GEOGRAPHIC NOTES 



ALASKA 



THE narrative volume of the famous 

 Harriman Alaska expedition of 

 two summers ago will appear during the 

 present month. Through the courtesy 

 of Dr. C. Hart Merriam, editor of the vol- 

 ume and of the Harriman publications, 

 the National Geographic Magazine 

 is able to present in this number one 

 chapter from this remarkable work — The 

 General Geography of Alaska, by Mr. 

 Henry Gannett. 



So rapid has been the exploration of 

 this vast territory during the past five 

 years that few realize the extent of pres- 

 ent knowledge of the country. Mr. Gan- 

 nett, in his paper, gives the most com- 

 prehensive statement of the general 

 geographic features as developed by 

 recent exploration that has yet been 

 published. 



The narrative of the Harriman expe- 

 dition is the most trustworthy and at 

 the same time popular work on Alaska 

 which has ever been offered to the pub- 

 lic. Mr. John Burroughs opens with the 

 story of the two months' travel of the 

 Harriman party. Mr. John Muir fol- 

 lows with a chapter on the Glaciers. 

 Then Mr. George Bird Grinnell de- 

 scribes the Natives of the Alaskan Con- 

 tinent — the Indians and Eskimo. Dr. 

 Wm. H. Dall gives the History of the 

 Discovery and Exploration of Alaska. 

 Mr. Charles A. Keeler has a chapter on 

 the Birds of Alaska, Mr. B. E. Fernow^ 

 on the Forests, and then follows Mr. 

 Gannett 's article on the General Geog- 

 raphy of Alaska. Dr. Merriam con- 

 tributes the concluding chapter on the 

 Volcanoes of the Aleutian Archipelago. 

 The bird pictures by Mr. Eouis Fuertes, 

 the plant pictures by Mr. Walpole, and 

 the fiord scenes by Mr. Dellenbaugh 

 form a notable feature of the volume. 

 Twenty colored plates, over loo full- 



page photogravures, and 200 insets 

 illustrate this splendid work. Messrs. 

 Doubleday, Page & Co., of New York, 

 are the publishers for Mr. Harriman. 



ANDORRA AND SAN MARINO 



THE two states which look strang- 

 est upon the map of Europe are 

 the tiny Republics of Andorra, in the 

 eastern Pyrenees, and of San Marino, in 

 northeastern Italy. Each owed its orig- 

 inal independence to its strong natural 

 position ; then for centuries the shrewd- 

 ness of its inhabitants knew how to play 

 off one eneni}^ against another. In mod- 

 ern times its neighbors have seemed to 

 feel a sort of chivalric sentiment for it 

 because it has taken care of itself so 

 long. 



The Republic of Andorra has existed 

 since the eighth century. When the 

 Moslems invaded France from Spain in 

 the eighth century that little territory 

 in the mountains was not conquered by 

 them and has remained independent ever 

 since. It now enjoys the joint protec- 

 tion of France and of the Spanish Bishop 

 of Urgel. Its extent is less than 175 

 square miles. Its hardly more than 

 6,000 inhabitants are almost all miners 

 and farmers. It is governed b}^ a rep- 

 resentative council of 24 persons, who 

 are chosen by the heads of families. 



The RepulDlic of San Marino, though 

 having a population of about 10,000, is 

 only one-fifth as large in area, but is 

 still more ancient. In fact, it is the 

 smallest and the oldest independent re- 

 public on the globe. It is governed by 

 a Great Council of 60 members and a 

 Minor Council of 12 members. It has 

 an army of 938 men, and spends about 

 $10,000 annually on internal improve- 

 ments. On June 28, 1897, San Marino 

 concluded a formal treaty of friendship 

 with Italy. 



