The Democratic advocate., 1909-05-28
UNKNOWN LANDS
Immense Areas That stn AwaIt the
Adsenlnraas Explorer.


Il n odd that so much fuss Is made
about the North sRd South Poles. as
u they were the only places on this
globe that man cannot reach There
ID Htiil enough uncxplored land IL the
world 20 make new continent u
Jumped together
FOR instance. within 10 days Jour.
ney from London by modern express
routes there IL tract Of country the
size of Germany, France ard Holland
combined and ne unknown as The
mountains Of the moon. II occupies
nearly the whole of Central Southern
Arabia.
This pleasing district ia known an
the DahknH, or The Dwelling Of the
Void u Is n mighty waste ~ sand.
with not q single riter-~as far NJ can
be 1udged-ln over 100000 square
miles.
Compared with this country the
Sahara 10 pleasant aud fruitful tract
II deiiea even tho Arab aud the camel
u IN unlikely that the whole 900 900
square miles Iu worth a $40 note. How
ever. a plucky Engllshmah.- SIR. Bury
Ifs preparing 10 make nm attempt 10
& EtlAfFAAAhft afAAN NfAN AAfAIaNNf AA4Aa NtANi
Ia Another wholly unknown tract ai
country --oue that Is likely - Hhow
itH future explorers more profit than
the last mentloned~-is 20 be found
IN Thibst.aloDs the lower Brahmapu-
trn, and II about the sire Df England
OF course. Central Tibet. I.hasBa and
90 forth are mere tourist" diHtricta
I now. since tho British expedition tn
this Secret city nnt the southeast.
Z ern part OF the country has yet 10 soc
! q whits mans face According 10 the
I newspapers, however. an sdvontur-
oua EnRllshman. carrying his life IL
1 hig hands IL now starting ID Try hif
luck In the diatrict
/ The priestly i.amnH Of the rest oI
Z Thibet shun this region, which. they
I say. is inhabited by low people, who
Z live by trading among each other. and
whom they call Wahata. But fhey
admit the superiority of the Wahata
I tortures and respect wahats As OK.
4 Derts In that line Indeed, the Lamal
confess that their own little expert.
( menta, formerly made on travellers
Z who tried TO get into Ishasea, were
! taught them by wahata who had
strayed out OF the unexpiored terri.
tory.
II seems quaint that any part OF the
Britlsh Empire should remain un.
/ trayersed by white men indeed, II
/ is necessary 70 rush the next item
I into print In order TO include Il, for
although unexpiOred al present, 4,
will not be 80 much longer. No lesf
than three expeditions are starting tt
penetrate the unknown parts OF New
Guinea, but up TIL now nothing car
be recorded about the district. except
BY gueeswork. and any surprise map
await the explorers.
The coast II comparatively civil.
lied. and the British portion 10 ad.
ministered BY the Crown. Certain
parts OF the hinterIand. too, are well
known--so much so that the birds oI
paradise, which once swarmed In one
or two tracts, have been nearly ex.
terminated by skin collectors employ.
ed BY Paris and London millinery
firms.
Large portions Of the Interior, how,
ever, are still jealeusiy preserved b.
I families who dine. for choice, upor
each other.
Perhaps. on the whole, the finesi
place TO get absolutely lost is In ths
interior Of South America, where 800,
600 square miles or no are still wait
ing for the first white mans foot e
intrnde on any one OF them. Most oI
this lies around the watershed OF thu
Upper Amazon and its tributaries
Many of the names politely agcribet
by the atlas to the rivers and noun,
tains here are efforts of imagination
Only a small number have really beer
reached or surveyed
As two-thirds of the whole regioT
Is impenetrable forest, II is not /
place to take casual atrolIs In, ant
over dozen expeditions have ethel
failed, been lost completely or wfpet
out by accidents OF travel In the las
40 years.