472 



The National Geographic Magazine 



Mr Dawson expresses great faith in 

 the Argentine Republic : 



' ' The industrial impetus already ac- 

 quired by the Argentine Republic is 

 sufficient to carry it over all obstacles, 

 and it seems assured that there will be 

 a rapid settlement of the whole of this 

 immense and fertile plain. Here Nature 

 has done everything to make commu- 

 nication easy, and a temperate climate 

 insures crops suited to modern Euro- 

 pean civilization. 



' ' Two grave perils have so far been 

 encountered, namely, a tendency to- 

 ward political disintegration and an 

 abuse of the taxing power. The for- 

 mer is now remote ; for since the rail- 

 ways began to concentrate wealth and 

 influence at Buenos Aires and to destroy 

 the prestige and political power of the 

 provincial capitals, the natural structure 

 built by the patriots of 1853 has stood 

 firmer each year. 



"Argentina has had a bitter lesson 

 of the evils of governmental extrava- 

 gance and still groans under the burden 

 of a debt which seems disproportion- 

 ately heavy, but the growth of popula- 

 tion and wealth will soon overtake it, 

 and the very difficulties of meeting in- 

 terest are the cause of an economy in 

 administration, of which the good effects 

 will be felt long after the debt itself has 

 been reduced to a reasonable per capita. 

 A nation is in the process of formation 

 in the Plata Valley whose material 

 greatness is certain and whose moral 

 and intellectual characteristics will have 

 the widest influence on the rest of South 

 America. ' ' 



In Search of a Siberian Klondike. By 



Washington B. Vanderlip and Homer 

 B. Hulbert. With many illustra- 

 tions. Pp. xiv +315. 5% by 8)4 

 inches. New York : The Century 

 Co. 1903. $2.00 net. 

 One of the most interestingly illus- 

 trated books of exploration published 

 in a long time. The story is well told. 

 Occasionally the author slips up in his 



statements — as, for instance, when he 

 recommends the United States to im- 

 port their reindeer for Alaska from 

 Kamchatka instead of from Lapland. 

 He is apparently ignorant of the fact 

 that the United States Government has 

 been importing reindeer from across 

 Bering Sea ever since 1891, and has 

 only once brought reindeer from Lap- 

 land, in the winter of 1898, when deer 

 were needed immediately to rescue the 

 miners in the Yukon Valley. The Alas- 

 kan and Siberian herds could not be 

 drawn on then, because navigation had 

 been closed by the winter ice. 



BOOKS RECEIVED FOR REVIEW 



The Book of Ser Marco Polo. Trans- 

 lated and edited by Col. Sir Henry 

 Yule. Third edition. With memoir 

 of Henry Yule by his daughter. 

 Profusely illustrated. Vol. I, pp. 

 cii -f- 462 ; vol. II, xxii + 662. 6 

 by 9 inches. New York : Imported 

 by Charles Scribner's Sons. 1903. 

 $16.00 net. 



On the Polar Star in the Arctic Sea. 

 By the Duke of the Abruzzi. 2 vols. , 

 Svo. With maps and illustrations. 

 New York: Dodd, Mead & Co. 1903. 

 $10.00. 



Aus Insulinde, Malayische Reisebriefe. 

 Von Ernst Haeckel. Illustrated. 

 Pp. xi 4- 261. 6J'2 bj r g% inches. 

 Bonn : Verlag von Emil Strauss. 1 901 . 



Geographic Influences in American His- 

 tory. By Albert Perry Brigham. 

 With many illustrations. Pp. 366. 

 5 by "jyi inches. Boston: Ginn & Co. 



1903- 

 To California and Back. By C. A. 



Higgins. With many illustrations. 

 Pp- 3 r 7- 5/'2 by 8 inches. New 

 York: Doubleday, Page & Co. 1903. 

 $ 1 . 50 net. 

 Vacation Days in Greece. By Ruf us B. 

 Richardson. Illustrated. Pp. 240. 

 5^ by 8>2 inches. New York: 

 Charles Scribner's Sons. 1903. $2.00 

 net. 



