﻿430 Canadian Record of Science. 



The Great Unmapped Areas on the Earth's Surface 

 Awaiting the Explorer and Geographer.^ 



By J. Scott Keltie, LL.D., Secretary to the Royal Geographical 



Society, Editor of the Geographical Journal and of the 



Statesman's Year-Book, etc., etc. 



We meet this year in exceptional circumstances. 

 Thirteen years ago the British Association met for the 

 first time in a portion of the empire beyond the limits of 

 the British islands. During these thirteen years much 

 lias happened of the greatest interest to geographers, and 

 if I attempted to review the progress which has been 

 made during these years — progress in the exploration 

 of the globe, progress in geographical research, progress in 

 geographical education — I could not hope to do it to any 

 purpose in the short time during which it would be right 

 for a president to monopolize the attention of the Section. 



But we have, at the same time, reached another stagfe 

 in our history which naturally leads us to take stock 

 of our progress in the past. We have all of us been 

 celebrating the sixtieth year of the glorious reign of 

 the Sovereign of whose vast dominions Canada and 

 the United Kingdom form integral parts. The progress 

 made during that period in our own department of 

 science has been immense ; it would take volumes to tell 

 what has been done for the exploration of the globe. 



The great continent of Africa has practically been 

 discovered, for sixty years ago almost all but its rim was 

 a blank. In 1837 enormous areas in North America 

 were unexplored and much of the interior of South 

 America was unknown. In all parts of Asia vast 

 additions have been made to our knowledge ; the maps of 

 the interior of that continent were sixty years ago of the 

 most diac^rammatic character. The Australian interior 

 was nearly as great a blank as that of Africa; New 



1 I'resitlential aiUlress delivered before tlie Geographical Section of Uie Britisli 

 Association for the Advancement of Science, at Toronto, August 19th, 1897. 



