iv A rARTlXG WOED. 



knowledge and requiring us to modify our description of tbe world ! Althougli 

 the myster}' of the Poles is still unrevealed, Nausen has at least made his astonish- 

 ing journey from shore to shore of ice-capped Greenland. In the interior of Asia, 

 the " Eternal Sanctuary," where dwells the divine Dalai-Lama, has since Hue's 

 visit been closed to profane Europeans ; nevertheless, every year sees the circle 

 of itineraries narrowed round about the sacred spot. 



In the " Dark Continent," the problems of the Nile, of the Zambesi, Congo, 

 and Niger have all been solved. Everywhere the network of trav^els covers the 

 planet with its ever-contracting meshes. A systematic exploration has even been 

 begun of the underground world, of the caves and katabothras of Greece, the 

 subterranean pits and channels of Yaucluse and the Causses. The chart of the 

 marine depths, with their temperatures, living organisms, and geological deposits, 

 is progressing, like that of the continents, towards completion. As knowledge 

 increases, man, so to say, becomes daily transformed to a new life. 



At tbe same time distant lands are constantly drawn closer together. The 

 Atlantic, a broad exj^anse for Norse Vikings and Genoese mariners, has become, in 

 the language of modern seafarers, a mere " ditch " traversed in a hundred hours. 

 Every year diminishes the time taken to make the tour of the world, which for 

 certain " globe-trotters " has become a caprice of the moment. So bounded are 

 now the confines of the planet, that it everywhere benefits by the same industrial 

 appliances ; that, thanks to a continuous network of postal and telegraphic services, 

 it has been enriched by a nervous sj^stem for the interchange of thought ; that it 

 demands a common meridian and a common hour, while on all sides appear the 

 inventors of a universal language. Despite the rancours fostered b}^ war, despite 

 hereditary hatreds, all mankind is becoming one. Whether our origin be one 

 or manifold, this unity grows apace, daily assumes more of a quickening reality. 



In the presence of this world, which is modified from day to day, and whose 

 changes I can follow only from a distance, I have nevertheless endeavoured clearly 

 to realise the lands described, as if I had them actually under my very eyes, and 

 to study their inhabitants as if I had mingled in their society. I have striven to 

 live my pictures, revealing the characteristic features of each region, portraying 

 the peculiar genius of each human group. Everywhere, I may say, I have felt at 

 liome, in my native laud, amid my brother men. I am not conscious of having 



