while at Saigon in Cochin, China, a rifle was always kept handy for use
in case of the appearance of a tiger. The observatory here was located
near the edge of a jungle, and alongside the telegraph station, on the
veranda of which a large tiger had been shot by one of the operators
only a short time before.
In the expedition of last winter to Mexico and Central America, the
principal annoyance was caused by insects which were numerous and
malignant. At Coatzacoalcos they were found in the greatest abundance,
though the whole isthmus of Tehuantepec is alive with them. Fleas and
mosquitoes were expected of course, but added to this were numerous
others much worse. Of the family of "ticks" four varieties were seen
and felt, ranging in size from almost microscopic to a length of a
third of an inch. The most numerous were about as large as a grain of
mustard seed, and one who walked or rode through the bushes or high
grass would find himself literally covered. One of the worst insects
encountered was the "nigua" which is in appearance something like a
small flea. It burrows into the toes and soles of the feet, lays a
number of eggs, which hatch and produce painful sores. A gruesome story
is current in that region, about an enthusiastic English naturalist,
who found specimens of these encamped in his feet, and concluded to
take them home in that way, in order to observe the effect, but died of
them before reaching England. All the party were afflicted with these
pests, but were always fortunate enough to discover them and dig them
out with the point of a knife before any bad results were experienced.
The village of Coatzacoalcos is prettily situated, the climate,
especially in winter, is very agreeable and the river offers a
commodious harbor, but as long as the insects are so unpleasant, few
people will care to live there if they can avoid it.
There have been directly determined by these various expeditions, about
forty secondary meridians. Many more positions depend upon these, so
they may be said to have made a large addition to our accurate
knowledge of the earth's surface. Telegraphic facilities are being
constantly extended, and as the Bureau of Navigation has now a very
complete outfit for this work, which only needs occasional repairs, it
is hoped that it may be kept up for some time in the future.
REPORT--GEOGRAPHY OF THE LAND.
BY HERBERT G. OGDEN.
In my annual report a year ago, I presented to you briefly our
knowledge of the great geographic divisions of the world. It might be
instructive to continue the subject this evening by relating the
additional information we have acquired during the year; but as the
items are not of great value and the most important are more in the
form of rumors than of facts, I have restricted myself more to the
interests of the western hemisphere, and particularly to those
affecting the United States.
In Europe we have still the visions of war that have agitated her
peoples for years past; the decapitation of the Turk, and division of
his European empire to appease the ambition of "friendly powers." It is
not until we pass by this civilized section and reach the far east,
that we recognize the dawn of progress in the year; the birth of events
that may in time increase the happiness and welfare of many people.
The influence of the United States in extending the principle so early
enunciated, "that all men are born free and equal" has been most
marked. The western hemisphere is virtually under the rule of men
chosen by the people, and though we cannot claim that in all instances
the result has been satisfactory, there has, nevertheless, been a
steady advance; political disturbances have become less frequent and
with prolonged tranquillity the arts of peace, commercial enterprise
and internal improvements, have received an impetus that will wed more
strongly the advocates of personal liberty to their ideal God.
Educated men in both hemispheres predict ultimate success or failure
for our form of government and advance cogent arguments in support of
the views they express. The complications of the great economic
questions that confront us afford texts for arguments that cause many
to doubt the wisdom of entrusting the welfare of a great nation to the
votes of the masses; nevertheless, the people are firm in the belief
that they can conduct their own affairs; and those whom they intrust
with temporary power are seldom so short-sighted as not to realize that
a violation of the trust will meet with certain retribution. Those
appointed to govern must also be teachers, and if in the enthusiasm of
a new creed it shall be shown they have taught the people error instead
of truth, a national uprising sweeps them from control, and for a time
conservatism becomes the guide. To the people of the old world, the
apparent prosperity that has followed our system doubtless receives the
most earnest thought; and the contrast to their own condition excites
their desires to experiment themselves in more liberal forms, and reap
the rewards they believe have followed such measures in America.
While American methods may extend their influence in this manner to
European nations, and even to the nations of Asia, we should not rest
self-confident of the superiority of our institutions, and that they
alone are the permeating influence that inspire so many with the
thoughts of liberal government that brings disquiet to crowned heads.
The application of recent discoveries and inventions, to the affairs of
every-day life, have raised the power of the individual and caused such
a general increase of intellectual vigor, that independence of rulers
by divine right is no longer a cause for wonder, but is considered by
the intelligent as the natural state for the modern man.
Since the expedition of Com. Perry our influence in Japan has been
marked, and this most progressive of the Eastern nations has sought
counsel and advice from new America and the men who constitute the
nation. But the progressive people of these isles have been too earnest
in their efforts to advance, to rely solely upon one set of men, or the
example of one nation, and we find they have been gathering in that
which is good from all sections of the civilized world. The record of
their progress, however, bears the stamp of America, and we may justly
claim that it was the influence of freedom that first led these
interesting people into the paths they have followed with such
gratifying results, and which many believe will culminate in the
establishment of a powerful and enlightened nation. Recent advices
announce the formation of a legislative body, organized on the
principle of the Congress of the United States--a step that indicates
Japan may yet find a place in the category of states that are destined
to exert a marked influence in the control of human affairs.
How different is the neighboring empire of China. Within a stone's
throw, almost, of the advancing civilization of Japan, inhabited by a
people of marked ability but restricted by race traditions to a
condition of inactive conservatism, that seems almost to preclude the
possibility of material advance in centuries to come. The population of
this empire is so great that the density has been averaged at two and
three hundred persons per square mile, and in some districts that it is
as great as seven hundred. We can readily conceive the poverty that
must exist in such an average population for such an extended area. And
we may realize the cries of distress that come from great calamities by
the experiences in our own history, even modified as they have been by
our superior facilities for affording relief, and the comparative
insignificance of the numbers who have required assistance. Recall for
a moment one of the great floods of the Yellow river, where thousands
have perished and tens of thousands have been rendered destitute within
a few hours, and conceive the sufferings, hardships, and greater number
that must yet succumb before those who survived the first great rush of
the waters can be furnished relief; remembering that the means of
intercommunication are the most primitive, and that the immediate
neighbors of the sufferers are in no condition to render more
assistance than will relieve the most urgent necessities of a
comparatively insignificant number. May we not, then, if only from a
humanitarian point of view, greet with pleasure the reception of the
imperial decree authorizing the introduction in the empire of useful
inventions of civilized man, and directing the construction of a great
railroad through the heart of the empire, with Pekin as one of the
termini. This road will cross the Yellow river, affording relief to
this populous district in time of disaster; and it is understood will
eventually be extended to traverse the empire, forming a means of rapid
communication between distant provinces. We may believe, also, that in
time it will be the medium of opening to us a new region for geographic
research, not in the celestial empire alone, but also in the rich
fields of central Asia that are now being occupied by Chinese
emigration.
Doubtless the greatest geographic discoveries of the age have been made
in central Africa. It was but a few years ago that we were in doubt as
to the true sources of the Nile, and the location of the mouths of
great rivers that had been followed in the interior, was as much a
mystery as though the rivers had flowed into a heated cauldron and the
waters had been dissipated in mist, by the winds, to the four corners
of the earth. It was then that grave fears were aroused for the safety
of Livingstone, who had done so much, and whose efforts it was hoped
would yet solve the great geographic problems his travels had evolved.
A man, patient in suffering, and with a tenacity of purpose that
overcomes the greatest obstacles, he had endeared himself to those who
sought knowledge from his labors, and it was, therefore, with unfeigned
regret that men spoke of the possibility that calamity had overtaken
him, and that the work of the last years of his life would possibly be
lost. The editor of an influential New York journal, sympathizing with
the deep interest that was felt, and doubtless actuated to some extent
by the notoriety success would bring to his journal, determined upon
organizing an expedition to ascertain Livingstone's fate, and thus
brought before the world the hitherto obscure correspondent Henry M.
Stanley. The rare good judgment that selected Mr. Stanley for the
command of such a hazardous expedition was more than demonstrated by
subsequent events. The first reports that Livingstone had been succored
were received with incredulity, but as the facts became known
incredulity gave way to unstinted praise, and Mr. Stanley was accorded
a place among those who had justly earned a reward from the whole
civilized world.
A few years after his return from his successful mission for the relief
of Livingstone, he was commissioned in the joint interests of the _New
York Herald_ and _London Daily Telegraph_, to command an expedition for
the exploration of central Africa. Traversing the continent from east
to west, he added largely to our knowledge of the lake region and was
the first to bring us facts of the course of the Congo. This expedition
placed him before the world as one of the greatest of explorers, and it
seems, therefore, to have been but natural that, when a great
humanitarian expedition was to be organized nearly ten years later to
penetrate into the still unknown regions of the equatorial belt for the
relief of Emin Pasha, that he should have been selected to command it.
How faithfully he performed this task we are only just learning, and
our admiration increases with every new chapter that is placed before
us. That he was successful in the main object of the expedition is
self-evident, having brought Emin Pasha and the remnant of his
followers to the coast with him. The expedition has also been fruitful
in geographic details, and though we have not as yet the data to change
the maps to accord with all the newly discovered facts, we may feel
assured of their value. Perhaps the best summary of the more important
discoveries can be given in the explorer's own words, which I have
taken from one of his recent letters:
"Over and above the happy ending of our appointed duties we have not
been unfortunate in geographical discoveries. The Aruwimi is now known
from its source to its bourne. The great Congo forest, covering as
large an area as France and the Iberian peninsula, we can now certify
to be an absolute fact. The Mountains of the Moon, this time beyond the
least doubt, have been located, and Ruwenzori, 'The Cloud King,' robed
in eternal snow, has been seen and its flanks explored and some of its
shoulders ascended, Mounts Gordon Bennett and MacKinnan Cones being but
great sentries warding off the approach to the inner area of 'The Cloud
King.'
"On the southeast of the range the connection between Albert Edward
Nyanza and the Albert Nyanza has been discovered, and the extent of the
former lake is now known for the first time. Range after range of
mountains has been traversed, separated by such tracts of pasture lands
as would make your cowboys out west mad with envy. And right under the
burning equator we have fed on blackberries and bilberries and quenched
our thirst with crystal water fresh from snow beds. We have also been
able to add nearly six thousand square miles of water to Victoria
Nyanza.
"Our naturalist will expatiate upon the new species of animals, birds
and plants he has discovered. Our surgeon will tell what he knows of
the climate and its amenities. It will take us all we know how to say
what new store of knowledge has been gathered from this unexpected
field of discoveries. I always suspected that in the central regions,
between the equatorial lakes, something worth seeing would be found,
but I was not prepared for such a harvest of new facts."
The exploration of Africa, however, has not been confined to the
central belt. Expeditions have been developing the southern section of
the continent; the French have been active in the watershed of the
Niger, and in the east there seems to have been a general advance of
English, Germans, Portuguese and Italians. The latter, it is stated,
have acquired several million square miles of territory in Mozambique,
an acquisition that would indicate our maps have heretofore given this
particular division of territory an area much too insignificant.
We also learn that Capt. Trevier, a French traveler, has crossed the
continent by ascending the Congo to Stanley Falls, thence southeasterly
through the lake region to the coast at some point in Mozambique, in a
journey of eighteen months; a journey that must bring us a harvest of
new facts.
On the western hemisphere there has been considerable activity in a
variety of interest, tending to develop the political, commercial and
natural resources.
Four new states have been admitted to the American Union, and measures
have been introduced in the Congress looking to the admission of two
more. These acts mark an era in the progress of the great northwest
significant of a national prosperity that a generation ago would have
been deemed visionary. We have also to record a tentative union formed
by the Central American states, that at the expiration of the term of
ten years prescribed by the compact, we may hope will be solidified by
a bond to make the union perpetual. In South America a bloodless
revolution presented to the family of nations a new republic in the
United States of Brazil. All thoughtful men must at least feel a throb
of sympathy for Dom Pedro, who in a night lost the allegiance of his
people and the rule of an empire. Sympathy, perhaps, that he does not
crave, for history affords us no parallel of a monarch who taught his
people liberalism, and knowing it could but lead to the downfall of his
empire. It seems to be true, also, that although depriving him of
power, the people whom he loved and ruled with such liberality, have
not forgotten his many virtues, and that the Emperor Dom Pedro will be
revered in republican Brazil as heartily as though his descendants had
been permitted to inherit the empire. We cannot tell if the new order
of affairs will prove permanent, but the education of the Brazilians in
the belief that a republic was inevitable, gives strong grounds to hope
the experiment of self-government will not be a failure. The influence
the successful establishment of this republic is to exert in other
parts of the world is a problem that has already brought new worries to
the rulers of Europe, and not without a reason, for a republican
America is an object lesson that the intelligence of the age will not
be slow to learn.
The assembly of the "Three Americas Congress" in Washington, is also an
event that may wield an influence in the future. Perhaps it may not be
seen for years to come, but it lays the foundation for commercial and
geographic developments that would redound to the credit of the western
hemisphere.
We have seen during the year the virtual failure of the Panama Canal
company; for it is unreasonable to believe that a corporation so
heavily involved with such a small proportion of its allotted labor
accomplished, can secure the large sum that would be requisite to
continue operations to completion. The failure of this company has
imparted a fresh impetus to the Nicaragua scheme and ground was broken
on this route in October last. As the Nicaragua route presents many
natural advantages and is free from such stupendous engineering works
as were contemplated at Panama, we may hope for its completion. The
surveys were conducted with deliberation and have evidenced great skill
on the part of those who supervised them, so that we may reasonably
expect the construction will proceed with the same care, and resolve
the question of success into the simple problem of cost.
A partial account has been furnished by Dr. Nansen of his journey
across Greenland a year ago. The result will be disappointing to those
who anticipated the discovery of open country with green fields and the
general reversal of the Arctic conditions. He describes the region as
being covered with a great shield of ice, dome-like in shape, and which
he estimates to have a maximum thickness of six or seven thousand feet.
For a great part of his journey he traveled at an elevation of about
eight thousand feet, and the cold at times was so intense that he
believes the temperature must have been at least 50° below zero on the
Fahrenheit scale. No land was visible in the interior and he estimates
the highest mountains must be covered with at least several hundred
feet of snow ice. The expedition was one of great danger, and we may
say was accomplished only through the good judgment of the explorer.
The scientific results have not yet been considered, but the explorer
suggests it is an excellent region to study an existing ice field, and
estimates that persistent observations might prove productive of value
in the science of meteorology.
The Canadians have been active during the year in the exploration of
the vast territory to the northward of their supposed habitable
regions. In the report of Dr. Dawson relating the result of his labors
in the northwest, up to the date of its compilation, we find much that
is new and a great deal that is of interest. We cannot enter into the
details of his itinerary, but we may note as one fact that surely will
excite surprise, the conclusion he reaches that there is a territory of
about 60,000 square miles, the most part to the northward of the
sixtieth parallel, in which agricultural pursuits may be successfully
followed in conjunction with the natural development of the other
resources of the territory. This does not imply that it may become an
agricultural region, and should hardly be construed as more than a
prediction that the pioneers who attempt to develop the region need not
die of starvation.
We have also to record as a matter of interest in the Arctic region,
the successful establishment of the two parties sent out by the United
States to determine the location of the 141st meridian, the boundary
line between Alaska and the British Provinces north of Mt. St. Elias.
The parties are located on the Yukon and Porcupine rivers above their
confluence at Ft. Yukon. They are well equipped, and it is expected
they will explore a considerable territory and bring back with them
valuable information beyond the special object of the expedition.
Indeed, it may be said, this is but the beginning of a thorough
examination of Alaskan territory, that will eventually form a basis for
the demarkation of the international boundary. This country is full of
surprises in its details, and whatever examinations are made must be
thorough to be effective. Only recently, a small indentation, as it has
been carried on the maps since Vancouver's time, and known as Holkham
Bay, has been found to be a considerable body of water, extending back
from Stephen's passage in two arms, each nearly thirty miles in length
and nearly reaching the assumed location of the Alaska boundary. So
perfectly is the bifurcation and extension of the arms hidden by
islands, that it was only during the past summer when in the regular
course of work the shores of the bay were to be traversed, that the
extent of the bay became known.