Geographic Notes 



439 



a. m. , we passed through a belt of whirl- 

 winds 5 to 6 miles wide, extending to 

 the horizon in either direction. Pre- 

 vious to this the wind had been blowing 

 a moderately fresh breeze, varying from 

 east to S. E., with rainy, dirty weather 

 without any interval. The vessel passed 

 into the belt. The whirlwinds were 

 simply in hundreds and quite close to 

 each other, so that the water was torn 

 up into whirls in opposite directions 

 every few feet, one blowing spray over 

 the vessel on one side and another on 

 the other side. The vessel passed out 

 of the belt quite as suddenly into a fresh 

 breeze from N. N. W. and the weather 

 cleared up." 



IN THE CANADIAN ROCKIES 



A SUCCESSFUL exploratory trip 

 was carried out last summer in 

 the Canadian Rockies by Messrs. Henry 

 G. Bryant and Walter D. Wilcox. The 

 outfit consisted of fourteen pack and 

 saddle horses, two experienced packers, 

 and a cook, three tents and provisions 

 sufficient to last two months. 



Their main purpose was to explore 

 and map a portion of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains south of the Canadian Pacific Rail- 

 way, betw^een the Kootenai and Elk 

 Rivers. This region is part of the main 

 chain of the Rockies. It is about 75 

 miles long and from 25 to 30 miles wide, 

 and had been hitherto unexplored, ex- 

 cept for Captain Palliser's rapid journey 

 over Kananaskis Pass many years ago. 



The most important results obtained 

 by Messrs. Bryant and Wilcox were the 

 exploration and mapping of the upper 

 part of the Palliser River and of the 

 headwaters of several rivers flowing into 

 the Elk, some important data about the 

 Kananaskis Lake region, and the cor- 

 rection of errors in regard to the alti- 

 tude and other details of the Kananaskis 

 Pass. During the journey four passes 

 were crossed and five large valleys ex- 

 plored, in the course of which a num- 



ber of lakes and other interesting feat- 

 ures were discovered, mountain ascents 

 made, and a valuable series of photo- 

 graphs secured to illustrate the scenery 

 and methods of travel. A small collec- 

 tion of fossils and stones was made for 

 the benefit of geological knowledge of 

 the region , and a set of panoramic views 

 and roughly triangulated points will 

 provide material for a new map of this 

 very picturesque and interesting part of 

 the Rockies. 



An article by Mr. Wilcox, describing 

 the work done and illustrated with maps 

 and photographs, will appear in an early 

 number of this Magazine. 



The Population of the Argentine Re- 

 public now amounts to 4,800,000, of 

 whom more than one-fourth, or 1,250, 

 000, are foreigners. Four-fifths of the 

 foreigners are from the Latin countries — 

 Italy, Spain, and France. Buenos 

 Aires, with a population of 829,891, 

 ranks as the first city in the southern 

 hemisphere and is the second city of 

 Latin races in the world. A recent 

 estimate gives the following figures : 



Italians 635,000 



Spanish 250,000 



French 115,000 



Orientals 60,000 



Brazilians 15^000 



English 28,000 



Chileans 26,000 



Germans 22,000 



Russians 20,000 



Swedes 20,000 



Others 59,ooo 



Total foreigners 1,250,000 



Total natives 3,55o.ooo 



Grand total 4,800,000 



Draining- of the Zuider Zee*— United 

 States Consul Hill, at Amsterdam, re- 

 ports that the project for draining the 

 Zuider Zee has been withdrawn indefi- 

 nitely from the States- General by the 

 new ministry. The condition of the 

 Dutch budget is so low that it could not 

 furnish the funds for such an expensive 



