{i}
THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE
VOLUME III, 1891
[Illustration: National Geographic Society seal]
WASHINGTON
PUBLISHED BY THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY
1892
{ii}
OFFICERS OF THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY
1891
GARDINER G. HUBBARD, _President_
HERBERT G. OGDEN |
EVERETT HAYDEN |
A. W. GREELY | _Vice-Presidents_
C. HART MERRIAM |
HENRY GANNETT |
CHARLES J. BELL, _Treasurer_
MARCUS BAKER |
C. A. KENASTON | _Secretaries_
ROGERS BIRNIE, JR. |
G. K. GILBERT |
G. BROWN GOODE |
WILLARD D. JOHNSON |
W J MCGEE | _Managers_
T. C. MENDENHALL |
W. B. POWELL |
B. H. WARDER |
PRINTERS
JUDD & DETWEILER
WASHINGTON
ENGRAVERS
MOSS ENGRAVING CO.
NEW YORK
{iii}
_CONTENTS_.
Page
South America: Annual Address by the President, GARDINER G.
HUBBARD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Geography of the Land: Annual Report by Vice-President HERBERT G.
OGDEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Geography of the Air: Annual Report by Vice-President A. W.
GREELY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
An Expedition to Mount St. Elias, Alaska; by ISRAEL C. RUSSELL . 53
Introduction--The Southern Coast of Alaska . . . . . . . . . 55
Part I--Previous Explorations in the St. Elias Region . . . . 58
Part II--Narrative of the St. Elias Expedition of 1890 . . . 75
Part III--Sketch of the Geology of the St. Elias Region . . . 167
Part IV--Glaciers of the St. Elias Region . . . . . . . . . . 176
Part V--Height and Position of Mount St. Elias . . . . . . . 189
Appendix A--Official Instructions governing the Expedition . 192
Appendix B--Report on topographic Work; by MARK B. KERR . . . 195
Appendix C--Report on auriferous Sands from Yakutat Bay; by
J. STANLEY-BROWN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Appendix D--Report on fossil Plants; by LESTER F. WARD . . . 199
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
The Cartography and Observations of Bering's First Voyage; by
A. W. GREELY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Height and Position of Mount St. Elias; by ISRAEL C. RUSSELL . . 231
The Heart of Africa; by E. C. HORE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
Report of Committee on Exploration in Alaska . . . . . . . . . . 248
Notes--La Carte de France, dite de l'Etat Major, par M. J. COLLET 250
Polar Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
The Crossing of Tibet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
Statistics of Railways in United States . . . . . . . . . 255
Index to volume III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Title-page and Imprimatur of Board of Mangers . . . . . . . . i
Contents and Illustrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
Publications of the National Geographic Society . . . . . . . v
Proceedings of the National Geographic Society . . . . . . . vii
Officers of the Society for 1892 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv
Members of the Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv
{iv}
_ILLUSTRATIONS_.
Page
Plate 1--South America (map) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2--Sketch Map of Alaska . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
3--Map of the St. Elias Region, after La Pérouse . . . . . 59
4--Map of the eastern Shore of Yakutat Bay, after Dixon . 61
5--Map of the St. Elias Region, after Malaspina . . . . . 64
6--Map of Bay de Monti, after Malaspina . . . . . . . . . 64
7--Map of Disenchantment Bay, after Malaspina . . . . . . 67
8--Sketch Map of St. Elias Region, by MARK B. KERR . . . . 74
9--The Hubbard Glacier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
10--Wall of Ice on eastern Side of Atrevida Glacier . . . . 105
11--View on Atrevida Glacier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
12--Entrance of an Ice Tunnel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
13--Deltas in an abandoned Lake Bed . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
14--A River on Lucia Glacier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
15--Entrance to a glacial Tunnel . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
16--View of Malaspina Glacier from Blossom Island . . . . . 120
17--Moraines on Marvine Glacier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
18--View of the Hitchcock Range from near Dome Pass . . . . 144
19--View of Mount St. Elias from Dome Pass . . . . . . . . 146
20--View of Mount St. Elias from Seward Glacier . . . . . . 175
21--Carte Générale des Découvertes de l'Amiral de Fonte
(1752) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
RUSSELL: Figure 1--Diagram illustrating the Formation of Icebergs 101
2--View of a glacial Lakelet . . . . . . . . . . 120
3--Section of a glacial Lakelet . . . . . . . . . 120
4--Diagram illustrating the Formation of marginal
Crevasses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
5--Crevasses near Pinnacle Pass . . . . . . . . . 130
6--Snow Crests on Ridges and Peaks . . . . . . . 143
7--Faulted Pebble from Pinnacle Pass . . . . . . 171
8--Faulted Pebble from Pinnacle Pass . . . . . . 171
{v}
PUBLICATIONS OF THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
REGULAR PUBLICATIONS.
In addition to announcements of meetings and various circulars sent to
members from time to time, the Society issues a single serial
publication entitled THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE. During the
first two years of the existence of the Society this serial was issued
in quarterly numbers. With the beginning of the third year of the
Society and the third volume of the _Magazine_ the form of publication
was changed, and the serial now appears at irregular intervals in
parts or brochures (designated by pages and designed either for
separate preservation or for gathering into volumes) which consist
either of single memoirs or of magazine brochures made up of articles,
notes, abstracts, and other geographic matter, together with the
Proceedings and other administrative records of the Society.
The _Magazine_ is mailed free to members of the Society and to
exchanges. The first two volumes, as well as the separate brochures of
the third and the complete volume, are sold at the prices given below
by the Secretary, Mr. F. H. Newell, U. S. Geological Survey,
Washington, D. C.
To To the
Members. Public.
Volume I, 1889: 4 numbers, 334 pages, 16 plates
and 26 figures . . . . . . . . . $1 40 $2 00
Volume II, 1890: 5 numbers, 344 pages, 10 plates
and 11 figures . . . . . . . . . 1 40 2 00
Volume III, 1891: Comprising:
South America; Annual Address by the President,
Gardiner G. Hubbard: pp. 1-30, pl. 1,
March 28, 1891 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0 15 $0 25
Geography of the Land; Annual Report by
Vice-President Herbert G. Ogden: pp. 31-40,
April 30, 1891 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 25
Geography of the Air; Annual Report by
Vice-President A. W. Greely: pp. 41-52,
May 1, 1891 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 25
An Expedition to Mount St. Elias, by
I. C. Russell: pp. 53-204 (with 8 figures),
pls. 2-20, May 29, 1891 85 1 50
Magazine brochure, pp. 205-261, i-xxxv, pl. 21,
February 19, 1892 40 75
----- -----
1 60 3 00
{vi} IRREGULAR PUBLICATIONS.
In the interests of exact bibliography, the Society takes cognizance
of all publications issued either wholly or partly under its auspices.
Each author of a memoir published in THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE
receives 25 copies, and is authorized to order any number of
additional copies at a slight advance on the cost of press-work and
paper; and these separate brochures are identical with those of the
regular edition issued by the Society. Contributors to the magazine
brochures are authorized to order any number of copies of their
contributions at a slight advance on cost of press-work and paper,
provided these separates bear the original pagination and a printed
reference to the serial and volume from which they are extracted; but
such separates are bibliographically distinct from the brochures
issued by the Society. The _Magazine_ is not copyrighted, and articles
may be reprinted freely; and a record of reprints, so far as known, is
kept.
The following separates and reprints from volume III have been issued:
_Editions uniform with the Brochures of the Magazine_.
Pages 1-30, plate 1: 150 copies, March 28, 1891.
" 31-40, 25 " May 2, 1891.
" 41-52, 25 " " 2, 1891.
" 53-204, plates 2-20: 250 " " 29, 1891.
_Special Editions_.
Pages 205-230, plate 21: 50 copies, February 18, 1892.
" 231-237, 100 " " 16, 1892.
" v, 1,000 " " 19, 1892.
" xv-xxxv, 50 " " 13, 1892.
_Reprints_.
Pages 196-198, 100 copies, January 3, 1892.
{vii}
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
(_Abstract of Minutes_.)
_March 6, 1891. 49th meeting_.
Meeting held in the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club. Vice-President
Hayden in the chair. Attendance, 50.
Captain E. C. Hore, master mariner, delivered an address on "A
narrative of ten years' work and travel in the African lake region."
_Abstract entitled "The Heart of Africa" printed in this volume, pp.
238-243_.
_March 13, 1891. Special meeting_.
Meeting held in the Lecture Room of the National Museum.
Vice-President Ogden in the chair. Attendance, 850.
Captain E. C. Hore repeated his former lecture with additions.
_Abstract printed in this volume, pp. 243-247_.
_March 20, 1891. 50th meeting_.
Meeting held in the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club. Mr. G. K.
Gilbert in the chair. Attendance, 35.
Vice-President Greely read a paper on "The cartography and
observations of Bering's first voyage." The paper was discussed by
Messrs Dall, Blodgett, Littlehales, and Vice-President Hayden.
_Printed in this volume, pp. 205-230, pl. 21_.
Mr. J. Stanley-Brown presented a paper on "Auriferous sands from
Yakutat bay." _Printed in this volume, pp. 196-198_.
Mr. I. C. Russell read a paper on "The geology of the Mount St. Elias
region, Alaska." The paper was discussed by Messrs Gilbert (who had
resigned the chair to Vice-President Hayden), Dall, Johnson, and
Russell. _Incorporated in the memoir forming pp. 53-204, pls. 2-20, of
this volume_.
{viii} _March 31, 1891. Special meeting_.
Meeting held in the Law Lecture Room of Columbian University.
Vice-President Ogden in the chair. Attendance, 300.
Mr. Sergius Stepniak delivered an address on "The Russian peasantry."
_April 3, 1891. 51st meeting_.
Meeting held in the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club, Vice-President
Hayden in the chair. Attendance, 35.
A paper on "The Mackenzie river and Colinson," by Vice-President
Greely, was read by title in the absence of the author.
Ensign J. A. Hoogewerff, U. S. N., presented an account of the
"Magnetic work of the United States Naval Observatory." The paper was
discussed by Messrs Baker, Abbe, Ogden, Hayden, and Hoogewerff.
Mr. F. H. Bigelow presented a paper on "Auroral streamers."
Mr. Cleveland Abbe made some remarks on "Theories of magnetic
phenomena."
_April 11, 1891. Special meeting_.
Meeting held in the Lecture Hall of the National Museum. President
Hubbard in the chair. Attendance, 750.
Major J. W. Powell delivered an address on "The Grand cañon of
Colorado river."
_April 17, 1891. 52d meeting_.
Meeting held in Lincoln Hall. President Hubbard in the chair.
Attendance, 1,000.
Mr. Geo. W. Melville, Engineer-in-Chief, U. S. N., briefly explained
the purposes of arctic exploration.
Civil Engineer R. E. Peary, U. S. N., addressed the Society on the
subject of his proposed northern Greenland expedition of 1891-92. The
lecturer exhibited and explained a number of lantern-slide views
illustrating arctic scenery and modes of traveling.
On the conclusion of the address a United States flag, provided for
the purpose by Miss Ulrica Dahlgren, was presented by the President on
behalf of the Society to Lieut. Peary, who responded feelingly.
{ix} _April 24, 1891. Special meeting_.
Meeting held in the Lecture Room of the National Museum. Attendance,
400.
Mr. H. M. Wilson, of the United States Geological Survey, delivered an
address on the subject "India: Its geography and people." At the close
of the lecture Mr. Wilson exhibited and explained a number of
lantern-slides made from views taken by him while traveling in India.
_May 1, 1891. 53d meeting_.
Meeting held in the Lecture Hall of the National Museum.
Vice-President Hayden in the chair. Attendance, 600.
Mr. Courtenay De Kalb delivered an address on "The great Amazon:
Personal investigations on the Great River and in its upper valley."
At the close of the lecture Mr. De Kalb exhibited a number of
lantern-slide views, which he described.
_May 15, 1891. 54th meeting_.
Meeting held in the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club. Vice-President
Hayden in the chair. Attendance, 25.
At the request of the Board of Managers, Mr. Marcus Baker made a
statement relative to plans by the Board for further Alaskan
exploration in the vicinity of Mount St. Elias under the conduct of
Mr. I. C. Russell, to be prosecuted the coming season.
Mr. Gilbert, complying with the request of the Chairman, addressed the
Society upon some of the questions involved in Alaskan geology.
Dr. Sheldon Jackson, at the invitation of the Society, spoke on the
general aspects of the Alaskan coast and the inhabitants of the
country.
Remarks were made, following Dr. Jackson's address, by the Chairman,
Mr. J. H. Blodgett, and others.
In connection with the announcement of the proposed Field Day, June 3
and 4 next, to the grottoes near Shendun, in the Shenandoah valley,
Virginia, Major Jed. Hotchkiss gave an interesting account of the
topography of the valley.
An exhibition of lantern-slide views of Alaskan coast scenery
followed, the pictures being explained by Mr. I. C. Russell.
{x} _May 29, 1891. 55th meeting_.
Meeting held in the Lecture Room of the National Museum. Attendance,
800.
Reverend Dr. H. C. Hovey delivered an address on "Subterranean scenery
as found in the grottoes of the Shenandoah and other caverns of
Virginia," with illustrations from lantern-slide views exhibited for
the first time. Following the address, Major Hotchkiss illustrated
with free-hand sketches on the blackboard the topography of the valley
of Virginia, interspersing his remarks with war reminiscences.
_June 3 and 4. Field meeting_.
About 80 members left Washington on special train June 3, arriving at
3 p.m. at Shendun, Virginia, where they were entertained by the
Grottoes company. Weir cave was visited that afternoon, and in the
evening a meeting was held in the hotel parlor, at which remarks were
made by Mr. G. K. Gilbert, Reverend Dr. H. C. Hovey, Major H. E.
Alvord, Captain Morton, General J. J. Reynolds, and Hon. J. Randolph
Tucker. The next morning Major Hotchkiss entertained the company with
a description of the resources of the Valley of Virginia, his remarks
being illustrated by free-hand sketches. The Cave of the Fountain was
then visited, and, after presenting a testimonial to Major Hotchkiss
for the hospitality of the Grottoes company, the party left for
Washington.
_October 15, 1891. Special meeting_.
Meeting held in the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club. President
Hubbard in the chair. Attendance, 50.
Professor T. McKenney Hughes, professor of geology at Cambridge
University, England, gave a sketch of geological problems and the
larger questions of geology in England.
Messrs Powell, McGee, and Gilbert made remarks on the geologic
subjects touched upon by Professor Hughes.
_November 13, 1891. 56th meeting_.
Meeting held in the Lecture Hall of Columbian University. President
Hubbard in the chair. Attendance, 400.
The exercises consisted of an exhibition of Arctic photographs {xi}
by General A. W. Greely, U. S. A., comprising lantern-slide views from
photographs taken during the expedition to Lady Franklin bay in 1881,
and never before exhibited in the city.
_November 27, 1891. 57th meeting_.
Meeting held in the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club. Vice-President
Hayden in the chair. Attendance, 65.
Mr. Herbert G. Ogden made an oral communication on "The geographic
position of Mount St. Elias," illustrated by a chart exhibiting the
position of St. Elias, Icy bay, Yakutat bay, and the adjacent coast as
determined (1) from various surveys compiled by the United States
Coast and Geodetic Survey, (2) by Mark B. Kerr during the first
expedition of the Society, and (3) by I. C. Russell during the second
expedition.
The communication was discussed by Messrs Mendenhall, Douglas, and
Vice-President Hayden.
Mr. E. E. Howell then exhibited and briefly described a relief model
of the United States, constructed on the natural curvature, the
vertical scale being three times that of the horizontal.
Remarks were made by Messrs Ogden, McGee, Johnson, Mendenhall, Howell,
Hayden, and others.
_December 4, 1891. Special meeting_.
Meeting held in the Lecture Hall of Columbian University.
Mr. William Eleroy Curtis delivered an address on "Portraits of
Columbus." The lecturer exhibited copies of all Columbus' portraits
extant, these having been prepared for the World's Columbian
exposition.
_December 11, 1891. 58th meeting_.
Meeting held in the Lecture Hall of Columbian University.
Vice-President Greely in the chair. Attendance, 400.
Mr. I. C. Russell gave an account of the Mount St. Elias exploration
of last summer, illustrated by a map and lantern slides.
_December 18, 1891. Special meeting_.
Meeting held in the Lecture Hall of Columbian University.
Vice-President Hayden in the chair. Attendance, 100.
Mr. F. H. Newell delivered an address on "Petroleum and natural gas."
The lecture was illustrated by lantern slides made from photographs
taken in the oil regions of the United States.
{xii} _December 23, 1891. 59th_ (_4th annual_) _meeting_.
Meeting held in the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club. Vice-President
Greely in the chair.
The annual report of the Secretaries was presented, amended, and
adopted.
The annual report of the Treasurer was presented and referred to an
auditing committee consisting of Messrs P. H. Christie, Middleton
Smith, and E. E. Haskell.
The annual election of officers for the year 1892 was then held, with
the following result:
_President_--Gardiner G. Hubbard.
_Vice-Presidents_--H. G. Ogden (land).
Everett Hayden (sea).
A. W. Greely (air).
C. Hart Merriam (life).
Henry Gannett (art).
_Treasurer_--C. J. Bell.
_Recording Secretary_--F. H. Newell.
_Corresponding Secretary_--E. R. Scidmore.
_Managers_--Marcus Baker.
H. F. Blount.
G. K. Gilbert.
John Hyde.
W J McGee.
T. C. Mendenhall.
W. B. Powell.
Edwin Willits.
The following resolution was adopted:
_Resolved_, That the Board of Managers be requested to consider
whether, instead of the present policy of publishing only a few
selected articles, these might not advantageously be replaced by a
greater variety of less lengthy and expensive works, and whether a few
pages of geographic notes might not be inserted.
Mr. Hayden gave notice of the following proposed amendment to the
By-laws:
In article IV, instead of five vice-presidents, read six
vice-presidents, and insert at the end of list of departments of
geographic science, after geographic art, the words "commercial
geography."
{xiii} _December 30, 1891. Special meeting_.
Meeting held in the Lecture Hall of the National Museum. President
Hubbard in the chair. Attendance, 200.
Professor Benjamin Sharp of the Academy of Natural Sciences of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, made an address upon Peary and the western
Greenland expedition. The lecture was illustrated by lantern slides
from photographs taken on the expedition while along the shores of
Greenland and at Peary's camp.
_January 8, 1892. 60th meeting_.
Meeting held in the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club. Vice-President
Merriam in the chair. Attendance, 150.
Mr. W J McGee delivered an address on "The Eastern Sierra Madre of
Mexico," his lecture being illustrated by lantern slides made from
photographs taken in the vicinity of Monterey, Saltillo, Matehuala,
Miquihuana, Doctor Arroyo, and the hacienda El Carmen. Professor R. T.
Hill described the similarity of topographic features of that region
to those of the Great Basin of the United States.
_January 15, 1892. Special meeting_.
Meeting held in the Lecture Hall of Columbian University.
Vice-President Hayden in the chair. Attendance, 100.
The President, Mr. Gardiner G. Hubbard, delivered his annual address
on the subject of "The Evolution of Transportation." Major J. W.
Powell prefaced the President's address by brief introductory remarks.
{xiv}
OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY.
1892.
_President_.
GARDINER G. HUBBARD.
_Vice-Presidents_.
HERBERT G. OGDEN.
EVERETT HAYDEN.
A. W. GREELY.
C. HART MERRIAM.
HENRY GANNETT.
_Treasurer_.
CHARLES J. BELL.
_Secretaries_.
F. H. NEWELL. E. R. SCIDMORE.
_Managers_.
MARCUS BAKER. W J MCGEE.
HENRY F. BLOUNT. T. C. MENDENHALL.
G. K. GILBERT. W. B. POWELL.
JOHN HYDE. EDWIN WILLITS.
{xv}
MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY.
1892.
_a_, original members. _c_, corresponding members.
_l_, life members. * Deceased.
In cases where no city is given in the address, Washington, D. C., is
to be understood.
ABBE, PROF. CLEVELAND, _a_, _l_,
Weather Bureau.
ABERT, S. T.,
722 Seventeenth Street.
ACKERMAN, ENS. A. A., U. S. N., _c_,
Navy Department.
ACKLEY, LIEUT. COMDR. S. M., U. S. N.,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
ADDISON, A. D.,
808 Seventeenth Street.
AHERN, LIEUT. GEORGE P., U. S. A., _c_,
College of Montana, Deer Lodge, Mont.
AHERN, JEREMIAH,
U. S. Geological Survey, Los Angeles, Cal.
ALLEN, DR. J. A.,
American Museum Natural History, New York, N. Y.
ALTON, EDMUND,
Wormley's Hotel.
ALVORD, MAJ. HENRY E., _c_,
Md. Agricultural College, College Park, Maryland.
ANDREWS, ENS. PHILIP, U. S. N.,
Navy Department.
APLIN, S. A., JR.,
Geological Survey.
ASPINWALL, REV. J. A.,
17 Dupont Circle.
AYRES, MISS SUSAN C., _a_,
1813 Thirteenth Street.
BABB, CYRUS C.,
Geological Survey.
BABER, HON. GEORGE,
1416 K Street.
BAKER, DR. FRANK, _a_,
Smithsonian Institution.
BAKER, LUCIUS, _c_,
P. O. Drawer T, Fresno, Cal.
{xvi}
BAKER, MARCUS, _a_,
Geological Survey.
BALDWIN, H. L., JR., _a_,
Geological Survey.
BALL, CHAS. B.,
942 T Street.
BANCROFT, REV. DR. CECIL F. P., _c_,
Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass.
BARKER, COMDR. ALBERT S., U. S. N.,
Navy Department.
BARNARD, E. C., _a_,
Geological Survey.
BARNES, CHARLES A., _c_,
P. O. Box 1198, Seattle, Wash.
BARROLL, LIEUT. HENRY H., U. S. N., _c_,
Navy Department.
BARTLE, R. F.,
947 Virginia Avenue SW.
BARTLETT, COMDR. J. R., U. S. N., _a_,
Navy Department.
BARTLETT, P. V. S.,
U. S. Geological Survey, Berkeley, Cal.
BASSETT, C. C., _a_,
Geological Survey.
BATCHELDER, C. F., _c_,
7 Kirkland Street, Cambridge, Mass.
BAUER, LOUIS A.,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
BAYLEY, DR. W. S., _c_,
Colby University, Waterville, Me.
BEAMAN, W. M.,
Geological Survey.
BELL, A. GRAHAM, _a_,
Volta Bureau, 3414 Q Street.
BELL, PROF. A. MELVILLE,
1525 Thirty-fifth Street.
BELL, C. J., _a_,
1406 G Street.
BERGMANN, H. H.,
511 Seventh Street.
BERNADOU, ENS. JOHN B., U. S. N., _c_,
Navy Department.
BIEN, JULIUS, _a_,
P. O. Box 3557, New York, N. Y.
BIEN, MORRIS, _a_,
Geological Survey.
BIGELOW, PROF. FRANK H.,
1416 K Street.
{xvii}
BIRCH, CHARLES E.,
Hydrographic Office.
BIRNEY, GEN. WILLIAM,
458 Louisiana Avenue.
BLAIR, H. B., _a_,
Geological Survey.
BLODGETT, JAMES H., _a_,
1237 Massachusetts Avenue.
BLOUNT, HENRY F.,
1405 G Street.
BODFISH, SUMNER H., _a_,
58 B Street NE.
BOURSIN, HENRY,
Douglas, Alaska.
BOWERS, DR. STEPHEN, _c_,
Ventura, Cal.
BRECKINRIDGE, GEN. J. C., U. S. A.,
War Department.
BRIGHT, RICHARD R.,
Navy Department.
BRITTON, A. T.,
1405 G Street.
BROWNELL, ERNEST H., _c_,
Bristol, R. I.
BUCKLEY, MISS M. L.,
Bureau of Pensions.
BURNETT, CHARLES A., _c_,
620 Burke Building, Seattle, Wash.
BURTON, PROF. A. E., _a_,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, Mass.
CAMPBELL, M. R.,
Geological Survey.
CANNON, H. B.,
Department of Agriculture.
CANTWELL, LIEUT. J. C., U. S. R. M., _c_,
1818 Sacramento Street, San Francisco, Cal.
CARMAN, MISS ADA,
1351 Q Street.
CARROLL, CAPT. JAMES, _c_,
Juneau, Alaska.
CHAMBERLIN, PROF. T. C., _c_,
772 Langdon Street, Madison, Wis.
CHAPIN, FREDERICK E.,
3043 P Street.
CHAPIN, DR. J. H.,
Meriden, Conn.
CHAPMAN, R. H., _a_,
U. S. Geological Survey, Berkeley, Cal.
{xviii}
CHATARD, DR. THOMAS M., _a_,
Geological Survey.
CHENERY, LIEUT. COMDR. LEONARD, U. S. N., _c_,
University Club, New York, N. Y.
CHESTER, COMDR. C. M., U. S. N., _c_,
U. S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md.
CHRISTIE, JAMES II., _c_,
Olga, Wash.
CHRISTIE, P. H.,
Geological Survey.
CLARK, E. B., _a_,
Geological Survey.
CLARK, DR. WM. B., _c_,
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.
CLOVER, LIEUT. COMDR. RICHARDSON, U. S. N.,
Hydrographic Office.
COLE, T. L.,
12 Corcoran Building.
COLONNA, B. A.,
138 B Street NE.
COLTON, FRANCIS,
The Shoreham.
COMSTOCK, MRS. SARAH C.,
1464 Rhode Island Avenue.
COOK, FRED. W., _c_,
P. O. Box 140, Sault de Ste. Marie, Mich.
COURT, E. E.,
Hydrographic Office.
CRAIGHEAD, REV. DR. J. G.,
1223 Eleventh Street.
CROFFUT, W. A.,
Geological Survey.
CUMMIN, ROBT. D., _a_,
Geological Survey.
CUMMINGS, PROF. GEO. J.,
Howard University.
CUNNINGHAM, JOHN M., _c_,
Cosmos Club, San Francisco, Cal.
CURTIS, WILLIAM E., _a_,
2 Lafayette Square.
DALL, MRS. CAROLINE H.,
1526 Eighteenth Street.
DALL, WM. H.,
National Museum.
DALY, HON. CHAS. P.,
84 Clinton Place, New York, N. Y.
DARTON, N. H.,
Geological Survey.
{xix}
DAVIDGE, WALTER DORSEY, JR.,
1 Corcoran Building.
DAVIDSON, PROF. GEORGE, _a_, _c_,
U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, San Francisco, Cal.
DAVIS, ARTHUR P., _a_,
U. S. Geological Survey, Los Angeles, Cal.
DAVIS, PROF. W. M., _a_,
2 Bond Street, Cambridge, Mass.
DAWSON, MISS A. B.,
Geological Survey.
DAY, DR. DAVID T.,
Geological Survey.
DAY, E. WARREN,
War Department.
DENNEY, MISS L. A.,
707 Thirteenth Street.
DENNY, A. A., _c_,
1328 Front Street, Seattle, Wash.
DIEBITSCH, EMIL,
U. S. Naval Station, Port Royal, S. C.
DILLER, J. S., _a_,
Geological Survey.
DOBBINS, J. W.,
U. S. Geological Survey, Berkeley, Cal.
DOUGLAS, E. M., _a_,
Geological Survey.
DOW, CAPT. JOHN M.,
83 W. Seventy-first Street, New York, N. Y.
DUNCKLEE, JOHN B.,
912 French Street.
DUNNINGTON, A. F., _a_,
Geological Survey.
DURAND, JOHN,
164 Bd. Montparnasse, Paris, France.
DUTTON, MAJ. C. E., U. S. A., _a_,
San Antonio, Tex.
DYER, LIEUT. G. L., U. S. N.,
Navy Pay Office, San Francisco, Cal.
EDMANDS, PROF. J. RAYNER,
Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
EDSON, JOHN JOY,
1003 F Street.
EDSON, JOSEPH R., _a_,
1003 F Street.
EIMBECK, WILLIAM,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
ELDRIDGE, G. H.,
Geological Survey.
{xx}
ELIOT, CHARLES,
Room 50, 50 State Street, Boston, Mass.
ELLICOTT, ENS. JOHN M., U. S. N.,
2023 I Street.
ELMORE, HERBERT W.,
Geological Survey.
ERBACH, JOHN,
Geological Survey.
EVANS, H. C.,
804 Eleventh Street.
FAIRCHILD, PROF. H. L., _c_,
University of Rochester, Rochester, N. Y.
FAIRFIELD, GEORGE A., _a_,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
FAIRFIELD, W. BROWNE, _a_,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
FARMER, R. A.,
Geological Survey.
FERNOW, B. E., _a_,
Department of Agriculture.
FEUSIER, H. E. CLERMONT,
819 Grove Street, San Francisco, Cal.
FISCHER, E. G., _a_,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
FISCHER, L. A.,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
FITCH, C. H., _a_,
3025 N Street.
FLEMER, J. A.,
412 A Street SE.
FLETCHER, L. C., _a_,
Geological Survey.
FLETCHER, DR. ROBERT, _a_,
Army Medical Museum.
FLINT, CHARLES,
1519 O Street.
FLINT, COL. WESTON,
1101 K Street.
FLOYD, FRED. W.,
539 W. Twentieth Street, New York, N. Y.
FOGG, LINDLEY,
Sixth Auditor's Office.
FOSTER, PROF. RICHARD,
Howard University.
FRASER, DANIEL,
458 Pennsylvania Avenue.
FREER, DR. JAMES A.,
1523 I Street.
{xxi}
FULLER, MISS ADELAIDE H.,
1321 Rhode Island Avenue.
GAGE, N. P., _a_,
Seaton School.
GANE, H. S., _c_,
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.
GANNETT, HENRY, _a_,
Geological Survey.
GANNETT, S. S., _a_,
Geological Survey.
GARDNER, C. L.,
1710 Sixteenth Street.
GARRISON, MISS CARL L.,
Phelps School.
GILBERT, G. K., _a_,
Geological Survey.
GILL, WILSON L., _c_,
Room 57, 115 Broadway, New York, N. Y.
GILMAN, DR. DANIEL C., _a_,
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.
GOLDIE, R. H., _c_,
P. O. Box 1110, Seattle, Wash.
GOODALL, F. H.,
Second Auditor's Office.
GOODALL, OTIS B.,
932 P Street.
GOODE, DR. G. BROWN, _a_,
Smithsonian Institution.
GOODE, R. U., _a_,
Geological Survey.
GOODFELLOW, EDWARD, _a_,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
GOODISON, PROF. JOHN,
State Normal School, Ypsilanti, Mich.
GORHAM, GEO. C.,
1763 Q Street.
GRAHAM, MISS A. M.,
1234 Massachusetts Avenue.
GRAHAM, ANDREW B.,
1230 Pennsylvania Avenue.
GRANGER, F. D.,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
GRAVES, WALTER H.,
Geological Survey.
GREELY, GEN. A. W., U. S. A., _a_,
1914 G Street.
GRIFFITH, G. BERKELEY,
1630 Rhode Island Avenue.
{xxii}
GRISWOLD, W. T., _a_,
U. S. Geological Survey, Boise, Idaho.
GROEGER, G. G., _c_,
310 Chamber of Commerce Building, Chicago, Ill.
GULLIVER, F. P., _c_,
Norwich, Conn.
GUNION, MRS. REBECCA E.,
927 O Street.
GURLEY, CHARLES L.,
1401 Sixteenth Street.
HACKETT, M., _a_,
Geological Survey.
HAGADORN, LIEUT. CHAS. B., U. S. A., _c_,
Fort Leavenworth, Kans.
HALE, L. P., _c_,
Canton, N. Y.
HARRINGTON, PROF. MARK W.,
Weather Bureau.
HARRIS, DR. T. W.,
Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
HARRISON, D. C., _a_,
Geological Survey.
HARRISON, PROF. THOS. F., _c_,
221 W. Forty-fifth Street, New York, N. Y.
HARROD, MAJ. B. M.,
City Engineer's Office, New Orleans, La.
HART, PROF. ALBERT BUSHNELL,
15 Appian Way, Cambridge, Mass.
HART, JUAN, _c_,
El Paso, Tex.
HASBROUCK, E. M.,
1610 Fifteenth Street.
HASKELL, E. E., _a_,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
HAWKINS, GEO. T.,
Geological Survey.
HAY, PROF. ROBERT,
P. O. Box 562, Junction City, Kans.
HAYDEN, EVERETT, _a_,
Hydrographic Office.
HAYDEN, J. J.,
929 K Street.
HAYES, DR. C. WILLARD,
Geological Survey.
HAYES, PROF. ELLEN, _c_,
Wellesley College, Wellesley, Mass.
HAYS, J. W.,
Oxford, N. C.
{xxiii}
HAZARD, DANIEL L.,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
HEATON, A. G.,
1618 Seventeenth Street.
HEILPRIN, GILES F.,
1227 Pennsylvania Avenue.
HENRY, A. J., _a_,
948 S Street.
HENSHAW, H. W., _a_,
Bureau of Ethnology.
HERRLE, G., _a_,
Hydrographic Office.
HERRON, WM. H., _a_,
Geological Survey.
HILL, PROF. R. T.,
910 Fifteenth Street.
HINDS, DR. CLARA BLISS,
1331 Fourteenth Street.
HINMAN, RUSSELL,
806 Broadway, New York, N. Y.
HITCHCOCK, PROF. C. H., _c_,
Dartmouth College, Hanover, N. H.
HOBBS, DR. WM. H., _c_,
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis.
HODGKINS, PROF. H. L., _a_,
Columbian University.
HODGKINS, W. C.,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
HOLDEN, PROF. E. S., _c_,
Lick Observatory, Mount Hamilton, Cal.
HOLDEN, MRS. L. E.,
P. O. Box 1027, Salt Lake, Utah.
HOLDEN, LUTHER L.,
7 Warren Square, Jamaica Plain, Mass.
HOLLERITH, HERMAN,
501 F Street.
HOLMES, PROF. J. A., _c_,
Chapel Hill, N. C.
HOLT, H. P. R.,
Takoma Park, D. C.
HORE, CAPT. EDWARD C., _c_,
Royal Geographical Society, London, England.
HORNADAY, W. T., _a_,
44 Niagara Street, Buffalo, N. Y.
HORNBLOWER, J. C.,
1402 M Street.
HOSKINS, PROF. L. M., _c_,
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis.
{xxiv}
HOSMER, EDWARD STURGES, _l_,
1330 L Street.
HOTCHKISS, MAJ. JED.,
Staunton, Va.
HOVEY, REV. DR. H. C.,
60 Crescent Street, Middletown, Conn.
HOWARD, ENS. W. L., U. S. N., _c_,
Navy Pay Office, San Francisco, Cal.
HOWELL, D. J., _a_,
918 F Street.
HOWELL, EDWIN E., _a_,
612 Seventeenth Street.
HUBBARD, GARDINER G., _a_,
1328 Connecticut Avenue.
HUTCHINSON, JOHN,
933 H Street.
HUTCHINSON, W. J.,
1707 Massachusetts Avenue.
HYDE, G. E.,
Geological Survey.
HYDE, JOHN,
2820 P Street.
IARDELLA, C. T., _a_,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
INGRAHAM, PROF. E. S., _c_,
Seattle, Wash.
JACKSON, REV. DR. SHELDON,
1830 Ninth Street.
JENNEY, DR. W. P.,
Geological Survey.
JENNINGS, J. H., _a_,
Geological Survey.
JEWETT, W. P., _c_,
180 E. Third Street, St. Paul, Minn.
JOHNSON, MISS ALICE BURGES,
501 Maple Avenue.
JOHNSON, A. B., _a_,
Light House Board.
JOHNSON, E. KURTZ,
1600 Massachusetts Avenue.
JOHNSON, DR. H. L. E.,
1400 L Street.
JOHNSON, J. B.,
Howard University.
JOHNSON, REV. J. G.,
381 Dearborn Avenue, Chicago, Ill.
JOHNSON, JEROME F.,
1326 F Street.
{xxv}
JOHNSON, MRS. MARY DAVIS, _c_,
Sitka, Alaska.
JOHNSON, STUART P.,
U. S. Geological Survey, Berkeley, Cal.
JOHNSON, WILLARD D., _a_,
U. S. Geological Survey, Berkeley, Cal.
JUDD, JOHN G.,
420 Eleventh Street.
JUDSON, EGBERT, _c_,
402 Front Street, San Francisco, Cal.
JUNKEN, CHARLES,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
JUNKEN, CHAS. A.,
Ordnance Office, War Department.
JÜSSEN, EDMUND,
In care W. Tudor, Temple, Ga.
KARL, ANTON, _a_,
1230 Eleventh Street.
KAUFFMANN, S. H., _a_,
1421 Massachusetts Avenue.
KAVANAUGH, MISS K.,
Sixth Auditor's Office.
KENASTON, PROF. C. A., _a_,
Room 4, 26 Court Street, Brooklyn, N. Y.
KENDALL, MISS ELIZABETH, _c_,
Wellesley College, Wellesley, Mass.
KENNAN, GEORGE, _a_,
In care J. B. Pond, Everett House, New York, N. Y.
KENNEDY, DR. GEO. G., _l_,
284 Warren Street, Roxbury, Mass.
KENNON, LIEUT. L. W. V., U. S. A.,
War Department.
KERR, H. S., _c_,
Salt Lake, Utah.
KERR, MARK B., _a_,
402 Front Street, San Francisco, Cal.
KIMBALL, E. F.,
Post Office Department.
KIMBALL, DR. E. S.,
737 Thirteenth Street.
KIMBALL, S. I., _a_,
Life Saving Service.
KING, PROF. F. H.,
1500 University Avenue, Madison, Wis.
KING, PROF. HARRY, _a_,
Geological Survey.
KING, WM. B.,
1328 Twelfth Street.
{xxvi}
KLAKRING, ALFRED,
Hydrographic Office.
KLOTZ, OTTO J., _c_,
Interior Department, Preston, Ontario, Canada.
KNAPP, HON. LYMAN E.,
Sitka, Alaska.
KOCH, PETER, _a_,
Bozeman, Mont.
KRAMER, WILLIAM,
KÜBEL, S. J.,
Geological Survey.
LACKLAND, W. E., _a_,
Geological Survey.
LADD, GEORGE E.,
Melrose Highlands, Mass.
LAMBERT, M. B.,
Geological Survey.
LAMBORN, DR. ROBERT H.,
32 Nassau Street, New York, N. Y.
LAWSON, PROF. A. C.,
University of California, Berkeley, Cal.
LAWSON, MISS JEANNE W.,
1231 New Hampshire Avenue.
LEACH, BOYNTON,
Hydrographic Office.
LEVERETT, FRANK, _c_,
U. S. Geological Survey, Madison, Wis.
LIBBEY, PROF. WILLIAM, JR., _c_,
20 Bayard Avenue, Princeton, N. J.
LINCOLN, JOHN J.,
Geological Survey.
LINDENKOHL, A., _a_,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
LINDENKOHL, H., _a_,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
LINDSLEY, WM. L., _c_,
Corner Banner and Republican Streets, Seattle, Wash.
LITTLEHALES, G. W.,
928 Twenty-third Street.
LOOKER, HENRY B.,
918 F Street.
LOOKER, THOS. H., U. S. N.,
1312 Thirtieth Street.
LOOMIS, HENRY B., _c_,
Seattle, Wash.
LOVELL, W. H.,
Geological Survey.
{xxvii}
LYONS, JOSEPH,
1003 F Street.
MCCARTENEY, LIEUT. CHAS. M., U. S. N.,
Hydrographic Office.
MCCRACKEN, R. H., _c_,
P. O. Box 495, San Antonio, Tex.
MCGEE, MRS. ANITA NEWCOMB,
2410 Fourteenth Street.
MCGEE, W J, _a_,
Geological Surrey.
MCGILL, MISS MARY C.,
336 C Street.
MCGRATH, JOHN E.,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
MCKEE, REDICK H., _a_,
U. S. Geological Survey, Berkeley, Cal.
MCKINNEY, R. C., _a_,
Geological Survey.
MCLAUGHLIN, DR. T. N.,
1226 N Street.
MACKAYE, J. M., _c_.
Shirley, Mass.
MAHER, JAMES A., _a_,
P. O. Box 35, Johnson City, Tenn.
MANNING, VAN. H., JR., _a_,
Geological Survey.
MARINDIN, HENRY L.,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
MARKS, DR. A. J., _c_,
419 Madison Street, Toledo, O.
MARSHALL, R. B.,
U. S. Geological Survey, Berkeley, Cal.
MASON, PROF. O. T.,
1777 Massachusetts Avenue.
MATTHEWS, DR. W., U. S. A., _a_,
Fort Wingate, N. M.
MELVILLE, ENG. IN CHIEF GEO. W., U. S. N., _a_, _l_,
Navy Department.
MENDENHALL, DR. T. C.,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
MENOCAL, CIV. ENG. A. G., U. S. N., _a_,
44 Wall Street, New York, N. Y.
MERRIAM, DR. C. HART, _a_,
Department of Agriculture.
MERRILL, PROF. J. A., _c_,
State Normal School, Warrensburg, Mo.
MESTON, R. D.,
1227 L Street.
{xxviii}
METZGER, F. P.,
Geological Survey.
MILEY, A. E.,
Sixth Auditor's Office.
MINDELEFF, MME. JULIE,
1401 Stoughton Street.
MINDELEFF, VICTOR,
Ohio National Bank Building.
MITCHELL, PROF. HENRY, _a_,
18 Hawthorne Street, Roxbury, Mass.
MOSMAN, A. T., _a_,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
MUIR, PROF. JOHN,
Martinez, Cal.
MUIR, ENS. W. C. P., U. S. N.,
In care Hon. J. L. Beckham, Shelbyville, Ky.
MUNROE, HERSEY,
Geological Survey.
MURLIN, A. E.,
Geological Survey.
MURRAY, B. P.,
10 Third Street NE.
NELL, LOUIS, _a_,
Geological Survey.
NEWELL, F. H.,
Geological Survey.
NILES, PROF. WM. H.,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, Mass.
NORDHOFF, CHARLES, _a_,
Coronado, Cal.
NORMAN-NERUDA, L., _c_,
Devonshire Club, St. James Street, London, England.
NORTHUP, C. G.,
U. S. Senate.
NOYES, CROSBY S.,
1101 Pennsylvania Avenue.
OGDEN, HERBERT G., _a_,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
O'HALLORAN, T. M.,
Hydrographic Office.
O'HARE, DANIEL P.,
Geological Survey.
OLDRINI, PROF. ALEXANDER,
1437 L Street.
OLNEY, CHAS. F.,
137 Jennings Avenue, Cleveland, O.
OSBORN, LIEUT. A. P., U. S. N., _c_,
Navy Pay Office, San Francisco, Cal.
{xxix}
OSBORNE, DR. GEO. L., _c_,
State Normal School, Warrensburg, Mo.
OTIS, HAMILTON, _c_,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, Mass.
OTIS, WILLIAM H.,
U. S. Geological Survey, Berkeley, Cal.
PALMER, T. S.,
Department of Agriculture.
PARKER, E. W.,
Geological Survey.
PARSONS, FRANCIS H., _a_,
210 First Street SE.
PEALE, DR. A. C., _a_,
Geological Survey.
PEARY, CIV. ENG. R. E., U. S. N.,
Navy Department.
PELLEW, HENRY E.,
1637 Massachusetts Avenue.
PENROSE, R. A. F., JR.,
1331 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, Pa.
PERKINS, E. T., JR., _a_,
Geological Survey.
PETERS, EUGENE,
458 Pennsylvania Avenue.
PETERS, LIEUT. G. H., U. S. N., _a_,
Navy Department.
PETERS, WILLIAM J., _a_,
Geological Survey.
PETROFF, IVAN, _c_,
2148 Pennsylvania Avenue.
PHILLIPS, ASA E.,
District Engineer Department.
PHILLIPS, R. HENRY,
Room 110, 1419 New York Avenue.
PICKERING, PROF. EDWARD C.,
Harvard Observatory, Cambridge, Mass.
PICKING, CAPT. HENRY F., U. S. N.,
Navy Department.
PIERCE, JOSIAH, JR.,
11 South Street, Baltimore, Md.
POLLOK, ANTHONY,
620 F Street.
*POND, EDWIN J.,
POWELL, MAJ. J. W., _a_,
Geological Survey.
POWELL, PROF. W. B., _a_,
Franklin School.
{xxx}
PRENTISS, DR. D. WEBSTER, _a_,
1101 Fourteenth Street.
PRINCE, HON. L. BRADFORD, _c_,
Santa Fe, N. M.
PROWELL, GEO. R., _c_,
Hanover, Pa.
PUMPELLY, PROF. RAPHAEL,
U. S. Geological Survey, Newport, R. I.
RAMSEY, F. M., _c_,
Lampasas, Tex.
RANKIN, REV. DR. J. E.,
Howard University.
REID, PROF. HARRY FIELDING, _c_,
Case School of Applied Science, Cleveland, O.
RENSHAWE, JNO. H., _a_,
Geological Survey.
RICE, PROF. WM. NORTH, _c_,
Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn.
RICHARDSON, DR. C. W.,
1102 L Street.
RICHARDSON, T. J., _c_,
734 E. Fifteenth Street, Minneapolis, Minn.
RICHMOND, CHAS. W.,
In care U. S. Consul, Greytown, Nicaragua.
RICHTER, MISS C. M.,
330 A Street SE.
RICKSECKER, EUGENE, _a_, _c_,
P. O. Box 289, Seattle, Wash.
RITTER, H. P., _a_,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
RIZER, COL. H. C.,
Geological Survey.
ROBBINS, A. G., _c_,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, Mass.
ROBERTS, A. C., _a_,
Hydrographic Office.
ROCHESTER, GEN. WM. B., U. S. A.,
1320 Eighteenth Street.
ROCK, MILES,
1430 Chapin Street.
ROGERS, JNO. B., _c_,
Columbia Athletic Club.
ROTCH, A. LAWRENCE,
3 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Mass.
RUSSEL, LIEUT. EDGAR, U. S. A., _c_,
Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Tex.
RUSSELL, ISRAEL C., _a_,
Geological Survey.
{xxxi}
SANDERS, HENRY P.,
1504 Twenty-first Street.
SARGENT, PROF. C. S., _a_,
Brookline, Mass.
SCHAAP, C. H., _c_,
P. O. Box 32, Sitka, Alaska.
SCHLEY, CAPT. W. S., U. S. N., _a_,
Navy Department.
SCHMIDT, FRED. A.,
504 Ninth Street.
SCHMITT, EWALD,
2235 Thirteenth Street.
SCHWATKA, FREDERICK, _c_,
1108 First Avenue, Rock Island, Ill.
SCIDMORE, MISS ELIZA RUHAMAH,
1502 Twenty-first Street.
SCOTT, W. O. N.,
603 Fifteenth Street.
SCUDDER, PROF. S. H., _a_,
Cambridge, Mass.
SHALER, PROF. N. S., _a_,
25 Quincy Street, Cambridge, Mass.
SHEPARD, PROF. EDWARD M.,
Drury College, Springfield, Mo.
SHEPARD, J. L. N., _c_,
402 Front Street, San Francisco, Cal.
SHEPARD, CAPT. L. G., U. S. R. M.,
Treasury Department.
SINCLAIR, C. H.,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
SINCLAIR, J. C.,
718 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pa.
SLOAN, ROBERT S., _c_,
Oswego. N. Y.
SMITH, EDWIN, _a_,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
SMITH, REV. ERNEST C., _c_,
Framingham, Mass.
SMITH, PROF. EUGENE A., _c_,
University, Ala.
SMITH, MIDDLETON, _a_,
P. O. Box 572.
SMOCK, DR. J. C., _c_,
State Geological Survey, Trenton, N. J.
SNELL, MERWIN-MARIE,
Catholic University of America.
SOMMER, E. J., _a_,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
{xxxii}
SPENCER, JAS. W.,
Geological Survey.
STANLEY-BROWN, JOSEPH,
Geological Survey.
STANWOOD, JAMES HUGH, _c_,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, Mass.
STEDMAN, J. M., _c_,
Trinity University, Durham, N. C.
STEIN, ROBERT,
Geological Survey.
STOCKTON, LT. COMDR. CHARLES H., U. S. N., _a_, _c_,
Naval War College, Newport, R. I.
STONE, JAMES S., _c_,
131 Vernon Street, Newton, Mass.
SUTTON, FRANK,
Geological Survey.
SWAN, HON. JAMES G., _c_,
Port Townsend, Wash.
TALBOT, MRS. LAURA OSBORNE,
927 P Street.
TARR, R. S., _c_,
Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y.
TAYLOR, DANIEL F.,
918 F Street.
TAYLOR, JAS. L.,
1515 Twentieth Street.
THOMAS, MISS MARY VON E., _a_,
235 New Jersey Avenue SE.
THOMPSON, PROF. A. H., _a_,
Geological Survey.
THOMPSON, GILBERT, _a_,
Geological Survey.
THOMPSON, LAURENCE, _a_,
1628 S Street.
THOMPSON, CAPT. R. E., U. S. A., _a_,
War Department.
THOMPSON, J. W.,
1419 I Street.
TISDELL, WILLARD P.,
1323 Thirteenth Street.
TITTMANN, O. H., _a_,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
TOWNSEND, MRS. JULIA C.,
1316 R Street.
TOWSON, R. M., _a_,
Geological Survey.
TURNER, J. HENRY,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
{xxxiii}
TWEEDY, FRANK, _a_,
Geological Survey.
URQUHART, CHAS. F., _a_,
Geological Survey.
VAN HISE, PROF. C. R., _l_,
U. S. Geological Survey, Madison, Wis.
VASEY, DR. GEORGE, _a_,
Department of Agriculture.
VERGES, L. F., _c_,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, Mass.
VINAL, W. IRVING, _a_,
1106 A Street NE.
VIVIAN, THOMAS J.,
212 New Jersey Avenue.
WADDEY, JOHN A.,
Hydrographic Office.
WADHAMS, LIEUT. A. V., U. S. N., _c_,
Andover, Mass.
WALCOTT, CHAS. D., _a_,
National Museum.
WALKER, ELTON D., _c_,
Fort Sheridan, Ill.
WALLACE, HAMILTON S., _a_,
Geological Survey.
WANAMAKER, HON. JOHN,
1731 I Street.
WARD, PROF. HENRY A., _c_,
10 College Avenue, Rochester, N. Y.
WARD, LESTER F., _a_,
1464 Rhode Island Avenue.
WARD, ROBERT DEC.,
Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
WARDER, B. H.,
1515 K Street.
WARTEGG, ERNST VON HESSE, _c_,
Bern, Switzerland.
WEED, WALTER HARVEY, _a_,
Geological Survey.
WEIR, JOHN B., _a_,
The Fredonia.
WELD GEO. F.,
Metropolitan Club.
WELLING, DR. JAMES C., _a_,
1302 Connecticut Avenue.
WELLS, E. HAZARD,
The "Post," Cincinnati, O.
{xxxiv}
WEST, PRESTON C. F., _c_,
Calumet, Mich.
WHITE, DR. C. H., U. S. N.,
In care A. B. Gilman, Haverhill, Mass.
WHITE, DAVID,
Geological Survey.
WHITING, HENRY L.,
U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, West Tisbury, Mass.
WILDER, GEN. J. T., _a_, _l_,
Johnson City, Tenn.
WILDER, MISS MARY,
Johnson City, Tenn.
WILLENBÜCHER, EUGENE,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
WILLENBÜCHER, W. C.,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
WILLIAMS, CHARLES AUGUSTUS,
1301 Eighteenth Street.
WILLIAMS, DR. GEO. H.,
803 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, Md.
WILLIAMS, PROF. H. S., _c_,
Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y.
WILLIAMS, WILLIAM, _c_,
University Club, New York, N. Y.
WILLIS, BAILEY, _a_,
Geological Survey.
WILLIS, MRS. BAILEY,
1006 Twenty-second Street.
WILLITS, HON. EDWIN,
Department of Agriculture.
WILSON, H. M., _a_,
Geological Survey.
WILSON, THOMAS,
1218 Connecticut Avenue.
WINCHELL, PROF. N. H., _c_,
120 State Street, Minneapolis, Minn.
WINES, M. W.,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
WINSLOW, PROF. ARTHUR,
State Geological Survey, Jefferson City, Mo.
WINSTON, ISAAC,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
WINTER, DR. JOHN T.,
1528 Ninth Street.
*WOODWARD, A. E.,
{xxxv}
WOODWARD, R. S., _a_,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
WRIGHT, ENS. BENJAMIN, U. S. N.,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
YEATES, CHAS. M., _a_, _c_,
404½ Liberty Street, Winston, N. C.
YOUNG, F. A.,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
* * * * *
_Summary_.
Active members 373
Corresponding members 95
Life members 6
---
Total 474
VOL. III, PP. 1-30, PL. 1, MARCH 28, 1891
THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE
SOUTH AMERICA
ANNUAL ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT
GARDINER G. HUBBARD
[Illustration: National Geographic Society seal]
WASHINGTON
PUBLISHED BY THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY
Price 25 Cents.
{1}
VOL. III, PP 1-30, PL 1., MARCH 28, 1891.
THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE
SOUTH AMERICA.
ANNUAL ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT,
GARDINER G. HUBBARD.
(_Presented to the Society December 19, 1890._)
Two years ago I selected for my annual address _Africa, or the Dark
Continent_; last year _Asia, the Land of Mountains and Deserts_; this
year I have chosen _South America, the Land of Rivers and Pampas_.
[Illustration: VOL. III, 1891, PL. 1. SOUTH AMERICA. From the
International Cylopedia, by permission of Dodd, Mead & Company.]
* * * * *
The recent meeting of the Pan-American Congress has called attention
to South America, a part of our continent under republican forms of
government and rich in products which we lack, while it relies mainly
on other foreign countries for goods which we manufacture. North
America and South America should be more closely united, for the one
is the complement of the other.
The prominent features of South America are its long ranges of
mountains--next to the Himalayas the highest in the world,--its great
valley, and its immense plateau extending from the Straits of Magellan
to the Caribbean sea.
THE MOUNTAINS.
The Andes rise in the extreme south at Cape Horn, run in a
northerly course through Patagonia and southern Chili; thence
continuing in three nearly parallel ranges, the western chain called
the Andes, the others known as the Cordilleras, through Peru, {2}
Bolivia and Ecuador to Colombia. The Cordilleras and the Andes are
connected in several places by knots or cross-chains of mountains. In
Colombia the Andes turn to the northwest, reaching their lowest
elevation at the Panama canal, and continue thence, through Central
America and North America as the Rocky Mountains, to the Arctic ocean.
Near the source of the Magdalena and Cauca rivers in Colombia, the
eastern range is deflected to the east along the northern coast of
South America. The central range disappears between the Magdalena and
Cauca rivers.
The Andes form the water-shed of the continent. The waters on the
western slope flow into the Pacific ocean. The rivers that rise on the
eastern slope, in northern Peru and Ecuador, force their way through
the Cordilleras and at their foot drain the montaña of Bolivia, Peru
and Brazil. In the southern part of Peru and upper Chili there is a
broad sierra or plateau, at an elevation of from twelve to fourteen
thousand feet. The streams that rise in this sierra either empty into
salt or alkaline lakes or sink into the ground.
Unlike all other long ranges of mountains, the continental or eastern
side of the Cordilleras is nearly as precipitous as that extending to
the Pacific. Craters of extinct volcanoes and volcanoes now in
eruption are found in all parts of the chain. In Ecuador there are
fifty-two volcanoes, and twenty of these, covered with perpetual snow
and presided over by Chimborazo and Cotopaxi, rise out of a group of
mountains encircling the valley of Quito, and are all visible from a
single point. Three are active and five others have been in eruption
at one or more times since the conquest. One of these, Sangai, is the
most active volcano on the globe: it sends forth a constant stream of
fire, water, mud and ashes, and some assert that it has done so
without intermission for 300 years; 267 explosions have been counted
in one hour. This is also the land of earthquakes: in 1868, 50,000
lives, we are told, were lost in one day; the tremor was felt over
four countries and from the Andes to the Sandwich Islands. The tidal
wave washed a gunboat of the United States on shore at Arica in lower
Peru, 1000 miles to the south, and sixteen hours later the wave was
felt across the Pacific at New Zealand.
A range of mountains separates Eastern Venezuela and Guiana from the
valley of the Amazon. Other ranges south of the Amazon run
southwestwardly, following the Atlantic coast line from Cape St. Roque
to the Rio de la Plata.
{3} RIVER SYSTEMS.
A great oceanic current flows along the western coast of Africa to the
equator, where it is deflected across the Atlantic ocean and becomes
the equatorial current. On reaching the coast of South America near
Cape St. Roque, it is again deflected north and south. Trade winds
blowing over the equatorial current reach the coast at Brazil
surcharged with vapor; as they follow up the valley of the Amazon the
vapors are partially condensed and frequent showers refresh the land;
but when the clouds at the foot-hills of the Andes meet the colder
winds from the south and strike the snow summits of the Cordilleras,
all the moisture is condensed, and the rain falls in tropical showers
for half the year and waters the largest and richest valley in the
world.
In this valley, among the Cordilleras, three great rivers--the
Orinoco, the Amazon and La Plata--rise. The mountain ranges north and
south of the Amazon divide this great valley into three lesser
valleys, down which the Orinoco, the Amazon and La Plata flow,
watering three-fourths of South America.
_The Orinoco_.
The headwaters of the Orinoco rise in two ranges of mountains; the
Cordilleras in the west, and the mountains of Venezuela many hundred
miles to the east. Four hundred tributaries, abounding in beautiful
falls and cataracts, unite to form this great river.
The whole valley for 1600 miles is filled with dense and tangled
forests. Noble trees of unrivalled beauty blossom in endless
prodigality. Birds of gorgeous plumage nestle in their lofty recesses.
Tall ferns, vines, creeping plants and parasites form a dense tangle
of undergrowth, swarming with life. Myriads of insects in great
variety, reptiles of strange and singular form, lizards and venemous
serpents find their homes and sustenance in the wild, dense mass of
vegetation.
_The Amazon_.
The valley of the Amazon collects its waters from a region 1800 miles
wide from north to south and 2500 miles long from the Andes to the
Atlantic ocean. Even at the foot of the Andes the Amazon is a mighty
river. The valley rapidly narrows to a width of 600 or 700 miles, and
then more gradually to the ocean, {4} where it is only 150 miles wide.
Its total fall from the foot-hills of the Andes to the Atlantic is
very slight, not over three or four hundred feet, and probably
considerably less.
The rims of the valley are formed of diorite and sandstone, and are
raised only a little above the flood-plain, which is formed of mud and
silt, the detritus brought down by the Amazon and its tributaries. The
flood-plain is from fifty to one hundred miles wide, gradually
narrowing as it approaches the ocean. Through this valley the Amazon
cuts its way, separating often into channels which sometimes run
parallel to each other for several hundred miles, frequently forming
large islands, or expanding into lakes. Similar flood-plains are found
on all its larger tributaries.
Up from the ocean into this valley an immense tidal wave rolls, with a
bore, twice a day, forcing back the current of the Amazon 500 miles
and inundating a portion of the flood-plain.
In the early autumn the equatorial rise commences in the headwaters of
its tributaries, far south of the equator. The rains and melting snow
raise the streams, and these the waters of the Amazon. As the sun
crosses the equator and moves to the north the rain follows its
course, and the branches that have their source in the east and
northeast add their flood to the waters of the southerly branches. The
flood in the Amazon is thus continued for nearly six months, raising
its waters from 30 to 50 feet. The channels are filled, and the
flood-plains are overflowed. The whole valley becomes a net-work of
navigable waters, with islands and channels and lakes innumerable,
forming a great inland sea, which the Brazilians call the
Mediterranean of America. The upland, though only a little above the
flood-plain, is rarely overflowed.
The plants and animals of the flood-plain were formerly considered as
distinct from those of the upland as are the plants and animals of
Europe from those of America; but later investigations show that there
is but little difference between the species.
The sea breeze blows up the valley about a thousand miles. Then for
1500 miles the atmosphere is stagnant and sultry; the climate is that
of a permanent vapor bath. The dense foliage forms dark, lofty vaults
which the sunlight never penetrates, and over all hangs a perpetual
mist. The abundance and beauty of vegetation increases, and the trees
which at the mouth of the river blossom only once a year, here bloom
and bear fruit all the year round.
{5} Many great rivers run into the Amazon from the north and the
south, most of them navigable, for many hundred miles. The Madeira,
its greatest tributary, after running 2000 miles, empties into the
king of rivers, without making any perceptible difference in its width
or depth.
This mighty current, rushing into the ocean, meets the equatorial
current and for over one hundred miles keeps on nearly a straight
course, when the stronger and mightier oceanic current deflects it to
the north. At from 200 to 300 miles from land, the sea is strongly
tinged, and in April and May has nearly the clay-yellow hue of the
Amazon. And even further north, about 400 miles from its mouth, the
naturalist on the Amazon tells us, "we passed numerous patches of
floating grass mingled with tree trunks and withered foliage; among
these I espied many fruits of the Amazonian palm. And this was the
last I saw of the Amazon."
_The Rio de la Plata_.
The La Plata, the outlet of the waters of central South America, is
formed by the union of the Uruguay and Parana, about 150 miles from
the ocean; a little lower down, at Montevideo, it is 62 miles wide and
widens rapidly to the Atlantic, where it discharges more water than
all the rivers of Europe. The tributaries of the Parana are
fan-shaped. Its most eastern branches rise in the mountains of Brazil,
within seventy miles of the Atlantic ocean; and 1500 miles away, on
the other side of the continent, its most western tributaries rise
only 125 miles from the Pacific.
Steamers ascend the Parana, Paraguay and Cuyaba, 2100 miles to Cuyaba,
and the river with its branches is navigable for 5000 miles.
_The San Francisco_.
The San Francisco, about 1800 miles long, rises near Rio de Janeiro
and flows north about 1200 miles between parallel ranges of mountains,
then turns east and forces its way through the coast range to the
Atlantic ocean. It runs through the gold and diamond regions of
Brazil, and has a considerable population along its banks. It has many
falls and rapids, and considerable slack-water navigation.
{6} GENERAL DESCRIPTION.
In Asia, the different countries have natural boundaries; the people,
soil and climate of one country are unlike those of others. In Europe
there are few natural boundaries, though different races inhabit the
several states.
In South America only one dominant race is found, and though natural
boundaries exist, yet they do not serve as boundaries to the different
states, other than Venezuela and Guiana. Venezuela and Guiana are
watered by the Orinoco and by several rivers that flow from the
Amazonian mountains to the ocean. The whole coast is low and fertile,
but hot and unhealthy. The principal product is sugar, raised by
negroes and coolies. The interior is sultry and thickly wooded; it is
inhabited by Indian tribes, the principal of which are the cannibal
Caribs, and by negroes as uncivilized as any of the tribes in Africa.
Guiana is controlled by the English, French, and Dutch. Cayenne, the
prison for French convicts, is the capital of French Guiana.
Colombia and Ecuador occupy the northwestern part of South America.
They are situated on both sides of the Andes, and have every variety
of climate. The country is well watered; fertile but unhealthy on the
coast, fertile and healthy on the elevated plains, cold and barren on
the mountains.
In Brazil, besides the Amazon, La Plata and San Francisco, there are
several large rivers with fertile valleys; but occasional droughts,
sometimes lasting for two years, will prevent portions of Brazil from
becoming densely inhabited.
On the Pacific coast south of Ecuador, the rainfall becomes less and
less. For three thousand miles along the coast of Peru and Chili there
is no natural harbor; a plain from ten to fifty miles in width extends
from the Pacific to the foot-hills of the Andes. The Antarctic current
runs along this coast; the southeasterly winds blow over it on to the
land and cool the air; but as the winds are of low temperature their
scanty vapor is dissipated by the heat radiated from the land, and not
a drop of rain refreshes the thirsty soil. Many mountain torrents run
from the snow-clad summits of the Andes, and the beauty of their
narrow valleys forms a grateful contrast to the dry and barren sands
of the plain.
In the southern part of Chili and in that part formerly called
Patagonia, rain is abundant and the country is fertile.
The longest stretch of low and comparatively level land to be {7}
found in the world extends through the center of South America. A boat
starting from the Caribbean sea could sail up the Orinoco over a
thousand miles, then down the Casquiare, which runs from the Orinoco
into the Rio Negro, down that river to the Amazon, up the Amazon to
the Madeira, then up that river and one of its branches through Brazil
and Bolivia, and with a short portage of six and a half miles to one
of the branches of the Paraguay, down the Paraguay and La Plata to the
ocean.
The level land crosses the La Plata and continues southward through
the Argentine Republic and Patagonia to the Straits of Magellan.
Within this plain lie all the interior of Venezuela and Brazil, a part
of Bolivia, all Paraguay, Uruguay, and the Argentine Republic. The
pampas resemble our prairies, but run from north to south, while the
prairies run from east to west.
The streams in the plain south of the valley of the La Plata rise in
the Andes and flow southeastward to the Atlantic.
THE ABORIGINES.
The aborigines of America, except the Esquimaux, are unlike the
natives of other countries; the most marked difference is in their
language. They are divided into a number of tribes differing from each
other in some respects, yet with manners, customs and religious
beliefs generally similar.
In South America there are more than one hundred distinct languages,
and two thousand dialects. About five or six million Indians have as
many dialects as are found among the 800,000,000 inhabitants of Europe
and Asia. Their languages are polysynthetic, being of a higher type
than the agglutinative languages. In the polysynthetic tongue the
substantive, adjective and verb are joined or combined, and oftentimes
a whole sentence will be comprised in a single word.
The natives in the valleys of the Orinoco and Amazon are forced to
cultivate a little ground on the flood-plains, as the forests are
thick and impenetrable. They live principally on the fruit of the palm
(of which there are five hundred varieties), cocoa and bananas, fish
and turtles. There are no roads or paths through the forests except
the numerous channels of the rivers, called igarapes or furos. The
tribes on the pampas live principally on game and wild cattle.
Humboldt tells us that the navigator on the Orinoco sees with surprise
at night the palm trees illuminated by large fires. From {8} the
trunks of these trees are suspended the habitations of a tribe of
Indians, who make their fires on mats hung in the air and filled with
moist clay. The same palm tree furnishes also food and wine and
clothing, and thus supplies every want and even the luxuries of life.
The Indian race as a whole is believed to be superior to both the
negro and the Malay, as neither of those races has ever attained to
the civilization of the Incas of Peru or of the Indians of Mexico and
the Aztecs of Central America. Many of their myths and folk tales are
common, not only to the Indians of one part of the country, but also
to other tribes in distant parts of the continent, and even to the
negroes of Africa, and the Arabs of upper Egypt. All the tribes on the
continent have substantially the same habits of life, the same methods
of warfare, the same general characteristics, and a language built
substantially on the same plan.
From these observations it might seem that the Indian tribes of South
America were allied to those of Africa or to the Malays, but on
further consideration the similarity seems due rather to a like stage
of civilization than to identity of race.
THE INCAS OF PERU.
In crossing from Arequipa in Peru to La Paz in Bolivia, the road
ascends the Andes, makes a slight descent into the barren, desolate
valley between the Andes and Cordilleras, crosses Lake Titicaca, and
then descends to La Paz. Lake Titicaca, the largest lake of South
America, is on a plateau between twelve and thirteen thousand feet in
height, the most elevated table land on the globe, excepting Thibet.
This lake is surrounded by lofty, snow-clad mountains, the highest of
which is Illampa, 22,300 feet in height.
On this lake are the remains of the most ancient civilization of South
America. Cyclopean ruins of temples and fortresses stand as perpetual
monuments of a vanished culture; when and by whom they were erected,
we know not; their builders left no other record of their existence.
The wandering Indians told the first Spaniards that they existed
before the sun shone in the heavens. From one of the rocky islands of
Lake Titicaca, about the year 1000 or 1100, the Sun, parent of mankind
and giver of every good gift, taking compassion on the degraded
condition of {9} the Indians, sent two of his children, Manco Capac
and Mama Oello Huaco, to gather the wandering tribes into communities,
to teach them the arts of civilized life and to inculcate the worship
of the Sun. From Lake Titicaca, this brother and sister, husband and
wife, went down the valley to Cuzco, where they were bidden to found
an empire. Manco Capac was thus the first Inca. There were ten or
twelve Incas before the conquest of Peru. Their conquests extended
through the entire valley of the Cordilleras, until over four hundred
tribes, with a population of many millions, became subject to their
dominion.
The territory of the Incas extended from the southern part of Chili
northward into Colombia, beyond Quito, a distance of two thousand
miles, and west to the Pacific Ocean. On the eastern slope of the
Cordilleras, toward the great plain of the Amazon, the Incas met a
stronger and more savage people, with whom they were in constant
warfare. In the several passes of the Cordilleras they constructed
fortifications to protect their borders and prevent invasion.
The capital of the territory, Cuzco, was situated in a beautiful
valley ten thousand feet above the sea. Amidst the Alps, such a valley
would be buried in eternal snow, but within the tropics it enjoys a
perpetual spring. Here the Incas loved to dwell, and remains of
immense fortresses, palaces and temples, testify to their power and
culture, and to the number of their subjects. Tens of thousands of
laborers must have been required to construct such edifices. When we
reflect that these people had no beasts of burden except the llama,
which could only carry light loads, and no mechanical means for
transporting the vast blocks of stone used in constructing these
buildings, we are astonished at what they accomplished. The pyramids
of Egypt are not more wonderful.
Great highways were built, running north, south and west, connecting
different parts of the Empire. One followed the valley between the
Cordilleras and Andes to Quito, another crossed the Andes and followed
the sea-coast north and south to the extreme limits of their country.
All traveling was on foot. Large and comfortable tambos, or inns, were
erected every few miles, and larger ones at the end of a day's
journey. Couriers were stationed at regular intervals, each of whom
had his allotted station, between which and the next it was his duty
to run at a certain pace bearing his message, and on his approach to
the {10} next station he signalled to the next chasquir, as the
couriers were called, to be ready to carry forward the message. In
this way, it is said, about 150 miles a day were made.
These couriers traveled more quickly than the mail-carriers of Europe,
and the means of communication were then, Squier tells us, far better
than they are to-day. Many of these old tambos are still maintained.
One in which Squier spent the night was 180 feet in length, with rooms
forming three sides of a court.
The country of the Incas had every variety of climate, and the
products were those of every part of the new world. On the coast,
perpetual summer reigns, with all the variety and beauty of tropical
vegetation. At a higher elevation, the trees are always green, and
while one kind sheds its blossoms and ripens its fruit another is
budding and unfolding its bloom. Meantime, on the top of the mountains
is eternal winter. In some places, as at Potosi, the changes of
temperature are frequent and extremes of heat and cold are experienced
in a single day. The weather in the early morning is frosty; in the
forenoon, mild and balmy; in the afternoon, scorching, and in the
evening, cool and delicious.
On the Pacific slope of the Andes, reservoirs were constructed, from
which irrigating canals watered the whole plain now lying desolate and
barren.
The conquered tribes were incorporated into the nation and became the
people of the Incas. If the conquered tribe was strong and warlike,
some of its members were removed to distant parts of the country and
were replaced by the inhabitants of those regions, to whom privileges
and immunities were given as compensation for the change of home. The
conquered tribes quickly realized the benefits of the rule of the
Incas and became faithful and loyal subjects.
The government of the Incas was a paternal despotism controlling the
most minute affairs of daily life. Knowledge, the Incas taught, "was
not intended for the people, but for those of generous ability, for it
would render persons of low degree vain and arrogant."
The Incas established a communal system similar to that of Russia.
One-third of the land belonged to the Inca, one-third to the priests
of the Sun, and the remainder to the people, who were required to
cultivate the land of the Inca and of the priests, as well as their
own. The land was divided among the families yearly, according to
their number. Every newly {11} married couple received a stated
portion which was increased as the family increased.
Their only means of writing was by a cord, called quippus, about two
feet long, composed of threads of different colors twisted together,
from which a quantity of smaller threads hung like a knotted fringe.
The colors denoted sensible objects or sometimes abstract ideas,
though the principal use of the quippus was for arithmetical purposes.
The civilization of the Incas appears to have been of a higher order
than that of the Mexicans. It is not probable that hieroglyphics were
in use among any of the South American Indians, though it is said that
traces of a pictorial alphabet have been found. The people were
contented and happy, although they were deprived of personal liberty,
although their daily life was supervised by their rulers, and although
they held only communal rights of property. They had neither ambition
nor strong love of country.
When Pizarro landed in Peru there were two Incas, one at Cuzco and the
other at Quito, and the bitter conflict which was raging between them
made the conquest of both easy. Pizarro had only 180 followers, but
they were Spanish cavaliers, carrying fire-arms; and with this small
force he overturned the Incas and enslaved the people. The descendants
of the Quichuas, or the people of the Incas, still inhabit the land--a
mild, apathetic, servile and dejected race. It is said that after the
conquest the women put on a black mantle, which they have worn ever
since, as perpetual mourning for the last of the Incas.
There are a few descendants of Spaniards in Peru, but the population
consists chiefly of the descendants of the Quichuas and mixed
Spaniards and Quichuas. The Peruvians of to-day are less civilized
than those who lived 400 years ago; they have less liberty and are
poorer.
DISCOVERY OF THE AMAZON.
Great rivers have usually been discovered and explored by ascending
them from the ocean to their sources; the Congo and the Amazon were
explored downward from their sources to the ocean.
Three hundred and fifty years ago, Gonzalo Pizarro, then governor of
Upper Peru, heard of a land of silver and gold, spices and precious
stones; a land where spring reigned and all tropical fruits abounded.
He determined to follow the little {12} stream which, rising in the
Andes, near Quito, flowed eastward; to explore the country, and find
the happy land. He set out with 350 Cavaliers, mounted on Spanish
horses and attended by 4000 Indian slaves.
The first part of the route was easy; the little stream soon became a
river, then broadened into the Napo; but the farther they went, the
slower and more difficult was their progress as they passed from the
open forest and the cool and invigorating breezes of the Andes into
the sultry valley of the Napo. Their way now led through forests more
dense, darker and more impenetrable than those described by Stanley,
for the valley of the Amazon is richer than the valley of the Congo.
Natives armed with poisoned arrows opposed their progress; food became
scarce, treachery was on every side, and their number gradually
diminished by death and by desertion of the slaves.
The natives told them of a greater river than the Napo which they
would find a few days' voyage farther down. This river, they said,
flowed through a more populous and richer country, where food was
abundant and gold was found in every stream. Pizarro determined to
build a bark and to send Orellano as commander to find and return with
food and succor. For this vessel, the forests furnished the timber;
the shoes of the horses were converted into nails, distilled gum was
used for pitch, and the garments of the soldiers were a substitute for
oakum. In two months, a brigantine was launched, the first European
vessel that ever floated on the waters of the Amazon. The Napo grew
broader and deeper as the little company rapidly floated down, until
it became a mile wide. Three days after they left Pizarro, they saw
before them a river, many times larger than the Napo, which the
Indians called Parana-tinega, King of Waters; but we call it the
Amazon. There was no cultivation, little food could be obtained, and
the Indians were hostile instead of friendly. What was to be done?
Behind them was the wilderness, before them the promised land. The
journey back would be difficult and dangerous; the temptation to
explore the wonderful river was too great to resist. One man alone was
faithful to Pizarro, and he was left on the bank while Orellano sailed
down the river. The wonder of the explorers daily increased as other
rivers larger than the Napo flowed into the Amazon, now on the north,
more frequently on the south. Month after month passed, the river grew
so broad that they could not see from one side to the other. {13}
Great islands were passed, channels running parallel with the main
stream larger than any river they had ever seen. Still on they went,
till after several months they reached the Atlantic Ocean. Then they
sailed north in their little boat, skirting the coast to Trinidad,
where they found a vessel which bore them to Spain. They recounted the
story of the great river; the wonderful country through which they
passed; and the rich mines of which they had heard. They told fabulous
tales of the Amazonians they had encountered, strong and masculine
women, armed with bows and arrows, living by themselves, admitting men
into their country only one month in the year, killing or sending away
the male children and training the girls to become amazons and
warriors.
Orellano was received by the Queen; his treachery was forgotten and a
new expedition was sent out under his command; but he died before
reaching the river.
Meantime, Pizarro and his followers slowly and with difficulty made
their way down the Napo, taking as many months to reach the Amazon as
Orellano had taken days. They looked in vain for their companions, but
found only the solitary man who had been left behind, scarcely alive,
and from him learned of Orellano's desertion. Further explorations
being impossible, they turned back, reached Quito two years after
their departure, their horses gone, their arms broken or rusted, the
skins of wild animals their only clothing. "The charnel house seemed
to have given up its dead, as they glided onward like a troop of
spectres." Half of the Indians had perished, and of the three hundred
and fifty cavaliers only eighty were left.
Such was the end of an expedition which for dangers and hardships,
length of duration, and constancy displayed is probably unmatched in
the annals of American discovery.
GUIANA.
Guiana is the only country of South America not inhabited by the Latin
race. It was acquired for Great Britain by one who acted contrary to
his instructions in attacking a power, Spain, with which his own
country was at peace.
Gonzalo Pizarro, on his journey down the Napo in 1539, heard wonderful
stories of a golden city far away on the banks of the Orinoco,
surrounded by mountains of gold. Rumors of this golden city were
carried by English navigators to Great Britain, {14} with legends of a
prince of Guiana, whose body, first smeared with turpentine, was then
powdered with gold dust, so that he strode among his people a majestic
golden statue. Adventurers started in search of this El Dorado, some
from Peru, others from Quito and from Trinidad; but the golden city
was never found. They, however, brought back reports of chiefs whose
bodies sparkled with gold dust as they danced, who had golden eagles
dangling from their breasts and great pearls from their ears; they
told of mines of diamonds and gold, and of the natives who longed to
exchange their jewels for jews-harps.
Sir Walter Raleigh determined to find this country and bring to his
queen its fabulous riches, for he believed that the silver and gold
mines of Mexico and Peru had made Spain the first state in
Christendom--"that purchaseth intelligence and creepeth into counsels
and endangereth and disturbeth all the nations of Europe."
In 1595, Sir Walter sailed from England and arrived at the Isle of
Trinidad, where he overthrew the Spaniards, then sailed up the
Orinoco, or one of its branches, four hundred miles, until hunger and
sickness compelled him to return. Although he did not reach the golden
city, he could see the mountains far in the distance which he believed
surrounded it, and he found the shining sand on the banks of the
Orinoco. In Guiana he raised the flag of England and compelled the
Indians to swear fealty to his queen.
Twenty years later, a prisoner in the Tower, he was released in order
to make a second voyage in search of this El Dorado for King James. He
sailed in 1617, accompanied by his eldest son; but disaster and
sickness met him at every step. He reached the Orinoco again, too
feeble to land. So his son and Captain Keymis went instead. Keymis
returned after a month of exploration, bringing Raleigh the news of
the death of his son in an attack on a Spanish town. He brought
reports of the golden city, of the mines of gold, diamonds and
emeralds, but neither gold, diamonds nor emeralds to confirm the truth
of these reports. Raleigh said, "I am undone;" Keymis replied, "I know
then, Sir, what course to take." He went to his cabin and killed
himself.
Raleigh returned to England, a broken down old man. The Spaniards
demanded his life of James as they had demanded it of Elizabeth after
his first expedition, on the ground that in time of {15} peace Raleigh
had attacked the Spanish forces and invaded their country. Elizabeth
had refused, but James yielded. Raleigh was executed, but Guiana
became an English colony.
The gold and silver mines of Peru have failed; little gold has been
found in Guiana, but its rich and fertile soil, watered by tropical
rains, has been a source of greater wealth than the gold mines of
Peru.
POPULATION OF SOUTH AMERICA.
As the countries of South America were all settled at about the same
time and by the same race and have passed through a like history, they
can be considered as a whole.
The United States and Canada, with a rough, uncongenial climate and
sterile soil, were settled by the Anglo-Saxons, the remainder of the
western continent by the Latin race and, excepting Brazil and Guiana,
by Spaniards. In North America the Anglo-Saxon race has dominated,
carrying civilization from the Atlantic to the Pacific, expelling and
exterminating the aborigines. There has been no mingling of the
Anglo-Saxon and Indian races, no backward step, but ever civil,
religious and intellectual progress. The Latin race conquered Central
America and South America, a perfect Eden of natural loveliness, one
hundred years prior to the settlement of the Anglo-Saxon; yet to-day
they constitute but a thin layer over a scarcely populated country.
Their leaders were men of unbounded ambition, rapacious, of great
endurance, but cruel and unscrupulous. They sought adventure,
expecting it would bring them gold and silver. For that end they
plundered, despoiled and enslaved the Indians. Gold and silver flowed
into their hands; luxury, effeminacy, and weakness followed.
The Spaniards in America have scarcely retained the civilization they
brought from the old world. They have intermarried with the Indians,
and this mixed race is said to inherit the vices of each of their
ancestors without the virtues of either.
A sparse population, mostly Spanish and foreigners, inhabit a zone ten
to twenty miles in depth along the coast of South America, from the
Bay of Panama to the Caribbean sea. All the cities and settlements,
excepting a few in the Argentine Republic, are near the coast.
Back of this zone, on the Pacific, is a mixed Spanish-Indian
population, much larger than the Spanish and foreign population; {16}
and on the Atlantic a population which is Spanish-Indian,
Spanish-Negro, and Negro-Indian, occupies a zone from twenty to one
hundred miles wide. Beyond the first zone a few Spanish families and
foreigners are found at the gold and silver mines, on the pampas, at
the cattle ranches, and on a few haciendas in Peru and Chili. In
Brazil the Portuguese and some Englishmen and Germans raise coffee and
sugar, and oversee the diamond and gold fields. On the Amazon there
are a few small settlements to collect the India rubber and cacao of
that valley.
Save these sparse settlements, the interior of South America is
inhabited by wild tribes of Indians, uncivilized save for the presence
of a few Catholic priests, who have given the Indians the cross and
the image of the Virgin Mary, which they worship, mingling the
Catholic religion with their old idolatries and barbarous rites. The
natives are believed to be more idle and less civilized than when the
Spaniards discovered America.
The Spaniards are the grandees of the country; too proud to work, they
leave all business to the foreigners and all labor to the Indians,
retaining in connection with the half-breeds all political power. When
the regents appointed by Spain were expelled in the early part of the
present century, republics were established, but they were republics
only in name; the people were neither educated nor fitted for
self-government. Their presidents generally exercised the powers of
dictators and often assumed that title. They have rarely enjoyed a
long rule, for their power and position were sought by others.
Revolution in these countries has passed from the acute to the chronic
stage.
A recent traveller in Peru, who wished to inspect its railroad system,
was informed that only 26 miles were in running order, the remainder
being under the control of the revolutionists who were then less than
80 miles from the capital. He asked why the rebels did not take Lima,
the capital, and was told, "because there is no unanimity among them;
they are suspicious of each other, and cannot depend upon any one
man." Instead of being anxious to serve their country they are only
interested in robbing her.
Another traveller in Bolivia, who witnessed some of these revolutions,
says they sometimes occurred three times in as many weeks, and that it
would have been ludicrous had not their results been often violent and
tragic. There has been no settled government, no continued peace, no
permanent policy, in any Spanish {17} country. The hope for the future
is that the English, German, and French population will increase and
become permanently identified with the country; they will then take an
active interest in politics and direct the policy and administration
of the government.
Commercial and banking business is in the hands of the French,
Germans, and English. The Italians carry on a small trade at corner
groceries and fruit stores; the French keep the hotels and
restaurants; the English and Germans are the shippers, merchants and
bankers.
Regular lines of English, French, and German steamers run from Europe
to Panama and thence along the western coast of South America,
stopping at ports en route; some return by Panama, others sail around
Cape Horn to Europe by Buenos Ayres and Rio Janeiro. Other lines run
direct from Europe to Brazil, and twenty-four lines connect Europe and
the Argentine Republic; while there are only four lines of American
steamers trading to South America.
BRAZIL.
We have given a general description of South America, but three
countries--Brazil, the Argentine Republic and Peru--require further
notice: Brazil, because it is the largest country, occupying
three-sevenths of South America, and the only considerable state that
was not settled by the Spaniards; the Argentine Republic, because it
is the largest and most populous of the Spanish states and, with Peru,
illustrates the political and financial phases through which the
Spanish republics have passed.
The valley of the Amazon makes Brazil the most fertile region of the
world. The tropical woods are so thick and the creepers and
undergrowth so luxuriant that animal life is almost entirely confined
to the trees above and the waters below.
The valley is not unhealthy, and, though under the equator, the
climate is tempered by the trade winds and the evaporation from the
vast Amazonian waters. Beyond the valley is the montaña district,
where the land is higher and the climate semi-tropical, where there
are few creepers, little underbrush, and open forests, and where both
animal and vegetable life is less abundant. Southward, beyond the
montaña district, are the evergreen pampas, where no trees grow and
where the animal and vegetable life are unlike either that of the
valley of the Amazon or that of the {18} montaña. As in Africa, so
here, men who live in the dark forest, die in the open. Mr. Stanley
selected thirty dwarfs from the tropical forests of Africa to take to
England, but as soon as they came into the grass-lands, the clear air
and bright sun, they languished and died before the coast was reached.
Northeast of the pampas, on the Atlantic coast, south of the Amazon,
is a province bounded on the south by a range of high mountains, where
rain is abundant; at Maranhao, its seaport, there are 280 inches of
rainfall in the year. South of Maranhao there is much less rain; and
instead of two seasons, the wet and the dry, which prevail in the
valley of the Amazon, there are the four seasons of the year, but
without extremes of heat and cold.
Over the greater part of Brazil grows the coffee tree, the
sheet-anchor of Brazilian prosperity, since it furnishes 60 per cent.
of all the coffee grown in the world. The plant is not indigenous to
Brazil, but was brought there about one hundred years ago from the old
world.
Brazil, inhabited by the Portuguese, with an imperial government, has
been saved from the anarchy and insolvency of the Spanish republics.
Her railroads have been built with economy and have been generally
successful. It had a population in 1885 of 11,000,000; two-thirds of
whom were Indians and negroes, and many of the negroes were slaves.
Slavery existed longer in Brazil than in any other civilized country;
the lash was commonly used on the plantation, and work continued from
early in the morning until late at night until 1888, when a law was
passed finally emancipating 1,300,000 slaves. It was opposed by the
planters, who said freedmen would not work, but would let the coffee
and sugar plantations fall to ruin. It was probably this act which
caused the overthrow of the empire, for in revenge the planters joined
the insurgents in establishing the Republic.
The Portuguese and Brazilians are more peaceable and orderly than the
Spaniards or Spanish-Americans; we may therefore reasonably hope that
Brazil will not repeat the history of the Spanish republics, which has
been one of disintegration, for these republics have separated into
two or more States. The greatest difficulty in maintaining its immense
domain will arise from the enormous distances and the time required to
travel between different parts of the country. From Rio de Janeiro to
Matto Grosso is 140 days' journey by land, and by water the distance
is 3000 miles. Communication is maintained by steamer {19} through the
Argentine Republic up the Rio de la Plata and its branches. Although
the country has many long and navigable rivers, yet the means of
intercommunication are very poor; for the rivers are little used, and
the forests, creepers, and undergrowth are so dense that the country
back of the river-banks is impenetrable, and even if roads should be
opened the soil is so luxuriant that they would be quickly overgrown
and soon become impassable.
Lines of steamers have been subsidized by the Brazilian government and
run up the Amazon 2000 miles to Tabatinga, at the boundary line of
Peru; there connecting with lines subsidized by the Peruvian
government, which run 1500 miles farther up the river. These vessels
carry supplies to the settlers and bring back India rubber,
Brazil-nuts, cacao, quinine, and the beautiful woods of the forest.
Yet steamers are rarely seen on the Amazon; they have few passengers,
and have not opened the country; we are told that the Mississippi
carries more vessels in a month, and the Yang-tse-kiang in a day, than
the Amazon in a year.
THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC.
The history of South American republics is illustrated in the
Argentine republic.
It is a vast pampas or prairie, extending from Brazil to the Andes,
and from Bolivia with a southeasterly trend 2000 miles to southeastern
Terra del Fuego.
The climate of the northern portion is tropical; of the central part,
semi-tropical; of the extreme south, temperate or cold. The country is
generally well watered excepting in the northwestern part, where the
land is dry and alkaline, like the arid regions of North America. The
soil is a rich, deep loam, from four to six feet in depth, excepting
in Patagonia and the western pampas, where there is a coarse gravel
and detritus from the Andes. Instead of the dense tropical forest of
the Amazon valley, the pampas are covered by a coarse grass, three or
four feet high, growing in large tussocks and all the year round of a
dark green. The strong grass crowds out all trees and almost all
plants, so that scarcely a flower relieves the uniform, everlasting
verdure.
Instead of the arboreal animals of the Amazon there is the rhea or
American ostrich, "ship of the wilderness," adapted to the {20}
pampas, but unable to live in the forests. The gauchos have hunted it
for the last three centuries, but it is now passing away and will soon
be lost to the pampas, as the buffalo has been to the North American
prairie.
The pampas are far better adapted to the raising of cattle than our
prairies, for the grass is always green and the winters are milder.
Cattle, horses, and sheep imported by the Spaniards and turned on to
the pampas rapidly increased, and now immense herds feed on the
plains.
The Indians who inhabit the pampas, instead of being confined to one
locality and journeying only by canoe, like the Indians on the Amazon,
wander over the length and breadth of the pampas, hunting the ostrich
and cattle. The cattle are tended by gauchos, as the cow-boys are
called, half-breeds as wild as the herds they tend. Constant warfare
exists between the Indians and the gauchos, unless they unite to
attack the settlers. After one of the Indian raids the government dug
an immense ditch from a river to the Andes and drove the Indians to
the farther side, and since then there have been fewer raids--and
fewer Indians.
The land was held in large blocks of many thousand acres, worked by
overseers and gauchos. The animals were killed by hundreds of
thousands for their skins. This state of things is, however, gradually
passing away, for during the last twenty years emigrants from the old
world have settled in the country as farmers and planters.
The fourteen provinces which form the Argentine Republic have never
been welded into one nation, and have seldom had a moment's peace. The
gauchos have been a continual scourge, and the gaucho generals its
rulers and harriers combined. Unfortunately, here, as in other Spanish
states, one dictator has succeeded another. Thirty presidents, or
dictators, have reigned within fifty years. At one time five provinces
had each a separate dictator. The neighboring republic of Uruguay,
formerly a part of the Argentine Confederation, had 26 revolutions in
the twenty-three years from 1864 to 1887.
For some time Buenos Ayres and its dictator ruled the republic; then
the country provinces rebelled, and civil war ensued; one province was
arrayed against another, and all against Buenos Ayres. The provinces
prevailed and the gaucho general, Rosas, occupied Buenos Ayres.
Scarcely was this civil war ended when a war arose with the republics
of Uruguay and Paraguay.
{21} Money was required to pay the army and the cost of civil and
foreign wars. Every dictator had his friends for whom provision must
be made. Large debts were created; banks were chartered; $200,000,000
of paper money were issued. There were several different circulating
mediums; each province strove to outdo the others in the issue of a
currency which quickly depreciated. Companies for different purposes
were organized, and many were subsidized, directly or indirectly. We
are told that in one case $1,500,000 was paid for a concession, and
that "Turkish officials, who have hitherto been the champion artists
in backsheesh, leave off where Argentine blackmailers begin; the price
of a drainage scheme at Buenos Ayres would buy a whole cabinet of
pashas at Galata."
Railroads were built running from Buenos Ayres in different
directions, as each province demanded a railroad, with little regard
to its population or business.
A road was commenced to cross the Andes and open communication between
the Atlantic and Pacific over mountains which had never been crossed
by a carriage of any kind.
The country was not settled so rapidly as the rulers desired.
Inducements were therefore offered to immigrants. The passage money
from Europe and the expenses of the immigrant to his new home have
been paid and land for settlement sold at low rates. It is estimated
that over 1,000,000 foreigners have settled in the country during the
last twelve years, and the proportionate increase of population in the
same period has been twice as great as that of the United States.
Grazing lands have been sold at nominal prices to immigrants, or
leased for terms of years in lots of 6,000 acres at a rental of $100 a
year. Bonds were issued not only by the government but by the
provinces, by the municipalities and by the railroads, and all were
readily taken in England and Germany. To enable the emigrants to pay
for and to cultivate their land, the owner of real estate on
depositing his title deeds with the hypothecary banks and having a
valuation of his real estate, received cedulas, or bonds of the bank,
for one-half its appraised value; these cedulas for large amounts were
issued and sold in Europe; and thus, as ever, more money was required,
more bonds were issued. In 1889, a year of peace, the public debt was
increased 120 per cent., and it is now said to be over one thousand
four hundred millions of dollars, and the principal and interest of
two-thirds of this amount is payable in gold at a premium of 200 per
cent.
{22} In 1890 there was no money to meet the interest and general
prostration ensued.
It is difficult to ascertain the debt of the republic; but if the
accounts given in the English publications are correct the debt is
greater in proportion to its population and wealth than that of any
other country in the world. The only hope of the Argentine Republic is
to wipe out the debt by insolvency and bankruptcy.
PERU.
A strip of land with 1200 miles of sea coast, without a natural
harbor, and 200 to 300 miles wide, consisting of a plain, mountains, a
plateau, and still another range of mountains--this is Peru.
In the west, where the rain never falls, are numerous small rivers,
to-day mountain torrents, to-morrow dry, rocky beds.
Between the lofty ranges of snow mountains is the highest plateau in
the world, after Thibet. The southern part of this plateau is dry and
desolate, the northern portion is well watered, with beautiful streams
running now through deep cañons and then through rich, fertile valleys
steadily descending toward the northeast; the valleys growing ever
broader, warmer and more delightful, until the montaña is reached,
only a few hundred feet above the Atlantic, where the streams have
become rivers, navigable to the ocean.
The western slope of the mountains is dry and barren, so that
breadstuffs and provisions are imported from Ecuador on the north, or
from lower Chili, far to the south. Yet no other country has
contributed so much to the world's fertility; for here are the great
deposits of guano and nitrates, more valuable than mines of gold and
silver. These deposits yielded for over thirty years a net annual
revenue of $20,000,000.
The eastern slope, rich and fertile, producing every tree and flower,
all fruits and vegetables grown in any part of the world; in the
mountains, mines of gold and silver, platinum and cinnabar, copper and
tin, lead and iron, coal and petroleum, nitrates and asphalt: a
bankrupt nation in the midst of untold wealth--such is Peru.
To bring the minerals down to the ocean, tens of millions of dollars
were expended on thirteen roads; but though none of them were ever
finished, they reached a few of the poorer mines. Seven of these roads
were built by the government, the others by private parties.
{23} The sales of guano and the production of gold and silver made
Peru a proud and wealthy nation. Everything prospered until the war
with Chili, from 1879 to 1883, ending in the defeat of Peru and the
loss of a portion of her territory, including a large part of her
guano deposit. She was unable to keep her railroads in operation, much
less to extend them, or to pay the interest on her bonds; and thus
bankruptcy followed defeat. At last, after fourteen years of default
and six years of negotiation, a contract was concluded with Peru by
Mr. M. P. Grace, of New York, in January, 1890, on behalf of the
bondholders. The bondholders became concessionaires, and in
consideration of the release of the bonded debt due to them by Peru,
receive valuable concessions, of money, of mines, of railroads, of
lands and of guano. These concessions include among other things a
government subsidy of $400,000 a year, secured from the customs of
Callao; the mines of Cerro de Pasco, which have yielded a yearly
average of $2,000,000 for over one hundred years; the entire railway
system (769 miles in length) of the state; a grant of 5,000,000 acres
for the extension of the Lake Titicaca railroad; a grant of 4,500,000
acres for the extension of the Central or Oroya railroad to the
navigable waters of the Ucayala, one of the main tributaries of the
Amazon; the exclusive control of the guano deposit until 2,000,000
tons have been sold, from which they expect to sell at least 80,000
tons a year, which will net $1,000,000. The concessionaires on their
part agree to liquidate the Peruvian debt, to repair the railroads,
and construct 974 miles in extension of the existing system at an
estimated cost of $16,000,000, and to assume certain other obligations
to a limited amount.
This, perhaps the most remarkable settlement ever made between a
bankrupt nation and its creditor, is due largely to Mr. Grace, and
cannot fail to develop the resources of Peru and restore her days of
prosperity.
TRADE RELATIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES.
It appears from the foregoing statement that all the carrying trade to
and from South America, by water, is by foreign steamers; that only
four of these are American lines; that the railroads are generally
owned and operated by Englishmen; that the bankers and merchants are
Englishmen or Germans; that {24} many of the mines, cattle ranches,
coffee plantations and other estates are owned by non-resident
foreigners; and that the largest consumer of South American products
is the United States, although this country sells few of its
manufactures and products to South America.
The English steamers, in the usual course of trade, load with English
dry-goods consigned to English houses in South America, where they are
sold and the proceeds invested in coffee and other products, which are
sent in the same vessels to the United States; there sold, and the
money invested in our produce for carriage to England. The English
therefore obtain the profits on manufacture, on the freight to South
America, on the sale of the goods in South America, on the freight
from South America to the United States, on the sale of those goods,
and finally on the freight of the American breadstuffs carried to
Europe. For the successful prosecution of any trade between two
countries, it is essential that each shall produce what the other
wants: Thus, we raise breadstuffs which are not grown on the Caribbean
sea nor in the valley of the Amazon, nor in Peru or upper Chili, and
we also manufacture goods required in all parts of South America,
where they have few factories; there, coffee, wool, India rubber,
cacao and other articles are produced, which we require. Here,
therefore, are the factors necessary for a prosperous trade. Such a
trade we formerly enjoyed with South America: In 1852, six hundred
United States vessels entered the harbor of Buenos Ayres, or more than
twice as many as those of all other nations combined; now only two per
cent. of the shipping entering that harbor belongs to us. Our war
came, iron steamers took the place of wooden sailing ships, we levied
a duty on coffee and rubber, South America levied a duty on our
manufactures, other countries subsidized lines of steamers, while we
refused all subsidies; and our trade with South America rapidly fell
off, as freights were carried cheaper in foreign than in American
ships, and the trade of South America passed from the United States to
England, Germany and France.
It is said that we cannot regain this trade, because we cannot,
without protection maintain our own manufactures, much less compete
with the Europeans in an open market; and therefore that it will be a
waste of money to subsidize our vessels. But the larger the market the
cheaper we can manufacture, and we can {25} surely find a large and
new market for our breadstuffs. It is worth while to make the
experiment at least, to give our vessels the same subsidy and
protection that has been given to the European lines, and to our
merchants and bankers, an opportunity to regain the trade with South
America. At first the odds will be greatly against us; but if we show
the same energy and ability in cultivating trade with South America
that our fathers exhibited, and that we have shown in other
directions, we must ultimately succeed.
It is now proposed to tax the products of South America, unless the
South American states reciprocate and admit our breadstuffs and
manufactures free. If this scheme can be carried out, a large and
prosperous commerce will be established between North America and
South America, and American houses will be started in the large cities
to dispose of our manufactures and ship the products to South America.
By this interchange, our manufacturers and farmers will find a market
for their goods and products, our mercantile navy freight for its
vessels, and our bankers and merchants a profitable business in the
large cities of South America.
RAILROADS.
We have already referred to the several railroads which start from the
little ports on the Pacific coast and run up the valleys toward the
Andes. Three of these, among the most remarkable roads in the world,
ascend to a greater elevation than any others, and to a height which
in Europe or the United States, would be above the snow level. They
were intended to reach the gold and silver mines between the Andes and
Cordilleras.
The first, called the Oroya or Central railroad, 111 miles in length,
starts from Callao on the Pacific, and crosses the Andes, at an
elevation of nearly 15,000 feet, to the plateau between the Andes and
the Cordilleras. It is expected that this road will be extended to the
navigable waters of the Amazon.
Three hundred miles southward, the second road runs from Mollendo,
Peru, by Arequipa to Puno on Lake Titicaca, and thence northward on
the plateau 407 miles to San Rosas, on the route to Cuzco. The road
from Mollendo to Arequipa runs through a country so destitute of water
that the only supply for {26} the engines and stations is by an iron
pipe 8 inches in diameter, and 50 miles long, running from an
elevation of 7,000 feet to the sea-coast.
Seven or eight hundred miles south of Mollendo, a line runs from
Valparaiso in Chili to Buenos Ayres, 870 miles. It crosses the Andes
through a tunnel two miles long, at an elevation of 10,568 feet above
the sea; after leaving the mountains it runs over the pampas two
hundred miles, without a curve or a grade over three feet above or
below the plain, and will soon be completed from ocean to ocean.
From Rio de Janeiro several roads have been constructed over the
mountains west of that city to different parts of Brazil. One of these
runs westwardly toward Bolivia.
Bolivia has recently granted concessions for the construction of a
road from La Paz to connect on the west with the Peruvian roads at
Lake Titicaca, and on the east with the Brazilian lines on the
Pacific; and thus ultimately a road will run from Mollendo on the
Atlantic ocean by Lake Titicaca and La Paz to Rio de Janeiro.
There are now from 6000 to 7000 miles of road in operation in the
Argentine Republic, 5000 to 6000 in Brazil, and 3000 to 4000 miles in
the other states, making a total of about 15,000 miles of railroad in
operation.
A proposition is now before the public for the construction of the
Pan-American railroad, from the Caribbean sea southward to the
Argentine Republic to connect with the Peruvian, with the Brazilian,
and ultimately with the Argentine roads.
The route that seems to be most feasible starts at Cartagena, where
there is a splendid bay and harbor, within three days sail from
Galveston and six days from New York. It follows the valley of the
Magdalena river 800 miles to Dividal, 1700 feet above the sea. Here,
near the head waters of the Magdalena, the route crosses the eastern
Cordilleras at an elevation of about 6,500 feet to the head waters of
the Caqueta, or Yapura, a branch of the Amazon, and thence runs down
that river 375 miles to the mouth of the Engarros, only 550 feet above
tide-water. From the Caqueta river, the route passes through Ecuador
to Iquitos, Peru, crossing fourteen tributaries of the Amazon. From
Iquitos the route ascends the Amazon and the Ucayle, one of its
southern tributaries, 500 miles to Napal, then continues across the
montaña {27} and the numerous valleys of the Amazon about 600 miles,
to Santa Cruz in Bolivia, or 2400 miles from Cartagena; while a branch
will run up the Apurimac to Cuzco.
This road would run for 2000 miles along the foot hills of the
Cordilleras, and in these mountains is probably the richest mining
region in the world; here gold, silver, copper, lead and coal mines
are found. The gold and silver mines do not seem to have been
thoroughly explored, although untold millions of the precious metals
have been extracted from them. These mines are generally in cold and
treeless regions, where coal, labor and food are difficult to obtain;
where freights are high and machinery of all kinds most expensive.
This road would greatly facilitate the opening and working of these
mines, and not only make them profitable but develop a large and
lucrative traffic.
Much of Bolivia is above the navigable waters of the Amazon, and many
of its provinces are now land-locked and almost isolated from
communication with the outer world. The proposed road would cross many
branches of the Amazon, and thus connect with fifty thousand miles of
navigable waters, at least 9000 of which are above Iquitos; and it is
claimed that the business from 20,000 miles of navigable waters would
find by this route a nearer outlet to Europe and America than by Para.
There is every variety of climate on the route. The valley of the
Magdalena is sultry; every afternoon the water grows tepid, and the
stones burning hot, in the sun's rays. In crossing the Cordilleras the
cool breezes of the mountains are met. The road then descends into the
valley of the Amazon, through a rich and not unhealthy region, though
it has the damp, hot, climate of a tropical country, and thence passes
through the montaña district, which is generally high, healthy and
fertile.
This country, under a wise government, is capable of sustaining an
immense population and giving abundant support to such a railroad; but
it is now unexplored, excepting the valleys of the navigable rivers,
and is uninhabited save by wild and savage Indians, though these are
not numerous.
The route up the Magdalena may be expensive by reason of the climate,
but not otherwise. The road in the mountain district will necessarily
be costly, and also in the sierras, because it must {28} cross the
numerous branches of the Amazon, and the precipitous mountains between
the valleys, and from the difficulty of obtaining labor and material
for construction. Mr. Orton, who crossed from one branch of the Napo
to another, says:
"We crossed the stream and the intervening ridges, and their name is
legion; sometimes we were climbing up an almost vertical ascent, then
descending into a deep dark ravine to find a furious river, while on
the lowlands the path seemed lost in the dense bamboos, until the
Indians opened a passage with their machetes and we crept under the
low arcade of foliage."
Even if the railroad were built, almost all the produce of the Amazon
and montaña country could be carried more cheaply by water to Para
than by rail to Cartagena; while goods from England and America would
be carried cheaper by steamer to the Isthmus of Panama, and thence to
all ports on the Pacific ocean, than by steamer to Cartagena and up
the Magdalena across the Andes to the valley of the Amazon, and then a
second time across the Andes to the Pacific ocean. The greater part of
the business to and from the mines would be by the railroad.
At present, as there could not be sufficient business to pay the
operating expenses of such a road, it must rely on government
subsidies to build and operate it.
Those who have given the most consideration to the subject say that
the road need not be an expensive one to operate, and in the important
element of time it would have a great advantage over the route via
Para. As a means of promoting the settlement of the country and
developing commerce, which cannot exist without population, the
railroad would seem to be a necessity, for navigation has neither
opened the country nor brought in emigrants and we may fairly assume
that it will not suffice in the future.
CONCLUSION.
In conclusion I will quote from two writers on tropical America.
Buckle says:
"Amidst the pomp and splendor of nature, no place is left for man; he
is reduced to insignificance by the majesty with which he is
surrounded. The forces that oppose are so formidable that he has never
been able to make head against them.
"The energies of nature have hampered his spirit; nowhere else is the
contrast so painful between the grandeur of the external world and
{29} the littleness of the internal, and the mind, cowed by this
unequal struggle, has been unable to advance.
"Here, where physical resources are the most powerful, where
vegetation and animals are most abundant, where the soil is watered by
the noblest rivers and the coast studded by the finest harbors, the
profusion of nature has hindered social progress and opposed that
accumulation of wealth without which progress is impossible."
Mr. Bates, the naturalist, after a residence of many years on the
Amazon, closes his book as follows:
"The superiority of the bleak north to tropical regions is only in its
social aspects, for I hold to the opinion that although humanity can
reach an advanced state of culture only by battling with the
inclemency of nature in high latitudes, it is under the equator alone
that the perfect race of the future will attain to complete fruition
of man's beautiful heritage, the earth."
_Washington, January, 1891_.
{30}
VOL. III, PP. 31-40, APRIL 30, 1891
THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE
GEOGRAPHY OF THE LAND
ANNUAL REPORT BY VICE-PRESIDENT
HERBERT G. OGDEN
[Illustration: National Geographic Society seal]
WASHINGTON
PUBLISHED BY THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY
Price 25 Cents.
{31}
VOL. III, PP. 31-40, APRIL 30, 1891
THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE
GEOGRAPHY OF THE LAND.
ANNUAL REPORT BY VICE-PRESIDENT
HERBERT G. OGDEN.
(_Presented to the Society January 23, 1891_.)
Very few of the geographic events of the past year have been of such
an essential nature as to require a reference in this report, and yet
some of them are of surpassing interest. Fraught, as many of them are,
with policies that must have a marked influence in the future in
developing the still uncivilized regions and increasing the prosperity
of the established communities, they present a field for research that
has already attracted the political economist, enlisted the labor of
the philanthropist, and excited the cupidity of commerce.
* * * * *
The division of Africa, as commonly referred to, has naturally aroused
the most profound attention of all civilized peoples. But few have
attempted to penetrate the darkness of the future with predictions of
the ultimate results of the partition of this great continent. That
civilization will eventually follow, we may feel reasonably assured;
and if we could but see the end in the establishment of powerful
nations without the repetition of history in the quarrels, strife, and
war that have preceded the settled order of political progression on
other continents, we might well hope the human had improved his
humanity and believe we had entered the border land of the millennium
that enthusiasts have so long held up to us as the final stage in the
progress of man.
{32} The professions of the African powers are peaceful, but in the
division of these unknown millions of square miles it requires but
little penetration to discern the elements for protracted strife in
future generations. The agreement between Germany and England, by far
the most important of the compacts to extend the protection of
European nations to particular zones not embraced in the Kongo Free
State, exemplifies in a marked degree the disputes that may arise, and
with what avidity the civilized nations have sought mutual recognition
of their right to dominate in specified spheres. As might have been
expected, however, in an attempt to divide great areas that have not
even been mapped, and with an economic value still to be determined,
the boundaries of the spheres are oftentimes indefinite, and instead
of settling disputed questions, but defer them to the generations yet
to come. There are colonies, protectorates, and spheres of influence,
with boundaries sometimes so ill defined that we may conceive they
have been purposely left indeterminate, that at the proper time the
most powerful may push their frontiers to include regions that the
adventurous may proclaim desirable acquisitions.
The area of Africa is computed at nearly 12,000,000 square miles; and
about 9,500,000 square miles are claimed by the powers as under their
control, protectorate, or influence within the tentative boundaries
that seem to have been very generally agreed upon. Fully 83 per cent.
of this area has been acquired during the past fifteen years. We have
seen during this period the possessions of Spain increase from 3,500
to 200,000 square miles; England, from 280,000 to 2,000,000; France,
from 280,000 to 2,300,000, while Italy and Germany, that were without
a square rod a few years ago, now claim extensive areas--Italy about
360,000 and Germany over 1,000,000 square miles. Portugal, though not
less grasping, seems to have been less successful, as she has acquired
less than 100,000 square miles. Perhaps having encountered a more
powerful nation in her path may account for this, but the total area
within her "sphere" is nevertheless not insignificant, reaching as it
does over three-quarters of a million of square miles. In the Kongo
Free State we find another million square miles, which many believe
will ultimately become a Belgian colony; but in any event, occupying
as it does the larger part of the basin of the Kongo, it is destined
to be the scene of an activity in the development of the continent
fruitful of the most important results.
{33} We must remember, too, that England now occupies Egypt, and that
with her protectorate over Zanzibar and her sphere of influence to the
northward of that state, that has not yet been limited, it is not
improbable that she will eventually reach the Mediterranean,
establishing a more extended influence in northern Africa than even
that which she has exerted over the southern end of the continent.
Should England's influence in the north result in the occupation of
all the territory that is apparently within her "sphere," we may
conceive some of the complications likely to arise, and see the
realization of the proviso in the recent Anglo-German agreement
granting her the right of way to build a railroad through the German
sphere east of Lake Tanganyika. Englishmen have expressed grave doubts
as to the wisdom of conceding to Germany this large territory east of
Lake Tanganyika, claiming it was rightfully theirs through discovery,
and as they are estopped from intercommunication to the westward of
the lake by the boundaries of the Kongo Free State, view with alarm
the possible intricacies of the situation when they may attempt to
exercise their rights in the German sphere. But doubtless there are
compensating advantages derived from the agreement, as many earnest
and able men commend the concessions made by their government in view
of the greater influence that has been acquired in other regions where
it has not heretofore been generally conceded.
South of the Zambesi there are still other elements that promise fruit
for strife ere the region is recognized as settled to the satisfaction
of the contending powers. Boundaries now but illy defined must be
adjusted before the venturous pioneers shall know to which nation
their lands belong, and we may well foresee in the sections where
exploration develops riches and abundance that the peaceful measures
of arbitration will fail to satisfy the claims to dominance. We have,
too, an element in the south African republic that must ere long find
vent in a more pronounced movement to secure a seaport than that made
a few years ago. The fact that Delagoa bay, the finest harbor on this
section of the African coast, is the natural outlet for these people
and for the extensive regions adjacent that may eventually come under
their control, points to this bay becoming a bone of contention if the
powers interested do not conclude the present arbitration on a just
and satisfactory basis. On the lower Niger there are also points of
friction, and even the sands of the great {34} Sahara are becoming the
subject of dispute in the anxiety to establish power that may wield an
influence in distributing the wealth that may be found.
From what regions of the continent the future wealth is to be derived
we cannot predict. The uncertainty is, perhaps, the consideration in
the problem of development that leaves vast areas with undefined
boundaries, though nominally within the sphere of influence of a
specified power. There are fully 2,000,000 square miles yet to be
explored before we may know the general geographic features of the
continent, and a much larger area that must be examined and studied by
experts before any reasonable estimate of its value and adaptability
to the schemes of civilized man can be approached. The great strides
that have been made in recent years in seizing upon the unclaimed
territories doubtless received the larger impetus from the revelations
in Mr. Stanley's explorations. The Kongo is recognized to be a natural
highway leading to a region believed to be susceptible of remunerative
development. Preparations have been made to construct a railroad
around the falls in the lower river to overcome the greatest practical
obstacle to its fullest utilization. We may reasonably expect
commercial enterprises on extensive scales to speedily follow the
completion of this road and hasten the acquisition of a more perfect
knowledge of the Kongo basin, not within the boundaries of the Kongo
Free State alone, but also the region drained by the great tributaries
from the north and the sections naturally dependent upon this great
river system.
The Kongo is but one line on which the general advance is being made
upon the interior of the continent. The French seem determined upon
extending their influence on the northern and western coasts, and the
Portuguese, English, Germans, and Italians are pronounced in their
efforts on the eastern coast, while the English are careful, too, of
their interests from the south, and seem to have almost unlimited
scope north of Victoria Nyanza. The progress of the advancing
colonization will necessarily be accelerated or retarded by the
geographic conditions encountered in the different regions. In some,
it may be the difficulty of maintaining communication with older
settlements; in others, that the land is unproductive or the probable
gains not sufficiently attractive; and lastly, the great density of
the native population in certain districts is likely to prove a
hindrance that it may require many years to overcome. On the lower
Niger, in {35} the British west African colony, in Egypt, in Natal, on
the shores of Lake Victoria Nyanza, and in parts of the Kongo basin,
it is estimated that the native population is nearly as dense as in
India; but the climatic conditions are so unfavorable that it is not
probable that any attempt will be made to advance in these regions for
a more serious purpose than to maintain a foothold for the future. The
more attractive districts for the white man are thought to be much
less populous, and are not scourged with such an unhealthy climate.
Even now the nations of Europe are planning to enter these great
unknown fields. There is an expedition on the western coast, under the
explorer Cameron, investigating the conditions for trade; and the
rumors of the organization of wealthy companies to work in the several
"spheres of influence" but impress upon us the fact that the Old World
is moving to lay bare the resources of the great continent, and we may
hope with an energy that will overcome all obstacles, open new fields
to mankind, and relieve the nations of the horrors of human traffic in
which they have been too long encouraged. But it would be vain to hope
there will be no bloodshed, for where man has great rival interests
history teaches us they are settled by the sword; and we can hardly
believe the peaceful methods of arbitration will have gained such sway
as to rob history in her predictions as to the regeneration of
"darkest Africa."
* * * * *
On the western hemisphere also there have been events of most
interesting import, in that they foreshadow a closer union of the
people of the two continents. Unlike Africa, in that this hemisphere
has been under the control of the more intelligent races of men for
several generations, so that discovery and the cruelties attending the
establishment of supremacy are virtually questions of the past, the
interests involved are on a different plane, though not on a higher
moral sphere, as we can conceive no greater Christian duty than the
regeneration of the uncivilized, but a sphere affecting the relations
of established communities that for generations have been wielding an
influence in the world's history on principles recognized to be the
product of civilization. The metes and bounds of the states are well
defined, with few exceptions, and the ambition for territorial
accretion has been so greatly subdued by the misfortunes of their
earlier histories, that the time seems to be propitious for {36}
advancing those greater questions of public policy that naturally
arise from their community of interests. The proposition to convene a
Pan-American congress was for several years viewed with suspicion, and
was even designated by some as chimerical, but the suggestion took
root. Many thoughtful men believed such a conference would lead to a
better understanding between the people of the states represented, and
that, while the fruits might not be made immediately apparent, the
foundation would be laid for lasting benefits. The interest manifested
by the different nations and the high character of the representatives
they sent to the conference clearly indicated that deliberations were
to be undertaken in good faith. We need not follow the deliberations
of this body, nor even revert to the many questions discussed. Since
the adjournment we are beginning to appreciate some of the results.
The recent establishment of the "Bureau of the American Republics" is
one of the first practical evidences of work accomplished. This bureau
is maintained by proportionate contributions from the nations
represented in the congress, and is intended to be the medium for
collecting and disseminating information on commercial, industrial,
and cognate subjects. If we consider the different characteristics of
the people of the two continents--their manners, customs and methods
of business--we can readily conceive the bureau has before it a labor
of no little magnitude, but one that, fairly accomplished, cannot fail
to be beneficial and of lasting value.
Further evidence of the work of the congress is apparent in the
organization of a commission of experts to project the
long-contemplated inter-continental railway--a scheme that, dependent
upon individual effort, would doubtless require many years for
accomplishment, but undertaken under international auspices we may
hope will be pressed to a speedy conclusion.
The assembly of delegates to consider a monetary unit for the
republics of the two continents is also the result of the congress.
The progress of this conference will doubtless be watched with
peculiar interest, coming as it does when our own people are in the
midst of a reactionary effort to habilitate silver as a standard coin.
The revolution a year ago that gave birth to the United States of
Brazil, it was feared by many would lead to a state of anarchy that
would end disastrously to the new nation and perhaps involve
neighboring states. Fortunately these forebodings have {37} not been
realized, and the recent general election in Brazil, which seems to
have been conducted without violence, has caused a feeling of
confidence that we may well believe will continue and permit this
great state to enter heartily into the new era of material development
that seems opening to our sister republics.
* * * * *
Work on the construction of the Nicaragua canal has steadily
progressed during the year. A harbor for light-draft vessels has been
constructed at San Juan del Norte, and satisfactory progress has been
made in constructing the railway designed to facilitate the work of
excavation. It has been hoped by the friends of this project that the
canal would be constructed with funds raised by private subscription.
The admirable management of the preliminary work of surveying and
organization were good grounds for their belief; but the bill recently
introduced in Congress asking a guarantee for one hundred millions of
bonds to be issued, indicates that expectations of friends were too
sanguine, and that the financial backing that had been believed to be
assured has for some reason not been developed. This may be only a
temporary alarm, due to the general financial stringency that has
prevailed during the past few months, and on the recurrence of an
easier money market the necessity for the relief asked from Congress
will disappear.
* * * * *
The Panama canal project, supposed to have been abandoned in hopeless
financial ruin, has recently been revived, with new concessions
extending the period for construction, and, it is currently reported,
a scheme for a colossal lottery company for raising the means for
prosecuting the work. It seems incredible that this canal shall become
a fact in this generation; but if it is the feasible route its
projectors claim, it is not improbable that the demands of a future
generation may necessitate its construction.
* * * * *
A year ago I commented upon the improvement of the Mississippi river.
Since then one of the greatest floods on record has visited the lower
river country, devastating a large area. It brought to the settlers in
the valley, however, a new experience, and has inspired them with a
confidence in the levée system that finds expression in the demand for
levées of approved construction from Cairo to the Gulf. The flood of a
year ago covered many square miles. A large proportion of the area,
{38} however, was not protected by levées, and another large
proportion was only partially protected; and while, therefore, the
disaster impressed the general public with a belief that the levées
were a failure, the facts really point to the contrary. In former
notable floods it has not been unusual for one hundred or more miles
of levée to be washed away before the flood subsided, but on the
recent occasion there was a total length of less than five miles
destroyed in some 1,100 miles of levée that had been believed to be
safe. This is a remarkable showing, and has naturally inspired the
advocates of the system with greater confidence. It points to the
possibility of constructing levées at a reasonable expense that will
stand the pressure of water for the height that it has been computed
necessary to build them. There is a grave doubt, however, in the minds
of some as to whether the computed heights, the levées holding intact,
will afford sufficient cross-section to carry off the volume of water
draining from the catchment basins. Some interesting computations on
this subject have recently been made by General Greely, the chief
signal officer,[1] from observations made during an extended period.
[Footnote 1: North American Review, May, 1890.]
The question raised is not a new one, but, considered in the light of
the statistics presented, seems to involve the problem of the
improvement of the river with increasing difficulties. General
Greely's figures indicate that the cross-section of the lower river
will only permit carrying to the sea a volume of about sixty cubic
miles of water during an ordinary flood season, and that in the
extraordinary flood years, such as 1882 and 1890, the volume to be
carried down is about eighty cubic miles, showing an excess of about
twenty cubic miles over the capacity of the river in a specified time.
These figures should be taken in the nature of a warning; and while it
must be admitted that the intricacy of the problem precludes
precision, their probable reliability should be carefully studied
before an extended levée system is built intended to guarantee
protection against exceptional floods.
* * * * *
During recent years the complex and perplexing subject of geographic
nomenclature has received the careful consideration of a number of the
European nations, with a view to reaching a uniformity in treatment
and the transliteration of names of unwritten languages into Roman
characters. England, France, and {39} Germany have adopted
substantially the same system of rules. Recent publications from these
countries evidence the intention to apply them as rapidly as
circumstances will permit. Although we may rebel at first on seeing
such familiar names as Cairo spelled with a K, Mecca with double k,
and Muscat converted into Maskat, it is believed the general
principles adopted will eventually receive acquiescence--perhaps
half-hearted at first--and as the utility of the system becomes more
apparent through its universal adoption and we realize that maps from
whatever nation will give us the names of the same places in
substantially the same form, our prejudices must give way.
Under the provisions of an executive order issued on the fourth of
September last, our own Government has virtually adopted the European
system in the treatment of foreign names, thus bringing us in accord
with the principal nations upon a most important subject to students
and geographers the world over. The executive order constitutes a
board composed of ten representatives from different departments and
bureaus of the Government service, to which all questions relating to
the work of the board that may arise in the departments are to be
referred, and requires all persons in the Government service to
respect the decisions that may be rendered. The board in its first
bulletin, recently issued, has announced its adoption of the English
system for the treatment of foreign names and transliteration into
Roman characters, and has presented principles to guide in reaching
decisions affecting home names. These principles will doubtless be
added to as new questions arise, so that at no very distant day we may
see formulated a set of rules that will be instructive as well as
useful in their application. The first bulletin seems to have been
received favorably, and we may hope, as the work of the board advances
and the importance of the subject is more generally realized, that it
will gain the hearty endorsement of the public and a support that must
largely increase the usefulness of its labors.
* * * * *
In conclusion, permit me to congratulate the society upon its first
attempt at scientific exploration in the field. The Mount St. Elias
expedition, under the leadership of Mr. I. C. Russell, with Mr. Mark
B. Kerr as topographer, left Seattle, Washington, in June last, and
after spending more than two months on the mountain sides, one-half
their time above the snow line, have {40} returned with notes,
specimens, and data of the greatest interest. The topography was
sketched over an area of about one thousand square miles, and includes
the determination of the geographical position and elevation of Mount
St. Elias and many neighboring peaks. Mount St. Elias is indicated to
be not so high by some 4,000 feet as the heretofore accepted
elevation, 19,500 feet. The difficulties attending the determination
of the height of this mountain are so great that the range between the
extreme elevations that have been given by different explorers is
nearly 6,000 feet. This is believed to be the first height for it that
has been derived from a carefully measured base, and it therefore
should receive great weight. But I regret to say that in the chain of
triangles connecting with the top of the mountain, the difficulty of
placing well-conditioned triangles seems to have been so great that
the observers were forced to accept very small included angles, which
necessarily casts a doubt upon the resulting distances. We must
therefore accept the new elevation with caution until it is verified
by further observations.
The party was unfortunately prevented from reaching the top of Mount
St. Elias by severe storms, but the ascent was so nearly accomplished
that Mr. Russell is confident he found a practicable route; and it
seems probable that had he been started ten days or two weeks earlier
the first ascent of Mount St. Elias would have been recorded as a part
of the work of the expedition.
The full report of this expedition is now nearing completion, and will
be published by the Society at an early date. To this I must refer you
for the interesting details, and experiences encountered by the
explorers.
The expedition was organized by the Society, but in congratulating
ourselves we should not forget that our thanks are due to the United
States Geological Survey for the assignment of officers to conduct the
work in the field and for assistance rendered in the organization; and
we may hope the substantial results that have been secured will prove
as pleasing to that great national work as they are to your board of
managers.
_Washington, January 23, 1891_.
VOL. III, PP. 41-52, MAY 1, 1891
THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE
GEOGRAPHY OF THE AIR
ANNUAL REPORT BY VICE-PRESIDENT
A. W. GREELY
[Illustration: National Geographic Society seal]
WASHINGTON
PUBLISHED BY THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY
Price 25 Cents.
{41}
VOL. III, PP. 41-52, MAY 1, 1891
THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE
GEOGRAPHY OF THE AIR.
ANNUAL REPORT BY VICE-PRESIDENT
A. W. GREELY.
(_Presented to the Society January 23, 1891._)
In fulfilling the duties growing out of his official position in
connection with this Society, your Vice-President of the Geography of
the Air has been so closely occupied with executive and other official
duties devolving upon him as to preclude his giving that amount of
time and labor to this annual report that the subject merits. Indeed,
no report would be submitted this year had it not seemed better to
insure a continuity of these annual addresses, even if one of them
might not be up to the high standard which should be maintained for
them.
It must have impressed every general reader of scientific journals
that the past year has been marked by the publication of an unusual
number of controversial articles relating entirely or in part to
meteorology. Some of the discussions of this subject appear to be in
the nature of speculation, which, by good authority, is defined to be
"chiefly the work of the imagination, and has little to do with
realities." The status of the meteorological discussion which has been
going on for some time seems to be this: A number of men, applying
themselves to investigation in separate branches or stages of the same
science, are attempting to reconcile their views, which, based as they
are upon entirely different processes of investigation, are not
entirely accordant. Some, at least, of these writers are still
apparently groping in the preliminary, the "natural history" stage of
the {42} science of meteorology, while one alone stands as the
exponent of the "natural philosophy" of meteorology.
To me it seems that it could not have failed to impress any interested
reader who has followed the late publications on the convectional
theory that, in order to clear the ground for definite meteorological
discussion, it is necessary to determine the exact meaning of the
various technical terms employed by the various writers. Whether from
looseness of verbiage originally or from the not infrequent habit of
disputants when worsted to change their ground by claiming to be
misunderstood, we find that some writers are unwilling either to stand
by their first criticisms or to openly abandon them; they prefer to
explain away their defective statements and gradually shift around to
positions almost diametrically opposed to those originally assumed.
The generally accepted theory as to cyclones attributes their
initiatory formation to an unequal distribution of temperature with
resulting mean diminution of pressure, and the movement of the air
from places of high to places of low pressure, the lower air ascending
with a gyratory motion, while air particles moving from opposite
directions form couples which produce rotation. When energetic motions
raise the ascending air to such a height that the temperature, cooled
dynamically in ascending, goes below the dew-point, then the great
store of latent heat thereby set free becomes, it is assumed, the main
source of energy in maintaining the upward convectional movement. The
subsidiary causes are attributed to the diminution of pressure on the
collapse of the vapor, and also to the direct absorption of the sun's
heat at the upper cloud surface.
In anticyclones a slow gyratory descending motion of the air is
assumed. Ferrel considers the cyclone and anticyclone one system, and
believes that air flowing into the cyclone from a "high" at the ground
passes out into the higher atmospheric strata.
Dr. Hann has put forth the hypothesis that the genesis of cyclones and
anticyclones may be sought in the general atmospheric circulation
through a difference of temperature of the air from the equator to the
poles. He speaks of a congestion in the upper or anti-trade winds,
where the air heaps up to a great height, this being the cause of the
anticyclones; and he maintains that the low temperature of the "high"
is due to ground radiation, and that no part of the high pressure is
the result of low temperature.
{43} To this hypothesis of Dr. Hann, ascribing the genesis of storms
to the general circulation of the atmosphere, no application of the
laws of dynamics has yet been made with a view of developing it into
an acceptable "theory." If it should be established it does not follow
that it will in any way affect the truth of the commonly accepted
"convectional system," which, founded as it is on the well-known laws
of thermo-dynamics, is not likely to be successfully assailed. There
may be an improved nomenclature for the laws of statics and dynamics
that will express to the mind more clearly the relation of cause and
effect; but until the advance of scientific research modifies the
present formulation of these laws the convectional theory will be
generally accepted as giving the true interpretation of all the
phenomena to which it could be applied.
Professor Russell, in commenting on this subject, expresses the
opinion that the low temperature is due to the convective interchange
of air at a low temperature in the upper strata with air of a high
temperature in lower strata, such convective interchange tending to
make the whole body of air of a temperature coinciding throughout with
the adiabatic rate of upward diminution, with the consequent result of
rendering the air at the surface of the earth cooler than previously
and the upper air warmer. When the upward diminution of temperature is
less than the adiabatic rate, in the forced circulation of air
crossing a mountain ridge, there occurs the dynamic heating which is
observed in the case of the foehn winds. The low temperature near the
earth he does not believe could ever be entirely produced by nocturnal
radiation from the ground. The high pressure, in his opinion, is
largely the result of greater density due to low temperature, as is
very clearly indicated by the fact that the temperature is almost
inversely proportional to the pressure, and that the places of lower
temperature substantially coincide with the places of greatest
pressure.
In advancing hypotheses and inviting discussion the real object is, or
at least should be, to discover the essential cause or causes which
determine the initial formation and subsequent maintenance and
progress of the cyclone. Some real progress in charting lines of equal
density seems to have been made by M. Nils Ekholm following Professor
Abbe's system of "isostaths," one using the term density, the other
buoyancy. Professor Abbe also introduces the factor of the orographic
gradient, but the {44} latter is simply the measure of a resistance.
The objection to this form of determination is this, that it is a
measure of mass only. The density of two masses of air is determined
to be the same; but as the density may result from two entirely
different causes, their physical relations cannot be fully expressed
in units of gravity. The methods of Professor Abbe and of M. Nils
Ekholm undoubtedly give good results, partly from the coincidence that
humidity usually varies directly as the temperature.
The method proposed by Captain James Allen in 1888, which is briefly
described in appendix 24 to the annual report of the Chief Signal
Officer for 1890, appears to afford the means of more clearly
expressing the relations that exist between the mass of the atmosphere
and the forces available for the generation and movement of storms.
Its tentative application at the Signal Office has anticipated and
explained storm movements not indicated or accounted for by the usual
methods.
As pertinent to this matter, there is instanced a study of the
progress of thunder-storms made by Berg, who observes that the line of
storm front in every case investigated made a decidedly conspicuous
bend into the densest part of the lines representing the absolute
humidity.
* * * * *
Scientific conditions have so changed that in these later years it
becomes more and more difficult for investigators to publish any work
which may be characterized as _magnum opus_. Under this head, however,
must be classed Buchan's important memoir on the distribution of
atmospheric pressure, temperature, and wind direction over the whole
world; a large quarto volume, which contains much new material. It has
been incorporated with the results of observations during the
Challenger expedition, in which series this work appears. The isobars
and isotherms for each month in the year for the whole earth are
charted on Mercator's projection, and for the northern hemisphere on a
chart constructed on a polar projection. In connection with an
abstruse subject, to which Buchan has paid so much attention, the
diurnal variation of pressure, he opines from the Challenger
observations that the oscillations are due to the heat taken from the
solar rays directly in passing through the air and instantaneously
communicated through the whole mass from top to bottom by heating and
evaporation of water on innumerable dust particles. The afternoon
minimum, he thinks, is caused by upward currents removing a portion of
the lower air. Marked {45} differences exist between the continental
and insular types, since on islands the morning minimum is unusually
large and the afternoon minimum so small as to disappear, while in
continental types the reverse conditions obtain.
* * * * *
Werner Von Siemens, in answering Sprung's criticism on his general air
currents, after repelling certain statements of Sprung, describes his
own theories, which are worthy of restating:
1. All winds are caused by the disturbances of indifferent
equilibrium, and the motion of the air is to restore equilibrium.
2. These disturbances are caused through overheating of the layers of
air near the surface of the earth by insolation, through unsymmetrical
cooling of the higher layers by radiation, and through the heaping up
of air masses caused by obstructions.
3. The disturbances are adjusted by ascending currents, wherein the
particular species of acceleration occurs in which the increase of
velocity is proportioned to the diminution of pressure.
4. The upward currents correspond to equally great descending currents
in which there is a decrease of velocity corresponding to the
acceleration in the upward velocity.
5. If the region of overheating of the air is limited locally, a local
upward current reaching to the highest layers of air arises, and
whirlwinds appear with interior spirally ascending currents and
outside similar spiral descending currents. The result of this is
dispersion of the superfluous heat of the lower air by which the
adiabatic equilibrium is disturbed throughout the whole column of air
taking part in the whirling motion.
6. In case the region of disturbance of the indifferent (or adiabatic)
equilibrium is very extensive, as, for example, the whole of the
tropical zone, the temperature adjustment can no longer be
accomplished by locally ascending whirls, and a whirling current must
then arise involving the whole atmosphere. The same conditions apply
to these as to the local whirls of accelerated upward motion and
retarded descent in such a manner that the velocity at different
altitudes arising from heat converted to work is approximately
proportional to the prevailing pressure at the place.
7. In consequence of the meridional motion produced and maintained by
conversion of heat into work, the whole atmosphere in every latitude
must rotate with approximately the same absolute velocity. Thus the
meridional currents produced by overheating combine with the currents
embracing the whole {46} wind system of the earth, with the result of
disseminating the excess of temperature and humidity of the torrid
zone over the temperate and arctic zones, thereby producing the
prevailing winds.
8. This is accomplished by the production of alternating local
depressions and elevations of barometric pressure by the disturbance
of indifferent equilibrium in the upper layers of the air.
9. "Highs" and "lows" are a consequence of the temperatures and
velocities of the upper currents.
Whence it follows that the most important problem of meteorology is
the investigation of the causes and consequences of the disturbance of
indifferent equilibrium of the atmosphere, and the weightiest problem
in weather prediction is the investigation of the geographical origin
or extraction of air currents pursuing their course above us toward
the pole.
* * * * *
In Pomortsew's treatise on synoptic meteorology, published in Russia,
there are full chapters on prediction of weather, whether from
synoptic charts, from observations at a single place, or from
prognostics of great length based on researches on the succession of
warm and cold months. It also contains Pomortsew's investigations on
the types of pressure distribution in eastern Europe, as well as the
average path of cyclones.
* * * * *
The favorable opportunities afforded by the Eiffel tower have been
utilized by French meteorologists. M. Angot states that during the
anti-cyclone of November, 1889, the temperature on the tower was
several degrees higher than below. The change of weather set in
earlier, with a strong and warm wind, on the tower, while the air at
the ground was cold and calm. Wind observations on the tower show a
ratio of 3.1 at that height (303 meters) to the velocity at a height
of 21 meters, as determined from 101 days' observations, which,
remarkable at such a small height, discloses the peculiarity of high
mountain stations.
* * * * *
Partsch, writing on evidence of climatic changes within historical
times in the Mediterranean region, remarks that too much attention has
been given to changes in crops, the introduction of plants, and the
limits of domestic animals. He states that existing information as to
the harvest time of ancient days indicates an unchanged climate, while
the land-locked lakes in Tunis, which afford the best evidence on
rainfall variation, show absolutely no climatic change.
* * * * *
{47} Van Bebber, in writing on weather types, claims that a line drawn
from the center of a cyclone perpendicularly in the direction of the
heaviest gradients will in general be perpendicular to the subsequent
path of the "low," and that these lows leave high temperature on the
right hand.
* * * * *
Hill, in describing hail-stones and tornadoes in India, explains them
on the principle of the great diminution of temperature upwards in the
air, but a critic, in combating this theory, objects to the high and
low stations selected to show temperatures.
* * * * *
The so-called "weather plant" of the tropics has passed through the
process of investigation with the usual result. It appears surprising
that in these days it should be believed that any plant or animal can
foretell weather 48 hours in advance, particularly after considering
the vast amount of proof as to the enormous rapidity with which
weather-changes progress from day to day.
* * * * *
Hugo Meyer, in treating the precipitation of central Germany for the
ten years ending in 1885, pertinently remarks that the same
significance does not attach to the same rainfall for all places and
different times of the year, for this average value is not the amount
most likely to fall in any particular interval of time, since there is
a limit to the extent of the negative deviations on one side--that is,
0 or no rainfall, while on the positive side there is no limit. The
most probable depth of rainfall, therefore, is less than the mean
value, the preponderance of negative over positive deviations being
about 10 per cent. and sometimes as great as 20 per cent.
* * * * *
Professor W. M. Davis wrote an interesting review of Professor
Ferrel's popular treatise on the winds, published a year ago.
Commenting on the review, the editor of _Meteorologische Zeltschrift_,
Vienna, remarks on a very important omission in the treatise, namely,
the absence of all reference to the diurnal variation of the wind and
the many interesting relations it bears to other phenomena, a notable
omission in a treatise specially devoted to winds. The treatment of
the monsoon wind and its relation to the general circulation is highly
commended by the editor, and indicated as being all new.
* * * * *
Your Vice-President has elsewhere expressed his opinion that monsoon
winds, applying the term by liberal construction to signify winds
which recur with returning seasons, cannot with {48} any degree of
correctness be asserted to prevail in the United States. It is true
that the prevailing surface winds of the greater part of the United
States come from the western quadrants--that is, between southwest and
northwest--and so are in substantial harmony with the general
atmospheric circulation as shown by the upper-wind currents of Mount
Washington (from the northwest) and Pike's peak (from the southwest).
But, apart from the easterly and northeasterly trades on the Florida
coast, it appears from the records that in no case for any
considerable section of the country do 50 per cent. of the winds blow,
for any consecutive number of months, either from any single point or
from two neighboring points of the compass. Occasionally, however, the
local configuration of the country is such that winds are drawn up or
down valleys, and, being diverted from their free and proper
direction, the wind in such cases follows the trend of the valley or
depression.
* * * * *
In general your Vice-President would feel inclined to refer only
casually to the work proceeding from the Bureau over which he has the
honor to preside, but this year has been marked by special researches
and investigations of general interest. As the work of investigation
has been entrusted to the professors of the Signal Service, due credit
should not be refused them from their own official chief.
Special reference should be made to the work of Professor Charles F.
Marvin, whose successful experiments on wind pressures and velocities
have attracted the attention of experts both in Europe and in this
country. Unfortunately there was available only a small sum (about one
hundred dollars) for the expense of experiments, but with this petty
sum, supplemented by his ingenuity, Professor Marvin has very
satisfactorily determined the coëfficients of the various forms of the
Robinson anemometer, with which instrument the velocity of the wind is
very generally determined. Following these investigations, the Royal
Meteorological Society of England reopened the question, which, after
a costly set of experiments with results widely differing from those
of Professor Marvin, had been considered closed.
The general results of these researches, which are believed to be
sufficiently definite for general questions, are not only prized by
the scientist, but they are of value to the engineer and the builder.
Indeed, to all interested in costly structures or extended works
liable to harm from wind pressures, the factor of safety is {49} a
matter of no small pecuniary importance. These experiments show that,
as was formerly believed to be the case, the wind pressure varies as
the square of the velocity of the wind, expressed in miles per hour;
but a most important fact has developed, namely, that the pressure in
pounds per square foot is equal to the miles of hourly velocity
multiplied by 0.004 instead of 0.005, as was formerly assumed.
Professor Marvin was not content with one system of experiments, but
he further attacked the problem in a direct manner by a method which
checked and verified his experiments with the whirling machine. On the
summit of Mount Washington, at an elevation of 6,300 feet, he obtained
simultaneously and under the same conditions, by automatic and
electrical apparatus, continuous registration of the pressure of the
wind in pounds per square foot and of the velocity in miles per hour.
The results thus verified can be considered as conclusive from a
general standpoint. The corrections for the Robinson anemometer thus
determined from these experiments are comparatively unimportant at low
velocities, say from 10 to 15 miles per hour, being only a fraction of
a mile per hour. The uncorrected velocities, however, are in all cases
too large, and by greater and greater amounts the higher the velocity.
At 60 miles per hour the observed velocities are about 12 miles per
hour too high, and for an indicated velocity of 90 miles the
experiments show that the actual velocity is but a fraction over 69
miles per hour.
The anemometer formula found to satisfy most closely the entire range
of experiments has the following form for velocities in miles per
hour:
Log. _V_ = 0.509 + 0.9012 log. _v_.
This difference indicated by the formula may seem small and
insignificant, as it is in the case of light winds, but at very high
velocities the differences are very great. For instance, an actual
velocity of 60 miles per hour may occur at some time in almost any
locality of the United States for a few minutes, and even greater
velocities are occasionally reported, apart from severe tornadoes.
Under the old coëfficients for the Robinson anemometer an actual
velocity of 60 miles per hour would have been reported as 77 miles per
hour, which under the old factor of 0.005 would mean a pressure of
29.6 pounds per square foot; but when considered with reference to the
true velocity of 60 miles, under {50} the new factor of 0.004, the
pressure would only be 14.4 pounds per square foot--a reduction of
over 50 per cent. from the pressure-values formerly accepted.
Professor Marvin has undertaken to verify, and also to extend to even
lower temperatures, the observations of Regnault as to the pressure of
aqueous vapor at low temperatures, especial attention being given to
temperature conditions from 0° centigrade to -50° centigrade. These
observations disclose, below 0° centigrade, small but constant
differences from the values assigned by Regnault.
In all this work Professor Marvin has shown such ingenuity of
resource, such skill in adapting means to the end, and such deftness
in improvising and manufacturing the requisite instruments as have
elicited commendation from all who have seen his work and followed his
methods. Your Vice-President alludes to this not only to give that
credit rightfully due to Professor Marvin, but to illustrate this as a
type of the highly important work which is being done in all branches
of science here in Washington by young men sometimes illy equipped as
to means, and still more illy paid. Men engaged in work of original
investigation should receive higher pay than clerks in charge of
routine duties; but unfortunately the majority of them do not.
* * * * *
The work of Professor Hazen in charting tornadoes and in determining
their relative frequency and severity is directly in the line of the
Geography of the Air.
Great attention had previously been given to this subject by
Lieutenant John P. Finley, who, with indefatigable industry, had
accumulated an enormous mass of data relative to these violent
outbursts of nature's forces. The figures and deductions previously
put forth under the authority of the Signal Service having been
questioned, the Chief Signal Officer felt obliged, in view of the
growing practical importance of the question, as indicated by the
great sums annually paid out in the Ohio valley and in the
trans-Mississippi region for protection against tornadoes, to reöpen
the subject. Instructions of the most conservative character were
given to Professor Hazen to determine carefully the prevalence and
number of tornadoes in the United States, the areas devastated by
them, and the number of lives lost annually. This work was carefully
scrutinized during its progress to see that it should be devoid of
theory and rest on the solid basis of fact. The results are most
assuring to every {51} one, and must serve to allay the unreasonable
fears of the inhabitants of the so-called "tornado districts." It
appears that there is no part of the United States in which annually
more than one square mile of devastation or severe destruction can be
expected for each 185,000 square miles, although cases of _limited
destruction_ may occur annually for about every 5,000 square miles of
area. In no state may destructive tornadoes be expected, on an
average, more than once in two years; and the area over which total
destruction can be expected is, as shown by the foregoing figures,
exceedingly small, even in localities most liable to these violent
storms. The annual death casualties from tornadoes have averaged, in
the last 18 years, 102 annually; but it is believed that the death
rate from lightning is greater than that from tornadoes, since during
March to August, 1890, the names of 110 are on record who have lost
their lives by lightning, although the data are incomplete, especially
as regards the southern states. These statistics cannot be passed by
lightly, however, and it is doubtful if in the main they are much in
error. By them it appears from five years' record that the average
annual death rate by lightning in the United States is 3.8 per million
of inhabitants, or 0.2 above the average. In Sweden, for sixty years,
the average has been 3.0; in France, for forty-nine years, 3.1; in
Baden, for seventeen years, 3.8; and in Prussia, for fifteen years,
4.4 per million.
Other figures, given by a life-insurance agent in St. Louis, which the
author claims to have compiled with great care, place the average
annual rate of death from lightning in the United States at 206, being
more than double the deaths from tornadoes. It must be understood that
these figures are not vouched for, and must be very cautiously
received, as originating with companies interested pecuniarily in the
statistics.
On the whole, therefore, it may be safely assumed that tornadoes are
not so destructive to life as thunder-storms.
* * * * *
Professor Thomas Russell has formulated a method for prediction of
cold waves. They always occur after "lows" and before "highs," and
different cold waves vary in extent from three "units" to sixty. A
"unit" of temperature-fall is taken as a fall of twenty degrees over
an area of 50,000 square miles.
The temperature-fall curves in the United States are approximately
elliptical in shape. Perfect ellipses represent actual temperature
falls with an error not exceeding six degrees in {52} most cases.
These fall lines are intersections of planes with a cone which
graphically represents the totality of temperature-fall, the contents
of the cone being equal to the area of its base multiplied by its
altitude, which is the greatest fall in temperature at the center of
the cold wave.
A formula has been devised, based on 127 special cases, representing
the amount of fall in terms of the amount of barometric depression in
a "low," and the amount of excess if a "high," and the density of the
isothermal lines in the region.
From proper consideration of the type of low area, shape of isobars,
and position of the long axis, definite conclusions can be drawn as to
the subsequent shape of the elliptical twenty-degree temperature-fall
area and its position.
A method has been devised, also by Professor Russell, for determining
the maximum fall of temperature at the center of the cold wave. The
maximum fall and extent of fall being known, from suitably prepared
tables, the area of twenty-degree fall can be derived. Previously
prepared pieces of card-board are laid in the proper position on a map
of suitable scale, and lines drawn around them. Between the line
representing the twenty-degree fall and the center, the other falls of
thirty degrees, forty degrees, etc., are sketched in.
* * * * *
The foregoing sketch of the geography of the air may appear too
superficial and limited for the purposes of this Society, but its
further elaboration was impracticable. Indeed, the subject of
meteorology could hardly have been touched upon this year had it not
been for the courtesy of Professor Russell in placing at my disposal
notes upon translations from foreign publications, especially from the
German; which publications I have been unable to examine save in a
casual way.
The address, as it is, is submitted only in the hope that it may
serve, if no other purpose, at least to indicate the great interest
which now obtains in the geography of the air, and which manifests
itself in the production of meteorological pamphlets and publications
too numerous to permit any one charged with important executive duties
to examine them all, even in a non-critical way.
VOL. III, PP. 53-204, PLS. 2-20, MAY 29, 1891
THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE
AN EXPEDITION TO MOUNT ST. ELIAS, ALASKA
ISRAEL C. RUSSELL
[Illustration: National Geographic Society seal]
WASHINGTON
PUBLISHED BY THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY
Price $1.50.
{53}
VOL. III, PP. 53-204, PLS. 2-20, MAY 29, 1891
THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE
AN EXPEDITION TO MOUNT ST. ELIAS, ALASKA
BY ISRAEL C. RUSSELL.
(_Accepted for publication March 18, 1891._)
CONTENTS.
Page.
Introduction--The Southern Coast of Alaska . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Part I--Previous Explorations in the St. Elias Region . . . . . . 58
Bering, 1741 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Cook, 1778 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
La Pérouse, 1786 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Dixon, 1787 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Douglas, 1788 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Malaspina, 1792 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Vancouver, 1794 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Belcher, 1837 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Tebenkof, 1852 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, 1874, 1880 . . . . 70
New York _Times_ Expedition, 1886 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Topham Expedition, 1888 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Part II--Narrative of the St. Elias Expedition of 1890 . . . . . 75
Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
From Seattle to Sitka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
From Sitka to Yakutat Bay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Canoe Trip up Yakutat Bay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Base Camp on the Shore of Yakutat Bay . . . . . . . . . . . 86
First Day's Tramp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Canoe Trip in Disenchantment Bay . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
From Yakutat Bay to Blossom Island . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Blossom Island . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Life above the Snow-Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
First Camp in the Snow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
{54} Across Pinnacle Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
First full View of St. Elias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Summit of Pinnacle Pass Cliffs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Across Seward Glacier to Dome Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Up the Agassiz Glacier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Camp on the Newton Glacier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Highest Point reached . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Alone in the highest Camp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
The Return . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Suggestions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Part III--Sketch of the Geology of the St. Elias Region . . . . . 167
General Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Yakutat System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Pinnacle System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
St. Elias Schist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Geological Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Part IV--Glaciers of the St. Elias Region . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Natural Divisions of Glaciers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Alpine Glaciers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Characteristics of Alpine Glaciers above the Snow-Line . . 180
Characteristics of Alpine Glaciers below the Show-Line . . 183
Piedmont Glaciers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Part V--Height and Position of Mount St. Elias . . . . . . . . . 189
Appendix A--Official Instructions governing the Expedition . . . 192
Appendix B--Report on topographic Work; by Mark B. Kerr . . . . . 195
Appendix C--Report on auriferous Sands from Yakutat Bay; by J.
Stanley-Brown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Appendix D--Report on fossil Plants; by Lester F. Ward . . . . . 199
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Plate 2--Sketch Map of Alaska . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
3--Map of the St. Elias Region, after La Pérouse . . . . . 59
4--Map of the Eastern Shore of Yakutat Bay, after Dixon . 61
5--Map of the St. Elias Region, after Malaspina . . . . . 64
6--Map of Bay de Monti, after Malaspina . . . . . . . . . 64
7--Map of Disenchantment Bay, after Malaspina . . . . . . 67
8--Sketch Map of St. Elias Region, by Mark B. Kerr . . . . 74
9--The Hubbard Glacier; drawn from Photograph by A. L.
Broadbent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
10--Wall of Ice on Eastern Side of the Atrevida Glacier;
from a Photograph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
11--View on the Atrevida Glacier; from a Photograph . . . . 105
12--Entrance of an Ice-Tunnel; from a Photograph . . . . . 106
13--Deltas in an Abandoned Lake-Bed; from a Photograph . . 106
14--A River on the Lucia Glacier; from a Photograph
(reproduced from _The Century_, April, 1891) . . . . 106
{55} 15--Entrance to a Glacial Tunnel; from a Photograph . . . . 107
16--View of the Malaspina Glacier from Blossom Island;
from a Photograph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
17--Moraines on the Marvine Glacier; from a Photograph . . 123
18--View of the Hitchcock Range from near Dome Pass . . . . 144
19--View of Mount St. Elias from Dome Pass; drawn from a
Photograph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
20--View of Mount St. Elias from Seward Glacier; drawn
from a Photograph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Figure 1--Diagram illustrating the Formation of Icebergs . . . . 101
2--View of a glacial Lakelet; from a Photograph . . . . . 120
3--Section of a glacial Lakelet . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
4--Diagram illustrating the Formation of marginal
Crevasses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
5--Crevasses near Pinnacle Pass; from a Photograph . . . . 130
6--Snow Crests on Ridges and Peaks; from Field Sketches . 143
7--Faulted Pebble from Pinnacle Pass . . . . . . . . . . . 171
8--Faulted Pebble from Pinnacle Pass . . . . . . . . . . . 171
INTRODUCTION.
THE SOUTHERN COAST OF ALASKA.
The southern coast of Alaska is remarkable for the regularity of its
general outline. If a circle a thousand miles in diameter be inscribed
on a map of the northern Pacific with a point in about latitude 54°
and longitude 145° as a center, a large part of its northern periphery
will be found to coincide with the southern shore of Alaska between
Dixon entrance on the east and the Alaska peninsula on the west. On
the northern part of this great coast-circle lies the region explored
in the summer of 1890 and described in the following pages.
From Cross sound, at the northern end of the great system of islands
forming southeastern Alaska, westward along the base of the
Fairweather range, the mountains are exceedingly rugged, and present
some of the finest coast scenery in the world. There are but two
inlets east of Yakutat bay on this shore which afford shelter even for
small boats. These are Lituya bay and Dry bay. Ships may enter Lituya
bay, at certain stages of the tide, and find a safe harbor within; but
the approaches to Dry bay are not navigable. West of Yakutat bay the
coast is equally inhospitable all the way to Prince William sound.
{56} As if to compensate for the lack of refuge on either end, there
is in the center of this great stretch of rock-bound coast, over 300
miles in extent, a magnificent inlet known as Yakutat bay, in which a
thousand ships could find safe anchorage. On some old maps this bay is
designated as "Baie de Monti," "Admiralty bay" and "Bering bay," as
will be seen when its discovery and history are discussed on another
page.
The southern shore of Alaska, for a distance of 200 miles along the
bases of the Fairweather and St. Elias ranges, is formed of a low
table-land intervening between the mountains and the sea. Yakutat bay
is the only bight in this plateau sufficiently deep to reach the
mountain to the northward. This bay has a broad opening to the sea;
the distance between its ocean capes is twenty miles, and its
extension inland is about the same. Its eastern shore is fringed with
low, wooded islands, among which are sheltered harbors, safe from
every wind that blows. The most accessible of these is Port Mulgrave,
near its entrance on the eastern side.
The shores of Yakutat bay, on both the east and the west, are low and
densely wooded for a distance of twenty-five miles from the ocean,
where the foot-hills of the mountains begin. At the head of the bay
the land rises in steep bluffs and forms picturesque mountains,
snow-capped the year round. These highlands, although truly
mountainous in their proportions, are but the foot-hills of still
nobler uplifts immediately northward. The bay extends through an
opening in the first range to the base of the white peaks beyond. This
opening was examined a century ago by explorers in search of the
delusive "Northwest passage," in the hope that it would lead to the
long-sought "Strait of Annan"--the dream of many voyagers. It was
surveyed by the expedition in command of Malaspina in 1792, and on
account of his frustrated hopes was named "Puerto del Desengaño," or
"Disenchantment bay," as it has been rendered by English writers.
The waters of Yakutat and Disenchantment bays are deep, and broken
only by islands and reefs along their eastern shores. A few soundings
made in Disenchantment bay within half a mile of the land showed a
depth of from 40 to 120 fathoms. The swell of the ocean is felt up to
the very head of the inlet, indicating, as was remarked to me by
Captain C. L. Hooper, that there are no bars or reefs to break the
force of the incoming swells.
{57} The lowlands bordering Yakutat bay on the southeast are composed
of assorted glacial débris. Much of the country is low and swampy, and
is reported to contain numerous lakelets. Northwest of the bay the
plateau is higher than toward the southeast, and has a general
elevation of about 500 feet at a distance of a mile from the shore;
but the height increases toward the interior, where a general
elevation of 1,500 feet is attained over large areas. All of this
plateau, excepting a narrow fringe along the shore, is formed by a
great glacier, belonging to what is termed in this paper the
_Piedmont_ type. There are many reasons for believing that the plateau
southeast of Yakutat bay was at one time covered by a glacier similar
to the one now existing on the northwest.[1]
[Footnote 1: This matter will be discussed in part IV of this paper,
where it is also shown that Yakutat bay itself was formerly occupied
by glacial ice.]
The mountains on the northern border of the seaward-stretching
table-lands, both southeast and northwest of Yakutat bay, are abrupt
and present steep southward-facing bluffs. This escarpment is formed
of stratified sandstones and shales, and owes its origin to the
upheaval of the rocks along a line of fracture. In other words, it is
a gigantic fault scarp. The gravel and bowlders forming the plateau
extending oceanward have been accumulating on a depressed orographic
block (or mass of strata moved as a unit by mountain-making forces),
which has undergone some movement in very recent times, as is recorded
by a terrace on the fault scarp bordering it. West of Yakutat the
geological structure is more complex, and long mountain spurs project
into the platform of ice skirting the ocean. Filling the valleys
between the mountain spurs, there are many large seaward-flowing
glaciers, tributary to the great Piedmont ice-sheet.
* * * * *
This brief sketch of the geography of Yakutat bay, together with the
accompanying outline map of Alaska (plate 2), will, it is hoped, aid
in making intelligible the following historical sketch and the
narrative of the present expedition.
[Illustration: PLATE 2. SKETCH MAP OF ALASKA.]
{58}
PART I.
PREVIOUS EXPLORATIONS IN THE ST. ELIAS REGION.[2]
[Footnote 2: For more complete bibliographic references than space
will allow in this paper, the reader is referred to Dall and Baker's
"Partial list of books, pamphlets, papers in serials, journals and
other publications on Alaska and adjacent regions;" in Pacific Coast
Pilot: Coasts and Inlets of Alaska; second series. U. S. Coast and
Geodetic Survey, Washington, 1879; 4°, pp. 225-375.]
BERING, 1741.
The first discovery of the southern coast of Alaska was made by Vitus
Bering and Alexei Cherikof, in the vessels _St. Peter_ and _St. Paul_,
in 1741. On July 20 of that year, Bering saw the mountains of the
mainland, but anchored his vessels at Kyak island, 180 miles west of
Yakutat bay, without touching the continental shore. A towering,
snow-clad summit northeast of Kyak island was named "Mount St. Elias,"
after the patron saint of the day.
COOK, 1778.
The next explorer to visit this portion of Alaska was Captain James
Cook, who sailed past the entrance of Yakutat bay on May 4, 1778.
Thinking that this was the bay in which Bering anchored, he named it
"Bering's bay." Mount St. Elias was seen in the northwest at a
distance of 40 leagues, but no attempt was made to measure its height.
LA PÉROUSE, 1786.[3]
[Footnote 3: Voyage de la Pérouse autour du monde. Four vols., 4°, and
atlas; Paris, 1797; vol. 2, pp. 130-150.]
Yakutat bay, in which we are specially interested, was next seen by
the celebrated French navigator, J. F. G. de la Pérouse, in command of
the frigates _La Boussole_ and _L'Astrolabe_, on June 23, 1786.
The chart showing the route followed by La Pérouse during this portion
of his voyage is reproduced in plate 3. In the splendid atlas
accompanying the narrative of his travels, the explorer pictures the
quaint, high-pooped vessels in which he {59} circumnavigated the
globe. These French frigates were the first to cruise off Yakutat bay.
The last vessel to navigate those waters was the United States revenue
steamer _Corwin_, which took our little exploring party on board in
September, 1890, and then steamed northward to the ice-cliffs at the
head of Disenchantment bay. So far as I am aware, the _Corwin_ is the
only vessel that has floated on the waters of that inlet north of
Haenke island. One hundred years has made a revolution in naval
architecture, but has left this portion of the Alaska coast still
unexplored.
[Illustration: PLATE 3. MAP OF THE ST. ELIAS REGION, AFTER LA
PÉROUSE.]
La Pérouse sailed northward from the Sandwich islands, and first saw
land, which proved to be a portion of the St. Elias range, on June 23.
At first the shore was obscured by fog, which, as stated in the
narrative of the voyage, "suddenly disappearing, all at once disclosed
to us a long chain of mountains covered with snow, which, if the
weather had been clear, we would have been able to have seen thirty
leagues farther off. We discovered Bering's Mount Saint Elias, the
summit of which appeared above the clouds."
The first view of the land is described as not awakening the feelings
of joy which usually accompany the first view of an unknown shore
after a long voyage. To quote the navigator's own words:
"Those immense heaps of snow, which covered a barren land without
trees, were far from agreeable to our view. The mountains appeared a
little remote from the sea, which broke against a bold and level land,
elevated about a hundred and fifty or two hundred fathoms. This black
rock, which appeared as if calcined by fire, destitute of all verdure,
formed a striking contrast to the whiteness of the snow, which was
perceptible through the clouds; it served as the base to a long ridge
of mountains, which appeared to stretch fifteen leagues from east to
west. At first we thought ourselves very near it, the summit of the
mountains appeared to be just over our heads, and the snow cast forth
a brightness calculated to deceive eyes not accustomed to it; but in
proportion as we advanced we perceived in front of the high ground
hillocks covered with trees, which we took for islands."
After some delay, on account of foggy weather, an officer was
despatched to the newly discovered land; but on returning he reported
that there was no suitable anchorage to be found. It is difficult at
this time to understand the reason for this adverse report, unless a
landing was attempted on the western side of Yakutat bay, where there
are no harbors.
{60} The name "Baie de Monti" was given to the inlet in honor of De
Monti, the officer who first landed. The location of this bay, as
described in the narrative and indicated on the map accompanying the
report of the voyage, shows that it corresponds with the Yakutat bay
of modern maps.
Observations made at this time by M. Dagelet, the astronomer of the
expedition, determined the elevation of Mount St. Elias to be 1,980
toises. Considering the toise as equivalent to 6.39459 English feet,
this measurement places the elevation of the mountain at 12,660 feet.
What method was used in making this measurement is not recorded, and
we have therefore no means of deciding the degree of confidence to be
placed in it.
After failing to find an anchorage at Yakutat bay. La Pérouse sailed
eastward, and on June 29 discovered another bay, which he supposed to
be the inlet named "Bering's bay" by Captain Cook. It will be
remembered that Cook's "Bering's bay" is Yakutat bay as now known. It
is evident that the French navigator made an error in his
identification, as the inlet designated as Bering's bay on his chart
corresponds with that now known as Dry bay. On the maps referred to, a
stream is represented as emptying into the head of this bay and rising
a long distance northward; this is evidently Alsek river, the
existence of which was for a long time doubted, but has recently been
established beyond all question.
Finding it impossible to enter Dry bay, La Pérouse continued eastward
and discovered Lituya bay, as now known, but which he named "Port des
Francais." Here his ships anchored, after experiencing great
difficulty in entering the harbor, and remained for many days, during
which trade was carried on with the Indians, while surveys were made
of the adjacent shores.
DIXON, 1787.[4]
[Footnote 4: The Voyage around the World; but more particularly to the
Northwest Coast of America. Performed in 1788-1789, in the _King
George_ and _Queen Charlotte_; Captains Portlock and Dixon: 4°,
London, 1789.]
Although the actual discovery of Yakutat bay is to be credited to the
French, the first exploration of its shores was made by an English
captain. On May 23, 1787, Captain George Dixon anchored his vessel,
the _Queen Charlotte_, within the shelter of its southeastern cape,
and, in honor of Constance John Phipps, Lord Mulgrave, named the haven
there discovered "Port {61} Mulgrave." The harbor is described in the
narrative of Dixon's voyage as being "entirely surrounded by low, flat
islands, where scarcely any snow could be seen, and well sheltered
from any winds whatever."
The voyage of the _Queen Charlotte_ was not made for the purpose of
increasing geographic knowledge, but with a commercial object. Trade
was at once opened with the natives, but resulted less favorably than
was desired, as only sixteen sea-otter skins and a few less valuable
furs were secured.
On the chart accompanying the narrative of Dixon's voyage the inlet
now known as Yakutat bay is named "Admiralty bay."
A survey of the adjacent shores and inlets was made, and the
astronomical position of the anchorage was approximately determined.
The map resulting from these surveys, the first ever made of any
portion of Yakutat bay, is reproduced on a reduced scale as plate 4.
[Illustration: PLATE 4. MAP OF THE EASTERN SHORE OF YAKUTAT BAY, AFTER
DIXON.]
At the time of Dixon's voyage, the inhabitants numbered about seventy,
including men, women, and children, and were thus described:
"They are of about middle size, their limbs straight and well shaped,
but, like the rest of the inhabitants we have seen on the coast, are
particularly fond of painting their faces with a variety of colors, so
that it is not any easy matter to discover their real complexion."
An amusing instance is narrated of inducing a woman to wash her face,
when it was discovered that--
"Her countenance had all the cheerful glow of an English milk maid,
and the healthy red which flushed her cheeks was even _beautifully_
contrasted with the whiteness of her neck; her eyes were black and
sparkling; her eyebrows the same color, and most beautifully arched;
her forehead so remarkably clear that the transparent veins were seen
meandering even in their minutest branches--in short, she was what
would be reckoned as handsome even in England. The symmetry of her
features, however, was marred, at least in the eyes of her English
admirer, by the habit of wearing a labret in the slit of her lower
lip."
During our recent visit to Port Mulgrave we did not find the native
women answering to the glowing description of the voyager who
discovered the harbor; but this may be owing to the fact that we did
not prevail upon any of them to wash their faces.
One other discrepancy must be noted between the records of Dixon's
voyage and my own observations, made one hundred {62} years later. The
houses of the natives are described in the narrative just cited as--
"The most wretched hovels that can possibly be conceived: a few poles
stuck in the ground, without order or regularity, recrossed and
covered with loose boards, ... quite insufficient to keep out the snow
and rain."
While this description would apply to the temporary shelters now used
by the Yakutat Indians when on their summer hunting and fishing
expeditions, it by no means describes the houses in which they pass
the winter. These are large and substantially built of planks hewn
from spruce trees, and in some instances supported from the inside by
four huge posts, carved and painted to represent grotesque figures. In
the center of the roof there is a large opening through which the
smoke escapes from the fire kindled in an open space in the floor. But
few of the Indian villages of Alaska, excepting perhaps the homes of
the Thlinkets in the Alexandrian archipelago, are better built or more
comfortable than those at Port Mulgrave.
On the map of Port Mulgrave already referred to, "Point Turner" and
"Point Carrew" appear. The former was named for the second mate of the
_Queen Charlotte_, who was the first of her officers to land; the
second name was probably designed to honor another officer of the
expedition, but of this I am not positive.
DOUGLAS, 1788.[5]
[Footnote 5: Voyage of the _Iphigenia_; Captain Douglas: in Voyages
made in the years 1788-1789 from China to the Northwest Coast of
America. John Meares, 4°, London, 1790.]
In 1788, another trading vessel, the ship _Iphigenia_, in command of
Captain Douglas, visited the southern shore of Alaska and anchored in
Yakutat bay; but no special account of the country or the inhabitants
is recorded in the narrative of the voyage.
MALASPINA, 1792.[6]
[Footnote 6: Relacion del viage hecho por las goletas Sutil y Mexicana
en el año de 1792 para reconocer el estrecho de Fuca; con una
introduccion en que se da noticia de las expediciones executadas
anteriormente por los Españoles en busca del paso del noroeste de la
América [Por Don Dionisio Alcala Galiano]. Madrid, 1802 [accompanied
by an atlas]. Pp. CXII-CXXI.]
About a hundred years ago the interest felt by the maritime nations of
Europe in a "Northwest passage," connecting the {63} northern Atlantic
with the northern Pacific, was revived by the renewal of the
discussion as to the authenticity of Maldonado's reported discovery of
the "Strait of Annan." The western entrance to this strait was
supposed to be about in the position of Yakutat bay. Spain, in
particular, after three hundred years of exploration and discovery in
all parts of the world, was still anxious to extend her conquests,
and, if possible, to discover the long-sought "Northwest passage." Two
of her ships, the _Descubierta_ and _Atrevida_, were then at Acapulco,
in command of Don Alejandro Malaspina, who was engaged in a voyage of
discovery.
Malaspina, like Columbus, was a native of Italy in the service of
Spain. Orders were sent to him to cruise northward and test the truth
of Maldonado's report. The narrative of this voyage is supposed to
have been written by Don Dionisio Alcala Galiano, but his name does
not appear on the title page. Still more curious is the fact that
Malaspina's name is omitted from the narrative of his own voyage. On
his return to Spain, he was thrown into prison, on account of court
intrigues, and his discoveries were suppressed for many years.
Malaspina left Acapulco on the first of May, 1791, and reached the
vicinity of the present site of Sitka on June 25. Two days later,
Mount Fairweather, or "Monte Buen-tiempo," as it is designated on
Spanish maps, was sighted. Continuing northwestward, the entrance to
Yakutat bay was reached. The opening through the first range of
mountains at its head seemed to correspond to Maldonado's description
of the entrance to the mythical "Strait of Annan."
The eastern shore of Yakutat bay, called "Almiralty bay" on the
Spanish chart, was explored, and an excursion was made in boats into
Disenchantment bay as far as Haenke island. "Disenchantment bay," as
the name appears on modern charts, was named "Desengaño bay" by
Malaspina, as previously stated, in allusion to the frustration of his
hopes on not finding a passage leading to the Atlantic. Explorations
in Disenchantment bay were checked by ice, which descended from the
north and filled all of the inlets north of Haenke island. This is
indicated on the map forming plate 7 (page 67), which is reproduced
from the atlas accompanying the narrative of Malaspina's voyage.
Special interest attaches to this map for the reason that by comparing
it with that forming plate 8 (page 75), made 100 years later, the
retreat {64} of the glaciers during that interval can be
determined.[7] At the time of Malaspina's expedition, the Hubbard and
Dalton glaciers were united, and were probably also joined by some of
the neighboring glaciers which do not now reach tide-water; the whole
forming a confluent ice stream which occupied all of Disenchantment
bay northeast of Haenke island.
[Footnote 7: It must be remembered, however, that the map, plate 8, is
not from detailed surveys; the portion referred to was sketched from a
few stations only and is much generalized.]
A portion of the general map of the coast of southern Alaska, showing
the route followed by the _Descubierta_ and the _Atrevida_, and
depicting the topography of the adjacent shores, has been reproduced
in plate 5. It will be noticed that on this map Lituya bay is called
"Pt. des Francais," while Dry bay is designated as "Bering's bay."
These and other names were adopted from the maps of La Pérouse. A map
of "Bahia de Monti," from Malaspina's report, is reproduced in plate
6.
[Illustration: PLATE 5. MAP OF THE ST. ELIAS REGION, AFTER MALASPINA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 6. MAP OF BAY DE MONTI, AFTER MALASPINA.]
An extract from Galiano's account of Malaspina's discoveries in
Yakutat and Disenchantment bays,[8] translated by Robert Stein, of the
U. S. Geological Survey, is here inserted, in order that the reader
may be able to form an independent judgment of the value of the
evidence just referred to as bearing on the retreat of the glaciers:
"An observatory was established on shore, and some absolute altitudes
were taken in order to furnish a basis for the reckoning of the
watches; but the great concourse of Indians, their importunity and
thievishness, made it necessary to transfer all the instruments on
board. Still the latitude was determined, the watches were regulated,
the number of oscillations made by the simple pendulum was observed,
and the height of Mount St. Elias was measured, being 6,507.6 varas
[17,847 feet] above sea-level. The launches being ready, put to sea on
July 2 with the commander of the expedition, in order to reconnoitre
the channel promised by the opening, similar to that depicted by
Ferrer Maldonado in his voyage; but the small force of the tide
noticed at the entrance, and the indications of the natives, made it
plain not only that the desired passage did not exist there, but that
the extent of the channel was very short; which was also rendered
evident by the perpetual frost covering the inner west shore. The
launches anchored there, having penetrated into the channel with great
difficulty, the oars being clogged by the floating masses of snow;
they measured a base, made some marks, gathered various objects and
stones for the naturalists, and, having reached the line of perpetual
frost, {65} returned to the bay where they had anchored.[9] They there
observed the latitude to be 59° 59' 30", and six azimuths of the sun,
which gave the variation of the needle as 32° 49'. Before leaving that
anchorage the commander buried a bottle with record of the
reconnoissance and possession taken in the name of the king. They
called the harbor Desangaño, the opening Bahia de las Bancas, and the
island in the interior Haenke, in memory of D. Tadeo Haenke, botanist
and naturalist of the expedition. On the third day they set out on
their voyage to Mulgrave, where they arrived on the 6th, after
reconnoitering various channels and islands north of that port and
mapping them."
[Footnote 8: Ibid., pp. XCIV-CXVI.]
[Footnote 9: On the coast of the mainland east of Knight island.--I.
C. R.]
Following the portion of the narrative above quoted, there is an
account of the natives, containing much information of interest to
ethnologists, but which it is not necessary to follow in a geographic
report. On July 5 the corvettes sailed westward, and made a
reconnoissance as far as Montegue island. Returning eastward, they
again sighted Mount St. Elias on July 22.
"On the 28th they were three leagues west of the capes which terminate
in Bering bay [Dry bay]; the mountain of that name being about five
leagues distant from the coast and rising 5,368.3 varas [14,722 feet]
above the sea-level, and in latitude 59° 0' 42" and longitude 2° 4'
from Port Mulgrave."
Mount Bering does not appear on any map that I have seen. Which of the
numerous high peaks in the vicinity of Dry bay should be designated by
that name remains to be determined.
In a record of the astronomical work of Malaspina's expedition[10]
there are some interesting observations on the position and elevation
of Mount St. Elias, a translation of which, by Mr. Stein, is here
given:
"True longitude of Mulgrave west of Cadiz, 133° 24' 12". On the same
day, the 30th of June [1792], at the observatory of Mulgrave, at 6h.
30' in the morning, the true altitude of the sun was observed to be
16° 14' 20", and its inclination being 23° 11' 30" and the latitude
59° 34' 20", the true azimuth of the sun from north to east was
concluded to be 71° 43' 0". But having measured on the same occasion
with the theodolite 110° 33' from the sun's vertical to the vertical
of Mount St. Elias, the difference between these two quantities is the
astronomic azimuth. Hence, from {66} the observatory of Mulgrave, said
mountain bears N. 38° 50' W., a distance of 55.1 miles, deduced by
means of good observations from the ends of a sufficient base. A
quadrant was used to measure the angle of apparent altitude of the
mountain, 2° 38' 6", and allowing for terrestrial refraction, which is
one-tenth of the distance of 55.1 miles, the true altitude was found
to be 2° 34' 39"; whence its elevation above sea-level was concluded
to be 2,793 toises [17,860 feet], and the length of the tangent to the
horizon, 152 miles, allowance being made for the increase due to
terrestrial refraction....
"Lastly, with the rhumb, or astronomic azimuth, and the distance from
the observatory of Mulgrave to Mount St. Elias, it was ascertained
that that mountain was 43' 15" to the north and 1° 9' to the west,
whence its latitude is found to be 60° 17' 35" and its longitude 134°
33' 10" west of Cadiz."
[Footnote 10: Memorias sobre las observaciones astronomicas hechas por
les navegantes Españoles en distintos lugares del globe; Por Don Josef
Espinosa y Tello. Madrid, en la Imprente real, Año de 1809, 2 vols.,
large 8°; vol. 1, pp. 57-60.]
Taking the longitude of Cadiz as 6° 19' 07" W. (San Sebastian
light-house), the longitude of St. Elias from this determination would
be 140° 52' 17" W.
VANCOUVER, 1794.[11]
[Footnote 11: A Voyage of Discovery to the Northern Pacific Ocean and
around the World, 1790-'95; new edition, 6 vols., London, 1801. The
citations which follow are from vol. 5, pp. 348-407.]
The next vessels to visit Yakutat bay after Malaspina's voyage, so far
as known, were the _Discovery_ and _Chatham_, under command of Captain
George Vancouver. This voyage increased knowledge of the geography of
southern Alaska more than any that preceded it, and was also of
greater importance than any single expedition of later date to that
region. The best maps of southern Alaska published at the present day
are based largely on the surveys of Vancouver.
The _Discovery_, under the immediate command of Vancouver, and the
_Chatham_, in charge of Peter Puget, cruised eastward along the
southern coast of Alaska in 1794. The _Discovery_ passed the entrance
to Yakutat bay without stopping, but the _Chatham_ anchored there, and
important surveys were carried on under Puget's directions.
On June 28, the _Discovery_ was in the vicinity of Icy bay, where the
shore of the ocean seemed to be composed of solid ice. Eastward from
Icy bay the coast is described as "bordered by lowlands rising with a
gradual and uniform ascent to the foot-hills of lofty mountains, whose
summits are but the base from which Mount St. Elias towers
magnificently into the regions of {67} perpetual frost." A low
projecting point on the western side of the entrance to Yakutat bay
was named "Point Manby." The coast beyond this toward the northeast
became less wooded, and seemed to produce only a brownish vegetation,
which farther eastward entirely disappeared. The country was then bare
and composed of loose stones. The narrative contains an interesting
account of the grand coast scenery from St. Elias to the eastern end
of the Fairweather range; but this does not at present claim
attention.
While the _Chatham_ continued her cruise eastward, Puget ascended
Yakutat bay nearly to its head, and also navigated some of the
channels between the islands along its eastern shore. A cape on the
eastern side, where the bay penetrates the first range of foot-hills,
was named "Point Latouche;" but the same landmark had previously been
designated "Pa. de la Esperanza" by Malaspina. The bay at the head of
the inlet, which Malaspina had named "Desangaño," was named "Digges
sound," after one of the officers of the _Chatham_. Boats were sent to
explore this inlet, but found it "closed from side to side by a firm,
compact body of ice, beyond which, to the back of the ice, a small
inlet appeared to extend N. 55° E. about a league."[12]
[Footnote 12: Vancouver's Voyage, vol. 5, p. 389.]
These observations confirm those made by Malaspina and indicated on
the chart reproduced on plate 7, where the ice front is represented as
reaching as far south as Haenke island.
[Illustration: PLATE 7. MAP OF DISENCHANTMENT BAY, AFTER MALASPINA.]
The evidence furnished by Malaspina and Vancouver as to the former
extent of the glaciers at the head of Yakutat bay is in harmony with
observations made by Vancouver's party in Icy strait and Cross
sound.[13] Early in July, 1794, these straits were found to be heavily
encumbered with floating ice. At the present time but little ice is
met with in that region. On Vancouver's charts there is no indication
that he was aware of the existence of Glacier bay, although one of his
officers, in navigating Icy strait, passed its immediate entrance.
These records, although somewhat indefinite and of negative character,
indicate that the fields of floating ice at the mouth of Glacier bay
were much more extensive a hundred years ago than at present; but they
do not show where the glaciers of that region formerly terminated.
[Footnote 13: Ibid., pp. 417-421.]
After the return of the _Chatham's_ boats from the exploration of {68}
Disenchantment bay, an exploration of the eastern shore of Yakutat bay
was made. The following extract indicates the character of work done
there:
"Digges' sound [Disenchantment bay] was the only place in the bay that
presented the least prospect of any interior navigation, and this was
necessarily very limited by the close connected range of lofty snowy
mountains that stretched along the coast at no great distance from the
seaside. Mr. Puget's attention was next directed to the opening in the
low land, but as the wind was variable and adverse to the progress of
the vessel, a boat was again despatched to continue the investigation
of these shores, which are compact from Point Latouche and were then
free from ice. This opening was found to be formed by an island about
two miles long, in a direction S. 50° E. and N. 50° W., and about a
mile broad, lying at the distance of about half a mile from the
mainland. Opposite to the south part of this, named by Mr. Puget
KNIGHT'S ISLAND, is Eleanor's cove, which is the eastern extremity of
Beering's [Yakutat] bay, in latitude 59° 44', longitude 220° 51'.
Knight's island admits of a navigable passage all round it, but there
is an islet situated between it and the mainland on its northeast
side. From Eleanor's cove the coast takes a direction S. 30° W. about
six miles to the east point of a channel leading to the southwest
between the continent and some islands that lie off it. This was
considered to lead along the shores of the mainland to Point Mulgrave,
and in the event of its proving navigable, the examination of the bay
would have been complete, and the vessel brought to our appointed
place of meeting, which was now supposed to be no very great
distance."
In endeavoring to reach Port Mulgrave by a channel leading between the
islands on the eastern side of the bay and the mainland, the _Chatham_
grounded, and was gotten off with considerable difficulty. Many
observations concerning the geography and the natives are recorded in
the narrative of this exploration.
BELCHER, 1837.[14]
[Footnote 14: Narrative of a Voyage round the World, performed in the
ship _Sulphur_ during the years 1836-1842; by Captain Sir Edward
Belcher: 2 vols., 8°, London, 1843.]
The next account[15] of explorations around Yakutat bay that {69} has
come to hand is by Sir Edward Belcher, who visited that coast in Her
Majesty's ship _Sulphur_ in 1837.
[Footnote 15: A fort was built by the Russians, in 1795, on the strip
of land separating Bay de Monti from the ocean, and was colonized by
convicts from Russia. In 1803, all of the settlers were killed and the
fort was destroyed by the Yakutat Indians. So complete was this
massacre that no detailed account of it has ever appeared. (Alaska and
its Resources, by W. H. Dall, 1870, pp. 316, 317, 323.)]
In the narrative of this voyage, a brief account is given of the ice
cliffs at Icy bay, which are stated to have a height of about thirty
feet and to present the appearance of veined marble. Where the ice was
exposed to the sea it was excavated into alcoves and archways,
recalling to the narrator's mind the Chalk cliffs of England. "Point
Riou," as named by Vancouver, was not recognized, and the inference
seems to be that it was formed of ice and was dissolved away between
the visits of Vancouver and Belcher.
Accompanying the narrative of Belcher's voyage is an illustration
showing Mount St. Elias as it appears from the sea near Icy bay, which
represents the mountain more accurately than some similar pictures
published more recently.
The _Sulphur_ anchored in Port Mulgrave; but no account is given of
the character of the surrounding country.
TEBENKOF, 1852.[16]
[Footnote 16: Atlas of the Northwest Coast of America from Bering
strait to Cape Corrientes and the Aleutian Islands [etc.]: 2°, St.
Petersburg, 1852. With index and hydrographic observations: 8°, St.
Petersburg, 1852.]
Tebenkof's notes, which are often referred to by writers on Alaska,
consist principally of compilations from reports of Russian traders,
which were intended to accompany and explain an atlas of the shores of
northwestern America, published in 1852 in St. Petersburg and in
Sitka.
Map number 7 of the atlas represents the southern coast of Alaska from
Lituya bay westward to Icy bay. On the same sheet there is a more
detailed chart of the islands along the eastern border of Yakutat bay.
The height of St. Elias is given as 17,000 feet; its position,
latitude 61° 2' 6" and longitude 140° 4', distant 30 miles from the
sea.[17] It is stated that in 1839 the mountain "began at times to
smoke through a crater on its southeastern slope." At the time of an
earthquake at Sitka (1847) it is said to have emitted flames and
ashes.
[Footnote 17: In a foot-note on page 33 it is stated that Captain
Vasilef, in the ship _Otkrytie_ (_Discovery_), ascertained the height
of Mount Fairweather to be 13,946 feet.]
{70} It will be seen from the account of the exploration carried on
last summer that Mount St. Elias is composed of stratified rocks, with
no indication of volcanic origin; and these reports of eruption must
consequently be considered erroneous.
The low country between Mount St. Elias and the sea is described by
Tebenkof as a tundra covered with forests and grass; "through cracks
in the gravelly soil, ice could be seen beneath." More recent
knowledge shows that this statement also is erroneous. The adjacent
ocean is stated to be shallow, with shelving bottom; at a distance of
half a verst, five to twelve fathoms were obtained, and at two miles
from land, thirty to forty fathoms (of seven feet).
The Pimpluna rocks are said to have been discovered in 1779 by the
Spanish captain Arteiga. They were also seen in 1794 by the helmsman
Talin, in the ship _Orel_, and named after his vessel. These
observations are interesting, and indicate that possibly there may be
submerged moraines in the region where these rocks are reported to
exist.
Many other observations are recorded concerning the mountains and the
bays in the vicinity of Yakutat. While of interest to navigation and
to geographers, these have no immediate connection with the region
explored during the recent expedition.
UNITED STATES COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY, 1874,[18] 1880.[19]
[Footnote 18: Appendix No. 10, Report of the Superintendent of the
U. S. Coast Survey for the year 1875: Washington, 1878, pp. 157-188.]
[Footnote 19: Pacific Coast Pilot, Alaska, part 1: Washington, 1883,
p. 212.]
The surveys carried on in 1874 by the United States Coast Survey on
the shores of Alaska embraced the region about Yakutat bay. They were
conducted by W. H. Dall and Marcus Baker. Besides the survey of the
coast-line, determinations were made of the heights and positions of
several mountain peaks between Glacier bay and Cook inlet. Dall's
account of this survey contains a brief sketch of previous
explorations and a summary of the measurements of the higher peaks of
the region. This material has been used on another page in discussing
the height of Mount St. Elias.
Besides the geographic data gathered by the United States Coast
Survey, many observations were made on geology and on the glaciers of
the region about Yakutat bay and Mount St. Elias. Exception must be
taken, in the light of more recent {71} explorations, to some of the
conclusions reached in this connection, as will appear in the chapter
devoted to geology and glaciers.
A description of the St. Elias region in the Pacific Coast Pilot
supplements the paper in the coast survey report for 1875. This is an
exhaustive compilation from all available sources of information
interesting to navigators. It contains, besides, a valuable summary of
what was known at the time of its publication concerning the history
and physical features of the country to which it relates. In this
publication the true character of the Malaspina glacier was first
recorded and its name proposed. The description is as follows:
"At Point Manby and eastward to the Kwik river the shore was bordered
by trees, apparently willows and alders, with a somewhat denser belt a
little farther back. Behind this rises a bluff or bank of high land,
as described by various navigators. About the vicinity of Tebienkoff's
Nearer Point the trees cease, but begin again near the river. The
bluff or table-land behind rises higher than the river valley and
completely hides it from the southward, and is in summer bare of
vegetation (except a few rare patches on its face) and apparently is
composed of glacial débris, much of which is of a reddish color. In
May, 1874, when observed by the U. S. Coast Survey party of that year,
the extensive flattened top of this table-land or plateau was covered
with a smooth and even sheet of pure white snow. In the latter part of
June, 1880, however, this snow had melted, and for the first time the
real and most extraordinary character of this plateau was revealed.
Within the beach and extending in a northwesterly direction to the
valley behind it, at the foot of the St. Elias Alps an undetermined
distance, this plateau, or a large part of it, is one great field of
buried ice. Almost everywhere nothing is visible but bowlders, dirt
and gravel; but at the time mentioned, back of the bight between Point
Manby and Nearer Point, for a space of several square miles the
coverlid of dirt had fallen in, owing to the melting of the ice
beneath, and revealed a surface of broken pinnacles of ice, each
crowned by a patch of dirt, standing close to one another like a
forest of prisms, these decreasing in height from the summit of the
plateau gradually in a sort of semicircular sweep toward the beach,
near which, however, the dirt and débris again predominate, forming a
sort of terminal moraine to this immense, buried, immovable glacier,
for it is nothing else. Trains of large bowlders were visible here and
there, and the general trend of the glacier seemed to be northwest and
southeast.
"Between Disenchantment bay and the foot of Mount St. Elias, on the
flanks of the Alps, seventeen glaciers were counted, of which about
ten were behind this plateau, but none are of very large size, and the
sum total of them all seemed far too little to supply the waste of the
plateau if it were to possess motion. The lower ends of these small
glaciers come {72} down into the river valley before mentioned and at
right angles in general to the trend of the plateau. To the buried
glacier the U. S. Coast Survey has applied the name of Malaspina, in
honor of that distinguished and unfortunate explorer. No connection
could be seen between the small glaciers and the Malaspina plateau, as
the former dip below the level of the summit of the latter. The
Malaspina had no névé, nor was there any high land in the direction of
its axis as far as the eye could reach. Everywhere, except where the
pinnacles protruded and in a few spots on the face of the bluff, it
was covered with a thick stratum of soil, gravel and stones, here and
there showing small patches of bright green herbage. The bluff
westward from Point Manby may probably prove of the same character."
Mount Cook and Mount Vancouver are named in the Pacific Coast Pilot,
and their elevations and positions are definitely stated. Mount
Malaspina was also named, but its position is not given. During the
expedition of last summer it was found impracticable to decide
definitely to which peak the name of the great navigator was applied.
So existing nomenclature was followed as nearly as possible by
attaching Malaspina's name to a peak about eleven miles east of Mount
St. Elias. Its position is indicated on the accompanying map, plate 8
(page 75).
Several charts of the southern coast of Alaska accompany the reports
of the United States Coast Survey for 1875, referred to above. A part
of these have been independently published. These charts were used in
mapping the coast-line as it appears on plate 8, and were frequently
consulted while writing the following pages.
NEW YORK TIMES EXPEDITION, 1886.
An expedition sent out by the New York _Times_, in charge of
Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka, for the purpose of making geographic
explorations and climbing Mount St. Elias, left Sitka on the U. S. S.
_Pinta_, on July 10, 1886, and reached Yakutat bay two days later. As
it was found impracticable to obtain the necessary assistance from the
Indians to continue the voyage to Icy bay, whence the start inland was
planned to be made, Captain N. E. Nichols, the commander of the
_Pinta_, concluded to take the expedition to its destination in his
vessel. On July 17 a landing was made through the surf at Icy bay, and
exploration at once began.
The party consisted of Lieutenant Schwatka, in charge; Professor
William Libbey, Jr.; and Lieutenant H. W. Seton-Karr. {73} The camp
hands were John Dalton, Joseph Woods, and several Indian packers.[20]
[Footnote 20: The accounts of this expedition are as follows: Report
from Lieutenant Schwatka in the New York _Times_, October 17, 1886;
Some of the Geographical Features of Southeastern Alaska, by William
Libbey, Jr., in Bull. Am. Geog. Soc., 1886, pp. 279-300; Shores and
Alps of Alaska, by H. W. Seton-Karr, London, 1887, 8°, pp. L-XCV,
142-148; The Alpine Regions of Alaska, by Lieutenant Seton-Karr, in
Proc. Roy. Geog. Soc., vol. IX, 1887, pp. 269-285; The Expedition of
"The New York Times" (1886), by Lieutenant Schwatka, in _The Century
Magazine_, April, 1891, pp. 865-872.]
From Icy bay the expedition proceeded inland, for about sixteen miles,
in a line leading nearly due north, toward the summit of Mount St.
Elias. The highest point reached, 7,200 feet, was on the foot-hills of
the main range now called the Karr hills. The time occupied by the
expedition, after leaving Icy bay, was nine or ten days. So far as
known, no systematic surveys were carried on.
An interesting account of this expedition appeared in Seton-Karr's
book, "The Shores and Alps of Alaska." Many observations on the
glaciers and moraines of the region explored are recorded in this
work. The map published with it has been used in compiling the western
portion of the map forming plate 8, where the route of the expedition
is indicated. Another account, especially valuable for its records of
scientific observations, by Professor Libbey, was published by the
American Geographic Society. The Guyot, Agassiz and Tyndall glaciers,
the Chaix hills, and Lake Castani received their names during this
expedition.
Lieutenant Schwatka's graphic and entertaining account of this
expedition, published in _The Century Magazine_ for April, 1891, gives
many details of the exploration and illustrates many of the
characteristic features of southern Alaska.
TOPHAM EXPEDITION, 1888.
An expedition conducted by Messrs. W. H. and Edwin Topham, of London,
George Broka, of Brussels, and William Williams, of New York, was made
in 1888. Like the _Times_ expedition, it had for its main object the
ascent of Mount St. Elias.
Icy bay was reached, by means of canoes from Yakutat bay, on July 13,
and an inland journey was made northward which {74} covered a large
part of the area traversed by the previous expedition. The highest
elevation reached, according to aneroid barometer and boiling-point
measurements, was 11,460 feet. This was on the southern side of St.
Elias.
The only accounts of this expedition which have come to my notice are
an interesting article by William Williams in _Scribner's
Magazine_,[21] and a more detailed report by H. W. Topham, accompanied
by a map[22] and by a fine illustration of Mount St. Elias, in the
Alpine Journal.[23]
[Footnote 21: New York, April, 1889, pp. 387-403.]
[Footnote 22: Topham's map was used in compiling the western portion
of the map forming plate 8, and his route is there indicated.]
[Footnote 23: London, August, 1889, pp. 245-371.]
This brief review of explorations carried on in the St. Elias region
previous to the expedition sent out in 1890 by the National Geographic
Society is incomplete in many particulars,[24] but will indicate the
most promising sources of information concerning the country described
in the following pages.
[Footnote 24: Yakutat bay has been visited by vessels of the United
States Navy and United States Revenue Marine and by numerous trading
vessels; but reports of observations made during these voyages have
not been found during a somewhat exhaustive search of literature
relating to Alaska.]
{75}