Address by Commander Robert E. Peary 389 



Josef Land, and news from his expe- 

 dition may be received at any time. 

 Amundsen is in the field laying siege to 

 the north magnetic Pole. 



But there remains still the Pole itself, 

 and the mystery of that three million 

 square miles about it, which stand as a 

 challenge and a reproach to us. 



In Asia, "the roof of the world," 

 there have been numbers of workers. 



The American explorers, Pumpelly 

 and the Workmans, have done good 

 work. The latter have attained the 

 highest altitude yet reached by human 

 beings, 7,135 meters. 



But the magnificent work of Sven 

 Hedin, the great Swedish traveler, far 

 surpasses that of all other explorers in 

 this region. In fact, this explorer un- 

 doubtedly stands foremost in energy and 

 extent and accuracy of his work among 

 the active explorers of the day. 



Lhassa, "the Forbidden City," the 

 mystery and secret of central Asia, the 

 unattained objective of many travelers, 

 has been reached and reported upon by 

 several, and today the English military 

 expedition of Captain Younghusband 

 occupies the city. The sacred city of 

 the Llamas is a mystery no longer. 



In Africa, once "the Dark Conti- 

 nent," the work of large exploration is 

 at an end, and has been succeeded by 

 the work of division and colonization. 

 No longer the ' ' Dark Continent ; " it is 

 known in its geographical entirety better 

 perhaps than South America. 



The fine French surveys in the central 

 Soudan, L'Enfant's determination of 

 actual water communication between 

 Lake Tchad and the Atlantic, through 

 the Niger system, and young Grogan's 

 feat, the longitudinal traverse of the 

 continent from Cape Town to Cairo, are 

 worthy of note. 



Abyssinia in Africa, like Tibet in Asia, 

 is being traversed and studied by trav- 

 elers of various nationalities, and Ethi- 

 opia is emerging toward a place among 

 the nations of the world. 



In North America, ' ' the granary of 

 the world," numbers of explorers have 

 been busy, more particularly in Alaska 

 and the northern portion of the conti- 

 nent, but this work will be so well cov- 

 ered by various members during the 

 meetings of the Congress that I shall not 

 attempt it here. 



A feature perhaps of this region has 

 been the recent activity of the Canadian 

 government in exploiting the northern 

 lands, though more in a political than a 

 geographical mood. 



In South America the main work since 

 the last Congress has been that of the 

 government boundary commissions. 



In Europe, "the metropolis of the 

 world, ' ' geographical work is now of ne- 

 cessity a work of detail and rigid scien- 

 tific development. 



Of this class of work perhaps no better 

 example can be given than that inaugu- 

 rated and carried on by Sir John Murray 

 in the Scottish lakes. 



The papers before the Congress cover 

 this work so well that I need to go no 

 further. 



In the domain of the oceans the mate- 

 rial obtained in connection with the sur- 

 veys for the Pacific cables and the de- 

 velopment of the Pacific ' ' great deeps ' ' 

 stand prominent. 



So much for the work in the field, the 

 work which by many is regarded as only 

 the raw material. 



As for the advances in the study, the 

 laboratory, the class-room, the text- 

 book, the list of papers before the Con- 

 gress in the Departments of Meteorol- 

 ogy, Technique, Bio-geography, An- 

 thropo-geography, and Mathematical, 

 Economic, Historical, and Educational 

 Geography will attest. 



What yet remains to be done? On 

 this I can touch only in the briefest and 

 broadest way, and from a personal point 

 of view. The Congress will determine 

 this question for itself during its sessions. 



The fact of my personal interest in the 

 polar field does not affect the truth of 



