384 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



bearing on the boundary of the great 

 continent Antarctica, whose now recog- 

 nized existence is due to the discover- 

 ies of Palmer, Bellingshausen, Wilkes, 

 D'Urville, Ross, Enderby, Drygalski, 

 Bruce, Nordenskiold, Scott, Charcot, and 

 Shackleton. Of Charcot's work M. 

 Charles Rabot justly says, kt It is one of 

 the most fruitful in scientific results of 

 any recent polar expedition not having 

 the pole as its object." 



EXPLORATIONS OF THE TWENTIETH 

 CENTURY 



The most important subjects of geo- 

 graphic research and exploration pertain, 

 however, to the habitable earth and bear 

 practically on their utilitarian relations to 

 the activities of mankind. In his scholarly 

 annual address to the American Histori- 

 cal Association, its president, Prof. F. J. 

 Turner, while pointing out that the geog- 

 rapher is an allied laborer in historical 

 study, added : ''Historians must deal with 

 the connection of geography with indus- 

 trial growth, politics, and government. 

 . . . Changing geographic factors . . . 

 must be considered if we would under- 

 stand the bearing of legislation and 

 policy." This statement conforms to the 

 generally accepted idea that the science 

 of geography covers not alone the physi- 

 cal aspects of the earth — animal, mineral, 

 and vegetable — but more particularly in- 

 cludes the interrelations of man with his 

 material environment. 



IMPORTANT FlElvDS OF ADVANCE 



It is pertinent to determine the phases 

 and locate the fields towards which re- 

 search is most persistently devoted. An 

 examination of the publications for a 

 year of the two great foreign societies, 

 the Royal Geographical Society and the 

 Societe de Geographie, disclose that in 

 the former one-third of the leading arti- 

 cles and in the latter one-half pertained 

 to Africa. The character and extent of 

 geographic work of importance are most 

 clearly indicated by the proceedings of 

 the Societe de Geographie, which, with- 

 out derogating from the special merits 

 of other societies, may be said to take 



the broadest and most laudable activity 

 in fostering and recognizing geographic 

 research. In 1910 it awarded no less 

 than 27 prizes, consisting largely of 

 medals, though often supplemented by 

 money grants. Nine awards were made 

 for work in Africa, six relative to Asia, 

 three to France, three to the Western 

 Hemisphere, three for technical work, 

 two to oceanography, and one for Ant- 

 arctica. Nineteen awards were for re- 

 searches pertaining to human relations, 

 or bearing on natural resources, while 

 one only was connected with the dis- 

 covery of new lands. In its award to 

 Shackleton the committee, recognizing 

 the evolution of modern research, said 

 pertinently : "Far from being simply a 

 wonderful tour - de - force of physical 

 vigor, it was especially and above all 

 fruitful in scientific results of the highest 

 importance." With Gallic liberality, two 

 awards were made to aliens — Sir Ernest 

 Shackleton and Mr. Bailey Willis (of 

 the National Geographic Society). 



EARL,Y AFRICAN CARTOGRAPHY 



Two of the African maps of Mattiolo, 

 Venice, 1548, are herewith reproduced. 

 Africa: , Tabula I III, shows Africa as 

 depicted by Ptolemy in the second cen- 

 tury. It will recall to many the legends 

 and tales of childhood through Caphos 

 (Cepheus), the mythical king of Ethi- 

 opia ; the man-killing elephants of the 

 equatorial interior, and the mystical 

 Mountains of the Moon {Lunce Montes), 

 which for so many centuries figured as 

 the long-sought sources of the historic 

 Nile. This second-century map of Ptol- 

 emy, it should be added, was nearer 

 correct as to the Nile and the adjacent 

 mountains than were the standard maps 

 at the beginning of the nineteenth cen- 

 tury (p. 393). 



Africa, . Nova Tabula, represents the 

 continent after the recent circumnaviga- 

 tion by da Gama (p. 391). The new 

 map enlarges the drainage basin of the 

 Nile to include the greater part of the 

 continent, introduced a score of mythical 

 cities, and eliminates the beloved Moun- 

 tains of the Moon. And thus stood, as 



