Waterbury evening Democrat., 1890-03-25
WELLS HAIR RALsAM.
E.S. Wells. JerseyCiy
SOME UNKNOWN LANDS.

H:.!!aSsEkA? A>fs6R'a'sdok E.sV.ll, 1ersvci,v
 SOME UNKNOWN LANDS Vast Tracts That Arc Still Q Sealed Book
 to Geographers.
 The surface of the earth compri.es an area of 200, 900, 900 sq uare miles, of which three-fourths is covered with water. This leaves 5O, 1000, ,O0O of square miles of about one square mile for every thirty Ave persons big and little.
 It would seem that such an area would be enough to prevent crowding, and so it would, says Golden Days, if the over the world.
 But we find that the human race. slther from choice or accident, has al- ways huddled itself into certain parts of the world. leaving other parts either en- tirely deserted or very sparsely popu- lated. Some very good reasons some times exist for these irregularities, and at other times the reasons are hard to find.
 It is curious to note the queer way in which populations have shifted in the course of ages. Asia, as the cradle of the human race, first became thickly settled, and contains to-day two coun- tries-China and Hindostan- the population is extremely dense. But portions of Asia-such as Arabia and Persia-from all accounts must have lost half, if not more, of their popula- tion during the last thousand years.
 Great as the Shah of Persia fancies himself to be, he is but puny prince compared with the great Darius or Xerxes.
 Africa has likewise suffered an enor- nous loss of population since ancient times. We have ample proof that the valley of the Nile once swarmed with life, and all through North Africa, now almost a desert, given up to wild beasts and wilder men. civilization once four ished to remarkable extent.
 Europe was settled from the south, and the very small portion comprising Italy, Spain and the islands of the Med iterranean Sea were populous for centuries, while that we know now as France, Germany, England, Austria and Russia were forests and deserts, quite as barbarous and unoultivated as the present interior of Africa.
 These were the countries of antiq uity, North and South America and Australia being unknown. Yet the two former were densely populous in ages long ago
 The valleys of the Missouri, Oh. nd Mississippi swarmed with people en- gagged in business and agriculture; Mex ico had population much OK eed.ng it's present one; the ruins of great c ties in Central America attest it's former E., %oi, %l>oA under the Incas, was the seat of mighty civilization. Australia, however, has always been a sparsely- settled country.
 Such have been the changes of time that much of the world is still an un- known land, and we are now busily en- gagged in discovering much that was known before.
 Europe has nothing to disclose, but a great part of Asia and nearly three .ourths of Africa is still Q sealed book 70 us moderns. The explorations ol Stanley and those who preceded him ire mere spider tracks in the desert, and ,ur best maps of Africa are half guess work.
 In Asia, there is Thibet, Turkestan and the great desert of Sahara to be ex- plored. We know almost nothing of Borneo, Papua or Madagascar, and thousands of islands in the Pacific Ocean are still unexplored.
 Great tracts of Australia have never been trodden by the foot of a white man, and nearly all of South America, Inside of the coast lines is known only by hearsay and tradition. Coming up to our northern half of the continent we encounter more unknown lands. Central America and Mexico offer fertile fields for exploration, and Lower Cali fornia has never been thoroughly ex. plored.
 In the far North is Greenland, Bafln Land, the great Hudson Bay region, all of British America no. tn of latitude 60 degrees, and ou- -reat Territory of Alaska. Here is g wonderful field for adventurous explor and 1t is impos- sible to predi't 'hatisi store for them. The natives of North Tn Alaska also re- port that further n rth is another land, not down on the maps an inhabited land with a comparatively mild climate. Even in the new State VI Washington there is an unknown land f2,5"0 square miles. This land is shut in by the | Olympic mountains, and Indian tradi. tions say that it is inhabited by very
 fierce tribe, which Aone of the eoas, tribes dared modest,
 Here, then, Is half of our 50, 900, DOC square miles consisting of unknown lands! What a magnificent field for the men in search of health, wealth and knowledge! and what room it gives fol future generations to travel and settle All of it is not fertile; some is uninhab. itable on account of severity of climate, but much of it is as fair as any land we know and fully as capable of supporting | life.
 | ITS SAID