GEOGRAPHIC NOTES 



SVERDRUP'S WORK IN THE ARCTICS, 



1898-1902 



THE map on the opposite page 

 shows the routes followed and 

 coastline explored by Captain Sverdrup 

 in his four years of Arctic work. In the 

 November number of the Geographical 

 Journal Sir Clements R. Markham, Pres- 

 ident of the Royal Geographical Society, 

 has summarized the work of Sverdrup 

 and his gallant companions as follows : 

 ' ' The> _ have discovered the western 

 side of Ellesmere Island and its in- 

 tricate system of fiords, as well as three 

 large islands west of Ellesmere Island ; 

 they have explored the northern coast 

 of North Devon ; they have connected 

 Belcher's work with the coasts of Jones 

 Sound ; they have reached a point 

 within 60 miles of Aldrich's furthest ; 

 and the}* have discovered that land 

 north of the Parry Islands, the existence 

 of which was conjectured, as far west 

 as the longitude of the eastern coast of 

 Melville Island. This includes the dis- 

 covery of the northern sides of North 

 Cornwall and Findlay Island. In ad- 

 dition to the main Arctic problem 

 which is thus solved, it is likely that 

 the region discovered will be of excep- 

 tional interest, from the winds and cur- 

 rents, the varying character of the ice, 

 the existence of coal beds, and the 

 abundance of animal life. A system- 

 atic survey has been made of these im- 

 portant discoveries, checked by astro- 

 nomical observations. We must look 

 forward to an account of these things, 

 and t o the details of the expedition, 

 with the deepest interest ; and mean- 

 while we may well express admiration 

 for the way in which the work was 

 conceived and executed, and at the 

 perfcc: harmony with which all loyally 

 worked under their chief. Without 

 such harmonious work success was not 

 possible." 



VOLCANIC DISTURBANCES IN 

 GUATEMALA 



REPORTS from Guatemala tell of 

 devastation and death by the re- 

 cent eruptions of Santa Maria as hor- 

 rible as the tragedies of St Pierre and 

 St Vincent. Santa Maria is a volcano 

 in western Guatemala, about 50 miles 

 from the Pacific coast. It began to 

 erupt October 25 and continued more 

 or less active until November 9. 



' ' The country for a radius of over 30 

 miles has been made a desolate waste, 

 and every vestige of life destroyed. The 

 loss of life is estimated at over 7,000, 

 the great majority of the victims being 

 Indians. Ten Indian villages, each with 

 a population of from 50 to 5,000 inhab- 

 itants, were wiped out, the rude huts 

 being buried beneath tons of volcanic 

 debris. All of the coffee plantations in 

 the volcanic zone are ruined, and their 

 owners left penniless. The greatest dis- 

 tress prevails throughout the central and 

 western portions of the republic, and 

 even on the eastern coast the effects are 

 felt in the scarcity of money and the rise 

 in exchange. 



"A famine prevails at Ouezaltenango, 

 and 10,000 people are starving. Even 

 in Guatemala City, the capital, the in- 

 habitants are suffering for food. ' The 

 government is utterly unable to relieve 

 the distress and suffering, and the peo- 

 ple are on the verge of revolution. The 

 only thing needed to start a formidable 

 uprising is the appearance of a leader." 



Porfirio Herrera, who owned a valu- 

 able coffee plantation seven miles from 

 the volcano, gives the following account 

 of the eruption : 



' ' The eruption ceased on the morn- 

 ing of November 9, when I ventured to 

 my plantation and found it buried be- 

 neath ten feet of ashes, mud, and sand 

 hurled from the volcano. Everything 

 on the place was in ruins. 



