Geographic Notes 



75 



coal beds are cited. Very rich iron 

 deposits are also found near the coal 

 region. In Durango is a hill of iron 

 a solid mass of ore 640 feet high, aver- 

 aging 70 per cent of metal and capable 

 of yielding over three hundred million 

 tons of solid iron. Nearly all her moun- 

 tains are of metalliferous character. 

 Those that appear richest in mining de- 

 posits are on the western chain, extend- 

 ing from the state of Oaxaca to the 

 state of Sonora, a distance of 1,600 miles 

 from northwest to northeast. 



The statement of Humboldt some 

 hundred years ago, that probably ' ' Mex- 

 ico would be the treasure-house of the 

 world," may perhaps be realized. 



EDWARD JOHN EYRE 



AN Australian explorer of sixty 

 years ago, Edward John Eyre, 

 died in England November 30, 1901. 

 In 1832, then seventeen years of age, 

 Eyre went to Australia to seek his for- 

 tune in sheep farming. From New 

 South Wales he wandered to South Aus- 

 tralia, which was then separated from 

 West Australia by one thousand miles 

 of unpenetrated desert and wilderness. 

 Eyre thought that a route to the rich 

 pasturable districts in thewest of the con- 

 tinent might be found along the shores 

 of the Great Australian Bight south of 

 the desert. After several fruitless at- 

 tempts, he set out, in the fall of 1840, 

 accompanied only by one white and three 

 native boys, for a journey of nearly 1 , 200 

 miles, not one mile of which had ever 

 been seen by a white man. They had 

 advanced half the distance when two 

 of his native companions rebelled, killed 

 his only white companion, and fled. He 

 was left with one native boy to push on. 

 After untold hardships, he reached King 

 Georges Sound in the spring of 1841, 

 where he was picked up by a French 

 whaler that happened to be cruising 

 along the coast. 



An account of this expedition is given 

 in the thirteenth volume of the Journal 



of the Royal Geographic Society. This 

 work ended his geographical labors. In 

 1845 he returned to England, received 

 various colonial appointments, ending 

 with that of Governor of Jamaica in 

 1864, and at the end of that year retired 

 to private life. 



The Report of the Superintendent of 

 the Coast and Geodetic Survey, Mr. 

 O. H. Tittmann, for the last fiscal year 

 describes some of the important work 

 upon which the Survey is engaged. 

 During the year the survey of the coast 

 of the Philippine Islands was com- 

 menced, and charts of harbors at all 

 important points were made. The 

 Survey adopted a standard datum, to be 

 known as the ' ' United States standard 

 datum," to which all geographic posi- 

 tions throughout the United States will 

 be reduced whenever possible. An im- 

 portant contribution to the subject of 

 geodesy was completed, ' ' the eastern 

 oblique arc of the United States." In 

 addition to extensive work in progress 

 in nearly every state of the Union, sur- 

 veys are being made on the coasts of 

 Alaska, Hawaii, Porto Rico, and the 

 Philippine Islands. A survey to deter- 

 mine the magnetic elements is in prog- 

 ress at several hundred stations dis- 

 tributed over many states and territories, 

 in all the island possessions, and in 

 Alaska, and British Columbia. 



The Work the U. S. Fish Commission 



is doing throughout the country is de- 

 scribed in the report for 1901 of the di- 

 rector of the Commission, Hon. George 

 M. Bowers. During the last fiscal year 

 1,173,833,400 fish and eggs were dis- 

 tributed. Most of these were shad, sal- 

 mon, lake trout, whitefish, pike, perch, 

 lake herring, cod, flatfish, and lobsters. 

 In Eakes Superior and Michigan, 224, 

 000,000 lake trout eggs were collected, 

 from which 19,000,000 fry were hatched. 

 Manj 7 lakes and rivers were stocked dur- 

 ing the year ; as many as 160,000,000 

 eggs were placed in the Missisquoi River, 



