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Title: The National Geographic Magazine, Vol. I., No. 2, April, 1889

Author: Various

Release Date: August 24, 2015 [EBook #49770]

Language: English

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Produced by Ron Swanson





Vol. I. No. 2.

THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE.




PUBLISHED BY THE

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.

WASHINGTON, D. C.


Price 50 Cents.




CONTENTS.


Annual Address of the President:
  Africa, its Past and Future: Gardiner G. Hubbard

Reports of the Vice-Presidents:
  Geography of the Land: Herbert G. Ogden
  Geography of the Sea: George L. Dyer, Hydrographer, U. S. N.
  Geography of the Air: A. W. Greely, Chief Signal Officer, U. S. A.
  Geography of Life: C. Hart Merriam

Annual Report of the Treasurer

Report of Auditing Committee

Annual Report of the Secretaries

Certificate of Incorporation

Officers for 1889

By-Laws

Members of the Society

  April, 1889.




PRESS OF TUTTLE, MOREHOUSE & TAYLOR, NEW HAVEN, CONN.




THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE.

Vol. I. 1889. No. 2.




AFRICA, ITS PAST AND FUTURE.


Africa, the oldest of the continents, containing the earliest remains
of man, and the birthplace of European civilization, is the last to be
explored. Long before the temples of India or the palaces of Nineveh
were built, before the hanging garden of Babylon was planted, the
pyramids of Cheops and Cephren had been constructed, the temples of
Palmyra and Thebes filled with worshipers.

Greece owes its civilization to Egypt: its beautiful orders of
architecture came from the land of the Nile. The civilization of Egypt
had grown old, and was in its decay, when Rome was born. Think what a
vast abyss of time separates us from the days of Romulus and Remus! And
yet the pyramids of Egypt were then older by a thousand years than all
the centuries that have passed since then.

For ages upon ages, Africa has refused to reveal its secrets to
civilized man, and, though explorers have penetrated it from every
side, it remains to-day the dark continent. This isolation of Africa is
due to its position and formation. It is a vast, ill-formed triangle,
with few good harbors, without navigable rivers for ocean-vessels,
lying mainly in the torrid zone. A fringe of low scorched land, reeking
with malaria, extends in unbroken monotony all along the coast,
threatening death to the adventurous explorer. Our ignorance of Africa
is not in consequence of its situation under the equator, for South
America in the torrid zone has long been known. There the explorer
easily penetrates its recesses on its great rivers,--the Orinoco,
Amazon, and La Plata,--for they are navigable from the ocean far into
the interior. The Amazon, 3,000 miles from its mouth, is only 210 feet
above the ocean-level, and, with its branches, is navigable for 10,000
miles. Africa also has three great rivers,--one on each side of this
peninsula. On the north, the Nile, the river of the past, empties into
the Mediterranean Sea, but its navigation is soon interrupted by five
cataracts; so that the camel, the ship of the desert, bears the wares
of Europe from the foot of the first cataract far up the river, 800
miles, to Berber, whence they are again shipped by boat 2,000 miles to
Gondokoro, close to the lakes Albert and Victoria Nyanza, 4,000 feet
above the sea-level, 4,200 miles by water from the Mediterranean.

On the west, the Kongo, the river of the future, empties into the
Atlantic Ocean under the equatorial sun; but its navigation is also
impeded by successive falls extending from its mouth to Stanley Pool.
Then there is almost uninterrupted navigation on the river and its
tributaries for 10,000 miles. Far inland the head waters of its
north-eastern branches interlace with the waters of the Nile. Another
branch rises in Lake Tanganyika in eastern Africa, while the main river
finds its source higher up in the mountains, north of Lake Nyassa,
5,000 feet above the sea-level. On the east the Zambezi, the great
river of southern Africa, empties into the Indian Ocean opposite
Madagascar. The navigation of its main branch, the Shire, is
interrupted not far from the ocean. The Zambezi itself is navigable to
the rapids near Tete, 260 miles from its mouth; while one or two
hundred miles higher up are the mighty falls of Victoria, only exceeded
in volume of water by the Niagara, and nearly equal in height.

In whatever direction Europeans attempted to penetrate Africa, they
were met by insurmountable obstacles. Communication by water was
prevented by falls near the mouths of great rivers. The greater part of
the coast was very unhealthy, and, where not unhealthy, a desert was
behind it; but these obstacles, which formerly prevented exploration,
now stimulate the traveler. The modern explorations of Africa commenced
one hundred years ago, when Mungo Park crossed the Desert of Sahara,
and lost his life in descending the Niger. From that time to the
present, travelers in ever-increasing numbers have entered Africa from
every side. Some who have entered from the Atlantic or Pacific coasts
have been lost in its wilds, and two or three years after have emerged
on the opposite coast; others have passed from the coast, and have
never been heard from. Zanzibar has been a favorite starting-point for
the lake region of Central Africa. Stanley started from Zanzibar on his
search for Livingstone with two white men, but returned alone. Cameron
set out by the same path with two companions, but, upon reaching the
lake region, he was alone. Keith Johnson, two or three years ago,
started with two Europeans: within a couple of months he was gone.
Probably every second man, stricken down by fever or accident, has left
his bones to bleach along the road. Drummond, a recent explorer of
Africa, chose a route by the Zambezi and Shire Rivers as healthier and
more desirable. Let us hear his experience. Early in his journey, at
the missionary station of Livingstonia, on Lake Nyanza, he entered a
missionary home: it was spotlessly clean; English furniture in the
room, books lying about, dishes in the cupboards; but no missionary. He
went to the next house: it was the school; the benches and books were
there, but neither scholars nor teacher. Next, to the blacksmith shop:
there were the tools and anvil, but no blacksmith. And so on to the
next and the next, all in perfect order, but all empty. A little way
off, among the mimosa groves, under a huge granite mountain, were
graves: there were the missionaries.

The Niger is the only river in all Africa navigable by small steamers
from the ocean; but the Niger does not give access to the interior, as
it rises within 100 miles of the ocean, and, after making a great bend
around the mountains of the Guinea coast, empties into the ocean only
about five degrees south of its source, after a course of 2,500 miles.
Its main branch, the Benue (or "Mother of Waters"), is navigable 500 or
600 miles above its junction with the Niger. The country through which
it flows is thickly peopled and well cultivated; but the natives are
fierce and warlike, and have until recently prevented any exploration
of the Benue.


THE MOUNTAINS OF AFRICA.

As mountain-ranges determine the course of rivers, influence the
rainfall, and temper the climate, we must understand the mountain
system of Africa before we can understand the continent as a whole.

Standing on the citadel at Cairo, and looking south, you see a
sandstone ridge which gradually grows in altitude and width of base as
it runs far away to the south, even to the Cape of Good Hope at the
other end of Africa. Successive ranges of mountains follow the coast,
sometimes near, at others two or three hundred miles inland; the land,
in the latter case, ascending from the coast. The only breaks in this
long chain are where the Zambezi and Limpopo force their way to the
Indian Ocean.

In Abyssinia, on the Red Sea, there is a range of snowy mountains
14,700 feet in height. A few hundred miles to the southeast, and near
Lake Victoria Nyanza, almost under the equator, is another snow-capped
mountain, Kilima Njaro, 18,700 feet high,--the highest mountain in
Africa,--and the mountains of Massai-Land, a continuation of the
Abyssinian Mountains. Another range, apparently an offshoot of the long
range from the Red Sea, forms a wall 100 miles long, and 10,000 feet
high, on the east of Lake Nyassa, separating the waters of that lake
from the Indian Ocean. This range continues to the Zambezi. South of
this river the mountains rise 8,000 to 10,000 feet in height. In Cape
Colony are several ranges of mountains. The highest peak is Compas
Berg, 8,500 feet. In the eastern center of Africa, in the equatorial
region, is an elevated plateau in which is the lake region, then there
is a sudden rise, and a gradual descent towards the Atlantic. There are
few continuous ranges of mountains on the western coast; but at Kamerun
there is a cluster of mountains reaching an elevation of 13,100 feet;
and south of Morocco some of the peaks of the Atlas Mountains reach an
elevation of 12,000 to 13,000 feet, but they have little if any
influence on the rainfall or temperature of the country. It will be
seen from this statement that eastern Africa has high mountain-ranges
rising into an elevated plateau; that the land in Equatorial Africa
gradually descends toward the west and north-west until within one or
two hundred miles of the Atlantic Ocean, when the descent is rapid to
the low and unhealthy coast-lands. Through equatorial Africa runs the
Kongo, the land north of the Kongo gradually rising to an elevation of
about 2,000 feet, and then descending to 1,200 feet at Lake Chad. South
of the Kongo the land rises to an elevation of 3,000 feet, and retains
this elevation far south into the Portuguese territory.

Careful computations have been made to ascertain the average elevation
of the continent. The mean of the most careful estimates is a little
over 2,000 feet. The interior is therefore elevated above the miasmatic
influences of the coast, but exactly what effect this elevation has
upon the temperature can only be ascertained after careful
investigation and a series of observations. North of Guinea and
Senegambia the coast is less unhealthy; but, as the Desert of Sahara
extends to the ocean, the country is of little value, and is therefore
left to the native tribes, unclaimed by Europeans.

In the International Scientific Series it is stated that there are in
Africa ten active volcanoes,--four on the west coast, and six on the
east,--but I have not found any corroboration of this report, and think
it very doubtful if there are any volcanoes now in eruption. The Kilima
Njaro and Kamerun were formerly active volcanoes, for the craters still
exist. In the south the diamond-fields are of volcanic ash formation.


EQUATORIAL AFRICA.

The lake region of Africa stretches from the head waters of the upper
Nile three degrees south, to the waters of the Zambezi, fifteen degrees
south,--a lake region unequalled, in extent and volume of water, except
by our lakes. Here is the Victoria Nyanza, the queen of inland seas,
4,000 feet above the sea-level; and a long series of lakes, great and
small, at equal elevation. The more striking are Bangweolo to the
south-west, the grave of Livingstone, and Nyassa on the south-east. In
their depths the Nile, the Kongo River, and the Shire (the main branch
of the Zambezi) have their source.

The great belt of equatorial Africa, situated between the 15th parallel
of north latitude and the 15th parallel of south latitude, has
continuous rains, is everywhere well watered, and has a rich and
fertile soil. Some portions are thickly populated, and it is capable of
sustaining a dense population. North and south of this belt there are
two other belts of nearly equal width. In each of these belts there are
wet and dry seasons, with abundant rain for the crops. The heaviest
rainfall in the north belt is in June, while in the south belt it is in
December. The rainfall gradually grows less toward the north, and also
toward the south, until it ceases in the Desert of Sahara on the north,
and in the Desert of Kalahari on the south. On the edge of these
deserts are Lake Chad on the north, and Lake Ngami on the south. North
of the Desert of Sahara, and south of the Desert of Kalahari, there is
an abundant rainfall, a healthy climate, and fertile soil. Morocco,
Algiers, and Tripoli, on the Mediterranean, are in the north region;
and Zulu-Land, the Orange Free State, and Cape Colony, in the
corresponding region of the south.

That portion of Africa north of the equator is three or four times
greater than that south, and the Sahara Desert and Lake Chad are
several times greater than the Kalahari Desert and Lake Ngami. The
Sahara Desert, the waterless ocean three times as large as the
Mediterranean, extends from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea, broken
only by the narrow valley of the Nile. It is interspersed with oases,
with the valleys of many dry streams, and with some mountains 8,000
feet. It has the hottest climate in the world. Travelers tell us, that,
in upper Egypt and Nubia, eggs may be baked in the hot sands; that the
soil is like fire, and the wind like a flame; that in other parts of
the desert the sand on the rocks is sometimes heated to 200 deg. in the
day-time, while in the following night the thermometer falls below
freezing-point. In crossing the desert the traveler will hardly need a
guide, for the road is too clearly marked by the bones and skeletons
that point the way.

Lake Chad receives the drainage of a considerable area of country. In
the dry season it has no outlet, and is then about the size of Lake
Erie. In the wet season it is said to be five times as large. Its level
rises by twenty or thirty feet until it overflows into the Desert of
Sahara, forming a stream which runs northward for several hundred
miles, and is finally lost in a great depressed plain. In the southern
part of Africa the level of Lake Ngami rises and falls in a similar
manner.

Through the great equatorial belt runs the Kongo, one of the wonderful
rivers of the world. The more we know of this river and its
tributaries, the more we are impressed by its greatness and importance.
Its principal source is in the mountain-range which separates Lake
Nyassa from Lake Tanganyika, between 300 and 400 miles west of the
Indian Ocean; thence it runs southerly through Lake Bangweolo. On
leaving this lake, it takes a north-west course, running from 12 deg. south
latitude to 2 deg. north latitude, thence running south-westerly to the
ocean, nearly 3,000 miles. The river Sankuru, its principal tributary,
empties into the Kongo some distance above Stanley Pool on the south.
The mouths of the Sankuru were discovered by Stanley, who was struck by
the size and beauty of the river, and by the lakes which probably
connect it by a second outlet with the Kongo; but he little realized
the magnitude of the river. Even before the journey of Stanley,
Portuguese explorers had crossed several large streams far to the south
of the Kongo,--the Kuango, the Kassai, and the Lomami,--and explored
them for several hundred miles, but were unable to follow them to their
mouths. In 1885 and 1886, Wissman and the Belgian explorers sailed up
the Sankuru to the streams discovered by the Portuguese. The next
largest branch is the Obangi, now called the Obangi-Welle, which flows
into the Kongo on the westerly side of the continent, a little south of
the equator. An expedition organized by the Kongo Free State steamed up
this river in the winter of 1887 and 1888, and solved the problem so
long discussed, of the outlet of the Welle. The expedition left the
Kongo in the steamer "En Avant," October 26, 1887. It passed several
rapids, and steamed to 21 deg. 55' east longitude, when it was stopped by
the "En Avant" running on a rock, and the opposition of hostile
natives. Here it was only 66 miles from the westernmost point on the
Welle reached by Junker, and in the same latitude, each stream running
in the same direction, leaving no room to doubt that the two waters
unite.

The Little Kibali, which rises a little to the west of Wadelai in the
mountains of Sudan, is the initial branch of this river, which bears
successively the name of "Kibali" "Welle" and "Doru," and empties into
the Kongo under the name of "Obangi," after a course of 1,500 miles.

The discharge of water from the Kongo is only a little less than that
from the Amazon, and is said to be three times as great as the
discharge from the Mississippi. Grenfel, the English missionary and
traveler, says there is no part of the Kongo basin more than one
hundred miles from navigable water. What the railroad does for America,
the steamboat will do for the Kongo Free State on its seventy-two
hundred miles of navigable water.


APPROPRIATION OF AFRICA BY EUROPE.

The English, French, Germans, and Belgians have within a few years
planted colonies in Africa. They believe it is more for their interest
to colonize Africa than to permit their surplus population to emigrate
to America. These countries realize the necessity of creating new
markets, if they are to continue to advance. In Africa the colonies
must depend upon the home country, and open new fields for manufactures
and commerce. They know that in equatorial Africa there are more than
100,000,000 people wanting every thing, even clothes.

The whole coast of Africa on the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic and
Indian Oceans from the Red Sea to the Isthmus of Suez, is claimed by
European nations, with the exception of two or three small inhospitable
and barren strips of coast. England occupies Egypt, and will hold it
for an indefinite period. France has its colonies in Tripoli, Algiers,
and Morocco, and on the Atlantic coast its factories in Senegambia. It
seeks a route from Algiers across the desert to Lake Chad, and from
Senegambia up the Senegal by steamer, thence across the country by rail
to the head of navigation on the Niger, and down that river to
Timbuctu.

England occupies Sierra Leone, the Gold and Slave Coasts, the delta and
valley of the Niger, and its branch the Benue. It has factories on
these rivers, and small steamers plying on them, and seeks Timbuctu by
the river Niger. It controls almost the entire region where the
palm-oil is produced.

Timbuctu, long before Africa was known to Europe, was the centre of a
large trade in European and Asiatic goods. Caravans crossed the Desert
of Sahara from Timbuctu north to the Mediterranean, and east to
Gondokoro, carrying out slaves, gold and ivory and bringing back
European and Asiatic goods.

Sandwiched between the English possessions, Liberia struggles for
existence, its inhabitants fast degenerating into barbarism.

Joining the English possessions on the Gold Coast, two degrees north of
the equator, are the German possessions of Kamerun, with high mountains
and invigorating breezes; but the land at the foot is no more favorable
to the European than the Guinea coast. One or two hundred miles in the
interior of this part of the continent, the land rapidly rises to the
tableland of equatorial Africa, rich and fertile, resembling the valley
of the Kongo, possibly habitable by Europeans.

Next, the French occupy the Ogowe, its branches, and the coast, to the
Kongo, and claim the country inland to the possessions of the Kongo
Free State. Under M. Brazza, they have thoroughly explored the country
to the river Kongo, and have established factories at Franceville and
other places.

The Kongo Free State comes next. It holds on the coast only the mouth
of the river, its main possessions lying in the interior, Belgium is
the only country that has planted colonies inland. Like all the
interior of equatorial Africa, the valley of the Kongo is well watered
and has continuous rains. The land is rich and fertile, but is
practically inaccessible, and, before any extensive commerce can be
carried on, must be connected by railroad with the ocean. The Compagnie
du Congo has just completed a survey for a railroad on the south side
of the Kongo, from Matadi, opposite Vivi, to Stanley Pool. It did not
encounter any unusual difficulties, and has submitted the plans and
projects to the King of Belgium for his approval.

South of the Kongo Free State are the Portuguese possessions of Angola,
Benguela, and Mossamedes. Portugal, the first country to circumnavigate
Africa, and the first to colonize it, has for several centuries had
factories, and carried on a large trade with Africa, exchanging clothes
and blankets for slaves, gold and ivory. It claimed the valley of the
Kongo; but the claim has been reduced, and is now bounded for a
considerable distance on the north by a line running due east and west
on the 6th parallel of south latitude. They have good harbors at St.
Paul de Loango, Benguela, and Mossamedes, on the Atlantic coast, and
the best harbor of Africa, at Delagoa Bay on the Indian Ocean. The
territory claimed will, I believe, prove to be the most valuable in
Africa. It is well watered by numerous tributaries of the Kongo and by
the Zambezi and its branches. It is higher than the Kongo valley, and
is therefore more healthy. Several Portuguese, English, and German
travelers have crossed and recrossed this part of the continent, and
the Portuguese have some small settlements on the coast and in the
interior. The Portuguese of the present generation have not the
enterprise and trading spirit of their forefathers, and are doing very
little for the settlement of the country.

South of the Portuguese possessions, England claims from the Portuguese
possessions on the Atlantic to their possessions on the Pacific,
including Namaqua-Land, Cape Colony, the Transvaal, and Zulu-Land.

Namaqua and Damara Land, formerly claimed by the Germans, are now put
down on some of the maps as belonging to England. The only harbor on
the coast is held by the English; and, from the character of the
country, we are not surprised that the Germans have abandoned it, for
we are told that "the coast is sandy and waterless, deficient in good
harbors, devoid of permanent rivers, washed by never-ceasing surf,
bristling with reefs, and overhung by a perpetual haze."

North of Zulu-Land, the Portuguese claim the coast to Zanzibar. Over
Zanzibar, Germany has lately assumed the protectorate, under a treaty
with the Sultan of the country, claiming the land from the ocean to the
great lakes; then England again, a little to the north and far to the
west of Zanzibar, the rival of Germany in its claims. The English have
factories west of Zanzibar, and a regular route up the Zambezi and
Shire Rivers, with a single portage to Lake Nyassa, and a road to Lake
Tanganyika. They have steamers on each of the lakes, and several
missionary and trading stations. The latest news from this part of
Africa says the route to the lakes has been closed, and the
missionaries and merchants murdered.

North of the English possessions, the coast to the Red Sea is barren
and inhospitable: it has little rain and no harbors, and is so
worthless that it has not been claimed by any European nation. North of
this region is Abyssinia on the Indian Ocean and Red Sea,--a
mountainous country with deep valleys, rich and fertile, but very
unhealthy. Three or four thousand feet above the level of the sea, is a
healthier country, inhabited by a race of rugged mountaineers, whom it
has been impossible to dispossess of their lands. North of Abyssinia,
on the Red Sea, Italy has a small colony at Massaua, and England a camp
at Suakin. The only parts of the coast not claimed by Europeans are
inhospitable, without population or cultivation of any kind.

The Belgians have spent many millions in the exploration of the Kongo
and its tributaries. They have eighteen small steamers making trips
from Leopoldville up the river to Stanley Falls, and up its branches,
supplying the main stations in the basin of the Kongo. The Kongo Free
State, unlike all other African colonies, is free to all. Merchants of
any nation can establish factories, carry on trade, and enjoy the same
privileges and equal facilities with the Belgians. The valley of the
Kongo, and the plateau of the great lakes, have a similar climate and
soil; but the Kongo is easier of access, provisions are cheaper, more
readily obtained, and the natives are less warlike. The Kongo Free
State will therefore be more rapidly settled than any other part of
Africa excepting Cape Colony.

The trade with these countries is carried on by European companies
under royal charter, with quasi-sovereign powers for ruling the country
and governing the natives, as well as for trading with them. England,
Germany, and Portugal subsidize steamship companies which make regular
trips along the western coast, stopping at the different stations.

From this statement it will be seen that England occupies the
healthiest portion of Africa (Cape Colony), the most fertile valleys
(the Nile and the Niger), the richest gold-fields (Gold Coast and
Transvaal); that Portugal comes next, claiming the most desirable
portion of equatorial Africa north of Cape Colony and south of the
Kongo, but that it is unable to colonize this country, which will
inevitably fall under the control of England; that the French claim
Algiers and Senegambia, and are contending with England for the trade
of Timbuctu and the upper valley of the Niger; that Germany, after vain
attempts to penetrate the interior from Kamerun and Angra Pequena, has
planted her flag at Zanzibar, and has determined to contest with
England the lake region and the great plateaus of Central Africa; while
Italy, imitating the other states, tries in vain to obtain a footing on
the Red Sea, worthless if obtained.


POPULATION.

The population of Africa is roughly estimated at 200,000,000,--about 18
to a square mile, as against 88 in Europe. It is supposed that Africa
was originally inhabited by the Hottentots, or Bushmen, who are now
found only in south-western Africa, and by the Pygmies or Dwarfs
scattered about Central Africa, who, some say, belong to the same
group. This group is noted for its dwarfed stature, generally under
five feet; but whether their size is natural, or due to privation and
scanty food, is not certainly known. The Hottentot language is distinct
from any other known form of speech. The Bantu occupy the greater part
of Africa south of the equator. They probably formerly inhabited
north-eastern Africa, but were driven from their homes by the Hamites.
The Bantu resemble the Negro in their general character, color, and
physique, but their language shows essential differences. There are
countless tribes of Bantu, each tribe having its own language, yet
there was originally a primeval Bantu mother-tongue, from which all the
dialects of this immense region are undoubtedly derived. The idioms of
this family are generally known as the alliteral class of languages.
North of the Bantu are the Negroes proper, occupying the greater part
of Africa between 5 deg. and 15 deg. north latitude. The negro tribes are
multitudinous, and, though alike in their main physical features, are
diverse in their speech.

North of the Negro are the Nuba Fulah group, apparently indigenous to
Africa, but without any thing in common with the other indigenous
groups. Their name, "Pullo," or "Fulah," means "yellow," and their
color serves to distinguish them from the Negro. The Hottentot, Bantu,
Negro, and Fulah, though distinct, have each of them the agglutinative
forms of speech. The Hamites are found along the valley of the Nile, in
Abyssinia, and portions of the Sudan. The Shemitic tribes occupy the
larger part of the Sudan, bounded on the east by the Nile, and on the
north by the Mediterranean and North Atlantic.

About one-half of the population are Negroes proper, one-fourth Bantu,
one-fourth Shemites and Hamites, a few Nuba Fulahs and Hottentots. The
Negroes and Bantu are Pagans; the Shemites and Hamites, Mohammedans.
There are, almost, innumerable tribes, speaking different languages or
different dialects. Over six hundred tribes and languages have been
classified by Shilo, yet each is generally unintelligible to the other.
Practically speaking, there are but two great divisions,--the Negroes
and Bantu, occupying equatorial and southern Africa; and the Hamites
and Shemites, northern Africa. But there is no clear-cut line even
between the Mohammedan and Negro. For many hundred years the Negroes
have been taken as slaves, and carried into the north of Africa, and
have furnished the harems with wives, and the families with servants.
The servants are often adopted into the families, so that the Negro
blood now largely predominates even among the Shemites and Hamites.

A broader and more practical distinction than that of language or blood
is made by the religion of the African. The Mohammedan religion was
probably brought from Arabia by the Shemites. They conquered the
country along the coast, and exterminated or pushed to the south the
former inhabitants. Then, more slowly but steadily, Mohammedanism
forced its way south by the sword or by proselyting. Within the last
thirty years it has re-assumed its proselyting character, and is now
more rapidly extending than at any previous time.

Its missionaries are of a race nearly allied to the Negro. They live
among them, adopting their customs, and often intermarrying with them.
They teach of one God, whom all must worship and obey, and of a future
life whose rewards the Negro can comprehend. They forbid the sacrifice
of human victims to appease the wrath of an offended deity. They forbid
drunkenness. They give freedom to the slave who becomes a Moslem, and
thus elevate and civilize those among whom they dwell. The Christian
missionary is of a race too far above him. He is a white man, his lord
and master. He teaches of things his mind cannot reach, of a future of
which he can form no conception; he brings a faith too spiritual; he
labors with earnestness and devotion, even to the laying-down of his
life. Yet the fact remains that Christianity has produced but little
impression in civilizing and elevating the people, while the influence
of Mohammedanism is spreading on every side.

In passing from the equator south, the tribes become more degraded. Sir
Henry Maine enunciated the theory of the evolution of civilization from
the lowest state of the savage. In Africa he could have found all
stages of civilization; in the lowest scale, man and his mate, living
entirely on the fruits of the earth, in a nude condition, his only
house pieces of bark hung from the trees to protect him from the
prevailing wind; the vulture his guide to where, the previous night,
the lion had fallen on his prey, leaving to him the great marrow-bones
of the elephant or the giraffe; his only arms a stick; belonging to no
tribe, with no connection with his fellow-men, his hand against every
man, the family relation scarcely recognized. It is the land of the
gorilla, and there seems to be little difference between the man and
the ape, and both are hunted and shot by the Boers. In ascending the
scale, the family and tribal relation appears,--a house built of cane
and grass or the bark of the tree; a few flocks; skill in setting traps
for game; the weapon a round stone, bored through, and a pointed stick
fastened in the hole. Then come tribes of a low order of civilization,
that cultivate a little ground, having a despotic king, who has wives
without limit, numbering in some cases, it is said, 3,000; wives and
slaves slaughtered at his death, to keep him company and serve him in
another life. With them, cannibalism is common. Then come tribes of a
higher civilization, where the power of the chief is limited, where
iron, copper, and gold are manufactured, and trade is carried on with
foreigners, where fire-arms have been substituted for the bow and
spear; next the Mohammedan; and last of all, on the shores of the
Mediterranean, the civilization of the French and English.

It is a curious fact that many tribes that had made considerable
advance in manufacturing iron and copper, have for some time ceased
manufacturing; that others have retrograded, and have lost some of the
arts they formerly possessed. This decline apparently took place after
the Mohammedans had conquered North Africa, and sent their traders
among the Negro tribes, who sold the few articles the Negro needed
cheaper than they could manufacture them, and therefore compelled them
to give up their own manufactures. Such was the effect of free trade on
interior Africa. The Mohammedans also manufacture less than formerly,
depending more and more upon European manufactures. The enterprise of
the white race defies native competition, and stifles attempts at
native manufactures: there is therefore among the natives a great
falling-off in the progress of outward culture, and the last traces of
home industries are rapidly disappearing.


SLAVE-TRADE.

One of the departments of this society is the geography of life. At the
head of all life stands man: it is therefore within our province to
investigate those questions which more intimately concern and influence
his welfare.

Slavery and the slave-trade have, within the last two hundred years,
affected African life more than all other influences combined; and this
trade, with all its sinister effects, instead of diminishing, is ever
increasing. It has had a marked effect not only on the personal and
tribal characters of the inhabitants, but on their social organization,
and on the whole industrial and economic life of the country. It has
not only utterly destroyed many tribes, but it has made the condition
of the other tribes one of restless anarchy and insecurity. It has been
the great curse of Africa, and for its existence the nations of Europe
have been, and are, largely responsible. The temper and disposition of
the Negro make him a most useful slave. He can endure continuous hard
labor, live on little, has a cheerful disposition, and rarely rises
against his master.

There are two kinds of slavery,--home and foreign. The first has always
prevailed in Africa. Prisoners taken in war are sacrificed, eaten, or
made slaves. Slavery is also a punishment for certain offences, while
in some tribes men frequently sell themselves. These slaves are of the
same race and civilization as their masters. They are usually well
treated, regarded as members of the family, to whom a son or daughter
may be given in marriage, the master often preferring to keep his
daughter in the family to marrying her to a stranger. This slavery is a
national institution of native growth. It is said one half of the
inhabitants are slaves to the other half. The horrors of the
slave-trade are unknown in this kind of slavery.

In the other case the slave is torn from his home, carried to people,
countries, and climates with which he is unfamiliar, and to scenes and
civilization which are uncongenial, where his master is of a different
color and of another and higher civilization, where the master and
slave have nothing in common. The Spaniards made slaves of the Indians
of America, but they were incapable of work, unfitted for slavery, and
rapidly faded away. In pity for the Indians, the Africans were brought
to supply their places. Their ability to labor was proved, and they
were soon in great demand.

It is impossible to ascertain the number of slaves imported into
America. The estimates vary from 4,000,000 to 5,000,000. The larger
number is probably an underestimate; but these figures do not represent
the number shipped from Africa, for 121/2 per cent. were lost on the
passage, one-third more in the "process of seasoning;" so that, out of
100 shipped from Africa, not more than 50 lived to be effective
laborers.

Livingstone, who studied the question of slavery most carefully,
estimated, that, for every slave exported, not less than five were
slain or perished, and that in some cases only one in ten lived to
reach America. If the lowest estimate is taken, then not less than
20,000,000 Negroes were taken prisoners or slain to furnish slaves to
America. No wonder that many parts of Africa were depopulated.

Though the slave-trade with America has been suppressed, thousands are
annually stolen and sold as slaves in Persia, Arabia, Turkey, and
central and northern Africa. Wherever Mohammedanism is the religion,
there slavery exists; and to supply the demand the slave-trade is
carried on more extensively and more cruelly to-day than at any
previous time. The great harvest-field for slaves is in Central Africa,
between 10 deg. south and 10 deg. north latitude. From this region caravans of
slaves are sent to ports on the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, and
thence shipped to Indo-China, the Persian Gulf, Arabia, Turkey in Asia,
and even to Mesopotamia, wherever Mussulmans are found. The English at
Suakin are a constant hindrance to this traffic; and therefore Osman
Digna has so often within the past five years attacked Suakin, desiring
to hold it as a port from which to ship slaves to Arabia. Other
caravans are driven across the desert to Egypt, Morocco, and the
Barbary States. Portuguese slave-traders are found in Central Africa,
and, though contrary to law, deal in slaves, and own and work them in
large numbers. Cameron says that Alrez, a Portuguese trader, owned 500
slaves, and that to obtain them, ten villages, having each from 100 to
200 souls, were destroyed; and of those not taken, some perished in the
flames, others of want, or were killed by wild beasts. Cameron says, "I
do not hesitate to affirm that the worst Arabs are angels of mercy in
comparison to the Portuguese and their agents. If I had not seen it, I
could not believe that there could exist men so brutal and cruel, and
with such gayety of heart." Livingstone says, "I can consign most
disagreeable recollections to oblivion, but the slavery scenes come
back unbidden, and make me start up at night horrified by their
vividness."

If the chief or pacha of a tribe is called upon for tribute by his
superior, if he wishes to build a new palace, to furnish his harem, or
fill an empty treasury, he sends his soldiers, armed with guns and
ammunition, against a Negro tribe armed with bows and spears, and
captures slaves enough to supply his wants.

The territory from which slaves are captured is continually extending;
for, as soon as the European traveler has opened a new route into the
interior, he is followed by the Arab trader, who settles down,
cultivates the ground, buys ivory (each pair of tusks worth about $500
at Zanzibar or Cairo); invites others to come, and when they have
become acquainted with the country, and gathered large quantities of
ivory, and porters are wanted to carry the tusks to the coast, a
quarrel is instigated with the Negroes, war declared, captives
taken,--men for porters, women for the harem,--the villages are burned,
and the caravan of slaves and ivory takes its route to the coast, where
all are sold. We are told on good authority that during the past twenty
years more slaves have been sent out than formerly were exported in a
century. Wissmann tells us what he has seen:--

"In January, 1882, we started from our camp,--200 souls in
all,--following the road, sixty feet wide, to a region inhabited by the
Basonge, on the Sankuru and Lomami Rivers. The huts were about twenty
feet square, divided into two compartments, the furniture consisting of
cane and wooden stools; floor, ceiling, and walls covered with grass
mats. Between the huts were gardens, where tobacco, tomatoes,
pine-apples, and bananas were grown. The fields in the rear down to the
river were cultivated with sweet-potatoes, ground-nuts, sugar-cane,
manioc, and millet. Goats and sheep and fowls in abundance, homestead
follows homestead in never-ending succession. From half-past six in the
morning, we passed without a break through the street of the town until
eleven. When we left it, it then still extended far away to the
south-east. The finest specimens in my collection, such as open-work
battle-axes inlaid with copper, spears, and neat utensils, I found in
this village.

"Four years had gone by, when I once more found myself near this same
village. With joy we beheld the broad savannas, where we expected to
recruit our strength and provisions. We encamped near the town, and in
the morning approached its palm-groves. The paths were no longer clean,
no laughter was heard, no sign of welcome greeted us. The silence of
death breathes from the palm-trees, tall grass covers every thing, and
a few charred poles are the only evidence that man once dwelt there.
Bleached skulls by the roadside, and the skeletons of human hands
attached to the poles, tell the story. Many women had been carried off.
All who resisted were killed. The whole tribe had ceased to exist. The
slave-dealer was Sayol, lieutenant of Tippo-Tip."

Sir Samuel Baker was largely instrumental in the suppression of the
slave-trade, and, while the rule of the English and French in Egypt was
maintained, slavery was greatly diminished; but, since the defeat and
death of Gen. Gordon, the slave-trade has rapidly increased, and is now
carried on more actively than at any other time. The only obstacles to
this traffic are the presence of Emin Pacha at Wadelai, the English and
American missionaries, and English trading-stations on Lakes Victoria
Nyanza and Tanganyika.

The slave-traders unite in efforts to destroy Emin Pacha, and to expel
the missionaries and all European travelers and traders, except the
Portuguese, and for this purpose excite the hostility of the Negro
against the foreigner. In this they are aided by the Mahdi. The work of
the Mahdi is largely a missionary enterprise. The dervishes who
accompany his army are religious fanatics, and desire the overthrow of
the Christians and Emin Pacha as earnestly as the slave-trader.
Religious fanaticism is therefore united with the greed of the
slave-trader to drive out the Christians from the lake region.

Aroused by these reports, and influenced by these views, Cardinal
Lavigerie, for twenty years Bishop of Algiers and now Primate of
Africa, last summer started a new crusade in Belgium and Germany
against slavery and the slave-trade. The cardinal has organized
societies, and is raising a large fund to equip two armed steamships
for Lake Tanganyika and Lake Nyassa, the headquarters of the
slave-trade, and offers, if necessary, to head the band himself. The
Pope has engaged in the work, has contributed liberally to this fund,
and sent three hundred Catholic missionaries to Central Africa. The
slave-trade is carried on with arms and ammunition furnished by
European traders. Without these arms, the slave-trade could not be
successfully carried on, for the Negroes could defend themselves
against slave-traders armed like themselves. While the demand for
slaves continues, the slave-trade will exist, and will not cease until
the factories of European nations are planted in the interior of
Africa.


MINERAL WEALTH OF AFRICA.

We are told in Phillips's "Ore Deposits" that the precious metals do
not appear to be very generally distributed in Africa. More thorough
research may show that this view is incorrect, and that there are large
deposits of iron, copper, gold, and other metals in many parts of the
continent. Gold is found on the Gold Coast, in the Transvaal, in the
Sudan, and in Central Africa, but is only worked in surface diggings,
excepting in the Transvaal; but near all these washings, gold nuggets
of large size, and the quartz rock, have been discovered. In Transvaal
the mines were worked a long time ago, probably by the Portuguese, then
abandoned and forgotten. Recently they have been rediscovered, and
worked by the English. In the Kaap gold-field in the Transvaal, three
years ago, the lion and zebra, elephant and tiger, roamed undisturbed
in the mountain solitudes, where there is now a population of 8,000,
with 80 gold-mining companies, having a capital of $18,500,000,
one-third of which is paid up. Barberstown, the chief mining-town, has
two exchanges, a theatre, two music-halls, canteens innumerable,
several churches and hotels, four banks, and a hospital. A railroad was
opened in December, 1887, from the Indian Ocean towards these mines, 52
miles, and is being rapidly constructed 100 miles farther to
Barberstown.

There is reason to believe that gold deposits equal to those of Mexico
or California will yet be found in several parts of Africa. Copper is
known to exist in the Orange Free State, in parts of Central and South
Africa, and in the district of Katongo, south-west of Lake Tanganyika,
which Dr. Livingstone was about to explore in his last journey. Rich
copper ores are also found in the Cape of Good Hope, Abyssinia, and
equatorial Africa. Large and excellent deposits of iron ore have been
found in the Transvaal and in Algiers, and a railroad 20 miles long has
been built to carry it from the Algerian mines to the sea. Very many
tribes in equatorial and Central Africa work both iron and copper ores
into different shapes and uses, showing that the ore-beds must be
widely distributed.

One of the few large diamond-fields of the world is found in Griqua and
Cape Colony, at the plateau of Kimberly, 3,000 feet above the sea. The
dry diggings have been very productive; this tract, when first
discovered, being almost literally sown with diamonds.

Coal has been found in Zulu-Land, on Lake Nyassa, and in Abyssinia. The
latter coal-field is believed to be secondary. Iron, lead, zinc, and
other minerals, have been found in the Orange Free State. Salt-beds,
salt-fields, salt-lakes, and salt-mines are found in different parts of
Africa.


RAILROADS.

The peculiar formation of Africa, its long inland navigation,
interrupted by the falls near the mouths of its large rivers, from
connection with the ocean, render it necessary to connect the ocean
with the navigable parts of the rivers by railroads.

The Belgians will soon construct a railroad on the southerly side of
the Kongo, to the inland navigable waters of the Kongo at Leopoldville,
following the preliminary surveys lately completed; the French may also
construct a road from the coast to Stanley Pool; and by one or the
other of these routes the interior of Africa will be opened.

South of the Kongo, the Portuguese are constructing a railroad from
Benguela into the interior. In Cape Colony railroads connect the
greater part of the British possessions with the Cape of Good Hope. A
railroad is also being constructed from Delagoa Bay to the mines in
Transvaal.

Sudan and the upper waters of the Nile can only be opened to a large
commerce by a railroad from Suakin to Berber, about 280 miles. Surveys
were made for this road, and some work was done upon it, just before
Gen. Gordon's death. The navigation of the Nile above Berber is
uninterrupted for many hundred miles. Below Berber the falls interrupt
the navigation. The route from Gondokoro down the Nile is by boat to
Berber, camel to Assuan, boat to Siut, and railroad to Cairo and
Alexandria, making a route so circuitous that it prevents the opening
of the Sudan to any extensive commerce.

In Algiers there are 1,200 miles of railroad, and more are being
constructed. The French are constructing a railroad from the upper part
of the Senegal River to the head waters of the Niger. The English have
organized a company to construct a road from the Gold Coast to the
mines in the interior.

It will thus be seen that the railroad has already opened a way into
Africa that is sure to be carried on more extensively.


STANLEY EXPEDITION.

There are two methods of exploring Africa. One is where an individual,
like a Livingstone, or a Schweinfurth, or a Dr. Junker, departs on his
journey alone. He joins some tribe as far in the interior, on the line
of exploration, as possible; lives with the tribe, adopting its habits
and manner of life, learning its language, making whatever explorations
he can; and, when the region occupied by such tribe has been fully
explored, leaves it for the next farther on. This plan requires time
and never-failing patience; but in this way large portions of Africa
have been explored. The other way, adopted by Cameron, Stanley,
Wissmann, and the Portuguese explorers, has been to collect a party of
natives, and at their head march across the continent.

"An immense outfit is required to penetrate this shopless land, and the
traveler can only make up his caravan from the bazaar at Zanzibar. The
ivory and slave-traders have made caravanning a profession, and every
thing the explorer wants is to be found in these bazaars, from a tin of
sardines to a repeating-rifle. Here these black villains the
porters--the necessity and despair of travelers, the scum of
slave-gangs, and the fugitives from justice from every
tribe--congregate for hire. And if there is any thing in which African
travelers are for once agreed, it is, that for laziness, ugliness,
stupidity, and wickedness, these men are not to be matched on any
continent in the world." Upon such men as these Stanley was obliged to
depend.

Though traveling in this way is more rapid than the other, it is very
expensive, and has many difficulties not encountered by the solitary
traveler. The explorer always goes on foot, following as far as
possible the beaten paths. A late traveler says: "The roads over which
the land-trade of equatorial Africa now passes from the coast to the
interior are mere footpaths, never over a foot in breadth, beaten as
hard as adamant, and rutted beneath the level of the forest-bed by
centuries of native traffic. As a rule, these foot-paths are
marvellously direct. Like the roads of the old Roman, they move
straight on through every thing,--ridge and mountain and valley,--never
shying at obstacles, nor anywhere turning aside to breathe. No country
in the world is better supplied with paths. Every village is connected
with some other village, every tribe with the next tribe, and it is
possible for a traveler to cross Africa without being once out of a
beaten track."

But if the tribes using these roads are destroyed, the roads are
discontinued, and soon become obstructed by the rapid growth of the
underbrush; or, if the route lies through unknown regions outside the
great caravan-tracks, the paths are very different from those described
by Mr. Drummond, for the way often lies through swamps and morass, or
thick woods, or over high mountain-passes, or is lost in a wilderness
of waters.

The great difficulty in these expeditions is to obtain food. As
supplies cannot be carried, they must be procured from the natives.
Very few tribes can furnish food for a force of six hundred men (the
number with Stanley); and when they have the food, they demand
exorbitant prices. Often the natives not only refuse food to the
famished travelers, but oppose them with such arms as they have; and
then it is necessary, in self-defence, to fire upon them.

The greatest difficulty the explorer meets comes either directly or
indirectly from the opposition of the slave-trader. Formerly the
slave-trader was not found in equatorial Africa; but, since the
explorer has opened the way, the slave-trader has penetrated far into
the interior, and is throwing obstacles in the way of the entry of
Europeans into Africa. When it was decided that Stanley should relieve
Emin Pacha, he was left to choose his route. He met Schweinfurth,
Junker, and other African travelers, in Cairo. They advised him to go
by his former route directly from Zanzibar to the Victoria Nyanza. The
dangers and difficulties of this route, and the warlike character of
the natives, he well knew. The route by the Kongo to Wadelai had never
been traveled, and he thought the difficulties could not be greater
than by the old route; and, beside, he proceeded much farther into the
interior by steamer on the Kongo, which left a much shorter distance
through the wilderness than by the Zanzibar route. On arriving at
Zanzibar, he made an arrangement with Tippo-Tip, the great Arab trader
and slave-dealer, for a large number of porters. They sailed from
Zanzibar to the Kongo, where Stanley arrived in February, 1887. He then
sailed up the Kongo, and arrived in June at the junction of the Aruvimi
with the Kongo, a short distance below Stanley Falls. Stanley believed
that the Aruvimi and the Welle were the same stream, and that by
following up this river he would be on the direct route to Wadelai.
Subsequent investigations have shown that he was mistaken. About the
1st of July he left the Kongo, expecting to reach Emin Pacha in
October, 1887. No definite information has been received from him from
that time to the present. He left Tippo-Tip in command at Stanley
Falls, and expected that a relief expedition would follow. There were
great delays in organizing this expedition, from the difficulty of
obtaining men, and it was thought that Tippo-Tip was unfaithful. The
men were finally procured, and the expedition left Aruvimi in June,
1888, under command of Major Barttelot. A day or two after they
started, Major Barttelot was murdered by one of his private servants.
The expedition returned to the Kongo, and was re-organized under Lieut.
Jamieson. He was taken ill, and died just as he was ready to start, and
no one has been found to take his place; and that relief expedition was
abandoned. Reports say that Stanley found the route more difficult than
he anticipated; heavy rainfall, rivers, swamps, and marshes obstructed
the way; that the season was sickly, and a large part of his followers
died long before he could have reached Emin Pacha.

The reports of his capture, and of his safe return to the Aruvimi
River, are known to all. These may or may not be true. Although we have
not heard from Stanley for a year and a half, yet it by no means
follows that he is dead; for Livingstone, Stanley, and other explorers
have been lost for a longer time, and have afterward found their way
back to the coast. No man has greater knowledge of the country through
which his route lay, or of the character of the natives, or the best
manner of dealing with them. Emin Pacha was encamped quietly for nearly
two years at Wadelai; and Stanley, in like manner, may have been
compelled to remain at some inland point and raise his own provisions.


THE FUTURE OF AFRICA.

It is impossible to prophesy the future of any country, much less that
of Africa, where the physical features have left so marked an
impression upon its inhabitants, and where the animal life is so
different from that of the other continents. It is rather by
differentiating Africa from other countries that we obtain any data
from which to form an opinion of its future.

Africa, as we have seen, is surrounded by a fringe of European
settlements. What effect will these settlements have upon Africa? Will
the European population penetrate the interior, and colonize Africa?
Will it subjugate or expel the Africans, or will they fade away like
the Indians of our country? If colonization by Europeans fail, will the
African remain the sole inhabitant of the country as barbarian or
civilized?

Egypt is now controlled by the English, but its climate is too
unhealthy, and its surrounding too unfavorable, for Englishmen; and we
may safely assume that their occupation will be temporary, or, if
permanent, not as colonists. They will remain, as in India, foreigners
and rulers, until the subjugated people rise in their power and expel
them, and return to their old life. The English rule, though possibly
beneficial to Egypt, is hated by the natives, who demand Egypt for the
Egyptians.

Leaving Egypt, we pass an uninhabitable coast, until we come to the
French colonies of Algiers. It is nearly sixty years since the French
took possession of Algiers. There has been a large emigration from
France; but the climate, while excellent as a winter climate for
invalids and others, is unfavorable for a permanent habitation,
especially for infants. The births in one year have never equalled the
deaths. When Algeria was first conquered by the French, it was a
wilderness, but is now a garden. The cultivation of the grape has been
most successful, and extensive iron-mines have been opened. The French
are gradually pushing their way from Algiers across the desert to
Timbuctu, and also from Senegambia to Timbuctu. The expense of
maintaining Algeria has greatly exceeded any revenue derived from it.
Though many doubt the political wisdom of retaining it, yet the French
have too much pride to acknowledge that the enterprise has been in any
way a failure; and they will undoubtedly hold it, and perhaps found an
empire. Senegambia and the coast of Guinea, claimed by the French and
English, are low and moist, filled with swamps and lagoons, which will
prevent any European colonization.

South of the Kongo, the Portuguese claim a wide section of country
running across Africa. They have occupied this country over two hundred
years. They have done little towards colonizing, and only hold a few
trading-posts on the coast and in the interior, dealing principally in
slaves, ivory, and gold; and it may well be doubted whether they have
the stamina or ability to colonize this country, or to produce any
permanent impression upon it.

The south portion of Africa, from the 18th parallel on the Atlantic to
the 26th parallel on the Indian Ocean, is generally fertile; and the
climate is favorable to Europeans, and is capable of sustaining a large
population. The growth of Cape Colony has been very slow, but a more
rapid growth is anticipated. We believe it will be permanently occupied
by the English, who will dispossess the aborigines, and form a great
and permanent English State. The coast of Zanzibar, occupied by the
Germans and English, is rich and fertile, the climate unhealthy; but
when the mountain-ranges are crossed, and the elevated plateaus and
lake regions are reached, the interior resembles the Kongo region.
Massaua and Suakin, on the Red Sea, are unhealthy and worthless, unless
connected by railroad with the upper Nile.

There remains equatorial Africa, including the French settlements on
the Ogowe, the region about Lake Chad, the Kongo and its tributaries,
and the lake region. The more we learn of equatorial Africa, the
greater its natural advantages appear to be. The rivers open up the
country in a favorable manner for trade and settlement. Its elevation
from 2,000 to 3,000 feet will render it healthy, though this elevation
is only equal to from ten degrees to fourteen degrees of north
latitude. Here all the fruits of the torrid zone, the fruits and most
of the grains of the temperate zone, cotton, India-rubber, and
sugar-cane, are found.

The country has been unhealthy, a great many Europeans have died, and
few have been able to remain more than two or three years without
returning to Europe to recuperate. These facts seem to show that the
climate is not healthy for Europeans. But the mortality has been much
greater than it will be when the country is settled and the unhealthy
stations have been exchanged for healthier localities. Every new
country has its peculiar dangers, which must be discovered. When these
obstacles are understood and overcome, Europeans will probably occupy
all this region, and it will become a European colony.

If European colonization is successful, European civilization will come
into contact with African barbarism. Where such a contest is carried on
in a country where the climate is equally favorable to the two races,
it can only result in the subjugation or destruction of the inferior
race. If the climate is unfavorable to the white population, then,
unless the inferior is subjected to the superior, the white population
will fail in colonizing the country, and the Negro will either slowly
emerge from barbarism, or return to his original condition.

The Negro has never developed any high degree of civilization; and even
if, when brought into contact with civilization, he has made
considerable progress, when that contact ceased he has deteriorated
into barbarism. But, on the other hand, he has never faded away and
disappeared, like the Indian of America and the natives of the Southern
Archipelago.

Nature has spread a bountiful and never-ending harvest before the
Negro, and given to him a climate where neither labor of body or mind,
neither clothing nor a house, is essential to his comfort. All nature
invites to an idle life; and it is only through compulsion, and contact
with a life from without, that his condition can be improved.

In Africa a contest is going on between civilization and barbarism,
Christianity and Mohammedanism, freedom and slavery, such as the world
has never seen. Who can fail to be interested in the results of this
conflict? We know that Africa is capable of the very highest
civilization, for it was the birthplace of all civilization. To it we
are indebted for the origin of all our arts and sciences, and it
possesses to-day the most wonderful works of man. Let us hope that
Africa, whose morning was so bright, and whose night has been so dark,
will yet live to see the light of another and higher civilization.

[Illustration: APPROPRIATION OF AFRICA BY EUROPEANS. 1. British. 2.
French. 3. German. 4. Spanish. 5. Italian. 6. Portuguese. 7. Kongo Free
State. 8. Liberia. 9. South African and Orange Free States.]




REPORT--GEOGRAPHY OF THE LAND.

BY HERBERT G. OGDEN.


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.




REPORT--GEOGRAPHY OF THE SEA.

BY GEORGE L. DYER.


In presenting to the National Geographic Society this first annual
summary of work accomplished in the domain of the Geography of the Sea,
I find it impossible satisfactorily to limit the range of subjects that
may be assigned to it. The great ocean is so large a factor in the
operations of Nature, that the attempt to describe one of its features
speedily involves the consideration of others lying more or less in
that shadowy region which may be claimed with equal force by other
sections of the Society. It is to be understood, therefore, that the
following account merely touches upon several of the characteristics of
the oceanic waters, and is not in any sense an attempt to treat them
all.

This being the first report to the Society it has been thought
advisable to give a brief outline of the progress made in our knowledge
of the sea since 1749, when Ellis reported depths of 650 and 891
fathoms off the north-west coast of Africa. Even at that time an
apparatus was employed to lift water from different depths in order to
ascertain its temperature. It does not appear that this achievement
gave impetus to further efforts in this direction, for, except some
comparatively small depths and a few temperatures recorded by Cook and
Forster in their voyage around the world in 1772-75, and in 1773 by
Phipps in the Arctic, at the close of the last century there was but
little known of the physical conditions of the sea.

At the beginning of the present century, however, more activity was
shown by several governments, and expeditions sent out by France,
England and Russia, in various directions, began to lay the foundation
of the science of Oceanography.

Exploration of little known regions was the main purpose of most of
these expeditions, but attention was paid also to the observation and
investigation of oceanic conditions, so that accounts of soundings,
temperatures of sea water at various depths, its salinity and specific
gravity, the drift of currents, etc., form part of their records.

The first to give us a glimpse of the character of the bottom at great
depths was Sir John Ross, the famous Arctic explorer. While sounding in
Ponds Inlet, Baffin Bay, in 1819, by means of an ingeniously
constructed contrivance called a deep sea clam, he succeeded in
detaching and bringing up portions of the bottom from depths as great
as 1,000 fathoms. The fact that this mud contained living organisms was
the first proof of life at depths where it was thought impossible for
it to exist. The truth of this discovery, however, was not generally
accepted, many eminent men of science on both sides of the Atlantic
contending for and against it, and the question was not finally settled
until long afterward, in 1860, when, by the raising of a broken
telegraph cable in the Mediterranean, unimpeachable evidence of the
existence of life at the greatest depths in that sea was obtained. The
science, however, remained in its infancy until about 1850, when Maury
originated his system of collecting observations from all parts of the
globe, and by his indomitable energy aroused the interest of the whole
civilized world in the investigation of the physical phenomena of the
sea.

Through Maury's efforts the United States Government issued an
invitation for a maritime conference, which was held in Brussels in
1853 and attended by representatives of the governments of Belgium,
Denmark, France, Great Britain, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia,
Sweden and the United States. The main object of the conference, to
devise a uniform system of meteorological observations and records, was
accomplished. According to the agreement, ships' logs were to have
columns for recording observations of the following subjects: latitude,
longitude, magnetic variation, direction and velocity of currents,
direction and force of wind, serenity of the sky, fog, rain, snow and
hail, state of the sea, specific gravity and temperature of the water
at the surface and at different depths. It was also proposed that
deep-sea soundings should be taken on all favorable occasions, and that
all other phenomena, such as hurricanes, typhoons, tornadoes,
waterspouts, whirlwinds, tide-rips, red fog, showers of dust, shooting
stars, halos, rainbows, aurora borealis, meteors, etc., should be
carefully described, and tidal observations made when practicable.

The practical results of this conference were great. The systematic and
uniform collection of data by men of all nations is going on
uninterruptedly to-day, and is furnishing the means for the solution of
many of the problems relating to the Geography of the Sea.

An epoch in the progress of this science is marked by the appearance of
Maury's Wind and Current Charts, his Physical Geography of the Sea, and
his Sailing Directions, which contain the record of the first deep
soundings taken by United States vessels; and to the United States,
through Maury's efforts, belongs the honor of having inaugurated the
first regular cruise for the purpose of sounding in great depths.

Under the instructions of Maury the U. S. brig Dolphin, commanded by
Lieutenant Lee, and subsequently by Lieutenant Berryman, was detailed
in 1851-3 to search for reported dangers in the Atlantic, and to sound
regularly at intervals of 200 miles going and returning. The Dolphin
was provided with Midshipman Brooke's sounding apparatus and with it
succeeded in obtaining specimens of the bottom from depths of 2,000
fathoms. About the same period the U. S. ships Albany, Plymouth,
Congress, John Adams, Susquehanna, St. Louis and Saranac also made
soundings in various localities, and to the U. S. S. Portsmouth, in
1853, belongs the honor of having reported the first really deep-sea
sounding obtained in the Pacific, 2,850 fathoms, in about 39 deg. 40' N.,
and 139 deg. 26' W.

The practicability of this work was thus fully demonstrated, and,
although some of the earlier results, through defective appliances and
lack of experience, were not entirely trustworthy, its character and
success will always be a tribute to American enterprise and ingenuity.

With the advent of the submarine telegraph the investigation of the
depth and configuration of the ocean bed became of vital importance,
and the work of sounding for that purpose was taken up with activity;
one of the first voyages in the interest of these projects was that of
the U. S. S. Arctic, under the command of Lieut. O. H. Berryman, in
1856, between St. Johns, Newfoundland, and Valentia, Ireland.

The civil war naturally put a stop to these operations by United States
ships. The U. S. schooner Fenimore Cooper was about the last engaged in
this work, sounding in 1858-59 in the Pacific to 3,400 fathoms, and
also reporting a sounding of 900 fathoms only 3/4 of a mile west of
Gaspar Rico Reef, in about 14 deg. 41' N. and 168 deg. 56' E.

The work so well begun by the Americans was quickly taken up by other
governments, and we find from that time to the present, the records of
a large number of expeditions for diverse scientific observations in
all parts of the world. Continued improvements in the appliances and
instruments have made the results more precise than was possible in the
earlier times, and, as the data accumulate, the bathymetric charts of
the oceans are becoming more accurate. Not until this work is much
further advanced, however, shall we be able to arrive at an estimate of
the depths and weights of the oceans at all comparable to our knowledge
of the heights and weights of the various great land masses above sea
level.

Other important results of these expeditions have been the verification
of many reported elevations of the ocean bed formerly considered
doubtful, the discovery of new ones, and proof of the non-existence of
others, which had been reported as dangers to navigation.

The Geography of the Sea reached a decidedly more advanced stage by the
inception of several great scientific expeditions, of which that of the
Lightning, in 1868, to the Hebrides and Faroe Islands, under the
superintendence of Professors Carpenter and Wyville Thompson, was the
forerunner. This was followed by the three years' cruise of the
Challenger (Br.) in 1873-75, the Tuscarora (Am.) in 1874, and the
Gazelle (Ger.) in 1875, by those despatched under the authority of the
U. S. Coast Survey and of the U. S. Fish Commission, and others of
lesser importance, sent out under the auspices of European governments,
and by private individuals. All of these have contributed in an eminent
degree to the progress of the science by giving us a better
understanding of the physical and biological conditions of the sea at
all depths. Special mention must be made of the splendid work that is
being done continually by the expeditions sent out by the U. S. Fish
Commission. This branch of the United States service, originally
established for the investigation of the causes of the decrease in the
supply of useful food fishes and of the various factors entering into
that problem, in pursuance of these objects has been prosecuting a
detailed inquiry, embracing deep-sea soundings and dredging,
observation of temperatures at different depths, transparency, density
and chemical composition of sea-water, investigation of surface and
under currents, etc.; in other words, making a complete exploration of
the physical, natural and economic features of the sea, besides
collecting a large number of specimens of natural history. The
expeditions sent out by this Commission have brought to light from the
deep beds of the ocean an extraordinary variety of animal life,
previously unknown to science. Few vessels have furnished a greater
number of deep-sea soundings than the F. C. S. Albatross. This steamer
has explored fishing grounds on the east and west coasts of the
continent; and since the beginning of last year has made a cruise from
the North to the South Atlantic along the east coast of South America,
through Magellan Strait, and northward along the west coast to Panama
and the Galapagos Islands, and thence to San Francisco and Alaska; the
scenes of her latest operations have been the plateau between the
Alaskan coast and Unalaska and the banks off San Diego, California.

A large share in the progressive state of the science of the Geography
of the Sea must also be credited to the systematic collection of marine
observations by the Hydrographic Offices and other institutions all
over the world. This forms the stock from which, as I have already
indicated, must be drawn, through intelligent reduction and deduction,
a better knowledge of the intricate laws governing the various
phenomena of the sea and air.


OCEANIC CIRCULATION.

The existence of currents in certain localities was known at a very
early date, and navigators in their voyages to the new world soon
discovered the Gulf Stream and other currents of the Atlantic. The
first current charts were published more than two hundred years ago.
Theories were soon advanced to explain the causes, one group of
scientific men attributing the origin of currents to differences of
level produced by an unequal distribution of atmospheric pressure over
the oceans, another set connecting the tidal phenomena with the cause
of ocean currents, and still another finding in the rotation of the
earth a sufficient reason for their existence. The polar origin of the
cold deep water found in low latitudes has long been considered
probable, and has given rise to a theory of a general oceanic
circulation in a vertical and horizontal direction, produced by
differences of temperature and density. Recent theoretical
investigations, however, seem to indicate that these causes alone are
incapable of producing currents, and, to-day, the theory that the winds
are mainly responsible for all current movements very largely
predominates. Benjamin Franklin was probably the first who recognized
in the trade winds the cause of the westerly set in the tropics, and
Rennel soon after made the division of drift and stream currents. The
objections which have appeared against the wind theory have been met
with the reply that the present state of oceanic movements is the
result of the work done by the winds in countless thousands of years.

Current phenomena is briefly summarized as follows by one of the latest
authorities on the subject:

1. The greater portion of the current movement of the ocean must be
regarded as a drift, produced by the prevailing winds, whose mean
direction and force are the measures for the mean set and velocity of
the current.

2. Another group of currents, and in fact a fraction of all currents,
consists of compensating or supply streams, created by the necessity of
replacing the drifted water in the windward portion of the drift
region.

3. A third group results from drifts deflected by the configuration of
the coasts; these which are denominated free currents, quickly pass
into compensating streams.

4. The deflecting force of the rotation of the earth is considered as
of subordinate importance, but may have some influence on currents that
are wholly or in part compensating or free.

Late investigations of the Gulf Stream by the U. S. Coast Survey give
interesting facts in regard to that notable current.

A satisfactory explanation of the cause of the stream has not yet been
found, but many believe, with Franklin, that the powerful trade drift
entering the Gulf of Mexico through the broad channel between Yucatan
and Cuba presses the water as a strong current through Florida Strait,
where the stream is turned to the northward along the coast. Since 1850
American naval officers have added greatly to our knowledge of the
characteristics of this stream, particularly within the last decade,
during which notable investigations have been carried on by Commanders
Bartlett and Sigsbee and Lieut. Pillsbury, U. S. N., under the
direction of the U. S. Coast Survey, and by Lieutenant Commander
Tanner, U. S. N., in the Fish Commission steamer Albatross.

Of special importance are the valuable and interesting results in
regard to tidal action in the stream obtained by Lieut. Pillsbury, U.
S. N., in the Coast Survey steamer Blake, from observations begun by
him in 1885 at the narrowest part of Florida Strait, between Fowey
Rocks and Gun Cay (Bah.), and continued since between Rebecca Shoal and
Cuba, and between Yucatan and Cape San Antonio (Cuba), and off Cape
Hatteras.

During the past year Lieut. Pillsbury extended the field of operations
to the passages between the islands encircling the Caribbean Sea, and
in order to study the Atlantic flow outside the limits of the trade
drift a station was to have been occupied about 700 miles to the
north-east of Barbados; this, however, was unfortunately prevented by
bad weather.

The deductions from the observations in Florida Strait showed very
clearly a _daily_ and a _monthly_ variation in the velocity of the
stream, the former having a range of 21/2 knots, and reaching a maximum
on the average about 9^h 9^m before and 3^h 37^m after the moon's upper
transit, and the monthly variation reaching its maximum about two days
after the maximum declination of the moon. The variations in this
section were found greater on the western than on the eastern side of
the strait, and the axis of the stream, or position of strongest
surface flow, was located by Lieutenant Pillsbury 111/2 miles east of
Fowey Rocks, and, farther north, about 17 miles east of Jupiter Light.
The average surface current at this section was 3-3/5 knots, the
maximum 51/4 knots, and the minimum 13/4 knots per hour. The results also
indicate that when the current is at its maximum the surface flow is
faster than at any depth below it, but when at its minimum the velocity
at a depth of 15 fathoms or even down to 65 fathoms is greater than at
the surface, and that there is at times a current running south along
the bottom in all parts of the stream except on the extreme eastern
side.

The results of the investigations in 1887 and 1888 have not yet been
published, but from information kindly furnished by the authorities of
the Coast Survey, I am able to give a brief outline of the more
prominent facts ascertained.

In the section between Rebecca Shoal and Cuba the daily variation in
velocity was found as prominent as in Florida Strait, the mean time of
eight maxima corresponding to 9^h 18^m before, and that of three maxima
to 3^h 25^m after the moon's transit. The axis of the stream in this
section was found near the center of the current prism, and the flow
was easterly and inclined on either side toward the axis. The axis
seemed to occupy a higher level than other parts of the stream, and
this appears to be borne out by the fact that about half the number of
the current bottles thrown out in Florida Strait on the west side of
the axis were recovered along the east coast of Florida, while of those
thrown out east of the axis not a single one was heard from. As a rule
it was found that the stronger the current the more constant the
direction and the deeper the stratum. Remarkable fluctuations in the
flow near the axis were noted, the velocity increasing sometimes one
knot in ten or fifteen minutes, and then as suddenly decreasing again.
Lieutenant Pillsbury attributes this, however, to a serpentine movement
of the maximum flow, which would sometimes strike the station occupied
by the Blake. The edge of the stream was found at about 30 miles south
of Rebecca Shoal light-house.

Between Yucatan and Cape San Antonio the stream was found flowing about
north, and the line of maximum velocity corresponds on the average to
10^h before and to 2^h 20^m after the moon's transit. The excessive
variations were like those in Florida Strait, on the west side of the
stream, and the maximum velocity of 61/4 knots was found about 5 miles
off the 100-fathom line of Yucatan Bank. The eastern edge of the stream
lies about 20 miles west of Cape San Antonio, and between this edge and
the island, eddy currents exist. At the time the easternmost station in
this section was first occupied, the declination of the moon was low
and the set of the surface current north-easterly. At a high south
declination of the moon the surface current was found south-easterly in
direction, and east or south-east below the surface. The normal flow
below the surface was in each case from the Gulf into the Caribbean
Sea, and this makes it probable that the station was situated inshore
of the average limit of the stream. On Cape San Antonio Bank the
currents are tidal, flood running northward and ebb southward. On the
Yucatan Bank the currents were also tidal, but as the edge of the bank
is approached the stronger flow of the Gulf Stream predominates. The
monthly variation in velocity, which was found clearly defined at the
first two sections occupied, appeared at this section to be obliterated
by anomalies not existing at the former.

Off Cape Hatteras the Blake accomplished the remarkable feat of
remaining at anchor in 1,852 fathoms, and this with a surface current
of over 4 knots. Two stations were occupied, and similar variations in
velocity were observed as at the other stations. The notable feature at
this station was the discovery of tidal action beneath the Gulf Stream,
the currents at 200 fathoms depth changing their direction very
regularly, the average current flowing about S. S. E. 1/2 E. for 7 hours
and N. N. W. 1/2 W. for a little over 5 hours.

The first section investigated in 1888 was in the equatorial drift
between Tobago and Barbados, where seven stations were occupied. The
axis of the stream was found west of the middle, or nearer the South
American shore, and the average direction was towards the north. At
none of the stations did the current set in the direction of the wind,
although the trades were blowing at all times with a force of from 2 to
7. The daily variation was also here very pronounced, the average time
of maximum flow occurring about 5^h 56^m after the moon's transit. At
65 and 130 fathoms depth the current, at three of the stations
occupied, was north-westerly; at one south-easterly. The velocity at
130 fathoms was greater than at 65 fathoms, and greater at the surface
than at 15 and 30 fathoms.

At all of the three stations between Grenada and Trinidad tidal action
was observed, with deflections due to local influences.

The passage between Santa Lucia and St. Vincent appears to be in the
line of the equatorial stream. At each of the five stations in this
passage tidal action was pronounced, the currents setting in and out of
the Caribbean Sea at some depth. The daily variation in this passage
reaches a maximum at about 6^h 3^m after the moon's transit, and a
minimum when the moon is on the meridian. The currents entering the
Caribbean Sea through this passage are but 100 fathoms in depth, but
there is probably an almost equal volume flowing out below that depth.

Between the Windward Islands the currents flow generally westward, but
tidal action is everywhere apparent.

To the east of Desirade the currents at all observed depths have a
northerly direction, fluctuating between about N. E. by E. to N. W. by
N.

In the eastern part of the Anegada Passage the surface current flows
into the Caribbean Sea in directions varying between S. S. W. and S.
E., but the submarine current down to 130 fathoms flows in a direction
lying between north and east.

In the more western part of the passage the currents are more complex,
apparently on account of the greater variations in depth in the
vicinity of the station occupied.

In the Mona Passage no regular currents were perceptible. Between Mona
and Puerto Rico the currents observed set out of the Caribbean Sea,
varying in direction from about W. by N. to E. N. E., except at 65
fathoms depth, where there appeared to be an inward flow. On the
western side of the passage, near Santo Domingo, the direction of the
currents was between S. S. E. and S. W. by W. But few observations
could be taken on account of unfavorable weather.

In the Windward Passage, on the western side the currents from the
surface down to 130 fathoms set in the directions lying in the S. E.
quadrant, and at 200 fathoms the direction changed to W. by S. On the
eastern side the surface current varied between E. N. E. and E. S. E.,
with about 1/2 knot velocity. Variations in the direction similar in
extent characterized also the subsurface currents in the middle and on
the eastern side of the passage.

The average of the observations at these three stations gives but a
small volume of water passing in either direction.

In the old Bahama Channel, at the station north of Cayo Romano (island
off the north coast of Cuba) the currents at and near the surface set
south of east; at 65 fathoms, however, the direction varies from about
N. W. to E. The deeper current of great volume flowed continually to
the north of west with a velocity of over 11/2 knots at depths of 130 and
200 fathoms.

Outside the Bahamas, to the north of Great Abaco, a slight current
flows about N. W. on the surface and down to 30 fathoms; at 65 fathoms
depth the direction changes to a point more westerly, and at 130
fathoms to a point more easterly than the set of the surface current.
The maximum in the daily variation at this station occurs about 12^h
after the moon's transit.

The observations so far as completed by Lieutenant Pillsbury furnish
the most valuable data we have at present concerning the Gulf Stream,
and it is hoped that further investigation and the analytical treatment
of these observations will clearly develop the dynamic laws involved
and lead us to a correct theory of current phenomena in general.


TIDAL PHENOMENA.

The causes for many of the inequalities in the tidal elements observed
at different places have not yet been satisfactorily explained. The
phenomena are dependent on many purely terrestrial conditions. While we
are able to ascertain with tolerable accuracy from certain constants,
derived from observation, the times and heights of the tides, the
problem to compute theoretically the tides of an ideal ocean of known
depth and configuration remains still unsolved. According to Ferrel our
present knowledge of tidal phenomena is comparable to that possessed
2,000 years ago of the science of astronomy.


TEMPERATURE OF THE SEA.

The temperature of sea water had already been observed by Ellis, in
1749, in the Atlantic, and subsequent expeditions have furnished a
great number of temperature observations in various seas and for
various depths. The diversity of instruments and of methods employed by
the earlier observers, and the faulty methods of recording, have made
the uniform reduction of many of these observations difficult or
impossible. The most complete and valuable collection of these older
observations up to 1868, with an account of the instruments and methods
used by each observer, was published by Prestwich, in 1876, in the
Philosophical Transactions, Vol. 165.

With the advent of the great scientific expeditions, which were
supplied with modern and refined instruments, our knowledge of the
thermal conditions of the sea has progressed immensely, and we are now
able to construct charts of all the oceans, showing the distribution of
the isotherms with considerable accuracy.

The annual average surface temperature has been found higher in the
Indian Ocean than in either the Atlantic or Pacific; the North Atlantic
is slightly warmer than the North Pacific, but the South Pacific is
warmer than the South Atlantic; this holds generally good also for the
temperatures between surface and bottom.

The temperature generally decreases more or less rapidly from the
surface down to about 500 fathoms, at which depth it is quite uniformly
between 39 deg. and 40 deg. F. From that depth it decreases slowly towards the
bottom: in the Polar seas to between 27 deg. and 28 deg. F.; in the middle and
higher latitudes of the northern hemisphere and at depths of 2,000 to
3,000 fathoms, to between 34 deg. and 36 deg. F.; at the equator and in
southern latitudes it remains in the neighborhood of 32 deg. F.

The low temperatures at the bottom are thought to be due to a steady
but slow circulation of water from the Polar seas towards the equator,
and, where the circulation is most free and unobstructed, as in the
South Atlantic, South Pacific and Indian Ocean, the bottom temperature
is slightly lower than in the North Atlantic and North Pacific, both of
which are connected with the Polar Sea by comparatively narrow and
shallow straits.

The theory of this circulation from the Polar seas is greatly
strengthened by the facts appearing from the investigation of the
bathymetric isotherms in inclosed seas, i.e., seas which are separated
from the deep oceans by submarine barriers. In such seas the
temperature decreases slowly from the surface down to the depth of the
barrier, and from there on remains constant to the bottom.

The influence of currents on the surface temperature is very marked,
cold currents bending the isothermal lines towards the equator, and
warm currents bending them towards the poles. The seasonal changes in
surface temperatures are considerable, being the least in the tropical
zones.

In the _Atlantic Ocean_ the maximum surface temperature lies near the
coast of South America, between Para and Cayenne, and another maximum
occurs near the west coast of Africa, between Freetown and Cape Coast
Castle.

The _Pacific Ocean_ shows the peculiarity that the surface temperatures
on the western side are lower than those on the eastern side. Between
45 deg. N. and 45 deg. S. the temperature does not fall below 50 deg., but between
those parallels and the poles it remains most always below that figure.

The warmest water is found in the _Red Sea_ where the surface
temperature has been recorded as high as 90 deg.. North of the equator the
mean annual temperature is considerably above 80 deg., but south of it, to
about the parallel of 25 deg., it varies from 80 deg. to 70 deg..


CHEMICAL COMPOSITION, SALINITY AND DENSITY OF SEA WATER.

In this branch of inquiry great progress has been made, and sea water
is now known to contain at least 32 elementary bodies. Its chief
constituents are found to consist of the chlorides and sulphates of
sodium, magnesium, potassium and calcium. It also contains air and
carbonic acid.

The salinity and density of sea water have been investigated very
thoroughly, particularly in the Atlantic. As the salinity of the sea
water is an index of its density, changes in the former naturally
affect the latter. The salinity has been found generally to decrease in
the neighborhood of coasts, where rivers discharge their water into the
sea, and it is a maximum in the trade zones, and a minimum in the
equatorial rain belt. The salinity is affected by the degree of
evaporation and by the frequency of rainfall, and is now recognized as
an important factor in the biologic conditions of the sea.

Of the three great oceans, the Atlantic, with a salinity of 3.69 per
cent., shows a slight preponderance over that of the Pacific and Indian
Ocean, whose average salinity is 3.68 and 3.67, respectively.

In the trade belts the great evaporation augments the salinity, and
hence, also, the density, and in the polar zones the formation of ice
brings about the same result, though in a lesser degree. In the
equatorial calm region the frequent rainfall diminishes salinity and
density through the dilution of the salt water. Density and salinity
are thus in a certain degree subject to seasonal changes.

In the _Atlantic_ the density increases in general from the higher
latitudes towards the equator, but the maxima are separated by a zone
of lesser density. The maximum in the North Atlantic ocean is found
between the Azores, the Canaries and the Cape Verde Islands, and the
minimum between the equator and 15 deg. N.

In the South Atlantic two maxima occur, one to the north of Trinidad,
and the other near St. Helena and between that island and Ascension.

Taking pure water at 4 deg. C. for unity, the maximum density in the
Atlantic is 1.0275 and in the Pacific, 1.0270.

In the _North Pacific_ the maximum density occurs between 30 deg. and 31 deg.
N., and the minimum in about 71/2 deg. N., in the equatorial counter current,
where it was found as low as 1.02485.

In the _South Pacific_, which has a slightly greater density than the
North Pacific, the maximum has been found in the vicinity of the
Society Islands.

The density of the waters of the _Indian Ocean_ is not yet as well
known as that of the Atlantic and Pacific, but the results ascertained
indicate a lesser density in its northern part, with a maximum in the
region between 20 deg. and 36 deg. S. and long. 60 deg. to 80 deg. E.

In the vicinity of Java and Sumatra, probably on account of the extreme
humidity of the atmosphere and of frequent rainfall, the density has
been found as low as 1.0250.

In regard to the density of the water at various depths, it has been
ascertained that as a general rule it decreases from the surface down
to about 1,000 fathoms, after which it increases again slowly to the
bottom. In the equatorial calm regions, however, where the heavy rains
dilute the surface water, the density decreases from the surface down
to between 50 and 100 fathoms, after which it follows the law found for
other parts of the ocean. The bottom densities of the South Atlantic
and Pacific have been found about alike, varying only from 1.02570 to
1.02590; those of the North Atlantic, however, show a greater value,
varying from 1.02616 to 1.02632.


GREATEST DEPTHS OF THE OCEANS.

ATLANTIC.--Rejecting some of the earliest soundings as untrustworthy,
the greatest known depth in the North Atlantic is to the north of the
island of Puerto Rico, in about latitude 19 deg. 39' N., longitude 66 deg. 26'
W., found by the C. S. S. Blake, Lieut. Commander Brownson, U. S. N.,
in 1882-83, 4,561 fathoms.

The deepest known spot in the South Atlantic is 3,284 fathoms, in about
latitude 19 deg. 55' S., longitude 24 deg. 50' W., sounded by the U. S. S.
Essex, Commander Schley, in 1878.

The general run of the soundings indicates that greater depressions
exist nearer the western than in the eastern or middle part of the
Atlantic, North and South.

PACIFIC.--In the North Pacific the greatest depression has been found
by the U. S. S. Tuscarora, Commander Geo. E. Belknap, U. S. N., in
1874, 4,655 fathoms, in latitude 44 deg. 55' N., longitude 152 deg. 26' E. The
next deepest sounding in the North Pacific was located by the
Challenger in 1875, 4,475 fathoms, in latitude 11 deg. 24' N., longitude
143 deg. 16' E. As in the Atlantic, the greater depths appear to exist in
the western part and particularly off the coasts of Japan.

In the South Pacific the greatest depths were supposed, up to a recent
period, to be in the eastern part. Within the last two years, however,
the British surveying vessel Egeria has discovered greater depressions
in the western part of the South Pacific, one spot sounding 4,430
fathoms in latitude 24 deg. 37' S., longitude 175 deg. 08' W., and another, 12
miles farther south, 4,298 fathoms.

INDIAN OCEAN.--In this ocean the greatest depths appear to exist to the
north and west of the Australian continent, where there are more than
3,000 fathoms in a number of widely separated spots, indicating a
depressed area of considerable extent.

In the most southerly part of the Indian Ocean, or rather in the
_Antarctic region_, the Challenger obtained, in 1874, a maximum depth
of 1,673 fathoms, in latitude 65 deg. 42' S., longitude 79 deg. 49' E.

ARCTIC OCEAN.--The greatest depth was sounded by the Sofia in 1868,
2,650 fathoms, in latitude 78 deg. 05' N., longitude 2 deg. 30' W.

In the minor seas the maximum depths so far as ascertained are:

  Caribbean Sea  3,452 fms., south of Great Cayman.
  Gulf of Mexico 2,119  "    (Sigsbee Deep).
  Mediterranean  2,170  "
  North Sea        375  "
  Baltic           178  "
  China Sea      2,100  "
  Coral Sea      2,650  "
  Sulu Sea       2,550  "
  Celebes Sea    2,600  "
  Banda Sea      2,800  "

January, 1889.




REPORT--GEOGRAPHY OF THE AIR.

BY A. W. GREELY.


In presenting to the National Geographic Society a summary of
geographic advance as regards the domain of the air, the Vice-president
finds a task somewhat difficult. The traveler passes from the east to
the west coast of Africa, and his very efforts to struggle across that
great continent, impress in his memory an abiding picture of the
physical features of the country over which he has passed, and of the
distribution of plants and animal life. So, too, a vessel sails from
one coast to another, casting here and there a sounding lead, from
which measurements it is possible to give quite a definite idea of the
relief features of the bottom of the sea.

Small as are the traces which serve to indicate the character of the
sea bottom, yet they are infinitely greater than those which enable us
to give a description of the air. Atmospheric disturbances are so vast,
and their action is so rapid, that it requires the attentive care of
thousands of observers before one can well hope to draw the roughest
figure of a passing storm. To note changes in the force and direction
of the wind, to note the depth of the rain, the increase and decrease
of temperature and the varying changes of aqueous vapor, either in
visible or invisible form, requires millions of careful, systematic
observations, and then when these are made, the task of collating,
elaborating and discussing them seems almost too great for any man.
Fortunately the value of meteorological work has impressed itself not
only upon governments, which have assisted liberally by appropriations
and organization, but yet more upon the isolated observer, thousands of
whom over the face of the earth give of their time and labor, and add
their mite to the wealth of universal knowledge.

In connection with all great physical questions, there is at times a
tendency to application to special phases somewhat to the exclusion of
others. While it can hardly be said that scientific and theoretical
discussion of meteorology has been unduly neglected during the past
year, yet it is evident that the greatest activity of meteorologists
has been devoted to climatological investigation, and compilations of
this character have been particularly numerous during the past
year--not in the United States and Europe alone, but throughout the
whole world.

The growing practical importance of meteorological researches has been
lately evidenced perhaps in no more striking way than in the
establishment in Brazil of a most extensive meteorological service,
created by a decree of the Imperial government on April 4, 1888. A
central meteorological institute, under the Minister of Marine, is to
be the centre for meteorological, magnetic and other physical
researches, and observations are to be made at all marine and military
establishments in the various provinces, on the upper Amazon, in
Uruguay, and on all subsidized government steamers. This service should
soon be fruitful in results, as the meteorology of the interior of
Brazil is almost absolutely unknown.

Another vast scheme has originated in Brazil in the Imperial
Observatory of Rio Janeiro. Senor Cruls, its director, contemplates a
dictionary of the climatology of the earth, giving monthly means and
extremes of pressure, temperature, rainfall, wind, etc. This scheme, of
course, can be successful only by international co-operation. The
United States Signal Service has pledged its aid as regards this
country.

The former tendency among Russian meteorologists to devote their
greatest energies to climatological compilations has gradually given
way to other practical work in connection with weather and storm
predictions, as shown by the institution by the Russian government of a
system of storm-warnings for the benefit of vessels navigating the
Black Sea.

Blanford has put forth an important paper, which partially elucidates
the very intricate question of diurnal barometric changes, particularly
bearing on the relation of the maximum pressure to critical conditions
of temperature, cloudiness and rainfall. The question viewed in a
negative light by Lamont, as to whether the maximum barometric pressure
could be attributed to the greatest rate of increase in the temperature
of the air, due, it is supposed, to the reactionary effect of the
heated and expanding air, has been re-examined by Blanford, whose
conclusions are somewhat in favor of this theory.

S. A. Hill has treated of the annual oscillation of pressure, so
noticeable in India, and in so doing has investigated the changes of
pressure for three levels, up to a height of 4500 meters. The reduction
of monthly barometric means at high levels, having regard to the
vertical distribution of temperature, shows a double oscillation in the
annual curve at the level of Leh, which becomes a single one at the
height of 4500 meters, while this is substantially the reverse of the
oscillation observed below.

The subject is also treated in another way by Mr. Hill, through
analysis of normal monthly means for all India, whereby he succeeds in
presenting a formula, the first periodic terms of which represent the
two principal factors of the oscillation.

Mr. Hill has also discussed elaborately the anomalies in the winds of
northern India in their relation to the distribution of barometric
pressure. The anomalies are:--(1) in the hot season the wind direction
frequently shows no relation to the barometric gradient; (2) the winds
over the plains show little or no relation to pressure gradients, but
an obvious one to temperature, being greatest where the temperature is
highest.

It is pointed out as highly probable that the copious snowfalls of the
late winter in the northwest Himalayas not only produce low
temperatures on the Himalayan ranges, but subsequently cause dry
northwesterly winds over northern and western India, and on this
supposition, reliable forecasts of the character of the coming rainy
monsoons have been made for a number of years. Convection currents
between upper and lower air strata, it is suggested by Koppen, explain
diurnal variations in wind velocity and direction. At low stations the
maximum velocity occurs at the time of the highest temperature, while
at high stations the reverse obtains. Hill has examined into an
important point connected with this subject, that is, the great local
differences in the vertical variation of temperature. Hill concludes by
saying that high pressures at low levels are the result of low
temperatures, and in connection with the fact that wind directions are
largely influenced by the irregular distribution of pressure at high
levels, it is more important to know the abnormal variations of
pressure at the highest hill stations in India than those in the
plains.

Overbeck has lately published a paper on the apparent motions of the
atmosphere, in which he clearly and admirably outlines the treatment of
the dynamics of the air by his predecessors. He comments on the mode of
treatment of Ferrel, as well as those of Guldberg and Mohn. Overbeck
then sets forth his own method, and elaborately discusses the influence
of the earth's rotation with reference to the resistances which oppose
the motion of the atmosphere. He touches on the effect produced by
rapidly moving fluid entering fluid at rest, the development of
discontinuous (so called by Helmholtz) currents, the tendency of
parallel currents of unequal velocities towards similar velocities, the
effect of friction arising from contiguous currents of different
velocities, upon the coefficient of friction, of the temperature
distribution over the surface of the earth, etc. He derives three very
simple expressions for the motions of the air; the first giving the
velocity in a vertical direction at any point, in terms of latitude,
and a constant and factor depending on the distance of the point above
the surface of the earth. The other expressions give the velocities in
a north or south direction, and in an east or west direction, also in
terms of constants and latitude. The velocity when charted from
Overbeck's equations indicate an ascending vertical current from the
equator to 35 deg. north, and thence a descending current to the pole. The
meridional current at the equator and pole are zero, and have a maximum
value at latitude 45 deg..

Ciro Ferari, from long and important investigations of thunder storms,
shows that these phenomena invariably attend motionless areas of low
pressure, and believes the surest elements for predicting such storms
will be found to be the peculiarities in distribution of temperature
and absolute humidity. He observes that the storm front invariably
tends to project itself into the regions where the humidity is
greatest, and that hail accompanies rapidly moving storms of deep
barometric depression. Ferari considers the chief causes of thunder
storms to lie in the connection of high temperature and high humidity.
Grossman believes that ascending moist-laden currents are the cause of
thunder storms, and hence they are most frequent when the temperature
diminution with altitude is very great, so that the over-heating of the
lower air strata in the warmest part of the day is the cause of the
primary maximum of thunder-storm frequency.

Abercromby and Hildebrandsson have renewed their recommendations for a
re-classification of clouds in ten fundamental types, in which the
first part of the compound name, such as cirro-stratus, cirro-cumulus,
etc., is to be in a measure indicative of the height of a cloud.

Hildebrandsson has charted the differences of monthly means of air
pressure for January, 1874 to 1884. In January, 1874, the values at
nearly all the stations in the Northern Hemisphere, were plus, and
those in the Southern, minus. It is to be hoped that such general
discussions of this important meteorological element may be continued.

General A. Von Tillo has determined, by means of the planimeter, the
distribution of temperature and pressure from Teisserenc de Bort's
charts. The mean pressure over the Northern Hemisphere for January, he
finds to be 29.99 inches (761.7 millimeters), and the temperature 46 deg..9
(8 deg..3 C.); in July, 29.806 (758.5 mm.) and 72 deg..7 (22 deg..6 C.). In Russia
he finds an increase of one millimeter of pressure to correspond with a
decrease of 1 deg..6 C. in temperature.

Doberck, after investigation of September typhoons at Hong Kong,
attributes their appearance to the relatively low pressure then
existing between Formosa and Lyon.

The valuable and elaborate investigation of American Storms, by
Professor Elias Loomis has been completed. Loomis has thoroughly
discussed barometric maxima and minima areas as presented by the maps
of the Signal Service, from which it appears that these areas are in
general elliptical, with the longest axis nearly twice that of the
shortest in the high areas, while the difference is less in low areas.
He has also investigated the winds relative to baric gradients, thus
affording valuable data for proving various meteorological theories.
Loomis' researches regarding the movement of maximum areas verify those
which have been set forth from time to time in Signal Service
publications; wherefrom it appears that high areas have a more
southerly movement than low areas.

Van Bezold has put forth a memoir on thermodynamics, while Helmholtz,
Oberbeck, and Diro-Kitso have contributed valuable memoirs on motions
caused by gravitation and the varying density of the air. These furnish
meteorologists with important results as to the laws of fluid or
gaseous motions. It is gratifying to Americans to note that the
valuable results obtained by Ferrel in his many memoirs are confirmed
by these later investigations.

Undoubtedly the most important meteorological event within the past
year was the discontinuance, on January 1, 1888, of the system of
International Simultaneous Meteorological reports inaugurated in
accordance with the agreement of the conference at Vienna in September,
1873. As the charts of storm tracks, based on these observations, have
been published by the United States Signal Service one year behind the
date of the observations, the completion of this work in printed form
for the general public should occur about December 31, 1888.

A few remarks in connection with this unparalleled set of observations
may not be out of place. The congress which agreed upon this work, met
in accordance with invitations issued by the Austrian Government in
September, 1873. The co-operation decided upon at this congress took
practical shape January 1, 1874, at which date one daily simultaneous
report was commenced from the Russian and Turkish Empires, the British
Islands, and the United States: the energetic co-operation of these
nations being assured through Professor H. Wild for Russia; Professor
A. Coumbary for Turkey; Mr. Robert H. Scott for Great Britain; and Bvt.
Brig. General A. J. Meyer, for the United States. Concurrent action
followed shortly after on the part of Austria, through Professor Carl
Jelinek; Belgium through Professor E. Quetelet; Denmark through Capt.
Hoffmeyer; France through Monsieurs U. J. Leverrier, Marie Davy, and
St. Claire Deville; Algiers by General Farre; Italy by Professor
Giovanni Cantoni; the Netherlands by Professor Buys Ballot; Norway by
Professor H. Mohn; Spain by Professor A. Aquilar; Portugal by Professor
F. de Silveira; Switzerland by Professor E. Plantamour; and the
dominion of Canada by Professor G. T. Kingston. Within a year the
average number of daily simultaneous observations made outside the
limits of the United States increased to 214. Later, the co-operation
of the Governments of India, Mexico, Australia, Japan, Brazil, Cape
Colony, Germany, and Greece, was obtained, and also of many private
observatories at widely separated points throughout the Northern
Hemisphere.

In the sixteen years during which simultaneous meteorological
observations were continued, reports were received from nearly fifteen
hundred different stations, about one-half being from land stations,
and the others from vessels of the navies and the merchant marine of
the various countries.

The total number of storm centers, counting one for each 5-degree
square over which the centre has been traced from the International
Simultaneous observations of 1878 to 1887, inclusive, aggregates over
forty-two thousand, an annual average of over four thousand two
hundred. Less than 1/25 of 1 per cent. of these storms occurred south
of the parallel of 10 deg., and only 1/4 of 1 per cent. south of the parallel
of 15 deg.. In marked contradistinction to this freedom of the equatorial
regions from storms, there is to be noted the excessive prevalence of
these phenomena between the parallels of 40 deg. and 60 deg., north; in which
regions substantially two-thirds of the storms of the Northern
Hemisphere occurred; while between the parallels of 45 deg. and 55 deg., north,
36 per cent. of the entire disturbances are recorded. The most
remarkable belt of storm frequency on the Northern Hemisphere is that
extending from the Gulf of Saint Lawrence westward to the extreme end
of Lake Superior, as nearly 8 per cent. of all the storms of the
Northern Hemisphere passed over this limited region; the maximum
frequency (1.2 per centum) occurring over the 5-degree square
northeastward of Lake Huron.

As regards longitudinal distribution, an unusually large proportion of
storms prevailed between the 50th meridian and 105th meridian, west; 37
per cent. or one-third of all the storms of the Northern Hemisphere
occurring within this region. A second belt of comparative storm
frequency obtains from the meridian of Greenwich eastward to the 30th
meridian; over which region 15 per cent. of the entire number of storms
occurred.

Only four hundred, or less than 9 per cent. of the entire number of
storms, entered the American continent from the Pacific ocean, while
about thirteen hundred storms, excluding the West India hurricanes,
passed eastward off of the American continent. Over nine hundred storms
entered Europe from the Atlantic ocean, of which probably four hundred
and fifty, or ten per cent. of the whole number recorded, were
developed over the Atlantic ocean. Probably not thirty storms, or less
than three per cent. of those which entered Europe from the Atlantic,
crossed over the continents of Europe and Asia to the Pacific ocean.
Fully two-thirds of the storms which enter Europe from the Atlantic are
dissipated as active storm-centres before they reach the Asiatic
frontier.

The tendency of great bodies of water, when surrounded wholly or
largely by land, to generate storms or facilitate their development, is
evident from the unusual prevalence of storms over the great lakes, the
St. Lawrence bay and the Gulf of Mexico in North America; over the
North and Baltic seas, Bay of Biscay and the Mediterranean in Europe;
the Bay of Bengal, and over the China and Okhotsk seas.

Undoubtedly a considerable proportion of these storms are drawn towards
these regions owing to the effect of evaporation upon the humidity and
temperature of the superincumbent atmosphere, so that a very
considerable proportion of the storms credited to these squares have
not originated therein, but have been drawn up from neighboring
quarters. This tendency is marked in North America, as storms pass over
the lake region and St. Lawrence valley, whether they have originated
in the Gulf of Mexico, along the central slope of the Rocky mountains
in the United States, or further north in the Saskatchewan country. In
like manner storms pass southeastward to the Mediterranean from the Bay
of Biscay, and northeastward from the Atlantic ocean to the same sea,
and then later show a very marked tendency to pass over the Black and
Caspian seas.

This tendency of storms originating in diverse sections to move toward
the lake regions in the United States, is very evident from the normal
storm-track charts for April, May, June, August, November and December.

The opinion that gales rarely, if ever, occur upon the equator is
confirmed by these storm-tracks. The most southern storm in the North
Pacific ocean, developed in July, 1880, between the Island of Borneo
and Mindanao, an excellent account of which is given by Pere Mark
Dechevrens, S. J., in the Bulletin Mensuelle of Zi-Ka-Wei Observatory.
The most southern storm over the North Atlantic ocean, in November,
1878, was remarkable for its origin, duration, length of its path, and
its enormous destruction of life and property. It was central on the
1st, as a violent tropical hurricane near Trinidad, the barometer being
29.05, the lowest ever recorded there, and, from its intensity and
velocity, it is more than probable that it originated considerably to
the eastward, and possibly somewhat to the southward of that island.
The storm was described in the U. S. Monthly Weather Review for
September, 1878.

The writer looks with considerable interest to the results which may
follow from a discussion of the annual fluctuation of the atmospheric
pressure as shown by the mean monthly pressures deduced from the ten
years' International observations. As far as these means have been
examined they show that the periodicity of atmospheric pressure is
largely in accord with the results set forth in 1885 in The Report of
the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition. The conviction expressed in that year
is still adhered to--that, at no distant day, the general laws of
atmospheric changes will be formulated, and that later, from abnormal
_barometric departures_ in remote regions may be predicted the general
character of seasons in countries favorably located.

The success of long-time predictions of this class for India, has been
set forth in a previous part of this report. It is believed that a
further discussion of meteorological phenomena on a broad basis, by
means of International Weather Charts, both in daily and monthly form,
must eventually result in important and fundamental discoveries. It is
gratifying to American pride to know that in this international task of
outlining the geography of the air, the United States has liberally
provided the labor and means for presenting these ten years'
meteorological data in such tabular and geographical forms as to render
them available for study by all.

Acknowledgment is due to Professor Thomas Russell, for valuable
translations, especially from the German; which translations have been
of material value in preparing this report.

December, 1888.




REPORT--GEOGRAPHY OF LIFE.

BY C. HART MERRIAM.


During the year now drawing to a close not a single work which I
conceive to fall legitimately within the scope of the department of
Geography of Life has appeared in any part of the world, so far as I am
aware. It being manifestly impossible, then, to comply with the
requirement of the By-law calling for a summary of the work of the
year, I may be pardoned for digressing sufficiently to speak of what
seems to be the _function_ of this Society in its relations to biology.

The term _'Geography of Life'_ applied without limitation or
qualification to one of the five departments of the Society is not only
comprehensive, but is susceptible of different if not diverse
interpretations. Indeed, without great violence it might be construed
to comprehend nearly the whole domain of systematic botany, zoology,
and anthropology. As a matter of fact, I believe it was intended to
include everything relating directly to the distribution of life on the
earth. Thus it would naturally embrace all sources of information which
assign localities to species. Local lists and faunal publications of
every kind would fall under this head, and also the narratives of
travelers who mention the animals and plants encountered in their
journeys. In the single branch of ornithology, about fifty per cent. of
the current literature would have to be included. The most obvious
objection to this comprehensiveness of scope is the circumstance that a
mere bibliographic record of titles alone would fill a journal the size
of the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE.

Hence it may not be amiss to attempt a preliminary reconnoissance, with
a view to what my friend Mr. Marcus Baker has recently defined as "a
Survey of Class II, for Jurisdictional purposes." Let us seek therefore
to run a boundary line about the territory we may fairly claim without
trenching on the possessions of others.

Before doing this it becomes necessary to bear in mind certain facts
and laws without a knowledge of which it is impossible to think
intelligently on the subject. It is a matter of common observation that
different groups of animals and plants inhabit different regions, even
in the same latitude; that some forms are almost world wide in
distribution; that others are restricted to very limited areas; that
the ranges of very dissimilar species are often geographically
coincident; and that, as a rule, animals inhabiting contiguous areas
are more nearly related than those inhabiting remote areas. The
recognition of these facts early led to the attempt to divide the
surface of the earth, according to its animal life, into 'faunal'
districts. By the term _fauna_ is meant the sum of the animal life of a
region.

A comparatively meagre supply of information is sufficient to indicate
the principal faunal subdivisions of a country, but for mapping the
exact boundaries of such areas a vastly greater and more precise fund
of knowledge is necessary. The way in which such maps are prepared is
by collecting all available authentic records of localities where the
particular species has been found. This is done by compiling published
records, by examining labels of specimens in various museums and
private collections, and by work in the field. The data thus brought
together are arranged on cards under authors and regions, and are
tabulated under species. The localities are then indicated by colored
spots on an outline map, the space surrounded by the spots being washed
in with a paler tint of the same color. A separate map is devoted to
each species.

Faunal maps are made by combining a large number of species maps. In
making such combinations it is found, as a rule, that a considerable
percentage of the species maps fall into certain well defined
categories whose color patches are essentially coincident. The
composite resulting from the cooerdination of these maps may be held to
represent the natural faunal areas of a country. Several such areas may
be characterized by the common possession of species not found
elsewhere, and may be combined to constitute a faunal province; several
provinces, a region; and several regions a realm or primary
zooe-geographical division of the earth's surface.

Having ascertained the actual extent and limitations of the natural
faunal districts, it remains to correlate the facts of distribution
with the facts of physiography.

My own convictions are that the work of this Society in Geographic
Distribution should be restricted to the generalization of results:
that we should deal with philosophic deduction rather than with
detailed observations and the tedious steps and laborious methods by
which they are made available. Our aim should be to correlate the
distribution of animals and plants with the physiographic conditions
which govern this distribution, and to formulate the laws which are
operative in bringing about the results we see. In other words, we are
to study cause and effect in the relations of physiography to biology.

The kind of works meriting discussion in the annual report of the
Vice-president of this section are such philosophic treatises as those
of Humboldt, Dana, Agassiz, DeCandolle, Engler, Darwin, Huxley,
Pelzeln, Sclater, Wallace, Baird, Verrill, Allen, Cope, and Gill. As it
is seldom that more than one or two such works appear in any single
year, there is likely to be ample opportunity for profitable
discussion.

January, 1889.




ANNUAL REPORT OF THE TREASURER.

FOR THE YEAR ENDING DEC. 27, 1888.


THE TREASURER, in account with the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.

1888.
Dec. 27. To cash received from life members                   $ 100 00
             "      "     for annual dues year 1888            1025 00
                                                               -------
                                                              $1125 00

1888.
Apr. 16. By Cash--M. F. Peake & Co. (20 chairs)               $  60 00
            "     Paid Columbian University, rent
                    of hall                                      20 00
Oct. 31.    "     Paid Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor,
                    for printing and binding
                    vol. I of Magazine            $ 190 56
            "     Norris Peters, for lithographing
                    storm plates for Magazine        58 00
            "     Sundry expenses of Magazine         6 35      254 91
Dec. 27.    "     Paid Cosmos Club, rent of hall                 18 00
            "      "   for miscellaneous expenses:
            "      "    "  Printing                  74 50
            "      "    "  Stationery                28 35
            "      "    "  Postage                   29 15
            "      "    "  Sundries                  13 39      145 39
Balance on hand (Bank of Bell & Co.)                            626 70
                                                               -------
                                                              $1125 00

C. J. BELL,
_Treasurer_.


December 28, 1888.

_To the National Geographic Society:_

The undersigned, having been appointed an Auditing Committee to examine
the accounts of the Treasurer for 1888, have the honor to make the
following report:

We have compared the receipts with the official list of members and
find complete agreement. We have compared the disbursements with the
vouchers for the same and find them to have been duly authorized and
correctly recorded. We have examined the bank account and compared the
checks accompanying the same. We have compared the balance in the hands
of the Treasurer as shown by the ledger ($626.70) with the balance as
shown by the bank book ($644.70) and found them consistent, the
difference being explained by the fact that a check for $18 drawn in
favor of the Secretary of the Cosmos Club has not yet been presented
for payment. We find the condition of the accounts entirely
satisfactory.

Very respectfully,
S. H. KAUFMANN.
G. K. GILBERT.




ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARIES.


The first step toward the organization of the National Geographic
Society was the circulation of the following invitation, on Jan. 10,
1888.

"Dear Sir: You are invited to be present at a meeting to be held in the
Assembly hall of the Cosmos Club, Friday evening, January 13, at 8
o'clock, for the purpose of considering the advisability of organizing
a society for the increase and diffusion of geographical knowledge.

  Very respectfully yours,
    GARDINER G. HUBBARD, HENRY MITCHELL,
    A. W. GREELY,        HENRY GANNETT,
    J. R. BARTLETT,      A. H. THOMPSON,
                                     and others."

In response to this invitation 33 gentlemen met at the appointed place
and time. The meeting was called to order by Prof. A. H. Thompson, who
stated its objects and nominated Capt. C. E. Dutton as chairman. The
formation of a geographic society was discussed by Messrs. Hubbard,
Bartlett, Thompson, Mitchell, Kennan, Gannett, Merriam and Gore.

The following resolution, introduced by Prof. Thompson, was adopted:

_Resolved_, 1. As the sense of this meeting that it is both advisable
and practicable to organize at the present time a geographic society in
Washington;

2. That this society should be organized on as broad and liberal a
basis in regard to qualifications for membership as is consistent with
its own well being and the dignity of the science it represents.

3. That a committee of nine be appointed by the chairman to prepare a
draft of a constitution and plan of organization, to be presented at an
adjourned meeting to be held in this hall on Friday evening, January
20, 1888.

A committee was appointed by the chair, consisting of Messrs. Hubbard,
Greely, Bartlett, Mitchell, Kennan, Thompson, Gore, Tittman and Merriam
for formulating a plan of organization.

A subsequent meeting was held on January 20, at which it was decided to
incorporate the society, and the same committee was continued to carry
out that purpose. On January 27 the society was incorporated, the
following gentlemen signing the certificate of incorporation:

GARDINER G. HUBBARD, J. W. POWELL,
C. E. DUTTON,        HENRY GANNETT,
O. H. TITTMAN,       A. H. THOMPSON,
J. HOWARD GORE,      A. W. GREELY,
C. HART MERRIAM,     HENRY MITCHELL,
J. R. BARTLETT,      GEORGE KENNAN,
ROGERS BIRNIE, JR.,  MARCUS BAKER,
            GILBERT THOMPSON,

and upon the same day the first meeting of the society was held in the
Assembly hall of the Cosmos club, when it was organized by the election
of the following list of officers and the adoption of the by-laws:

_President_,
GARDINER G. HUBBARD;

_Vice-Presidents_,
HERBERT G. OGDEN,  A. W. GREELY,
J. R. BARTLETT,    C. HART MERRIAM,
A. H. THOMPSON;

_Treasurer_,
CHARLES J. BELL;

_Recording Secretary_,
HENRY GANNETT;

_Corresponding Secretary_,
GEORGE KENNAN;

_Managers_,
CLEVELAND ABBE,      W. D. JOHNSON,
MARCUS BAKER,        HENRY MITCHELL,
ROGERS BIRNIE, JR.,  W. B. POWELL,
G. BROWN GOODE,      JAMES C. WELLING.

The number of members who joined the society at its organization was
165. Since that date 45 have been elected to membership.

The society has lost one member by death during the year, Mr. James
Stevenson.

The present number of members is 209.

The society has held 14 meetings, 13 of which have been devoted to the
presentation of papers. It has published the first number of a
magazine, copies of which have been distributed to the members of the
society, to others interested in geography and to the geographic
societies throughout the world for purposes of exchange.

The society has also undertaken the preparation of a Physical Atlas of
the United States, upon which some progress has been made.

Very respectfully submitted,
HENRY GANNETT,
GEORGE KENNAN,
Secretaries.

Washington, D. C., December 28, 1888.




NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.

CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION.


This is to Certify that we whose names are hereunto subscribed,
citizens of the United States, and a majority of whom are citizens of
the District of Columbia, have associated ourselves together pursuant
to the provisions of the Revised Statutes of the United States relating
to the District of Columbia, and of an act of Congress entitled: "An
Act to amend the Revised Statutes of the United States relating to the
District of Columbia and for other purposes," approved April 23, 1884,
as a Society and body corporate, to be known by the corporate name of
the National Geographic Society, and to continue for the term of one
hundred years.

The particular objects and business of this Society are: to increase
and diffuse geographic knowledge; to publish the transactions of the
Society; to publish a periodical magazine, and other works relating to
the science of geography; to dispose of such publications by sale or
otherwise and to acquire a library, under the restrictions and
regulations to be established in its By-Laws.

The affairs, funds and property of the corporation shall be in the
general charge of Managers, whose number for the first year shall be
seventeen, consisting of a President, five Vice-Presidents, a Recording
Secretary, a Corresponding Secretary, a Treasurer and eight other
members, styled Managers, all of whom shall be chosen by ballot at the
annual meeting. The duties of these officers and of other officers and
standing committees, and their terms and the manner of their election
or appointment shall be provided for in the By-Laws.

GARDINER G. HUBBARD, J. W. POWELL,
C. E. DUTTON,        HENRY GANNETT,
O. H. TITTMAN,       A. H. THOMPSON,
J. HOWARD GORE,      A. W. GREELY,
C. HART MERRIAM,     HENRY MITCHELL,
J. R. BARTLETT,      GEORGE KENNAN,
ROGERS BIRNIE, JR.,  MARCUS BAKER,
          GILBERT THOMPSON.




OFFICERS.

1889.


_President_.
GARDINER G. HUBBARD.

_Vice-Presidents_.
HERBERT G. OGDEN.
GEO. L. DYER.
A. W. GREELY.
C. HART MERRIAM.
A. H. THOMPSON.

_Treasurer_.
CHARLES J. BELL.

_Secretaries_.
HENRY GANNETT.  GEORGE KENNAN.

_Managers_.
CLEVELAND ABBE.     C. A. KENASTON.
MARCUS BAKER.       W. B. POWELL.
ROGERS BIRNIE, JR.  O. H. TITTMANN.
G. BROWN GOODE.     JAMES C. WELLING.




BY-LAWS.


ARTICLE I.
NAME.

The name of this Society is the "NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY."


ARTICLE II.
OBJECT.

The object of this Society is the increase and diffusion of geographic
knowledge.


ARTICLE III.
MEMBERSHIP.

The members of this Society shall be persons who are interested in
geographic science. There may be three classes of members, active,
corresponding and honorary.

Active members only shall be members of the corporation, shall be
entitled to vote and may hold office.

Persons residing at a distance from the District of Columbia may become
corresponding members of the Society. They may attend its meetings,
take part in its proceedings and contribute to its publications.

Persons who have attained eminence by the promotion of geographic
science may become honorary members.

Corresponding members may be transferred to active membership, and,
conversely, active members may be transferred to corresponding
membership by the Board of Managers.

The election of members shall be entrusted to the Board of Managers.
Nominations for membership shall be signed by three active members of
the Society; shall state the qualifications of the candidate; and shall
be presented to the Recording Secretary. No nomination shall receive
action by the Board of Managers until it has been before it at least
two weeks, and no candidate shall be elected unless he receive at least
nine affirmative votes.


ARTICLE IV.
OFFICERS.

The Officers of the Society shall be a President, five Vice-Presidents,
a Treasurer, a Recording Secretary and a Corresponding Secretary.

The above mentioned officers, together with eight other members of the
Society, known as Managers, shall constitute a Board of Managers.
Officers and Managers shall be elected annually, by ballot, a majority
of the votes cast being necessary to an election; they shall hold
office until their successors are elected; and shall have power to fill
vacancies occurring during the year.

The President, or, in his absence, one of the Vice-Presidents, shall
preside at the meetings of the Society and of the Board of Managers; he
shall, together with the Recording Secretary, sign all written
contracts and obligations of the Society, and attest its corporate
seal; he shall deliver an annual address to the Society.

Each Vice-President shall represent in the Society and in the Board of
Managers, a department of geographic science, as follows:

  Geography of the Land,
  Geography of the Sea,
  Geography of the Air,
  Geography of Life,
  Geographic Art.

The Vice-Presidents shall foster their respective departments within
the Society; they shall present annually to the Society summaries of
the work done throughout the world in their several departments.

They shall be elected to their respective departments by the Society.

The Vice-Presidents, together with the two Secretaries, shall
constitute a committee of the Board of Managers on Communications and
Publications.

The Treasurer shall have charge of the funds of the Society, shall
collect the dues, and shall disburse under the direction of the Board
of Managers; he shall make an annual report; and his accounts shall be
audited annually by a committee of the Society and at such other times
as the Board of Managers may direct.

The Secretaries shall record the proceedings of the Society and of the
Board of Managers; shall conduct the correspondence of the Society; and
shall make an annual report.

The Board of Managers shall transact all the business of the Society,
except such as may be presented at the annual meeting. It shall
formulate rules for the conduct of its business. Nine members of the
Board of Managers shall constitute a quorum.


ARTICLE V.
DUES.

The annual dues of active members shall be five dollars, payable during
the month of January, or, in the case of new members, within thirty
days after election.

The dues of members elected in November and December shall be credited
to the succeeding year.

Annual dues may be commuted and life membership acquired by the payment
of fifty dollars.

No member in arrears shall vote at the annual meeting, and the names of
members two years in arrears shall be dropped from the roll of
membership.


ARTICLE VI.
MEETINGS.

Regular meetings of the Society shall be held on alternate Fridays,
from November until May, and excepting the annual meeting, they shall
be devoted to communications. The Board of Managers shall, however,
have power to postpone or omit meetings, when deemed desirable. Special
meetings may be called by the President.

The annual meeting for the election of officers shall be the last
regular meeting in December.

The meeting preceding the annual meeting shall be devoted to the
President's annual address.

The reports of the retiring Vice-Presidents shall be presented in
January.

A quorum for the transaction of business shall consist of twenty-five
active members.


ARTICLE VII.
AMENDMENTS.

These by-laws may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the members
present at a regular meeting, provided that notice of the proposed
amendment has been given in writing at a regular meeting at least four
weeks previously.




MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY.


  _a_., original 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_.,
  Army Signal Office. 2017 I Street.

ABERT, S. T. (Sylvanus Thayer),
  810 Nineteenth Street.

AHERN, JEREMIAH,
  Geological Survey. 804 10th Street.

ALLEN, DR. J. A. (Joseph Asaph),
  American Museum Natural History, New York.

APLIN, S. A., JR. (Stephen Arnold),
  Geological Survey. 1513 R Street.

ARRICK, CLIFFORD, _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 1131 Fourteenth Street.

ASHBURNER, PROF. CHARLES A.,
  Pa. Geol. Survey, Hamilton Bldg., Pittsburg, Pa.

ATKINSON, MISS E. S. (Emma Seccombe), _a_.,
  Washington Normal School. 918 Massachusetts Avenue.

ATKINSON, W. R. (William Russum), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 2900 Q Street.

AYRES, MISS S. C. (Susan Caroline), _a_.,
  Pension Office. 502 A Street SE.

BAKER, PROF. FRANK, _a_.,
  Light House Board. 1315 Corcoran Street.

BAKER, MARCUS, _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 1125 Seventeenth Street.

BALDWIN, H. L. (Harry Lewis), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 125 Sixth Street NE.

BARNARD, E. C. (Edward Chester), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 1715 G Street.

BARTLE, R. F. (Rudolph Francis),
  947 Virginia Avenue SW.

BARTLETT, COMDR. J. R. (John Russell), U. S. N., _a_.,
  Providence, R. I.

BASSETT, C. C. (Charles Chester), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 929 New York Avenue.

BELL, A. GRAHAM (Alexander Graham), _a_.,
  1336 Nineteenth Street.

BELL, CHAS. J. (Charles James), _a_.,
  1437 Pennsylvania Avenue. 1328 Nineteenth Street.

BIEN, JULIUS, _a_.,
  139 Duane Street, New York, N. Y.

BIEN, MORRIS, _a_.,
  Geological Survey. Takoma Park, D. C.

BIRNIE, CAPT. ROGERS, JR., U. S. A., _a_.,
  Ordnance Office. 1341 New Hampshire Avenue.

BLAIR, H. B. (Herbert Buxton), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 1831 F Street.

BLODGETT, JAMES H. (James Harvey), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 1237 Massachusetts Avenue.

BODFISH, S. H. (Sumner Homer), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 58 B Street NE.

BOUTELLE, CAPT. C. O. (Charles Otis), _a_.,
  Coast and Geodetic Survey.

BRAID, ANDREW, _a_.,
  Coast and Geodetic Survey. 807 E. Cap. Street.

BRENT, L. D. (Lawrence Decatur),
  Geological Survey. 1334 Q Street.

BREWER, H. G. (Harrison Gaston), _a_.,
  Hydrographic Office. Meridian Avenue, Mt. Pleasant.

BREWSTER, WILLIAM,
  Cambridge, Massachusetts.

BROWN, MISS E. V. (Elizabeth Virginia),
  1312 S Street.

BURTON, PROF. A. E. (Alfred Edner), _a_.,
  Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, Mass.

CARPENTER, Z. T. (Zachary Taylor), _a_.,
  1003 F Street. 1009 Thirteenth Street.

CHAPMAN, R. H. (Robert Hollister), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 1207 L Street.

CHATARD, DR. THOS. M. (Thomas Marean), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 516 Park Avenue, Baltimore, Md.

CHRISTIE, PETER H. (Peter Harrison),
  Geological Survey.

CLARK, A. HOWARD (Alonzo Howard),
  National Museum. 1527 S Street.

CLARK, E. B. (Elias Buckner), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. Laurel, Md.

COLVIN, VERPLANCK, _a_.,
  Albany, New York.

COURT, E. E. (Emil Edward),
  Hydrographic Office. 431 Q Street.

CUMMIN, R. D. (Robert Dodge), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 1710 I Street.

CURTIS, W. E. (William Ellery), _a_.,
  513 Fourteenth Street. 1424 Q Street.

DALL, MRS. CAROLINE H. (Caroline Healey), _a_.,
  1603 O Street.

DARWIN, CHAS. C. (Charles Carlyle), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 1907 Harewood Avenue, Le Droit Park.

DAVIDSON, PROF. GEORGE, _a_.,
  Coast and Geodetic Survey. San Francisco, Cal.

DAVIS, A. P. (Arthur Powell), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 314 M Street.

DAVIS, MRS. A. P. (Elizabeth Brown Davis),
  314 M Street.

DAVIS, PROF. WM. M. (William Morris),
  308 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa.

DAY, DR. DAVID T. (David Talbot),
  Geological Survey. 621 Thirteenth Street.

DENNIS, W. H. (William Hooper), _a_.,
  Coast and Geodetic Survey. 12 Iowa Circle.

DILLER, J. S. (Joseph Silas), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 1804 Sixteenth Street.

DOUGLAS, E. M. (Edward Morehouse), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. Takoma Park, D. C.

DOW, JOHN M.,
  Pacific Mail S. S. Co., Panama.

DUKE, BASIL,
  Geological Survey. 457 C Street.

DUNNINGTON, A. F. (Abner F.), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 504 A Street SE.

DURAND, JOHN,
  16 Rue Littre, Paris.

DUTTON, A. H. (Arthur Henry), _a_.,
  Hydrographic Office. 1305 H Street.

DUTTON, CAPT. C. E. (Clarence Edward), U. S. A., _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 2024 R Street.

DYER, LIEUT. G. L. (George Leland), U. S. N.,
  Hydrographic Office. 1415 Twentieth Street.

*DYER, G. W. (George Washington), _a_.,
  1003 F Street. 1325 Vermont Avenue.

EDSON, J. R. (Joseph Romanzo), _a_.,
  1003 F Street. 1335 Corcoran Street.

ELLIOTT, LIEUT. W. P. (William Power), U. S. N., _a_.,
  Navy Department. 1801 Q Street.

FAIRFIELD, G. A. (George Albert), _a_.,
  Coast and Geodetic Survey. 1418 Fifteenth Street.

FAIRFIELD, WALTER B. (Walter Brown), _a_.,
  Coast and Geodetic Survey.

FERNOW, B. E. (Bernhard Eduard), _a_.,
  Department of Agriculture. 1704 Nineteenth Street.

FINLEY, LIEUT. J. P. (John Park), U. S. A., _a_.,
  Army Signal Office. 1003 Twenty-fourth Street.

FISCHER, E. G. (Ernst George), _a_.,
  Coast and Geodetic Survey. 436 New York Avenue.

FITCH, C. H. (Charles Hall), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 3025 N Street.

FLETCHER, L. C. (Louis Cass), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 1831 F Street.

FLETCHER, DR. ROBERT, _a_.,
  Army Medical Museum. The Portland.

FORD, W. C. (Worthington Chauncey), _a_.,
  State Department. 1725 H Street.

GAGE, N. P. (Nathaniel P.), _a_.,
  Seaton School.

GANNETT, HENRY, _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 1881 Harewood Avenue, Le Droit Park.

GANNETT, S. S. (Samuel Stinson), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 401 Spruce Street, Le Droit Park.

GILBERT, G. K. (Grove Karl), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 1424 Corcoran Street.

GILMAN, PRES. D. C. (Daniel Coit), _a_.,
  Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.

GOODE, G. BROWN (George Brown), _a_.,
  National Museum. Lanier Heights.

GOODE, R. U. (Richard Urquhart), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 1600 Sixteenth Street.

GOODFELLOW, EDWARD, _a_.,
  Coast and Geodetic Survey. 7 Dupont Circle.

GORDON, R. O. (Rhome O.), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. St. Asaph Junction, Va.

GRANGER, F. D. (Frank DeWolf),
  Coast and Geodetic Survey.

GREELY, GEN. A. W. (Adolphus Washington), U. S. A., _a_.,
  Army Signal Office. 1914 G Street.

GRISWOLD, W. T. (William Tudor), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 1715 G Street.

GULLIVER, F. P. (Frederic Putnam),
  Geological Survey. 811 Ninth Street.

HACKETT, MERRILL, _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 490 Maine Avenue.

HARRISON, D. C. (Dabney Carr), _a_.,
  Geological Survey.

HASBROUCK, E. M. (Edwin Marble),
  Geological Survey. 1625 Fourteenth Street.

HASKELL, E. E. (Eugene Elwin), _a_.,
  Coast and Geodetic Survey. 1418 Fifteenth Street.

HAYDEN, LIEUT. E. E. (Edward Everett), U. S. N., _a_.,
  Hydrographic Office. 1802 Sixteenth Street.

HEATON, A. G., (Augustus George),
  1618 Seventeenth Street.

HENRY, A. J. (Alfred Judson), _a_.,
  Army Signal Office. 1404 S Street.

HENSHAW, H. W. (Henry Wetherbee), _a_.,
  Bureau of Ethnology. 13 Iowa Circle.

HERRLE, GUSTAV, _a_.,
  Hydrographic Office. 646 C Street NE.

HERRON, W. H. (William Harrison), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 1008 H Street.

HILL, GEO. A. (George Andrews), _a_.,
  Army Signal Office. 2148 Pennsylvania Avenue.

HILL, PROF. R. T. (Robert Thomas),
  Austin, Texas.

HINMAN, RUSSELL,
  Cincinnati, O. In care Van Antwerp, Bragg & Co.

HODGKINS, PROF. H. L. (Howard Lincoln), _a_.,
  Columbian University. 1531 Ninth Street.

HOPKINS, C. L. (Charles Linsley),
  Department of Agriculture. 1443 Chapin Street.

HORNADAY, W. T. (William Temple), _a_.,
  National Museum. 405 Spruce Street, Le Droit Park.

HOWELL, E. E. (Edwin Eugene), _a_.,
  48 Oxford Street, Rochester, N. Y.

HOWELL, D. J. (David Janney), _a_.,
  939 F Street. Alexandria, Va.

HUBBARD, GARDINER G. (Gardiner Greene), _a_.,
  1328 Connecticut Avenue.

IARDELLA, C. T. (Charles Thaddeus), _a_.,
  Coast and Geodetic Survey. 1536 I Street.

JENNINGS, J. H. (James Henry), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 822 H Street NE.

JOHNSON, A. B. (Arnold Burges), _a_.,
  Treasury Department. 501 Maple Avenue, Le Droit Park.

JOHNSON, J. B.,
  Howard University.

JOHNSON, S. P. (Stuart Phelps),
  501 Maple Avenue, Le Droit Park.

JOHNSON, W. D. (Willard Drake), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 501 Maple Avenue, Le Droit Park.

KARL, ANTON, _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 1210 B Street SW.

KAUFFMANN, S. H. (Samuel Hay), _a_.,
  1000 M Street.

KENASTON, PROF. C. A. (Carlos Albert), _a_.,
  Howard University.

KENNAN, GEORGE, _a_.,
  1318 Massachusetts Avenue.

KENNEDY, GEORGE G., _l_.,
  Roxbury, Mass.

KERR, M. B. (Mark Brickell), _a_.,
  Geological Survey.

KIMBALL, E. F. (Edward Fenno),
  411 Maple Avenue, Le Droit Park.

KIMBALL, S. I. (Sumner Increase), _a_.,
  411 Maple Avenue, Le Droit Park.

KING, F. H.,
  University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis.

KING, PROF. HARRY, _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 1319 Q Street.

KING, WILLIAM B.,
  1328 Twelfth Street.

KING, MRS. W. B.,
  1328 Twelfth Street.

KNIGHT, F. J. (Frederick Jay), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 744 Eighth Street.

KNOWLTON, F. H. (Frank Hall), _a_.,
  National Museum.

KOCH, PETER, _a_.,
  Bozeman, Mont.

LACKLAND, W. E. (William Eason), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 1305 Corcoran Street.

LEACH, BOYNTON,
  Hydrographic Office. 2028 P Street.

LERCH, R. L. (Robert Lee), _a_.,
  Hydrographic Office. 809 Twenty-first Street.

LINDENKOHL, ADOLPH, _a_.,
  Coast and Geodetic Survey. 19 Fourth Street SE.

LINDENKOHL, HENRY, _a_.,
  Coast and Geodetic Survey. 452 K Street.

LONGSTREET, R. L. (Robert Lee), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 1536 I Street.

LOVELL, W. H. (William Henry),
  Geological Survey. 2410 Fourteenth Street.

MCGEE, W. J., _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 1620 P Street.

MCGILL, MISS MARY C.,
  336 C Street.

MCKEE, R. H. (Redick Henry), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 1753 Rhode Island Avenue.

MCKINNEY, R. C. (Robert Christian), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 1120 Thirteenth Street.

MAHER, J. A. (James Arran), _a_.,
  Johnson City, Tenn.

MANNING, VAN H., JR. (Van Hartrog),
  Geological Survey, Branchville, Md.

MARINDIN, H. L. (Henry Louis),
  Coast and Geodetic Survey. 1316 Rhode Island Avenue.

MARSH, ENS. C. C. (Charles Carleton), U. S. N., _a_.,
  Naval Observatory. 926 Twenty-third Street.

MATTHEWS, DR. WASHINGTON, U. S. A., _a_.,
  Army Medical Museum. 1262 New Hampshire Avenue.

MELVILLE, GEO. W. (George White), _a_.,
  Engineer in Chief, U. S. N. Navy Department. 1705 H Street.

MENOCAL, CIV. ENG. A. G. (Aniceto Garcia), U. S. N., _a_.,
  Navy Department. 2012 Hillyer Place.

MERRIAM, DR. C. HART (Clinton Hart), _a_.,
  Department of Agriculture. 1919 Sixteenth Street.

MINDELEFF, COSMOS,
  Bureau of Ethnology. 1408 Eleventh Street.

MINDELEFF, VICTOR,
  Bureau of Ethnology. 2504 Fourteenth Street.

MITCHELL, PROF. HENRY, _a_.,
  18 Hawthorne Street, Roxbury, Mass.

MOSMAN, A. T. (Alonzo Tyler), _a_.,
  Coast and Geodetic Survey.

MULDROW, ROBERT, _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 1412 Fifteenth Street.

MURLIN, A. E. (Arlington Elliott),
  Geological Survey. 1550 Third Street.

MYERS, MRS. IDA. G. (Idalia Gilbert),
  1008 I Street.

NATTER, E. W. F. (Ernst Wilhelm Franz),
  Geological Survey. 474 Pennsylvania Avenue.

NELL, LOUIS, _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 1118 Virginia Avenue SW.

NILES, W. H.,
  Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, Mass.

NORDHOFF, CHARLES, _a_.,
  1731 K Street.

OGDEN, H. G. (Herbert Gouverneur), _a_.,
  Coast and Geodetic Survey. 1324 Nineteenth Street.

PARSONS, F. H. (Francis Henry), _a_.,
  Coast and Geodetic Survey. 210 First Street SE.

PATTON, PRES. W. W. (William Weston), _a_.,
  Howard University. 425 College Street.

PEALE, DR. A. C. (Albert Charles), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 1446 Stoughton Street.

PERKINS, E. T., JR. (Edmund Taylor), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 1831 F Street.

PENROSE, R. A. F.,
  Austin, Texas.

PETERS, LIEUT. G. H. (George Henry), U. S. N., _a_.,
  Navy Department.

PETERS, W. J. (William John), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 1831 F Street.

PIERCE, JOSIAH, JR.,
  Geological Survey. 1829 G Street.

POWELL, MAJOR J. W. (John Wesley), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 910 M Street.

POWELL, PROF. WM. B. (William Bramwell), _a_.,
  Franklin School Building. 1729 Twelfth Street.

PRENTISS, DR. D. W. (Daniel Webster), _a_.,
  1101 Fourteenth Street.

RENSHAWE, JNO. H. (John Henry), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 1121 I Street.

RICKSECKER, EUGENE, _a_.,
  Seattle, Washington Territory.

RILEY, DR. C. V. (Charles Valentine), _a_.,
  Department of Agriculture. 1700 Thirteenth Street.

RITTER, H. P. (Homer Peter), _a_.,
  Coast and Geodetic Survey. 1125 Seventeenth Street.

ROBERTS, A. C. (Arthur Carr), _a_.,
  Hydrographic Office.

RUSSELL, I. C. (Israel Cook), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 1754 Corcoran Street.

SARGENT, PROF. C. S. (Charles Sprague), _a_.,
  Brookline, Massachusetts.

SCHLEY, COM. W. S. (Winfield Scott), U. S. N., _a_.,
  Navy Department. 825 Vermont Avenue.

SCUDDER, SAM. H. (Samuel Hubbard), _a_.,
  Cambridge, Massachusetts.

SHALER, PROF. N. S. (Nathaniel Southgate), _a_.,
  Cambridge, Massachusetts.

SIEBERT, J. S. (John Selmar),
  Hydrographic Office. 330 Spruce Street, Le Droit Park.

SMITH, EDWIN, _a_.,
  Coast and Geodetic Survey. 2024 Hillyer Place.

SMITH, MIDDLETON, _a_.,
  Army Signal Office. 1616 Nineteenth Street.

SOMMER, E. J. (Ernest Julius), _a_.,
  Coast and Geodetic Survey. 330 A Street SE.

STEIN, ROBERT,
  Geological Survey.

STEJNEGER, LEONHARD, _a_.,
  National Museum.

STOCKTON, LT. COMDR. C. H. (Charles Hubert), U. S. N., _a_.,
  Navy Department. 1828 I Street.

SUTTON, FRANK,
  Geological Survey. 938 K Street.

THOMAS, MISS MARY VON E. (Mary von Erden), _a_.,
  Coast and Geodetic Survey. 229 New Jersey Avenue SE.

THOMPSON, PROF. A. H. (Almon Harris), _a_.,
  Geological Survey.

THOMPSON, GILBERT, _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 1448 Q Street.

THOMPSON, LAURENCE, _a_.,
  Box 380, Seattle, Washington Territory.

THOMPSON, LIEUT. R. E. (Richard Edward), U. S. A., _a_.,
  War Department. 2011 N Street.

TITTMANN, O. H. (Otto Hilgard), _a_.,
  Coast and Geodetic Survey. 1019 Twentieth Street.

TOWSON, R. M. (Richard Mathew), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 824 Thirteenth Street.

TRENHOLM, HON. WM. L. (William Lee), _a_.,
  American Surety Company, 160 Broadway, N. Y.

TWEEDY, FRANK, _a_.,
  Geological Survey.

URQUHART, CHAS. F. (Charles Fox), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 1600 Sixteenth Street.

VASEY, DR. GEORGE, _a_.,
  Department of Agriculture. 2012 Fourteenth Street.

VINAL, W. I. (Washington Irving), _a_.,
  Coast and Geodetic Survey. 152 D Street SE.

VON HAAKE, ADOLPH,
  Post Office Department. 1215 L Street.

WALCOTT, C. D. (Charles Doolittle), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 418 Maple Avenue, Le Droit Park.

WALLACE, H. S. (Hamilton Stone), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 2118 G Street.

WARD, LESTER F. (Lester Frank), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 1464 Rhode Island Avenue.

WEED, WALTER H. (Walter Harvey), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 825 Vermont Avenue.

WEIR, J. B. (John Bradford), _a_.,
  1602 L Street.

WELLING, DR. J. C. (James Clarke), _a_.,
  1302 Connecticut Avenue.

WHITE, DR. C. A. (Charles Abiathar), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 312 Maple Avenue, Le Droit Park.

WHITE, DR. C. H. (Charles Henry), U. S. N., _a_.,
  Navy Department.

WHITING, HENRY L. (Henry Laurens),
  Coast and Geodetic Survey. West Tisbury, Mass.

WILDER, GEN. J. T. (John Thomas), _a_. _l_.,
  Johnson City, Tenn.

WILDER, MISS MARY,
  Johnson City, Tenn.

WILLIS, BAILEY, _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 1512 R Street.

WILLIS, MRS. BAILEY (Altona H. Grinnell),
  1512 R Street.

WILSON, A. E. (Adolphus Irwin),
  Geological Survey. 931 G Street.

WILSON, H. M. (Herbert Michael), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. Cosmos Club.

WILSON, THOMAS,
  National Museum. 1218 Connecticut Avenue.

WINSTON, ISAAC,
  Coast and Geodetic Survey. 1325 Corcoran Street.

WOODWARD, R. S. (Robert Simpson), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 1804 Columbia Road.

YARROW, DR. H. C. (Harry Crecy), U. S. A., _a_.,
  Army Medical Museum. 814 Seventeenth Street.

YEATES, CHAS. M. (Charles Marion), _a_.,
  Geological Survey. 1304 R Street.






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