In preparing this first report as one of the vice-presidents of the
Society, I have been obliged to interpret the intent of our by-laws in
the requirement that the vice-presidents shall present at the end of
the year summaries of the work done throughout the world in their
several departments. The amount of information that can be accumulated
during twelve months, if referred to in detail, is simply appalling; to
compile it for the Society would be a great labor, and when completed
it would be largely the duplication of the work of others, already
accessible in the journals of other societies, and in special
publications devoted to this and kindred subjects. That such a detailed
historical journal should be maintained by the Society hardly admits of
a question. I had hoped to see one inaugurated during the first year of
our work that would have embraced all the departments of the Society:
but must confess with some disappointment, to having been too sanguine
and to have over-estimated the interest that might be excited in the
members of a new organization. We need a journal of the kind for
reference; for our associates, ourselves, and our many friends we hope
to attract by the information we may supply them. But it cannot well be
compiled by one man engaged upon the every-day affairs of life, and I
have not made any attempt in that direction, even in those matters
circumscribed by the section of the Society under my charge.
* * * * *
I have found little in the affairs of Europe that it seems necessary to
bring to your attention; indeed, the past twelve months seem quite
barren of any great events in the progress of Geographic knowledge.
This, perhaps, is to be expected at intervals of longer or shorter
periods, as it is governed by peoples of the most advanced
civilization, who have availed themselves of all the progress of
science to explore and develop the land on which they live, until there
is little left of nature to be learned, unless science shall determine
new truths to bind by stronger links the truths already found. We may
look for the greatest changes here, both now and in the future, in the
work of man pressing on in the eager strife to improve his condition
above others less fortunately situated; seeking advantage in the
peculiarities of his environment to open new channels of trade that
will divert the profits from the older routes.
Of many schemes suggested in furtherance of such ends, there are few
that develop into realities within a generation. Nature may be against
them when the facts are fully learned, the profit may not warrant the
outlay, and political considerations may keep in abeyance that which
otherwise may be admitted to be good. Thus the grand scheme to make an
inland sea of the Desert of Sahara is impossible of execution from the
fact that the desert is many hundreds of feet higher than the ocean.
The long talked of project to cut the Isthmus of Corinth, now
accomplished, was a theme of discussion for twenty centuries or more.
And the later project to tunnel the English Channel we have seen
defeated through the fears of a few timid men. Perchance the grander
one, now introduced with some seriousness, to bridge the channel, may
meet with a better fate.
The route for the ship canal to connect the Baltic and the North Seas,
is reported to have been determined upon and the preliminary work of
construction to have been commenced. And we learn that a proposition is
being discussed to connect the Danube with the Baltic Sea by way of the
Vistula. However chimerical such a project may seem to us, we cannot at
this time discredit those who believe in it. It shows that restless
spirit that predominates the age, striving for the mastery of the
commercial world. Politically, Europe has seen no geographical change,
but those conversant with affairs apprehend a military catastrophe at
no distant date, that will probably embroil the stronger nations and
endanger the existence of the weaker ones.
Having practically acquired a knowledge of their territories, the
people of these nations are diligently seeking to develop greater
things in the study of all the earth, and we have thus seen formed as a
means to this end, what is now known as the International Geodetic
Association. The primary object of this Association is to determine the
form of the earth. It is an inquiry of absorbing interest, and the
geodetic work in America must eventually contribute an important factor
in its solution. We may therefore hope that the bill now before the
Congress authorizing the United States to have representation in the
Association, will become a law. The free interchange between the
continents that would thus be established, would be of incalculable
benefit to both in the prosecution of this important scientific labor.
If we turn to the adjoining continent of Asia, there is still open a
large field for Geographic research. Peopled as it has been, largely by
semi-civilized races for many centuries, we might have expected that
the book of nature that might be opened would long since have been
spread before us; but the exclusiveness of this semi-civilization has
been a stumbling-block, until it may be said that the wise men of her
nations have lived only that the masses should not learn. Of the
Political Geography of this great region we have a fair conception, and
of the Physical conditions it may be said we know them generally.
Enlightened men have been hammering at the borders with the powerful
support of progressive nations, and a few have even passed the confines
of exclusiveness and brought back to us marvellous tales of ancient
grandeur. Men have sought disguise that they might tread on the
forbidden ground, and many have lost their lives in efforts to gain the
secrets that have been so persistently guarded. But the march of
civilization is not to be thwarted by the semi-barbarous; they may yet
impede it, as they have in the past, but it can be only for a time; the
impulse is sure to come, when the thirst for knowledge and power by the
antagonistic races will sweep all barriers before it, however strong.
The contemplated railway across the continent to Vladivostock may be
the culminating step in overcoming these refractory peoples and opening
their territories to the march of progress. We have seen on our own
continent the potent influence of these iron ways, and it is not too
much to believe that even in the strange surroundings of the Orient
they will exercise a power against which exclusiveness and superstition
will be forced to give way.
In Africa we find still different conditions. A great continent
believed to contain immense resources, but peopled with dark-hued
native races, barbarous in their tendencies, and frequently deficient
in intellect, and yet withal showing at times a savage grandeur that
excites the admiration of the man, while it attracts the interest of
the student. We may recall Carthage and Alexandria, and all the wonders
of ancient Egypt that live to the confusion of our own day, while those
who patterned them have been lost beyond the bounds of even the most
ancient history: and look with trembling awe upon the degradation that
has followed, the boundless dissipation of the learning of ages, until
we are left only such remnants that our most cultivated imaginations
can scarce build a superstructure worthy to raise upon the ruins.
But a new era is opening, the intelligence of later years is spreading
over these once fruitful fields, and slowly but surely modern ideas are
advancing into the midst of the unknown chaos, and in time will restore
the great advantages that have lapsed in the ignorance of ages. The
nations of Europe vie with one another to extend their possessions, and
in the mad race for precedence are reclaiming even the waste places as
footholds by which they hope to reach the power and wealth they see may
be developed in the future. Explorers have brought back wondrous tales
that have excited the cupidity of those who profit in the barter of
nature's products, until vast schemes have been projected to seize the
wealth believed to be within easy grasp.
Daring spirits discover new countries, and through the reports of the
marvels they have seen, inspire their more cautious countrymen to
venture into unknown fields in the hope of gain. The discontented, too,
seek isolation and fancied independence in new regions, and thus is
formed the nucleus that parent countries seize upon, encourage, and
develop into colonies, that in time may revolutionize a continent, and
seek a place among the nations of the world. This sequence of events
has been gradually progressing in Africa, and has been greatly
accelerated by the discoveries of recent years. A large section of the
interior has now been opened to trade and colonization in the formation
of the "Congo free State." It marks an era in the development of the
continent that promises to be fruitful of rapid advance. The Geographic
journals have contained many pages of notes during the year, showing
the activity of explorers in supplying the Geographical details of the
more accessible regions. But there is an area nearly half as large as
that of the United States through which the explorer has not yet
penetrated; a field of great interest to Geographers, but they may have
years yet to wait, before they may read the story.
In the East Indies and among the islands of the Pacific there is still
work for the Geographer of the most interesting character, and, indeed,
for the explorer too. Those who depend upon charts of the great ocean
realize too frequently the imperfect determination of the positions of
many of these isolated landmarks, and the dangers surrounding them.
This is more properly work for governments than for individuals, and we
may hope the day is not far distant when American officers may again
roam the seas in Geographic research, and bring fresh laurels to crown
the enterprise of our people.
The great American continent, the New World as it is called, presents
an example of progress of which history affords us none similar--a
marked instance of the power of intelligent perseverance to conquer in
new fields and bring under man's dominion for his use and welfare even
some of the elements themselves. The last century has shown a branch of
one of the old parent stocks, divorced from many of their traditions
and left to themselves, imbued with a spirit of progress that has
advanced with such giant strides, that in a generation we have seen
more strange things than had come upon the world before in centuries.
At the birth of our nation the now populous district on the Ohio and
the Great Lakes was the "far west," roamed over by native tribes. The
great northwest of to-day was marked upon the maps as "unexplored," and
the confines of the continent on the Pacific were known more on the
faith of good reports than the knowledge of observation; while that
vast territory west of the Mississippi was not known at all, or only
through the legends transmitted from the "Fathers" who had partly
occupied it in following their holy calling. And yet within half a
century explorers have traversed nearly every square mile, science has
discovered in it treasures of knowledge that have taught the world: and
instead of a vast region of wandering tribes, we find a civilization,
energetic, progressive, and still pressing on to reclaim even that
which has been considered waste. Indeed, so rapidly have the choice
areas been occupied, that it may be but a few years when none will be
left, and the question of over-population may press upon us as to-day
it presses upon older nations. While this state of affairs may not
excite present alarm, it is a matter of congratulation that the
Congress at its last session provided the initial step for an
exhaustive examination of the great arid region, to determine what
portion of it may be reclaimed by irrigation.
And in Alaska the desirability of a better knowledge of our possessions
has been emphasized by the fear of international complications on the
boundary, which has resulted in a small appropriation by the Congress
for surveys, with a view to obtaining a better knowledge of the
country, whereby a more reasonable delimitation of the boundary can be
made.
It is gratifying to note that the Bureaus of the Government service
devoted to the practical development of the economic resources of our
great territory, have been conducted during the year with the energy
that has marked their progress heretofore. But it is yet too early to
place a value upon the special results of the year's work, and I will
leave their consideration, therefore, to my successor.
I look upon the publications of the Topographical Surveys of the States
of New Jersey and Massachusetts as the most noteworthy Geographic
productions in this country of recent years. Massachusetts has been the
first State to avail herself of the full facilities offered by the
General Government in preparing maps of their territories on working
scales, although New Jersey was earlier in the field and obtained all
the assistance that could be rendered by the laws in force at the time.
The expense of the Survey in Massachusetts has been borne about equally
between the State and United States, exclusive of the trigonometrical
work; and the total cost to the State being so light, we may hope
eventually to see similar, or even more detailed work, undertaken by
all the States of the Union. The atlas sheets thus far produced are
most pleasing specimens of the cartographer's art, each feature or
class of detail having been given a weight that permits easy reading
without producing undue prominence in any. In the atlas sheets of New
Jersey, published by the State, the same admirable effects have been
produced, but in a different style of treatment, the questions involved
being more complicated through the introduction of greater detail.
Massachusetts is also in the lead in prosecuting a precise
determination of town boundaries by a systematic reference of all
corner marks to the stations of the triangulation that now covers the
State territory. The expense of this work is borne by the State, with
the exception of a small amount in salaries to United States officers
detailed to execute portions of the work under existing laws. The total
cost will probably approximate the total cost of the Topographical
Survey, but it is claimed that when completed the great advantages to
be derived from it will result in large savings to the people of the
State.
Our neighbors in the Dominion of Canada have been active of late years
in developing their resources. The completion of the Canadian Pacific
Railway has opened a large fertile territory for settlement, and the
railway itself promises to become a route for international traffic in
serious rivalry with the transcontinental roads in the United States.
Projects have also been formed for a short rail connection to Hudson's
Bay, with a view to shipments during the summer direct to Europe--but
there seems to be reasonable question of the practicability of such a
route. During the past two seasons Canada has also been engaged upon
extensive explorations in the Northwest territory, along the boundary
line of Alaska. The parties, I learn, are only just returning from
their last summer's labors, and it will probably be some time in the
winter before we can supplement the chapter of a year ago from this
interesting region.
But little advance has been made during late years in solving the
mysteries of the Arctic. In the past summer a party has crossed the
southern part of Greenland, but advices have not yet come to hand that
would indicate the value of the exploration. A second party was
organized to follow the east coast of Greenland to the northward, that
we may hear from at a later date, although reports already received, if
true, would indicate the effort had been baffled by adverse weather. A
few months ago an expedition was seriously contemplated by Europeans to
the frozen seas of the Antarctic. As it was to have been backed by
energetic business men it doubtless would have been amply fitted for
its purpose, and we may, therefore, sincerely regret the rumor that the
project has been postponed--if not abandoned.
In the Central American States a Congress has been assembled to
consider the unification of the States under one general government--a
union, the possibility of which has long been discussed, but from the
jealousy of rival factions has heretofore seemed impossible of
accomplishment; but there is some hope that the labors of the Congress
now in session will prove more successful.
Our greatest Geographic interest in these States is centered in the
projects for interoceanic canals. The scheme to cut the Isthmus of
Panama, undertaken by the eminent French engineer, De Lesseps, has been
beset with many difficulties, not the least of them arising from the
improvident management of those having immediate charge of the works.
It is impossible to foresee the eventual outcome of this great work, as
all reports expressing decided views on the subject are suspected of a
coloring from the personal opinions of the authors of them. The
original plans have been modified to include locks for crossing "a
summit level." This is stated to be only a temporary expedient to
secure the opening of the canal at an early date, and that eventually
the work will be completed on the original plan of a "through cut." It
seems evident from the latest reports that work will be continued as
long as money is forthcoming to meet the expenses, and as the modified
scheme to overcome the high land by locks instead of a through cut,
greatly simplifies the engineering problems, there is a probability of
the canal becoming an accomplished fact. A second route by way of the
San Juan River and Lake Nicaragua, that has also been under discussion
for many years, has recently been energetically advocated by American
engineers, with the result of the actual location of a line and careful
cross-sectioning during the past year. A company has been formed and
obtained a charter from the State of Vermont, and as it is represented
to be backed by abundant capital, we may, ere many years, have the
gratification of seeing an interoceanic canal opened under American
auspices.
Many speculations have been indulged in as to the probable effect of a
canal through this Isthmus on the carrying trade of the world, the
impetus it might give to the opening up of new commercial relations,
and even the effect it may have in advancing our civilization to
distant nations. Such speculations are hardly pertinent to this report,
but we may well reflect upon the changes that have been wrought since
the opening of the canal through the Isthmus of Suez, and conceive, if
we can, the leveling up that may accrue to the political divisions of
the western world from the same influences that will cut the channel
through her Isthmus.
South America has been free from serious agitation until a recent date;
although some of the States have not failed to show the usual internal
dissensions in political affairs. Late advices intimate a possible
difficulty between Venezuela and England relative to the control of a
large territory embracing the mouth of the Orinoco River, which, should
it result in the permanent occupation of the disputed territory by the
European power, may wield a marked influence in the development of this
section of the continent.
A project that has long been agitated, to construct a continental
railway that would give direct rail communication with the northern
continent, has recently been resumed, and we can but hope with an
earnestness that will lead to its accomplishment. Large areas of this
interesting country have not yet been revealed to us, nor can we expect
to acquire a full knowledge of its Geographic wonders until the means
of internal communication have become more assured.
The recent inauguration of a Geographical Society in Peru is also an
important step towards our acquirement of more detailed information,
and doubtless will redound to the credit of its founders in the
interest it will stimulate in kindred societies over the world.
Geology is a science so intimately connected with Geography that I
should feel delinquent did I not include a reference to it in this
report, however inadequate my remarks may be to do justice to the
subject.
To Geographers the origin of the varied distribution of the land and
water, the cause and growth of mountains, plains, oceans, lakes and
rivers, the great changes that have taken place on the face of the
earth in times past, is of absorbing interest, rivaled only by their
desire for perfect knowledge of that which may be seen to-day. Had the
prehistoric man been gifted with the intelligence of his descendants in
the present epoch, he would have left for us a record that would have
been valuable indeed and cleared our way of much that now is
speculation, and but too often food for words. True it is, however,
that if the mysteries of the past were revealed to us we should lose
the pleasures their study affords and perhaps there would follow a
degeneration of species through the loss of stimulus they now provide.
How long ago man lived and might have made a record is still a disputed
question, but one that involves too, the record of the earth herself.
The association of human remains in the Glacial drift brings that epoch
in the earth's history nearer to us by several hundred thousand years,
and instead of speculating upon it as having occurred nearly a million
years ago, geologists must consider whether it was not probably
coincident with the most recent eccentricity of the earth which
astronomers teach us happened about ten or fifteen thousand years ago.
Geology must also fit her facts to mathematical science if we give
credence to latest computations. A mathematician has now advanced the
theory that at the average depth of about five miles below the surface
there is a belt of "no strain," the result of opposing forces above and
below it, a belt that from the nature of the case is impenetrable,
through which, what is above cannot pass to what is below, and what is
below cannot pass to what is above, a condition that would confine the
origin of all seismical and volcanic disturbances and their consequent
Geographical changes, to a mere shell of the crust.[1] The result of
the computation is certainly interesting and we may hope will not be
lost sight of in future discussions, however it may share in gaining
support or opposition. It is based upon an assumption of the
temperature when the earth began to cool, to assume a lower temperature
draws the belt nearer to the surface and a higher temperature is
believed to be inconsistent with our knowledge of what heat may effect.
This belt is stated to be gradually sinking, however, and the
computation, therefore, involves a term representing time, and I
venture to suggest as estimates of Geologic time are generally
indefinite and seem to be inexhaustible, an abundance can probably be
supplied to sink the belt deep enough for all theoretical purposes.
[Footnote 1: In the American Geologist for February, 1888, Prof. Reade
protests against the construction of the theory of a "belt or level of
no strain" placing the foci of earthquakes and other disturbances in
the strata above the belt.]
More interesting to Geographers are the conceptions of ancient forms
suggested by the views recently advanced by Prof. Shaler in a late
number of Science (June 15, 1888), on "The Crenitic Hypothesis and
Mountain Building." To let the imagination have full play, we may
conceive that where we now have extensive mountain ranges, there were
formerly great plains of sedimentation, and where we see the process of
sedimentation active to-day there may be great mountains in the future.
And also in his inquiry into the "Origin of the divisions between the
layers of stratified rocks" (Proced. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., vol.
xxiii), we may be carried away with the immensity of the changes
suggested. The recurring destruction of submarine life to contribute in
the building of the rocks of the Continents: the apparently endless
cycles of emergence of the land and subsidence of the waters, to leave
the Geographical conditions we see to-day, furnish additional evidence
of the wonders of the past and force upon us anew the realization of
how little in the great evolution is the epoch in which we live.
American Geologists have advanced the knowledge of the world; only
recently the American methods of Glacial study have enabled Salisbury
to interpret the terminal moraines of Northern Germany (Am. Jour.
Science, May, 1888), and that the Science is active among our
countrymen is evidenced by the formation of a Geological Society and
the establishment of a magazine devoted exclusively to its interests.
America, too, contributed largely to the Geologic Congress recently
held in London, and it is pleasing to note that the next session of the
Congress is promised for Philadelphia.
At the suggestion of one of our associates I call the attention of the
students of the science, and indeed all interested in it, and also of
Geographers, to a recent publication entitled, "The Building of the
British Isles," by Jukes-Browne (Scribner & Welford, N. Y.). It has
been characterized as the best treatise on the evolution of the land
areas which has yet appeared; from the Geologist point of view it is
the book of the year. Another associate recommends to most attentive
consideration the recent articles on "Three formations of the Middle
Atlantic slope," by W. J. McGee (Am. Journal Science, Feb.-June, 1888),
as one of the most original essays of recent years.
It also gives me great pleasure to bring to your attention an article
on the "Physical Geography of New England," by Wm. M. Davis, in a book
on the "Butterflies of New England," by S. H. Scudder. It is hardly
necessary to recommend this publication to your perusal, as I doubt not
being from the pens of our Associates, it will excite a lively interest
in those devoted to these sciences.
In conclusion permit me to refer briefly to the "National Geographic
Magazine," published by the Society, the first number of which has
recently been placed before you. It is the desire of the Committee
having charge of this publication to make it a journal of influence and
usefulness. There is abundant material in the Society to furnish the
substance, if those who have it at command will make legitimate use of
their opportunities. It would be unfortunate if the text should be
confined to the papers presented to the Society. It was not the
intention of the Board of Managers that such should be the case, when
the publication was determined upon. On the contrary, it was the
expectation that there would be original communications from many
sources: essays, reviews and notes on the various subjects of the five
Departments in which the Society is organized, not necessarily from the
members, but also from their friends interested in these divisions of
the general subject. While this expectation has been realized in a
measure, there is room for improvement and it is hoped the future will
show an increasing interest and more generous contributions.
December, 1888.