336 



GEOGRAPHICAL PROGRESS AND DISCOVERY. 



Argentine Lake. Huge masses of ice were ob- 

 served floating in the lake. The Santa Cruz 

 was much flooded on the return voyage, show- 

 ing a depth of 70 to 84 feet, and the boat 

 drifted down with terrific rapidity, making 

 the distance in 24 hours which had taken them 

 a month to ascend. 



J. B. Minchin, an English engineer, has cor- 

 rected some of the altitudes in the Andes as 

 follows: Lake Titicaca, 12,545 feet; Alto de la 

 Paz, 13,389 feet; Plaza Mayor, La Paz, 11,946 

 feet; Peak of Illimani, 21,224 feet. Acon- 

 cagua, in Chili, appears then to be the highest 

 summit of the Andes (by Fitz Roy, 23,910 feet) ; 

 Humboldt's height of Chimborazo is 21,422 

 feet. Mr. Minchin ascertained the elevations 

 above the sea-level by Casella's boiling-point 

 thermometer. Assisted by Commander Mus- 

 ters, he has made a new map of Bolivia, after 

 a thorough survey based upon astronomical 

 observations. 



The late Prof. Orton, of Vassar College, had 

 started on an expedition to examine the im- 

 portant tributaries of the Beni, especially the 

 Madre de Dios and the Ynambari, when he 

 was seized with the malady which carried him 

 off at the very threshold of his discoveries, 

 while crossing Lake Titicaca. This is the most 

 important region in South America yet unex- 

 plored. He started for the mouth of the Beni, 

 up the Mamore River, in May, 1877. A freshet, 

 which destroyed many of his instruments and 

 stores, and the mutiny and desertion of his at- 

 tendants, compelled him to give up the explora- 

 tion of the Beni ; so he concluded to explore 

 the smaller Canpolican. He had arrived at 

 Apollobamb, near the boundary of Peru and 

 Bolivia, in the latter part of August, and his un- 

 expected death took place on September 25th. 



The following corrections in latitudes and 

 longitudes have been made by Commander 

 F. M. Green, for the Hydrographical Bureau 

 in "Washington, by the aid of the newly laid 

 telegraphs to the "West Indies and Panama; 

 the places are all north of the equator, and 

 the longitudes are reckoned west from Green- 

 wich: Havana (Morro lighthouse), latitude 23 

 9' 20.98", longitude 82 21' 30"; Santiago de 

 Cuba (Blanoa battery), latitude 20 0' 16.4", 

 longitude 75 50' 30.15"; Kingston (Port Roy- 

 al flagstaff), latitude 17 55' 55.8", longitude 

 76 50' 37.8"; Aspinwall (lighthouse), latitude 

 9 22' 8.8", longitude 79 54' 44.7"; Panama 

 (south tower of the cathedral), latitude 8 57' 

 6.15", longitu.le 79 32' 12.3"; San Juan de 

 Puerto Rico (Morro lighthouse), latitude 18 28' 

 55.86", longitude 66 7' 27.75"; St. Thomas 

 (Fort Christian), latitude 18 20' 23.15", longi- 

 tude 64 55' 52.5": Santa Cruz (Lang's obser- 

 vatory), latitude 17 44' 42.7", longitude 64 

 41' 17.4"; St. Pierre, Martinique (St. Martha 

 battery), latitude 14 43' 53.9", longitude 61 

 11' 11.7"; Bridgetown, Barbadoes (Rickett's 

 battery), latitude 13 5' 42.5", longitude 59 37' 

 18.45" ; Port Spain, Trinidad (water battery), 

 latitude 10 38' 39.21", longitude 61 30' 38.4". 



The Geological and Geographical Survey of 

 the Territories was inaugurated at the time 

 when Nebraska was received into the Union, 

 $5,000 being appropriated for the purpose of 

 surveying the new State in the year 1867; Dr. 

 F. V. Hayden was then appointed superintend- 

 ent of the works. In 1868 the same sum was 

 granted, and the labor was extended over a 

 part of Wyoming Territory. In 1869 the sur- 

 vey was organized in its present shape, and 

 placed under the control of the Department of 

 the Interior, the appropriation being doubled ; 

 the work of the year was a reconnaissance of 

 Cheyenne, in Wyoming, along the eastern edge 

 of the Rocky Mountains to Santa F6, in New 

 Mexico. In 1870 the work took larger dimen- 

 sions ; and, with 20 surveyors, a portion of Wy- 

 oming Territory and a belt along the Union Pa- 

 cific Railroad line were measured. In 1871 

 the Expedition investigated a part of the region 

 drained by the sources of the.Yellowstone and 

 Missouri Rivers, with a strip up the Yellow- 

 stone from Fort Ellis; a trip was also made to 

 Yellowstone Lake and the Geysers on Fire-Hole 

 River ; the descriptions of the Yellowstone re- 

 gion created a sensation in Europe as well as 

 in America, and a part of the wonderful coun- 

 try was reserved by Congress as the " National 

 Park." The Expedition was divided in the fol- 

 lowing year into two parties, each having a 

 geologist, topographer, meteorologist, and nat- 

 uralist. One division made a detailed survey of 

 the head-sources of the Yellowstone, Gallatin, 

 and Madison Rivers ; the other reconnoitred the 

 head of Snake River, or the Lewis Fork of the 

 Columbia, and a little-known part of Idaho and 

 Wyoming Territories. The survey in 1873 was 

 extended into Colorado, and a systematic tri- 

 angulation of the east front of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains was begun, which was afterward extended 

 over the enfire Territory. The topographical 

 corps was increased, and divided into five par- 

 ties; 21,000 square miles were measured, and 

 300 geodetical stations located, most of them 

 on the highest peaks of the Rocky Mountains. 

 In 1874 two new divisions were added, one to 

 examine the land and water communications 

 in the parts already surveyed, and the other 

 for the investigation of the geology of the Elk 

 range. In this year 19,000 square miles were 

 surveyed, the greater portion of the area being 

 in the lofty San Juan Mountains; in this year 

 the ruins in southwest Colorado were exam- 

 ined and described by W. H. Jackson. In 1875 

 the work was extended westward into Utah, 

 and southward toward New Mexico, and cov- 

 ered 24,000 square miles. The explorations in 

 1876 are described in detail in the last volume 

 of the CYCLOPAEDIA. 



The list of summits in Colorado surpassing 

 10,000 feet, as published by Mr. Wilson, includes 

 39 names. Those of above 14,000 feet in alti- 

 tude are the following 17 : Blanca Peak, 14,- 

 413; Mount Harvard, 14,375; Massive Mount, 

 14,368; Torrey's Peak, 14,336; Mount Evans, 

 14,330; La Plata Mount, 14,311, Mount Lin- 



