New-York tribune., 1901-01-06
ocEANoGRAPHY A NEW ART.

AS to oceanography. a development of the
nineteenth century, space only permits alIusion
to the work of Sigsbee in the Gulf of Mexico;
Carpenter, Thomson and Norwegian savans in
the North Atlantic, and Mares and Murray in
the Challenger expedition. The latter work un-
der Murrays exposition has outlined the oceanic
wo(ld for the twentieth century to explore and
chsft .,,n, - snou,d bs
noted that pioneer discoveries yielding stead
lily to scientific explorations. Future work Will
trend toward the outlining of existent ana pos
sible relations between man and his geographic
environment. In this sense there remain nu-
merous geographic problems whose satisfactory
solution will tax many generations or scientlnc
explorers. Such for instance, are current IN
vestigations as TO the acclmatizatlon OF Euro
peans in Africa, and the distribution of under
ground streams in the arld regions OF AUS
tralia and the United States.
Reverting to pioneer discoveries, the twenti-
eth century despite unceasing efforts of this
age inherits an extensive legacy of unknown
lands. Exploration for explorations sake VIII
for many years find ample scope in untraVersed
polar regions, arctic and antarctic, where the
attainment of the poles will continue to be
largely the end in view.
OF uneXplored areas West Australia now pre-
sents the most extensive. its vast desert having
been examined only here and there by routes
hundreds of miles apart.
While North America has large vaguely known
districts only in Mexico and Central America.
yet South America presents many fields of great
promise TO adventurous men. This is especially
true OF 1ne eastern slopeS Ol ltle AuuSs, IA
Ecuador. Colombia and Brazil. In the western
half of the drainage basin of the Amazon eX-
ploration has touched only the banks of naviga-
BILE streams. Our knowledge is largely con-
jectural as to the extent and distribution of its
forests and upland. and of the existent condi-
tions of its fauna, flora and inhabitants.
VIRGIN FIELDS REMAINING.
Even in Africa which for a quarter of a
century has engrosSed the zeal and energy of
explorers there is much yet to be made known
and charted. Not only is there great work to be
done in the Libyan Desert and the Central
Western Sahara. needs thorough exploration.
South of Abyssinia and northwest of Lake Ru-
dOlph is almost virgin ground. The most in
teresting areas are the primeval forests in the
basins Of the Ubangi and Aruwimi These
regions invite naturalstS and ethnologiStS to
reveal TO the world their fauna flora and eth
nology and especially TO cOrrelate information
on the pygmies of Du Challu, Stanley and
Schweinfirth.
cations as insure tremendous changes in East
ern Asia during the twentieth century. AS
habilitated China comedies extended spheres of
foreign influence, geographical knowledge viii
grow apace. Gradually the great blanks in
Manchuria, Mongolia, Thibet and Indo-China
will be filled on maps of Asia.
Like advances may be expected as to Arabia,
Sumatra Borneo. the Malay Peninsula and
pecially in the Philippine Archipelago. In the
last named region the almost untraversed ISL
ands OF Mindanao, Mndoro and Palawan will
soon yield to the energetic and intelligent
plorer the long hidden secrets of nature to
their fauna fora and capabilities of service to
mankind in general and to the United States in
particular. A w. GREELY.