THOMSON'S r,.\/KI.LKS 



S 



Envoi 



L( )\\ LY, but surely, the explorer makes his way to 

 ^^ the uttermost ends ot the earth. It is but a tew 

 months since Tibet, that land of legends, hitherto un- 

 known and impenetrable, had at last to open its gates 

 to the invader. 



Asia, traversed lor long ages past by the forces ot 

 civilisation, had been able to keep this one stronghold 

 inviolate, though Africa, until recently the " I )ark I ontment, 

 no longer maintained any such refuge. l>oth continents 

 surprised the world ot zoological science by the disclosure 

 ot tw<> large mammals, the very existence 1 ot which 

 had been unsuspected : Asia with the singular takm 

 [Hudot'cas /(i.\'i('o/or) ; Africa with the okapi. 



It there be no longer any great riddles to solve 

 in the 1 )ark Continent, there still await investigation 

 any number ot very difficult ijuestions in every field ot 

 knowledge. To give an illustration : then' are over two 

 hundred kinds ot birds still to be discovered there. 



