneva, upper part, 

 between Revaz, St. Gingolph, and Villeneuve, 

 842 feet; in the center, between Ouchy and 

 Evian, 1,017 feet ; Lake Lucerne, between 

 Gersan and Rutenen, 700 feet ; Lake Zug, be- 

 tween Walchwill and Immensee, 650 feet ; 

 Lake Sempach, between Eich and Nottwell, 

 286 feet; Lake Baldegg, between Rettschwil 

 and Golpi, 216 feet. 



M. Schrader, who has devoted ten years to 

 the study of the orography of the Pyrenees, 

 gives a report of his researches to the French 



