National Geographic Magazine/Volume 1/Number 2/Geography of the Land
REPORT—GEOGRAPHY OF THE LAND.
By Herbert G. Ogden.
In preparing this first report as one of the vice-presidents of the Society, I have been obliged to interpret the intent of our by-laws in the requirement that the vice-presidents shall present at the end of the year summaries of the work done throughout the world in their several departments. The amount of information that can be accumulated during twelve months, if referred to in detail, is simply appalling; to compile it for the Society would be a great labor, and when completed it would be largely the duplication of the work of others, already accessible in the journals of other societies, and in special publications devoted to this and kindred subjects. That such a detailed historical journal should be maintained by the Society hardly admits of a question. I had hoped to see one inaugurated during the first year of our work that would have embraced all the departments of the Society: but must confess with some disappointment, to having been too sanguine and to have over-estimated the interest that might be excited in the members of a new organization. We need a journal of the kind for reference; for our associates, ourselves, and our many friends we hope to attract by the information we may supply them. But it cannot well be compiled by one man engaged upon the every-day affairs of life, and I have not made any attempt in that direction, even in those matters circumscribed by the section of the Society under my charge.
I have found little in the affairs of Europe that it seems necessary to bring to your attention; indeed, the past twelve months seem quite barren of any great events in the progress of Geographic knowledge. This, perhaps, is to be expected at intervals of longer or shorter periods, as it is governed by peoples of the most advanced civilization, who have availed themselves of all the progress of science to explore and develop the land on which they live, until there is little left of nature to be learned, unless science shall determine new truths to bind by stronger links the truths already found. We may look for the greatest changes here, both now and in the future, in the work of man pressing on in the eager strife to improve his condition above others less fortunately situated; seeking advantage in the peculiarities of his environment to open new channels of trade that will divert the profits from the older routes.
Of many schemes suggested in furtherance of such ends, there are few that develop into realities within a generation. Nature may be against them when the facts are fully learned, the profit may not warrant the outlay, and political considerations may keep in abeyance that which otherwise may be admitted to be good. Thus the grand scheme to make an inland sea of the Desert of Sahara is impossible of execution from the fact that the desert is many hundreds of feet higher than the ocean. The long talked of project to cut the Isthmus of Corinth, now accomplished, was a theme of discussion for twenty centuries or more. And the later project to tunnel the English Channel we have seen defeated through the fears of a few timid men. Perchance the grander one, now introduced with some seriousness, to bridge the channel, may meet with a better fate.
The route for the ship canal to connect the Baltic and the North Seas, is reported to have been determined upon and the preliminary work of construction to have been commenced. And we learn that a proposition is being discussed to connect the Danube with the Baltic Sea by way of the Vistula. However chimerical such a project may seem to us, we cannot at this time discredit those who believe in it. It shows that restless spirit that predominates the age, striving for the mastery of the commercial world. Politically, Europe has seen no geographical change, but those conversant with affairs apprehend a military catastrophe at no distant date, that will probably embroil the stronger nations and endanger the existence of the weaker ones.
Having practically acquired a knowledge of their territories, the people of these nations are diligently seeking to develop greater things in the study of all the earth, and we have thus seen formed as a means to this end, what is now known as the International Geodetic Association. The primary object of this Association is to determine the form of the earth. It is an inquiry of absorbing interest, and the geodetic work in America must eventually contribute an important factor in its solution. We may therefore hope that the bill now before the Congress authorizing the United States to have representation in the Association, will become a law. The free interchange between the continents that would thus be established, would be of incalculable benefit to both in the prosecution of this important scientific labor.
If we turn to the adjoining continent of Asia, there is still open a large field for Geographic research. Peopled as it has been, largely by semi-civilized races for many centuries, we might have expected that the book of nature that might be opened would long since have been spread before us; but the exclusiveness of this semi-civilization has been a stumbling-block, until it may be said that the wise men of her nations have lived only that the masses should not learn. Of the Political Geography of this great region we have a fair conception, and of the Physical conditions it may be said we know them generally. Enlightened men have been hammering at the borders with the powerful support of progressive nations, and a few have even passed the confines of exclusiveness and brought back to us marvellous tales of ancient grandeur. Men have sought disguise that they might tread on the forbidden ground, and many have lost their lives in efforts to gain the secrets that have been so persistently guarded. But the march of civilization is not to be thwarted by the semi-barbarous; they may yet impede it, as they have in the past, but it can be only for a time; the impulse is sure to come, when the thirst for knowledge and power by the antagonistic races will sweep all barriers before it, however strong. The contemplated railway across the continent to Vladivostock may be the culminating step in overcoming these refractory peoples and opening their territories to the march of progress. We have seen on our own continent the potent influence of these iron ways, and it is not too much to believe that even in the strange surroundings of the Orient they, will exercise a power against which exclusiveness and superstition will be forced to give way.
In Africa we find still different conditions. A great continent believed to contain immense resources, but peopled with dark-hued native races, barbarous in their tendencies, and frequently deficient in intellect, and yet withal showing at times a savage grandeur that excites the admiration of the man, while it attracts the interest of the student. We may recall Carthage and Alexandria, and all the wonders of ancient Egypt that live to the confusion of our own day, while those who patterned them have been lost beyond the bounds of even the most ancient history and look with trembling awe upon the degradation that has followed, the boundless dissipation of the learning of ages, until we are left only such remnants that our most cultivated imaginations can scarce build a superstructure worthy to raise upon the ruins.
But a new era is opening, the intelligence of later years is spreading over these once fruitful fields, and slowly but surely modern ideas are advancing into the midst of the unknown chaos, and in time will restore the great advantages that have lapsed in the ignorance of ages. The nations of Europe vie with one another to extend their possessions, and in the mad race for precedence are reclaiming even the waste places as footholds by which they hope to reach the power and wealth they see may be developed in the future. Explorers have brought back wondrous tales that have excited the cupidity of those who profit in the barter of nature's products, until vast schemes have been projected to seize the wealth believed to be within easy grasp.
Daring spirits discover new countries, and through the reports of the marvels they have seen, inspire their more cautious countrymen to venture into unknown fields in the hope of gain. The discontented, too, seek isolation and fancied independence in new regions, and thus is formed the nucleus that parent countries seize upon, encourage, and develop into colonies, that in time may revolutionize a continent, and seek a place among the nations of the world. This sequence of events has been gradually progressing in Africa, and has been greatly accelerated by the discoveries of recent years. A large section of the interior has now been opened to trade and colonization in the formation of the "Congo free State." It marks an era in the development of the continent that promises to be fruitful of rapid advance. The Geographic journals have contained many pages of notes during the year, showing the activity of explorers in supplying the Geographical details of the more accessible regions. But there is an area nearly half as large as that of the United States through which the explorer has not yet penetrated; a field of great interest to Geographers, but they may have years yet to wait, before they may read the story.
In the East Indies and among the islands of the Pacific there is still work for the Geographer of the most interesting character, and, indeed, for the explorer too. Those who depend upon charts of the great ocean realize too frequently the imperfect determination of the positions of many of these isolated landmarks, and the dangers surrounding them. This is more properly work for governments than for individuals, and we may hope the day is not far distant when American officers may again roam the seas in Geographic research, and bring fresh laurels to crown the enterprise of our people.
The great American continent, the New World as it is called, presents an example of progress of which history affords us none similar—a marked instance of the power of intelligent perseverance to conquer in new fields and bring under man's dominion for his use and welfare even some of the elements themselves. The last century has shown a branch of one of the old parent stocks, divorced from many of their traditions and left to themselves, imbued with a spirit of progress that has advanced with such giant strides, that in a generation we have seen more strange things than had come upon the world before in centuries. At the birth of our nation the now populous district on the Ohio and the Great Lakes was the "far west," roamed over by native tribes. The great northwest of to-day was marked upon the maps as "unexplored," and the confines of the continent on the Pacific were known more on the faith of good reports than the knowledge of observation; while that vast territory west of the Mississippi was not known at all, or only through the legends transmitted from the "Fathers" who had partly occupied it in following their holy calling. And yet within half a century explorers have traversed nearly every square mile, science has discovered in it treasures of knowledge that have taught the world: and instead of a vast region of wandering tribes, we find a civilization, energetic, progressive, and still pressing on to reclaim even that which has been considered waste. Indeed, so rapidly have the choice areas been occupied, that it may be but a few years when none will be left, and the question of over-population may press upon us as to-day it presses upon older nations. While this state of affairs may not excite present alarm, it is a matter of congratulation that the Congress at its last session provided the initial step for an exhaustive examination of the great arid region, to determine what portion of it may be reclaimed by irrigation.
And in Alaska the desirability of a better knowledge of our possessions has been emphasized by the fear of international complications on the boundary, which has resulted in a small appropriation by the Congress for surveys, with a view to obtaining a better knowledge of the country, whereby a more reasonable delimitation of the boundary can be made.
It is gratifying to note that the Bureaus of the Government service devoted to the practical development of the economic resources of our great territory, have been conducted during the year with the energy that has marked their progress heretofore. But it is yet too early to place a value upon the special results of the year's work, and I will leave their consideration, therefore, to my successor.
I look upon the publications of the Topographical Surveys of the States of New Jersey and Massachusetts as the most noteworthy Geographic productions in this country of recent years. Massachusetts has been the first State to avail herself of the full facilities offered by the General Government in preparing maps of their territories on working scales, although New Jersey was earlier in the field and obtained all the assistance that could be rendered by the laws in force at the time. The expense of the Survey in Massachusetts has been borne about equally between the State and United States, exclusive of the trigonometrical work; and the total cost to the State being so light, we may hope eventually to see similar, or even more detailed work, undertaken by all the States of the Union. The atlas sheets thus far produced are most pleasing specimens of the cartographer's art, each feature or class of detail having been given a weight that permits easy reading without producing undue prominence in any. In the atlas sheets of New Jersey, published by the State, the same admirable effects have been produced, but in a different style of treatment, the questions involved being more complicated through the introduction of greater detail. Massachusetts is also in the lead in prosecuting a precise determination of town boundaries by a systematic reference of all corner marks to the stations of the triangulation that now covers the State territory. The expense of this work is borne by the State, with the exception of a small amount in salaries to United States officers detailed to execute portions of the work under existing laws. The total cost will probably approximate the total cost of the Topographical Survey, but it is claimed that when completed the great advantages to be derived from it will result in large savings to the people of the State.
Our neighbors in the Dominion of Canada have been active of late years in developing their resources. The completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway has opened a large fertile territory for settlement, and the railway itself promises to become a route for international traffic in serious rivalry with the transcontinental roads in the United States. Projects have also been formed for a short rail connection to Hudson's Bay, with a view to shipments during the summer direct to Europe—but there seems to be reasonable question of the practicability of such a route. During the past two seasons Canada has also been engaged upon extensive explorations in the Northwest territory, along the boundary line of Alaska. The parties, I learn, are only just returning from their last summer's labors, and it will probably be some time in the winter before we can supplement the chapter of a year ago from this interesting region.
But little advance has been made during late years in solving the mysteries of the Arctic. In the past summer a party has crossed the southern part of Greenland, but advices have not yet come to hand that would indicate the value of the exploration. A second party was organized to follow the east coast of Greenland to the northward, that we may hear from at a later date, although reports already received, if true, would indicate the effort had been baffled by adverse weather. A few months ago an expedition was seriously contemplated by Europeans to the frozen seas of the Antarctic. As it was to have been backed by energetic business men it doubtless would have been amply fitted for its purpose, and we may, therefore, sincerely regret the rumor that the project has been postponed—if not abandoned.
In the Central American States a Congress has been assembled to consider the unification of the States under one general government—a union, the possibility of which has long been discussed, but from the jealousy of rival factions has heretofore seemed impossible of accomplishment; but there is some hope that the labors of the Congress now in session will prove more successful.
Our greatest Geographic interest in these States is centered in the projects for interoceanic canals. The scheme to cut the Isthmus of Panama, undertaken by the eminent French engineer, De Lesseps, has been beset with many difficulties, not the least of them arising from the improvident management of those having immediate charge of the works. It is impossible to foresee the eventual outcome of this great work, as all reports expressing decided views on the subject are suspected of a coloring from the personal opinions of the authors of them. The original plans have been modified to include locks for crossing "a summit level." This is stated to be only a temporary expedient to secure the opening of the canal at an early date, and that eventually the work will be completed on the original plan of a "through cut." It seems evident from the latest reports that work will be continued as long as money is forthcoming to meet the expenses, and as the modified scheme to overcome the high land by locks instead of a through cut, greatly simplifies the engineering problems, there is a probability of the canal becoming an accomplished fact. A second route by way of the San Juan River and Lake Nicaragua, that has also been under discussion for many years, has recently been energetically advocated by American engineers, with the result of the actual location of a line and careful cross-sectioning during the past year. A company has been formed and obtained a charter from the State of Vermont, and as it is represented to be backed by abundant capital, we may, ere many years, have the gratification of seeing an interoceanic canal opened under American auspices.
Many speculations have been indulged in as to the probable effect of a canal through this Isthmus on the carrying trade of the world, the impetus it might give to the opening up of new commercial relations, and even the effect it may have in advancing our civilization to distant nations. Such speculations are hardly pertinent to this report, but we may well reflect upon the changes that have been wrought since the opening of the canal through the Isthmus of Suez, and conceive, if we can, the leveling up that may accrue to the political divisions of the western world from the same influences that will cut the channel through her Isthmus.
South America has been free from serious agitation until a recent date; although some of the States have not failed to show the usual internal dissensions in political affairs. Late advices intimate a possible difficulty between Venezuela and England relative to the control of a large territory embracing the mouth of the Orinoco River, which, should it result in the permanent occupation of the disputed territory by the European power, may wield a marked influence in the development of this section of the continent.
A project that has long been agitated, to construct a continental railway that would give direct rail communication with the northern continent, has recently been resumed, and we can but hope with an earnestness that will lead to its accomplishment. Large areas of this interesting country have not yet been revealed to us, nor can we expect to acquire a full knowledge of its Geographic wonders until the means of internal communication have become more assured.
The recent inauguration of a Geographical Society in Peru is also an important step towards our acquirement of more detailed information, and doubtless will redound to the credit of its founders in the interest it will stimulate in kindred societies over the world.
Geology is a science so intimately connected with Geography that I should feel delinquent did I not include a reference to it in this report, however inadequate my remarks may be to do justice to the subject.
To Geographers the origin of the varied distribution of the land and water, the cause and growth of mountains, plains, oceans, lakes and rivers, the great changes that have taken place on the face of the earth in times past, is of absorbing interest, rivaled only by their desire for perfect knowledge of that which may be seen to-day. Had the prehistoric man been gifted with the intelligence of his descendants in the present epoch, he would have left for us a record that would have been valuable indeed and cleared our way of much that now is speculation, and but too often food for words. True it is, however, that if the mysteries of the past were revealed to us we should lose the pleasures their study affords and perhaps there would follow a degeneration of species through the loss of stimulus they now provide. How long ago man lived and might have made a record is still a disputed question, but one that involves too, the record of the earth herself. The association of human remains in the Glacial drift brings that epoch in the earth's history nearer to us by several hundred thousand years, and instead of speculating upon it as having occurred nearly a million years ago, geologists must consider whether it was not probably coincident with the most recent eccentricity of the earth which astronomers teach us happened about ten or fifteen thousand years ago. Geology must also fit her facts to mathematical science if we give credence to latest computations. A mathematician has now advanced the theory that at the average depth of about five miles below the surface there is a belt of "no strain," the result of opposing forces above and below it, a belt that from the nature of the case is impenetrable, through which, what is above cannot pass to what is below, and what is below cannot pass to what is above, a condition that would confine the origin of all seismical and volcanic disturbances and their consequent Geographical changes, to a mere shell of the crust.[1] The result of the computation is certainly interesting and we may hope will not be lost sight of in future discussions, however it may share in gaining support or opposition. It is based upon an assumption of the temperature when the earth began to cool, to assume a lower temperature draws the belt nearer to the surface and a higher temperature is believed to be inconsistent with our knowledge of what heat may effect. This belt is stated to be gradually sinking, however, and the computation, therefore, involves a term representing time, and I venture to suggest as estimates of Geologic time are generally indefinite and seem to be inexhaustible, an abundance can probably be supplied to sink the belt deep enough for all theoretical purposes.
More interesting to Geographers are the conceptions of ancient forms suggested by the views recently advanced by Prof. Shaler in a late number of Science (June 15, 1888), on "The Crenitic Hypothesis and Mountain Building." To let the imagination have full play, we may conceive that where we now have extensive mountain ranges, there were formerly great plains of sedimentation, and where we see the process of sedimentation active to-day there may be great mountains in the future. And also in his inquiry into the "Origin of the divisions between the layers of stratified rocks" (Proced. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. xxiii), we may be carried away with the immensity of the changes suggested. The recurring destruction of submarine life to contribute in the building of the rocks of the Continents: the apparently endless cycles of emergence of the land and subsidence of the waters, to leave the Geographical conditions we see to-day, furnish additional evidence of the wonders of the past and force upon us anew the realization of how little in the great evolution is the epoch in which we live.
American Geologists have advanced the knowledge of the world; only recently the American methods of Glacial study have enabled Salisbury to interpret the terminal moraines of Northern Germany (Am. Jour. Science, May, 1888), and that the Science is active among our countrymen is evidenced by the formation of a Geological Society and the establishment of a magazine devoted exclusively to its interests. America, too, contributed largely to the Geologic Congress recently held in London, and it is pleasing to note that the next session of the Congress is promised for Philadelphia.
At the suggestion of one of our associates I call the attention of the students of the science, and indeed all interested in it, and also of Geographers, to a recent publication entitled, "The Building of the British Isles," by Jukes-Browne (Scribner & Welford, N. Y.). It has been characterized as the best treatise on the evolution of the land areas which has yet appeared; from the Geologist point of view it is the book of the year. Another associate recommends to most attentive consideration the recent articles on "Three formations of the Middle Atlantic slope," by W J McGee (Am. Journal Science, Feb.-June, 1888), as one of the most original essays of recent years.
It also gives me great pleasure to bring to your attention an article on the "Physical Geography of New England," by Wm. M. Davis, in a book on the "Butterflies of New England," by S. H. Scudder. It is hardly necessary to recommend this publication to your perusal, as I doubt not being from the pens of our Associates, it will excite a lively interest in those devoted to these sciences.
In conclusion permit me to refer briefly to the "National Geographic Magazine," published by the Society, the first number of which has recently been placed before you. It is the desire of the Committee having charge of this publication to make it a journal of influence and usefulness. There is abundant material in the Society to furnish the substance, if those who have it at command will make legitimate use of their opportunities. It would be unfortunate if the text should be confined to the papers presented to the Society. It was not the intention of the Board of Managers that such should be the case, when the publication was determined upon. On the contrary, it was the expectation that there would be original communications from many sources: essays, reviews and notes on the various subjects of the five Departments in which the Society is organized, not necessarily from the members, but also from their friends interested in these divisions of the general subject. While this expectation has been realized in a measure, there is room for improvement and it is hoped the future will show an increasing interest and more generous contributions.
December, 1888.
- ↑ In the American Geologist for February, 1888, Prof. Reade protests against the construction of the theory of a "belt or level of no strain" placing the foci of earthquakes and other disturbances in the strata above the belt.