The times., 1897-04-04

,-to,,,r,., ,o,nars All these places have
been discovered and named duil"s 'he
sixty wears which the present queen oi
England has reigned. The first place TO
,,,nicb the name OF Victoria was given was
tha sofIthwest portion of Australia, " hich
was SO designated in 1887.
The Facts tmat cluster around the geo.
graphical changes that have occurred our
ing the Victorian era are admirably told
in a written Statement secured from Hugh
Robert Mill. ID. Sc, +. X. $. Z. Mr.. Min
is one of the foremost geographcrs OF the
time, and anything coming from him is as
accurate as history itself. This is his
statement:
ITO the Editor. In North America the
last SIXTY years have seen the evolution
OF n complete system of political geog-
ranhv. tine dividing lines of which are
dependent upon accurate surveying. The
survey is Slill very far from complete, but
the period OF great discoveries lS nearly
paSt-discoverieS that is, of the magnitude
of the Great Canyon of the Colo rado, the
River Yukon. in Alaska, and the urand
Falls OF Labrador, all of which fail wlIhlh
our period Fremonts eN Nploratlons or
the far West ia the 40's, and the Kings
ex ploration of the fortieth parallel in 1870,
ought to be specially remembered. Inc
geological surl eys of the United states
and Canada. as well as special surveys Oh
the individual States. are constantly en-
gagged in geographical work of great 1nt-
portance, in tile pursuit OF which uls-
tinct school OF American geographers has
grown up.
South America was, of all conu-
nents. the most rapidly explored. as
far as IT'S mann outlines are concerned,
and such work as has been done
within our period has been chiefly the
better mapping ana more complete trac-
ing of rver systems, the climbing or
mountains like Roraima, Chiinborazo ana
Acon,arua. as well as the exploration
of the wiIdernesses of the Gran Chaco and
pata ronia The naturalist geographerS
of South America cid not die out with
Humboldt The works of Wallace, Bates.
and Won Den Steinen in the Amazon dis
uict. Srhomhurgk and I'm ThuminGuiana,
Burlneister. and Hudson. in the Argentine
Republic viii he remembered The name
of W NJ. Davis, of the United States,
Will also be treasured as that of repre-
sentative OF the most modern develop
menrs IN geography.
The geographers Of 1887 were scat
tered band OF distin guished explorers
and men of science, whose enthusiasm
was deeply stirred by the vast field
for research lyinE before them. Almost
an of these have now returned forever
froIn their lahurs, bringing their sheaveS
of discovery ana investigation. Carl
Hi1ter. the father of modern scientific
,,po.raphv. and Heinrich Berglaus. the
founder Of the famous physical atlas
were in Berlin, Humboldt. the ideal geo
praphcr of the period graCad TIE fash
fonahle world of Paris; Jomard 'Av-
ezac and Viyien de st Martin were
among the prominent of the French
peograuhers. Kruscnstern. vino watched
over the vast family of Pacific islands
as if they were his children. and Wrangel-
Of Arctic fame. worthily represented
Russia. while Paul Chalk. happily stin in
fun mental vigor, was prominent IN
Switzerland.
"Nlaury. In America. WAS engaged in
the studies which led to his great work
ON the physical geography OF the sea, and
in Great britain Parry. Franklin. Rack
ana Ross were famous Arctic heroes;
BiScoe had reawakened interest IN the
Antarctic seas: vidal had given his name
10 lilt tAAflNi'A VI Nii' N''A'i-iN''N'N'
hevund tile British Islands; Murchison
ana Charles Darwin were alrea II iccog-
nized as clever observers. and the great
ArrowSnith was producing his eNquis-
itelv engraved maps. such as have not
gladdened the eyes Of geographers TOT
generation past. A $ regards british trav-
eIers. they were in all parts Of ihe edrth.
AinSworth was eN poring Asia Minor; he
died in December, 1896, ihe doyen OF
british explorers and second in seniority
among European travellers only To the
veteran D'Abhadie who s+ill survives.
Everest was pushing on the great trlg-
onometrical survey OF India, which has
fixed his name on the greatest mountain
in the world: Africa had just claimed as
a victim the intrepid Davidson, while
making his way across The sahara TO
Timbuktu; Alexander had penetrated from
Cape Colony TO Namaqualand, ana British
surveying ships were engaged in construct
inc for tie whole coast of Africa charts
which may tie said to have been drawn
and col0red with drops of blood. 10 ter
rihle was the mortality among The crews
before the elements of tropical hygiene
had been learned. The Hudson lalr Com
nanv's Officers were eN ploring the Arctic
coast Of America, and the Danish Anti
uuarian Society had just published the
first absolute proof of the discovery and
colonization of America by the Mortimer
in the tenth century. SchomhnrSk was
engaged in surveying the frontier regions
of British Guiana. In Australia numerous
exploring parties were in the field, and
a town called Melbourne vas founded on
Fort Phnip Bay, in the south of New
South Wales.
within the space Of a single article
il is only possible to glance at one aspect of
the progress Of geography during the sixty
wears of the Victorian era, and perhaps
the best aspect to adopt for such pur-
nose is that Of discovery and exploration.
The problems of general scientific GeOg-
rauhy formulated 10y the president of the
Royal Geographical Society in 1887, and
nut forward 10y him as deserving of imne-
date attention, are to a discouraging eN-
tent still problems of the future. This
has been largely due to the lack of inter
national cooperation and the NUT ual indie
pendenCe of the workers in different Coun-
tries-a state of things which the devel-
opnCnt of International congresses in re-
cent years may tie hoped soon TO improve.
Arctic exploration has always been
viewed wthintervstand oft cn enthusiasm,
but never have the romance and tragedy
of exploration held so sustained q hold
upon the world as during the fifteen years
wbict followed the dispatch of Sir John
Franklin in 1S45. In that year the Erebus
and Terror, Just returned from the Ant
arctic. sailed 10 complete the survey Of
the Arctic coast of America and achieve
,,a ~, ,r-ac+ ,,oSSaua rI 4 no n dof