FRANZ JOSEF LAND 



2317 



FRASER RIVER 



Frankfort-on-the-Main was founded by them 

 in the fifth century; it became the capital of 

 the Eastern Franks in 843, and Charlemagne 

 built his palace there. 



FRANZ JO'SEF LAND, a group of about 

 100 small, uninhabited islands in the Arctic 

 regions, north of Nova Zembla. They are not 

 politically attached to any country, but the 

 flags of different nations have at different times 

 been raised there by exploring parties. They 

 were discovered in 1873 by an Austro-Hunga- 

 rian expedition and named after the emperor 

 of Austria; they were of little value, so 

 Austria-Hungary did not 

 press claims to 

 ownership. The 



portant, rises in the Rocky Mountains near 

 Smoky River Pass and flows almost straight 

 west. The South Fork, which is the main 

 river, rises in the Rocky Mountains near Yel- 

 low Head Pass and flows northwest for 160 

 miles to meet the North Fork. The united 

 river makes a sharp curve around the northern 

 end of the Cariboo Mountains, and then flows 

 southward almost to the international bound- 

 ary. Then it turns sharply to the west and 

 empties into the Gulf of Georgia between Van- 

 couver Island and the mainland. The total 

 length of its course is 695 miles. 



A few miles southwest of 

 the junction of the 

 North Fork and 



FRANZ JOSEF LAND 



In the map (a) is Franz Josef Land. To aid in locating these islands: (6) is Spitzbergen, to the 

 west, and (c) is Nova Zembla, to the south. 



islands are much broken up by bays, straits 

 and fiords, and more than nine-tenths of the 

 land is perpetually covered with ice. Here and 

 there appear bare patches on which moss, 

 lichens and a few Arctic flowers grow. 



The islands are of volcanic origin, formed 

 principally of basalt. Fossils of animals and 

 plants have been found in the lower strata, 

 many of these remains tending to prove that 

 this desolate region was once the home of ani- 

 mals and plants now found only in warm cli- 

 mates (see GEOLOGY). Although high in Arc- 

 tic regions, the temperature is not as low as 

 might be expected; the average for the cold- 

 est month is 19 below zero and the thermom- 

 eter frequently rises to 35. 



FRASER, fra'zer, RIVER, a river of West- 

 ern Canada, noted for its salmon fisheries and 

 for the magnificent scenery and the rich gold 

 fields through which it flows. Its course lies 

 wholly within the province of British Colum- 

 bia, and its drainage basin, which has an area 

 of 142,000 square miles, includes most of the 

 southern half of the province, with the excep- 

 tion of the southeast corner and a strip along 

 the Pacific coast. 



The Fraser is formed by the junction of 

 two forks at a point a short distance north- 

 east of Fort George, in the central part of the 

 province. The North Fork, short and not im- 



the South Fork, the Fraser receives from the 

 west the Stuart River, carrying the surplus 

 waters of Fraser Lake and Stuart Lake. Its 

 other important tributaries, in order, are the 

 Blackwater from the west; the Quesnel from 

 the east; the Chilcotin from the west, and, most 

 important of all, the Thompson, one of whose 

 branches rises in the Rocky Mountains less 

 than fifty miles from the source of the North 

 Fork of the Fraser itself. Southward from Lyt- 

 ton, where it receives the Thompson, the Fraser 

 River flows in majestic canyons which it has 

 cut through the Coast Range. 



The Fraser is a typical mountain stream, 

 swift throughout its length and in many parts 

 not navigable even for canoes. It is naviga- 

 ble for small steamboats from its mouth to 

 Yale, a distance of eighty miles, and from the 

 mouth to New Westminster, fifteen miles, it 

 is navigable for ships drawing twenty feet of 

 water. The Fraser might be called the eco- 

 nomic heart of British Columbia, for it con- 

 tributes to the three chief industries, mining, 

 lumbering, and fishing. The placer and vein 

 gold along its banks and the banks of the 

 Thompson first drew the world's attention to 

 the region and stimulated its growth. The 

 river valley, particularly in the lower course, 

 is densely wooded, and the rapid current sup- 

 ' plies facilities for the transportation of lum- 



