The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1888-02-15
UNEMPLOYED LANDS.
PARTS OF THE WORLD YET UN-
VISITED BY TRAVELLERS.

Aslatic Tribes Whose Land is Almost a
Sealed Book to the White BIan--sahara
Regions.
1t is likely that within the next twenty or
thirty years all the areas that are still wholly
unknown, except perhaps within the polar
circles, will have yielded their secrets to
daring explorers. 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 Thibet is
the headquarters of the Brahmaputra of
the Irrawadi rivers, the fierco little Mishmi
tribe has guarded the secret, killed the ad-
venturers who dared to intrude among their
mountains and left the geographers to
wrangle. 1t was only last year that their
country was crossed at last, and it is now
evident that the Brahmaputra is thousand
miles longer than some authorities admitted.
A little northeast of India is Kaiiristan,
whose lovely valleys are densely peopled by
tribes that are physically among the hand
soonest of Asiatics. Their country is almost
a 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 guise of
an Indian doctor, he pushed some way into
the country until the suspicious natives be-
came so inquisitiye that he thought il pru-
dent to retreat. No scientific traveller has
ever reached Lhasa, the capital OF Thibet
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 reach
Lhasa, and last year Mr.. McCauley after
elaborate preparations and after he had
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 a large part
OF Napaul and the Himalayas are not white
space or u 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 mendicants or
merchants. They can rarely carry with
them scientific instruments larger than a
compass, and their work, though very yalu-
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-
tions until after they have retired from ac-
tive service.
Similar impediments embafrass the trav-
eler in all parts Of Mohammcdan Africa.
Grandly as Bartb, Rohlfs, Nachtigal, Lenz
and n 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 atle-
quate 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 skillfulIy
assume the guise of Mohammedau he is al
most certain TO meet the fate of Mile. Time
and Lieut. Palat. Dir. 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 his goal he was stopped
and bluntly informed that he might 20 on
to the holy city II he would become Mo-
hammedan. More scrupulous than some
other explorers he declined to become dis
eiple 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 vet 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 only
a 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 snort Journey overland from river
70 river, put generally speaking the vast
regions between tine rivers are sun almost
"nohy unkhown