314 



GEOGRAPHICAL PROGRESS AND DISCOVERY. 



Association for the Advancement of Science. 

 He says the latest maps are sixty years old, 

 and full of inaccuracies, and no successful 

 corrections have been made since. He made 

 observations with an instrument of his own 

 invention, which he calls an orograph. The 

 mass of the mountains is south of the boundary- 

 line, the water-shed, and they slope gradually 

 into Spain but descend abruptly into France. 

 On the Spanish side the descent is formed by 

 two stages. Starting from the central crests, 

 we find a sort of plateau, a compound rnam- 

 millated surface, twelve to twenty miles wide, 

 of a wild and melancholy aspect, contrasting 

 with the beauty of the great crests. At the 

 limit of this region a new chain rises to a 

 height of 1,000 to 1,600 feet. This long belt 

 of sierra, crossed by narrow river gorges, 

 seems to inclose the mass of the Spanish Pyre- 

 nees in a circle of gigantic walls. 



In old descriptions the general appearance 

 of the range is compared to a fern-leaf or the 

 dorsal ridge of a fish. But M. Schrader says 

 there are many lines of elevation oblique to 

 the main axis of the chain and generally form- 

 ing an acute angle with it. Certain regions 

 for example, that of Mont Perdu present this 

 conformation with almost geometrical regu- 

 larity, while others are less marked. One is 

 struck by the regularity of the meshes of the 

 network shown on the map by the valleys and 

 the elevations, broken in places by gorges of 

 streams that pass from one line of elevation to 

 another, and descend at the first opportunity. 

 On the side of France, the crests are blunted, 

 having been worn away by the humidity of 

 the atmosphere ; but on the side of Spain, the 

 features are much more strongly marked. The 

 hot and cold climate has evaporated the 

 moisture, destroyed the lichens, and preserved 

 the primitive and rugged aspect of the rocks. 



North America. The expedition sent out to 

 survey the boundary-line between Alaska and 

 the British possessions, as fixed by the treaty 

 of 1825, has not yet finished its work. As the 

 Yukon could not be followed to the coast be- 

 fore the close of navigation, Dr. G. M. Daw- 

 son, the leader, after examining the Pelly 

 river, returned to Ohilcat, and his companion, 

 Mr. Ogilvie, went into winter-quarters at Fort 

 Reliance, in order to explore next season the 

 country bordering the Mackenzie to its mouth. 

 Dr. Dawson finds that the tract of country be- 

 tween Cassiar and Forty Mile Creek, a tribu- 

 tary of the Yukon, is rich in gold. 



It looks as if the hope of opening a regular 

 summer passage through Hudson strait and 

 bay, and thus establishing connection with 

 Manitoba, must be definitely given up. In 

 Lieut. A. R. Gordon's report of the voyage ot 

 the Alert in 1886, published this year, he says 

 that the route is not available for ordinary 

 carrying ships, even when they are made 

 specially strong to resist the ice ; for it is in such 

 dangerous masses that no ship, not expressly 

 made for polar voyages, can withstand it. 



The census report of Manitoba for July, 

 1886, shows a reduction of its area from 123,- 

 200 to 60,520 square miles since 1881, the re- 

 mainder having been added to the province of 

 Ontario and the district of Keewatin. On the 

 remaining area the population has increased 

 from 62,260 to 108,640 during the five years. 



West Indies. By a series of careful observa- 

 tions Mr. Hall has determined the height of 

 Blue Mountain Peak, Jamaica, to be 7,423 ft. 



South America. Very many explorers have 

 been at work in South America during the 

 year, some of them sent out by their govern- 

 ments to gain data on which to base a settle- 

 ment of boundaries, and others by local scien- 

 tific associations. In Venezuela M. Chaffanjon 

 explored the sources of the Orinoco, following 

 it up from the mouth of the Meta, and giving 

 special attention to the connection between 

 the Orinoco and Amazon by the Cassiquiari. 

 He named the mountains at its source " Ferdi- 

 nand de Lesseps," although they have long 

 borne the name Serra Parime. A commission 

 is at work to settle the boundary between this 

 country and Brazil. In Guiana the Bureau of 

 Education has again sent out H. Condreau, 

 who has been engaged in exploration affecting 

 the boundary between French Guiana and 

 Brazil. He will examine the Tumucuraque 

 mountains, the water-shed between the coast 

 rivers of Guiana and the Amazon branches. 



One of the least known parts of Brazil was 

 visited by an expedition, accompanied by Dr. 

 Hassler. Starting from Cuyaba they crossed 

 the water-shed between the La Plata and Ama- 

 zon, and passed several streams entering the 

 upper Xiugu, and reached the Rio Mortes, the 

 largest western tributary of the Araguay, and, 

 following it to its mouth, took the main stream 

 to the mouth of the Tocantins. The return 

 was made across the table-land from Matto 

 Grosso to the Rio Lourenco. 



A journey on the Rio das Velhas, the largest 

 tributary of the upper Rio San Francisco, was 

 made by Dr. P. de Frontin and F. Paranagua. 

 They passed 200 rapids, but believe that a com- 

 paratively small amount of labor would be suf- 

 ficient to remove them, and make the river 

 a convenient route for the province Minas- 

 Geraes, which needs only better facilities for 

 communication to lead to a much greater de- 

 velopment of its gold-mines, which have 

 already been worked with good success for 

 more than two centuries. It is also the great 

 diamond-field of Brazil. 



Dr. von den Steinen's expedition, though 

 not able to carry out its original plan of ex- 

 ploring the upper valley of the Xingu, employed 

 the time in examining the remains of ancient 

 Indian life in the province of Santa Catharina. 

 A great collection of stone implements, human 

 remains, and the like, together with photo- 

 graphs and drawings, were sent to the Berlin 

 Museum of Ethnography. 



Richard Payer, whose three years' work on 

 the Amazon was noted last year, is about to 



