GEOGRAPHICAL PROGRESS AND DISCOVERY. 



385 



sable if held by a very small opposing force. 

 Yet the Andes extend over a thousand miles 

 between Chili and the Argentine Republic, 

 with an average elevation of 13,000 feet. Any 

 war between these countries would have to 

 be carried on by sea. The newly-discovered 

 Barilochi Pass is near Lake Nahuelhaspi, where 

 the continent narrows and forms the peninsula 

 of Patagonia, and is easily approached, while 

 the mountains at this point are not more than 

 half the height of the same range a few miles 

 farther north. Its commercial importance is 

 of the highest. Railroad communication from 

 the Atlantic to the Pacific has long been needed, 

 and a road between Buenos Ayres and Santiago 

 is already in progress, designed to run through 

 one of the difficult passes already mentioned. 

 A road from the Gulf of San Matias, across 

 northern Patagonia, through the Barilochi Pass, 

 would be only half as long, and would traverse 

 a temperate region, where rain takes the place 

 of the snows of the north. The exact height 

 of the pass is not yet known, but the civil en- 

 gineers will doubtless soon give the results of 

 their investigations. 



Asia. A new route to Central Asia has been 

 officially opened during the year by Col. Alex- 

 androff and Gen. Tchernaieff, of the Russian 

 army. The route was discovered by a fish-mer- 

 chant named Varnishin, who several times 

 crossed it with his caravan. It begins at the 

 Bay Yaman Aurakti, in the Caspian Sea, passes 

 through Khiva, Bokhara, and the Yarafshan, 

 and so reaches Kungrad, a distance of 295 miles. 

 The new route runs through well-populated 

 regions instead of the barren steppes trav- 

 ersed by the old, and except for thirty miles' 

 distance is well watered. Gen. Tchernaieff 

 intends to sink wells along this part of the 

 course. The road-bed is gravelly and firm. 

 It is suggested that a railroad may some time 

 be made along this new route. 



Prof. Ed. Sachan has published the results 

 of his journey in Syria and Mesopotamia, 

 undertaken at the request of the German Em- 

 peror. From Beirut Prof. Sachan went by 

 way of Damascus and Palmyra, Aleppo and 

 Biredjik, on the Euphrates, to IJrfa, thence to 

 Mosul and finally to Alexandrette. An expe- 

 dition, under the direction of the Palestine Ex- 

 ploration Society, left England in October with 

 the intention of exploring the Wadi-el-Arabah 

 and the basin of the Dead Sea, and the Jordan 

 valley as far as the Sea of Galilee. 

 . Africa. The Congo river region has been 

 commanding more and more attention since 

 Stanley began his explorations. The past year 

 has seen additions to our knowledge of its in- 

 habitants and resources, and also very eager 

 discussions as to what nations the protectorate 

 of its commerce belongs to. Merchant-steamers 

 of 5,000 tons can now ascend the river as far 

 as the falls, a distance of 120 miles, and a con- 

 siderable trade is carried on by English, French, 

 Dutch, and Belgians. Beyond these Falls of 

 Yellala, Stanley discovered the river to be again 

 YOL. xxm. 25 A 



navigable, and constructed a hundred miles of 

 road around them. Over this road he has trans- 

 ported three steamers and more than two thou- 

 sand packages to the middle and upper Congo. 

 In one of these steamers he ascended the Quan- 

 go, one of the tributaries of the Congo, for a 

 distance of two hundred miles. He has this 

 year gone as far as the equator, and established 

 two more stations. He has also discovered 

 another lake, which he calls Lake Mantumba, 

 and explored the Malundu river for a distance 

 of a hundred miles. He finds it a deep, broad, 

 and navigable stream, draining a country rich 

 in gums, rubber, camphor, ivory, and many 

 other articles of high commercial value. He 

 reports a dense population, very enterprising 

 and industrious. Mr. Stanley mediated success- 

 fully between some of the warlike tribes, and 

 received the title of u Father and Mother of 

 the country. 1 ' 



M. de Brazza left Bordeaux on the 23d of 

 March, stopped for a day or two in Senegam- 

 bia, and reached the Bay of Loango, north of 

 the mouth of the Congo. The Bay of Punta 

 Negra was already in possession of the advance 

 division of his party. The Loango anchorage 

 is considered to be one of the best between 

 the Gaboon and Congo, but De Brazza had 

 hoped to be able to land near the mouth of the 

 Konilon, by means of which communication 

 could be kept open between the French pos- 

 sessions on the Gaboon and territory on the 

 Congo granted by King Makoko. He found 

 Mr. Stanley's agents established there, and was 

 therefore obliged to change his plan. How- 

 ever, instructions had been given the latter 

 that friendly relations were to be maintained 

 witli the French, and as yet no difficulty has 

 arisen between the rival parties. 



The German explorer, Lieut. Wissmann, has 

 been investigating a region lying south of 

 that traversed by Stanley, but watered by 

 numerous southern tributaries of the Congo. 

 He crossed the continent, starting from St. 

 Paul de Loando and passing through the em- 

 pire of the Muato-Janvo, a portion of country 

 which is fertile and densely inhabited. The 

 account of these tribes, when published, is ex- 

 pected to prove a valuable contribution to 

 African ethnology. 



Mr. Joseph Thompson is engaged in explor- 

 ing the country from Mombosa to the south- 

 east coast of Victoria Nyanza. He is to in- 

 clude Mt. Kilimanjaro, a peak of great height 

 covered with snow, and Mt. Kenia. To the 

 westward of these mountains, toward the Vic- 

 toria Nyanza, stretch great plains inhabited 

 by the Masai, a warlike people who are con- 

 . stantly committing depredations upon the 

 peaceful negroes of the coast. ' Mr. Thompson 

 at latest accounts had fallen upon the track 

 of Dr. Fischer, a German traveler who had 

 roused the hostility of the natives to such a 

 point that Mr. Thompson was compelled to 

 turn back to Taveta. He is in the service of 

 the Royal Geographical Society. 



