﻿Unmapped Areas on Eartlis Surface. 44o 



gonia, though a good deal has recently been done by 

 the Argentine government, still in the country between 

 Punta Arenas and the Eio Negro we have much to learn, 

 while on the West Coast range, with its innumerable 

 fjord-like inlets, its islands and peninsulas, there is a fine 

 field for the geologist and physical geographer. Indeed, 

 throughout the whole range of the Andes systematic 

 exploration is wanted, exploration of the character of the 

 excellent work accomplished by Whymper in the region 

 around Cliimborazo. 



There is an enormoifs area lying to the east of the 

 northern Andes and including their eastern slopes, 

 embracing the eastern half of Ecuador and Colombia, 

 Southern Venezuela, and much of the country lying 

 between that and Northern Bolivia, including many of 

 the upj3er tributaries of the Amazon and Orinoco, of 

 which our knowledge is of the scantiest. Even the 

 country lying between the Eio Negro and the Atlantic is 

 but little known. There are other areas in Brazil and in 

 the northern Chaco which have only been partially 

 described, such as the region whence the streams forming 

 the Tapajos and the Paraquay take their rise, in Mato 

 G-rosso. A survey and detailed geographical and topo- 

 graphical description of the whole basin of Lake Titicaca 

 is a desideratum. 



In short, in South America there is a wider and richer 

 field for exploration than in any other continent. But no 

 mere rush through these little-known regions will suffice. 

 The explorer must be able not only to use his sextant and 

 his theodolite, his compass, and his chronometer. Any 

 expeditions entering these regions ought to be able to 

 bring back satisfactory information on the geology of tlie 

 country traversed, and of its fauna and flora, past and 

 present. Already the revelations which have been made 

 of the past geography of South America and of the 

 life that flourished there in former epochs are of the 



30 



