276 



GEOGRAPHICAL PROGRESS. 



" But, with all this, no land in the arctic can 

 be compared with this in poverty. On the other 

 hand, on suitable places there is life enough, so 

 rich even that it seems impossible it could ever be 

 surpassed. But this life almost all depends upon 

 the. sea. The dredge and the net have unveiled 

 to us a fauna so rich in numbers, so wonderfully 

 varied in its forms, that I do not believe it is 

 paralleled in the arctic, and even the specialists 

 often stand wondering before this new and unex- 

 pected life. Not only is the surface of the sea 

 crowded by shrimps and other lower forms, but 

 there also exists a richness of fish some of which 

 would probably in other parts of the world give 

 rise to a great industry. Nowhere else are the 

 swarms of whales, some of them among the 

 largest of their kind, nearly so numerous as here. 

 i:\.-n the seals are crowded along every coast, 

 and everywhere in the ice-pack. On the shore 

 win-re we landed they were counted in hundreds, 

 and they were so tame that they allowed them- 

 selves to be scratched on the neck and the 

 back. 



" When approaching the shore you will be met 

 by swarms of an animal that would hardly be 

 recognized by any one who did not know it be- 

 fore. Necessarily you will think of the flying- 

 fish when you see a long line of black spool- 

 shaped beings, with two fin-like appendices, 

 throwing themselves high out of the water, only 

 to come down again and continue their flight 

 below its surface. Thousands of penguins breed 

 on Nelson island, but that is not one of the best 

 places to study their life. 



"After Jan. 11 followed a week of the most in- 

 teresting discoveries. At the western end of his 

 Louis Philippe Land, Dumont d'Urville had seen 

 in 1838 a deep cut into the land, which he named 

 Orleans inlet, and here at first we steered our 

 course. The land and the channel trended un- 

 ceasingly to the west without interruption, and, 

 after twenty hours on a virgin sea and amid the 

 grandest scenery, we found ourselves in the re- 

 gions examined by the Belgian expedition and 

 in the channel called by them after their steamer, 

 Belgica. Louis Philippe Land is only a part of 

 the great continental mass called on the maps 

 Graham Land. We had to-turn back to get into 

 the Atlantic. Here we followed the coast, stop- 

 ping a short time at Cape Seymour, one of the 

 most interesting points in the whole antarctic 

 by reason of its being the only place where fos- 

 sil remains have until now been discovered." 



America. A hitherto unknown region be- 

 tween Great Slave lake and Hudson Bay was 

 sun-eyed in 1900 by J. W. Tyrrell and C. C. Fair- 

 child. It lies west of the Doobaunt river. The 

 route began from the lake, the most easterly bay 

 of which was named Charlton harbor. It is 

 about 16 miles long, and is connected with 

 McLeod Bay by a deep channel less than a mile 

 wide. Lockhart river, which flows into Charl- 

 ton harbor, was surveyed. The Parry falls were 

 found to be beautiful, but on a smaller scale 

 than as described by Back, a former traveler. 

 Artillery lake lies at an elevation of 1,188 feet, 

 which is 608 feet higher than Great Slave lake. 

 The height of land was found to be 7 miles away, 

 and on its eastern side was a new lake, Lake 

 Douglas, with oullet toward the north or east. 

 The main route led north by the Kasba river and 

 lake to Lake Clinton Colden. Thence the height 

 of land was crossed by short portages, and a 

 string of lakes was followed to Hanbury river. 

 This river runs through a wild chasm, Dickson 



afion, beginning with a fall of 50 feet. Below, 

 the country assumed a more verdant appearance, 



with trees and flowering plants more abundant, 

 affording feeding-grounds for musk-oxen. The 

 Hanbury flows into Theron river, a large stream 

 with a volume of 50,000 cubic feet at the junc- 

 tion. It is navigable for river steamers 550 miles 

 from Hudson Bay. The district seems not well 

 adapted for farming, but the timber supply and 

 the herds of musk-oxen should be of considerable 

 value. 



An account of an exploration on the eastern 

 coast of Labrador by a party of 10 under the 

 lead of Willard Glazier says they set out from 

 the Moravian mission station of Nain in latitude 

 about 56.5 north. Following up the bay on which 

 the station stands, they discovered a fine river 

 about 135 miles long. It flows through 7 lakes, 

 the largest 40 miles long and surrounded by 

 precipitous mountains rising 1,000 to 2,000 feet 

 above it. From these many cascades fall into 

 the lake. The lakes are connected by rapids. 

 Returning to Nain, the explorers went north to 

 Okak Bay, the site of another mission station, 

 and ascended North river. The interior of the 

 country was found to be bleak and desolate and 

 destitute of inhabitants. The only vegetation 

 was a few spruce and larch trees and some alders 

 and wild grasses. There are caribou in abun- 

 dance, and in the bays and rivers seals and fish. 

 The commonest minerals are iron ore, copper, 

 mica, and Labradorite. 



An exploration in British Honduras was re- 

 cently made by Mr. T. Fenwick, of Belize. A re- 

 gion supposed never to have been visited by white 

 men, southwest of the Cockscomb mountains, was 

 named King Edward's Land ; and beyond this an- 

 other range of mountains was reached. Continu- 

 ing to the south, the explorers found still an- 

 other range, extending west and south, which 

 they named Queen Alexandra's mountains. The 

 peaks of the Cockscomb mountains which the 

 party ascended were named, one for Joseph 

 Chamberlain and the other for Lady Wilson, wife 

 of the Governor. 



Asia. Dr. Sven Hedin contributes to the Geo- 

 graphical Journal a summary of the results of 

 his latest journey in Central A*sia, 1899-1902. The 

 Annual Cyclopaedia for 1901 gives an account of 

 his experiences and discoveries in 1899 and 1900. 

 After summarizing these, Dr. Hedin's narrative 

 proceeds : 



" My second expedition started from the same 

 base [Mandarlik', beside Gas-nor]. Its object 

 was to complete the mapping of northern Tibet. 

 especially of the mountains to the north of 

 Kum-kull. This lake also was sounded. These 

 Tibetan lakes are dangerous to navigate in a 

 small open sailing-boat; to do so is always at- 

 tended with a considerable amount of peril. But 

 my principal and longest journey through Tibet 

 began at Charlik on May 17, 1901. The route I 

 selected went first up the valley of the Charlik-su. 

 then on to Kum-kull, and over the Arkatagh. 

 After that I struck a line between the route fol- 

 lowed by Littledale and that followed by Prince 

 Henri and Bonvalot, and penetrated southward 

 as far as 33 45' south latitude. There the cara- 

 van encamped, while, accompanied by two attend- 

 ants and in disguise, I made a perilous journey as 

 far as the vicinity of Tcngri-nor. There we were 

 closely examined, and compelled to return to the 

 caravan, though the Dalai-Lama's emissaries 

 treated us with the greatest respect and polite- 

 ness. A second attempt to penetrate south from 

 the same camping-place was frustrated at Sellisy- 

 tso by a force of 500 horsemen. After that 1 di- 

 rected my course westward to Leh, avoiding both 

 Nain-Singb's and Littledale's routes. This jour- 





