Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1896-10-14
LANDS LITTLE KNOWN.

Many Parts Of the Globe Are Yet Terra
Incognita to the Civilized Man.
It is the very general supposition that
there is very little of the world we live
ON that has not been explored by geog-
raphers, and that the very little that
yet remains to Investigate u on the AT.
rican continent. And yet the fact IL
that about 10000, 900 square miles Of
this earth's surface is yet terra incog-
nita, one-tenth Of which Is on our own
continents Of North and South Amer
lea.
The Cosmos, published in Paris. has
an article ON this subject which gives
q synopsis Of an address by Mr.. Lobley
before the London geographical con-
gress last month, that brings out this
interesting question very clearly.
Mr.. Lobley reminds US that, in the
first place, toward the middle of the
sixteenth century all seas had been
traversed by navigators. and that If the
maps Of the continents were not yet
very exact at least their relative posi-
tiOns and their general configuratiOn
were known. Australia itself appears
on a French map of 1912 under the
name Of Great Java. In the course Of
the sixty years included in the last de-
cade Of the fifteenth century and the
first half Of the sixteenth a group of
navigators had advanced geographic
knowledge in a degree that has never
been reached in any other period SO
short. Sebastian d'Elano had made his
first voyage around the world; Vasco
De Cana had doubled the Cape Of
Good Hope; Christopher Columbus had
the voyages of Cabot and Magellan had
completed this wonderful list Of new
discoveries.
To-day, outside Of the polar regions.
we must confess that all the seas have
been explored, but this u far from be-
ing the case with the land. An i'm
mense extent Is entirely unknowA to
US: another, still more considerable.
has been only imperfectly explored:
travellers have Travelled 1t, commerce
has exploited some of Its products. but
good maps Of it do not exist. Finally.
only the least part II well known; geo
desy has covered 1t with a network Of
triangles, and the maps Of 1t are COM
piete even from q typographical stand
point.
After the two polar regions. which
have remained Inaccessible. Africa is
the part Of the world of which we have
the least Information. Notwlthstand-
ing the general scramble among Euro
pean nations to divide up and possess
the land, they have only a vague idea
Of what the continent contains, over
$500. 900 square miles being yet une1-
plored.
After Africa, Australia Offers the
vastest 6eld to the investigation Of ex-
plorers: We must remember that even
its seacoast was not fully explored till
lS4S. Since that time. at the price Of
great suffering. 1t has been crossed
from south to north, but NO traveller has
yet traversed 1t from east to west.
While the North American continent
has been very well explored, the whole
central region Of the southern CONT.
nent has not been mapped with any
degree Of accuracy. Some portions Of
1t have been roamed over by men hunt
Ing for wood. mines and articles Of COM
merce, but very little Is known Of the
interior Of the continent.
To sum up. the yet unexplored parts
Of the globe cover an area of about bO.-
DOC. 900 square kilometers about 20, ,000..
900 square miles). approximately divid-
ed thua: