Waterbury Democrat., 1900-10-26
SOUTH AMEaICAsLEAsT KNOWN
More, Explorations Remains to Be
 Doae in That Continent Than in Any Other.

When we recall that the Spaniards crossed South America from sea to sea more than three centuries ago and that nearly every city on it's coasts was founded in the age of the 1: Colum bian explorers, it seems strange that to-day cur southern neighbor is the least known of all the continents. There are not SO many big white spaces on the map of Africa as on thats of South America. If we study the history. of South American explora- ton we find some surprising facts. One is that up to 1875 not a single government in that continent had sent out any expeditions or spent any money to explore the unknown parts of their territories. Until within tho past few years nearly all the explora- tion of this ccntUry in that continent, excepting in Argentina and Chilli, has been the re.ult of private enterprise. A few explorers from North America and many more from Europe have made most e this ccntury's additions te our geographical knowledge of South America, except in the south- crR part of the continent, says the How York Sun. --.
 Thus it haP7sns that pons of the CerdilleTaR states from Venszuela to 6Aih has a yet emerged from the stage of the rough, pioneer explora- ! tsen. A considerable part of their tsrritory, as in the seutheastern part e Colombia, is still almost wholly uu- known. Some of them, like Bolivia, have nads no attempt whatever, ex- mi in SA ri .aJ : oi chief towns, to carry out official sur vcys. They have to thank foreign ex- piorers for mos. that they themselves know of their own countries. It is Conway, who recently passed through Naw York to renew his work in the Bolivian Andes, that is supplying the Balivians- with very good maps of tLeir own part of the Cordilleras. He | is doing for Bolivia what, other ex- plNrers, chiefly German, have done for Ecuadorian rangas.
 | The saus condition of affairs ia to bo observed among tho Atlantic states as far south as Uruguay. The Gui- anas, except for a narrow strip along the coasts, are still on the threshold of the beginnings of exploration. Brazil, with . territory nearly as large a our own, has not . singls es- tAkAShnsRt Hks our geological or coast and gsodstis surveys to make g careful geographical study of any par. of it's vast domain. All tho oiD- cial explorations that have bean made in any part of Brazil ara the work of some of the individual states. Scarce ly q traveler'has crossed any of the northeastern states from MoYnnbao to PerpambEco, and much Of tho in terj9r, except skong the river ceuTsea, is sill quite unknown. The wida will daraasses between tha large tri6u- taries of tho Amazon are completely a tes'ra incognita.
 Ia Argentina, however, very satss- factory progress has been mad2 in ex- plolztion in the past quarter of cen- turJ. It wssIin 1882 that the first | cslltrted results Of the governments activity in this direction were sesn in the. large atlas of the country pcs- pared under shs direction of tue gsographsr Gsslstrang.> Argentina has the advantage of geological aud meteorological establishments and foreign scientific men in the Seryics of the state and the universities, whose labors have largely enhanced the value of all official geographical work. Ths systematic study which both Argentina end Chilli havo for some years given to the ranges along their common frontier have made this the best known part of the South American Cordllsras.
 Just as Eportsmen travel thousands of miles te reach the big game of central Africa, India and Manchuria, so explorers will turn, in the next century, ts the large, untravsled areas of South America as the best fields the world has now to offer for original, pioneer research in the way of geo. graphical discovery.
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