314 The National Geographic Magazine 



it true that it would exert enormous in- 

 fiuence in opening unknown regions to 

 enterprise and would become a mighty 

 instrument in advancing the financial 

 prosperity of the Commonwealth. 



A practical obstacle to railway commu- 

 nication between the provinces, or states 

 as we must now call them, is found in the 

 different gauges employed. Queens- 

 land, South Australia, and Westralia 

 use a 3 feet 6 inches gauge, Victoria a 

 5 feet 3 inches gauge, and New South 

 Wales alone the standard gauge of 4 

 feet 8 Yi inches. Without doubt the new 

 system will conform to the standard. 



RIVER PROFILES 



AN interesting publication of the 

 Department of Hydrography of 

 the U.S. Geological Survey on the Pro- 

 files of Rivers in the United States has 

 just been published and is now available 

 for distribution. Mr. Gannett, the au- 

 thor, has embodied within a hundred 

 pages the leading facts relating to about 

 one hundred and fifty of the most im- 

 portant rivers and streams of the coun- 

 try, noting their length, drainage area, 

 the location of water-power in their 

 courses, their peculiarities of flow% and 

 the nature of their drainage basins. 



The rivers selected are those which 

 are the largest in size and bear most 

 directly upon the varied interests of the 

 country, such as the Connecticut, Hud- 

 son, Susquehanna, Ohio, Potomac, Mis- 

 sissippi, Missouri, Platte, Colorado, Sac- 

 ramento, Columbia, and others. The 

 figures for the tables, showing height 

 above sea-level and fall per mile, were 

 collected from various sources. Some 

 were obtained from the report of the 

 Chief Engineer of theU. S. Army, some 

 from railroad companies when their lines 

 cross the streams, and some from the 

 atlas sheets of the U. S. Geological 

 Survey. 



In the case of such rivers as the Con- 

 necticut, Susquehanna, Mississippi, and 



Colorado, where the surrounding coun- 

 try is of peculiar physiographic interest, 

 very excellent and vivid descriptions of 

 the leading physical characteristics are 

 given which add to the interest and 

 render it valuable from an educational 

 standpoint in geographic and ph3-sio- 

 graphic instruction. The pamphlet is 

 the result of much careful work, and 

 is the first attempt to collect and com- 

 pile this information. 



DRAINING THE ZUIDER ZEE 



IT is more than fifty j'ears that the 

 project of draining the Zuider Zee 

 has been under contemplation b}- the 

 Dutch government and people. The 

 scheme proposed would restore to culti- 

 vation and habitation a tract of land com- 

 prising about 490,000 acres. This land 

 was submerged in the terrible storms 

 of the ninth and twelfth centuries, and 

 has since been lying at an average depth 

 of 10 feet below^ the surface of the sea. 

 It is reckoned that the cost of this resto- 

 ration would be something like $50,- 

 000,000, but that the value of the re- 

 claimed land would repay the cost at 

 least three times over. 



At present the Zuider Zee is too shal- 

 low for navigation, and its shores are 

 constantly inundated and hardh"- better 

 than swamps. It is proposed to con- 

 struct a dike, 28 miles in length, from 

 Enkhuizen to the River Yssel, and b}' 

 steam pumps to remove the water south 

 of this dike. Through the reclaimed 

 area canals are to be made, with rail- 

 roads along their banks. Thus dis- 

 tances would be shortened — Friesland 

 and North Holland, for example, be- 

 ing 30 miles nearer by railway than at 

 present. 



A new province, to be called Wilhel- 

 minaland, w'ould be added to the Nether- 

 lands, and the territory of the little king- 

 dom would be increased one-sixteenth. 

 Various modifications have recently been 

 proposed in the comprehensive plan sub- 



