Contents 



PAGE 



Transportation and Civilisation. The first experi- 

 ments on steam propulsion made simultaneously in 

 Britain and in the United States of America. The type 

 of steamship developed in these two countries differed 

 in particulars which depend on the depth of the rivers 

 for which they were intended i 2 



Their development an interesting studyin morphology 13 



Steamers used for forty years on rivers before being 

 used for ocean transit . . . . . . . 14 



The invention of railways broke the monopoly of 

 rivers in the development of inland districts . . 15 



Exploration of America stimulated at first by the 

 search for Gold. California an important example. Its 

 riches the principal cause of the first transcontinental 

 railway, and with it, of the development of the central 

 parts of the continent . . . . . . 16 



Early exploration of Australia due to the same 

 stimulus. 



South American pampa opened up by railways . 1 7 



Different function of railways in an old and in a 

 new country. 



In old countries railways follow roads; in new 

 countries they precede roads. 



The new countries affected by European emigration 

 lie generally in the region characterised at sea by the 

 prevalence of the Trade Winds . . . . . 18 



Development by railways slow at first, but very 

 rapid after construction of first trunk line. First effect 

 of it, increase of food supply; second effect, increase of 

 population of the world . . . . . . 19 



SUPPLEMENT. Added, 1918 



Preface. The fresh impressions which I brought back 

 from the Argentine Republic in the year 1888 inspired 

 the note of enthusiasm which found expression in the 

 lecture. 



The specific characteristic of the enthusiast is that 

 he contemplates the matter which excites his enthu- 

 siasm only from the point of view of the object achieved, 

 and excludes all consideration of the cost of its achieve- 

 ment. Yet the stern tact in accounting remains, and it 

 asserts itself without fail: for every incoming an 

 equivalent outgoing must be shown. 



It was this conviction which determined me to 



