1 882.] Geography and Travels. 427 



to nearly 3000 feet high, which are wooded to their summits, and 

 is surrounded by coral reefs with pretty detached islets; all 

 sorts of fruits and vegetables grow there in abundance. The 

 ruins of residences of former chiefs are numerous and consist of 

 enclosures within enclosures, with walls in some places thirty feet 

 high and upwards of twelve feet thick, built of great basaltic 

 prisms (many of them twelve feet by two feet six inches), laid 

 regularly tier upon tier ; each tier being at right angles to the one 

 below, and the interstices filled in with coral and rubble. 1 



The Pamir. — The Russian traveler, M. Severtsof, gives the fol- 

 lowing results of his last journey in the Pamir: The Pamir is 

 not a table-land and has no steppe region up to the height of 

 about 12,000 feet. Up to an elevation of some 14,000 feet, the 

 rivers flow in valleys which never exceed about thirteen miles in 

 width. This peculiarity occurs also in the Tien Shan and Tibet 

 where narrow valleys are found at a considerable elevation. 

 There are, however, no lofty plateaux in the Pamir, where the 

 mountains rise in lofty ridges 6000 or 7000 feet above the level of 

 the valleys. In the Pamir mountain system, M. Severtsof states 

 that 19,000 feet above the level of the sea is often reached, while 

 three mountain groups attain an absolute elevation of 25,000 

 feet. He says, however, that these elevations do not alter the 

 generally symmetrical character of the Inner Pamir. The 

 mountain lines stretch in the direction of the meridian, and sel- 

 dom strike out at right angles, in which respect they resemble 

 those in the Tibetan system, while in the Tien Shan there is a 

 tendency to parallel ranges. M. Severtsof is of the opinion from 

 the evidence he obtained, that in the Inner Pamir the ground- 

 work of the system, the elevation, which in 12,000 years has risen 

 600 feet, is still going on. 



Alaska.— Mr. E. W. Nelson has recently returned to Washing- 

 ton after four years spent in Alaska, chiefly at the U. S. Signal 

 Station at St. Michaels, on Norton Sound, where he was sent by 

 the Smithsonian Institution to study the meteorology and natu- 

 ral history of the region. The New York Herald states that he 

 has made exhaustive researches in the mammalogy, ornithology 

 and ichthyology, as well as in the ethnology and physical geog- 

 raphy of the surrounding country. He made extensive sledge 

 journeys and obtained a very valuable collection of Eskimo im- 

 plements and utensils, and has brought back with him many 

 w ater-color sketches of birds and fish, photographs, and also 

 much information concerning the language and life of the West- 

 ern Eskimo. 



Polar Stations.— The Austrians are making active prepara- 

 tions to establish their polar station at Jan Mayen. 



A he Germans have appointed a commission to make the neces- 



1 Royal Geographical Society Proceedings, February, 1882. 



