OCEANIC EXPLORATION. 5 



tion of foi-ty-foui- millions, concentrated chiefly in the Eastern Archipelago and 

 the Philippines. 



Progress of Oceanic Exploration. 



With the exception of the islands more contiguous to Asia, all the regions of 

 the oceanic hemisphere remained till the present century almost entirely severed 

 from the economic and commercial life of the civilised world. But the rapid 

 colonisation of Australia and New Zealand, the occupation of the Polynesian 

 archipelagoes, the establishment of a regular system of steam navigation between 

 the chief centres of trade in the Pacific and Indian Oceans have, so to say, 

 annexed this half of the planet to the other half, of which West Europe occupied 

 the central point. 



Thus the world, hitherto incomplete, has as it were been suddenly revealed in 

 its entiret}^ and universal history, in the strict sense of the term, henceforth begins 

 for all the races and peoples of the earth. Nothing is now wanting to the vast 

 stage on which throbs the great heart of humanit}^ already awakening to self- 

 consciousness and henceforth united, at least in all its material relations. This 

 ealargement of the civilised world cannot fail to be attended hj consequences of 

 far-reaching importance. The earliest national cultures, which had been cradled 

 in the great fluvial valley's of Egypt and Mesopotamia, were followed by the more 

 comprehensive culture of the peoples dwelling round about the Mediterranean 

 basin. Then came, with the discovery of the ISTew World, the era of Atlantic 

 civilisation, exceeding that of the Mediterranean " in the same ratio that the square 

 of the axis of the inland exceeds that of the oceanic basin." And now the whole 

 world becomes the theatre of busy life for the civilised peoples. Henceforth the 

 earth knows no limits, for its centre is everywhere or anywhere on the planetary 

 surface, and its circumference nowhere. 



At the same time, in the complexity of known and habitable lands, some more 

 favoured regions stand out, which, thanks to the beauty of their scenery, the 

 mildness of their climate, or other physical advantages, have in a special manner 

 attracted the stream of human migration. Amongst these privileged lands can any 

 be named that excel certain Pacific islands in the marvellous harmony of their 

 outlines, the charm of the encompassing waters, the softness of the atmosphere, 

 the fecundity of the soil, the even course of their seasons, the rhythmical movement 

 of all their natural phenomena ? The eminent naturalist. Bates, has hazarded the 

 opinion that, if mankind has been able to attain a high degree of culture through 

 its struggle with the inclemency of the cold regions, in the equatorial lands alone 

 the perfect race of the future will enter on the complete fruition of its magnificent 

 inheritance. 



For ages Egyptians, Arabs, and Phœnicians were acquainted with the Erythrrean 

 Sea, that is, the Indian Ocean. Their ships had even already penetrated in the 

 direction of the coastlands, whence came frankincense, ivor}^, and gold, when in 

 their turn the Greeks, during the Alexandrian expedition, also found the highway 

 leading to those southern waters. At first following the coastline, and keeping 



