Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1884-11-22
SHORT OF ISLANDS.
No New Worlds Left for Geegraphers 70
Conquer.
From the London Standard.

From the London Standard
Geographers complain that soon there will be
no more worlds for them to conquer. and the
Danes have ever, since the loss of the Duchies.
looked forward with doeiul forebodngs to the
time when their country will be still further
shorn of its fair proportions Nature is. how
ever, bountiful, and now, by throwing up new
island of the shores of Iceland, IL has added In
an appreciable degree to the territories of King
Christian and to the regions which still await
the explorations of the traveller. II is true that
the new land is only volcanic cone and as II
was the result of subteTraneaa fire NAV Ike
so many OF its predecessors born of the throes
OF mother earth, sink again into the ocean from
whence it sprang AT various times. especially
after some severe disturbance of Hecla similar
islets have for a brief period shown themselves
above the waves, but generally, with the eycep-
ton OF Nyoe, which was thrown up last CEN
fury, have been worn away by the action of the
surf before biologists could accurately examine
he volcanic scoria and ashes of which they
were composed. In 1911 Capt Tillard OF II NJ
;. Sahrlna, witnessed such an islet arise during
q volcanic outburst In the Azores and proudly
named it after his ship; but when he returned a
few weeks later to survey and annex his acqui-
sition, not trace of Sabrina island was visible
The sea had reclaimed il.
lnthe volcanic region of the Mediterranean spy-
eral similar births of land have been recorded by
ancient ana modern writers. But the most nOtO-
rious of them was Graham Island. which arose In
the year 1881 some thirty miles offthe southwest
coast OF Sicily. For few weeks much ink was
shed over it. and at one time il was feared that
gunpowder would be burnt I'm the assertion of
the angry claims which were made for the
wretched 300 yards of Etnaic cinders The
names Of SciacCa, Julia. Hotham. Graham and
Corrao were successfully given to ii by the fiery
mariners who cruised around it. ready TO land
and hoist their countries flags the moment the
scori9 cooled. But before Europe was EN-
broiled I'm war about IL Graham Island vanished.
and so settled the dispute in its own simple way
Alter the destruction Of krakatoa by the great
JaVan earthquake of 1888 twenty one new islets
appeared in the Sunda Strait and only last year
one hitherto unknown rose above the sea off the
shores of Alaska.
In all Of these cases volcanic action has been
the ostenslble cause of the formation OF these
specks In the ocean. But in 1871 Captains
LuZen and Mack discovered TO the north OF
Nova Zembia a group of islets Just above the
sea on the very spot where, In 1894, William
Barents had found soundings. on the two
largest. which were named Brown aud He'll
walds islands, tropical fruits were picked I'D,
tossed thither by the northern extension of the
gulf stream. Hence the group was named the
Gull Stream islands, and a. the land I'm this
portion of the polar basin is undergoing a slow
secular elevation, just in other places IL is
sinking, in the course OF century or two the
Arctic navigator may find in that direction
something worthy OF flag and an entry ON his
chart