Wichita eagle., 1888-04-12
UNEMPLOYED LANDS.
PARTS OF THE WORLD YET I'M
VISITED BY TRAVELLERS.

Regions.
1t is likely that within the next twenty OF
thirty wears all the areas that are Still wholly
unknown, except perhaps within the polar
circles. will have yielded their secrets 10
daring explortrs Inhospitable tribes now
rear more barriers than nature does to retard
the progress OF discovery. While geographers
have for years disputed over the conundrum
whether the great Sanoo river OF 1hlDet Is
the headquarters of the Brahmaputra or OF
the Irrawadi rivers, the fierce little Mishmi
tribe has guarded the secret, killed the adj
venturers who dared to intrude among their
mountains and left the geoSraphers to
wrangle It was only last year unat tnelr
country was crossed at last, and 1t IS now
evident that the Brahmaputra IS thousand
miles longer than some authorities admitted
A little northeast of India is kafrlstan,
whose lovely valleys are denseiy peopied py
tribes that are physically among the hand
soonest of Asiatics. Their country is almost
sealed book to US, for only one white man,
Mr. McNair, has succeeded IN crossing their
threshold About four years ago, staining
his skin with walnut juice and IN the gulse Oh
an Indian doctor, he pushed some way INTO
the country until the suspicious natives De-
came SO inquisitive that he thought 1t pru-
dent to retreat. No scientific traveller has
ever reached Lhasa, the capital OF IhloeG
and the Rome of the BuddhiStS, or pene-
trated far into southern Thibet, though many
notable attempts have been made. Recently
Prejevalsky has tried twice IN vain TO reacn
Lhasa, and last year Mr.. McCauley, alter
elaborate preparations and after he mad
spent year in getting the permission OF the
Chinese and Thibetan authorities TO Visit
Lhasa, was finally turned back before he had
crossed the frontier. The only reason that
the southern half Of Thibet and large part
Of Napaul and the HimalayaS are not white
space or mere tumble on our maps, Is that
native Indians have been trained to the
work of exploration by the Indian survey
and sent north to travel as mendlcants or
| merchants. They can rarely carry with
them scientific instruments larger than
compass, and their work, though very valu-
able, is far from being thorough and salts
| factory So fearful is the Indian survey
| that the real business Of its native explorers
| will be discovered that their own friends do
not know where they are sent, and their
names are not connected with their explora-
lions until after they have retired from &C
| tive service.
Similar irnpediments embarrass the trav-
eler in all parts of Mohammedan Africa
| Grandly as Barth, Rohlfs, Nachtigal, Lenz
and half dozen others have served the
cause Of geography in the Sahara desert, our
! knowledge of that mountainous and elevated
region is anything but thorough and ade-
| ouate. He truly takes his life in his hand
who ventures among the Tuaregs and other
fierce nomads of the Sahara. Unless he can
| talk Arabic like native, and can skillfully
assume the guise of a Mohammedan, he is al
most certain to meet the fate of Nile. Time
and Lieut. Palat Dr. krause, wishing to
enroll his name among the half dozen white
! men who have reached TimbuctOo, attempted
to attain the town from the south. When
within 100 miles of bis goal he was stopped
and bluntly informed that he might go on
| to the holy city if he would become Mo
hammedan More scrupulous than some
other explorers he declined to become a dis
ciple of the Prophet, and was therefore COM
| PEELED to turn back.
The great basin of the Congo has been
more prolific of geographical surprises with
| in the past five years than any other part of
the world in this century. And yet the work
there has only begun. In this vast area
| there has been very little exploration except
along the water courses, and even the river
banks have for the most part received ouly
cursory and preliminary survey. WisS-
mann is now crossing the continent from
sea to sea- across the southern part of the
Congo basin; Kund and Tappenbeck have
made a short Journey overland from river
to river, but generally speaking the vast
regions between the rivers are still almost
wholly unknown.
1t is not difficult to see one good reason
why South America has been comparatively
neglected by travellers, while, on the other
hand, Africa has been running over with
them Neither commerce, science, nor mis-
sionary ardor have seen in South America
the same promise of rich rewards that have
alIured them to the uplandS of inner Africa
Still such Journeys as DR.. Won Steinen and
his comrades recently made on the great
Xingu tributary OF the Amazon, when they
discovered curious and wholly unknown
tribes and other things of much interest,
| show that these regions are fine field for the
explorer
The BraziEians know less of a large part of
| their empire than they might easily learn OF
! Nova Zembla, and IN Ecuador and some
other states Whymper and other travellers
say that the government maps are hopeleSsly
| inaccurate. The best and most interesting
| explorations Ia South America are now car
ried on by the Argentine Republic. Among
| their pampaS and cordIlleras, III the valleys
/ of Patagonia and on the grassy plains of
/ Terra del Fuego, these researches, now IN
| full progress, have been prolific Of geographi-
! cal sensation. Good, honest exploration up
sets hundreds OF theories and fancifd stories
that have come to be accepted facts.
1t is in the lofty regions of inner Asia that
the greatest works of discovery still remain
TO be achieved The Russian explorers are
among the best trained and most competent
travellers in the world, and their government
is today doing far more than any other ma
ton to promote geographical discoveries.
The Antarctic regions viii probably be the
next field OF polar inquiry, and some steps
to this end have been taken both in Great
| Britain and Australia As the south polar
region is not, like the Arctic zone, crowded
with islands and archipelagoes. it Is Of much
more Importance IN the study OF ocean cur
rents
Strange as it may seem, the Pacific ocean
is still far from well known. When Wllfred
! Powell expressed the belief that many Pacific
| islands had never yet been seen by white
men some incredulity was manifested Since
that time Capt. Bruce has discovered & little
group of islands of the northeast coast of
| New Guinea, Mr.. Romilly found { new island
! in 1851, and the Germans have recently added
two islands 10 the Bismarck archipelago
| c. c. Adams in New y ork Mall and Express
! An East india Joke
It Is not generally known that the downfall
| of Dhuleep Singh, in social sense, was due