706 REPORT— 1897. 



here is a proLlem of prime importance for the geographer of the coming century to 

 attack ; with so many energetic and intelligent white men all over Africa, it should 

 not be difficult to obtain the data which might help towards its solution. 



I have dwelt thus long on Africa, because it will really be one of the great 

 geographical problems of the coming century. Had it been as suitable as America 

 or Australia, we may be sure it would not have remained so long neglected and 

 despised by the European peoples as it has done. Unfortunately for Africa, just 

 as it had been circumnavigated, and just as Europeans were beginning to settle upon 

 its central portion and trying to make their way into the interior, Columbus and Cabot 

 discovered a new world, a world as well adapted as Europe for the energies of the 

 white races. That discovery postponed the legitimate development of Africa for 

 four centuries. Nothing could be more marked than the progress which America has 

 made since its re-discovery 400 years ago, and the stagnation of Africa which has 

 been known to Europe since long before the beginning of history. During these 400 

 years North America at least has been very thoroughly explored. The two great 

 nations which divide North America between them have their Government sui'veys, 

 which are rapidly mapping the whole continent and investigating its geology, 

 physical geography, and its natural resources. I need hardly tell an audience like 

 this of the admirable work done by the Survey of Canada under Sir William Logan, 

 Dr. Selwyn, and his successor, Dr. George Dawson ; nor should it be for- 

 gotten that under the Lands Department much excellent topographical work 

 has been carried out by Captain Deville and his predecessors. Still, though much 

 has been done, much remains to be done. There are large areas which have not as 

 yet even been roughly mapped. "Within quite recent years we have had new regions 

 opened up to us by the work of Dawson and Ogilvie on the Yukon, by Dr. Bell in the 

 region to the south of Hudson's Bay, by the brothers Tyrrell in the Barren Lands on 

 the west of the same bay, by O'Sullivan beyond the sources of the Ottawa, and by 

 Low in Labrador. But it is not so long since that Dr. Dawson, in reviewing what 

 remains to be done in the Dominion in the way of even pioneer exploration, pointed 

 out that something like a million square miles still remained to be mapped. Apart 

 from the uninhabitable regions in the north, there are, as Dr. Dawson pointed out, 

 considerable areas which might be turned to profitable agricultural and mining 

 account of which we know little, such areas as these which have been recently 

 mapped on the south of Hudson's Bay by Dr. Bell, and beyond the Ottawa by 

 .Mr. O'Sullivan. Although the Eastern and the Western Provinces have been 

 very fully surveyed, there is a considerable area between the two lying between 

 Lake Superior and Hudson's Bay which seems to have been so far almost 

 untouched. A very great deal has been done for the survey of the i-'wera and lakes 

 of Canada. I need hardly say that in Canada, as elsewhere in America, there 

 is ample scope for the study of many problems in physical geography — past and 

 present glaciation and the work of glaciers, the origua and regime of lake basins, 

 the erosion of river-beds, the oscillation of coast-lines. Happily, both in Canada 

 and the United States there are many men competent and eager to work out pro- 

 blems of this class, and in the Reports of the various surveys, the Transactions of 

 American learned Societies, in scientific periodicals, in separate publications, a 

 wealth of data has already been accumulated of immense value to the geographer. 



Every geologist and geographer knows the important work which has been 

 accomplished by the various surveys of the United States, as well as by the various 

 State Surveys. ' The United States Coast Survey has been at work for more than 

 half a century, mapping not only the coast but all the navigable rivers. The Lake 

 Survey has been doing a similar service for the shores of the great lakes of North 

 America. But it is the work of the Geological Survey which is best known to 

 geographers — a survey which is really topographical as well as geological, and 

 which, under such men as Hayden, King, and Powell, has produced a series of 

 magnificent maps, diagrams and memoirs, of the highest scientific value and in- 

 terest. Recently this survey has been placed on a more systematic basis ; so that 

 now a scheme for the topographical survey of the whole of the territory of the 

 United States is being carried out. Extensive areas in various parts of the States 

 have been already surve5"ed on different scales. It is to be hoped that in the future, 



