394 THE FUNCTION AND FIELD OF GEOGRAPHY. 



various clirectious, each with the same dreary tale of almost feature- 

 less sandy desert, covered here and there with Spinifex and scrub worse 

 than useless. There are hundreds of thousands of square miles still 

 unknown, but there is no reason to believe that these areas possess 

 any features that differ essentially from those which have been found 

 along the routes that have been explored. There have been one or two 

 well equipped scientific expeditions in recent years that have collected 

 valuable data with regard to the physical characteristics, the geology 

 and biology of the continent; and it is in this direction that geography 

 should look for the richest results in the future. There remains much 

 to be done before we can arrive at satisfactory conclusions as to the 

 physical history of what is in some respects the most remarkable land 

 area on the globe. Though the surface water supply is so scanty there 

 is reason to believe that underneath the surface there is an immense 

 store of water. In one or two places in Australia, especially in west- 

 ern Queensland, and in New South Wales, this supply has been tapped 

 with satisfactory results; millions of gallons a day have been obtained 

 by sinking wells. Whether irrigation can ever be introduced on an 

 extensive scale into Australia depends upon the extent and accessi- 

 bility of the underground water supply, and that is one of the geograph- 

 ical problems of the future in Australia. I^ew Zealand has been fairly 

 well surveyed, though a good deal remains to be done before its mag- 

 nificent mountain and glacier system is completely known. In the 

 great island of New Guinea both the British and the Germans are 

 opening up the interiors of their territories to our knowledge, but the 

 western and much larger jjortion of the island presents a large field 

 for any explorer who cares to venture into its interior. 



The marvelous success which has attended Dr. JSTansen's daring 

 adventure into the Arctic seas has revived a widespread interest in 

 Polar exploration. Nansen may be said to have almost solved the 

 North Polar jjroblem — so far, at least, as the Old World side of the 

 Pole is concerned. That someone will reach the Pole at no distant date 

 is certain; Nansen has shown the way, and the legitimate curiosity of 

 humanity will not rest satisfied till the goal be reached. But Arctic 

 exploration does not end with the attainment of the Pole. Europe has 

 done her share on her own side of the Pole. What about the side 

 which forms the Hinterland of North America, and specially of Canada? 

 To the north of Europe and Asia we have the scattered groups of 

 islands Spitsbergen, Franz Josef Land, Novaya Zemlya, and the New 

 Siberian Islands. To the north of America we have an immense archi- 

 pelago, the actual extent of which is unknown. Nansen and other 

 Arctic authorities maintain that the next thing to be done is to com- 

 plete exploration on the American side, to attempt to do for that half 

 of the North Polar region what Nansen has done for the other haJf. 

 It may be that the islands which fringe the northern shores of the New 

 World are continued far to the north; if so they would form convenient 



