sults of his explorations in 1863, in the Zeitschrift für Erdkunde. A New Granadian, Señor Samper, has also, during the past year, published an excellent and very complete treatise on the geography of the country, under the title of Ensayo sobre las Republicas Colombianos, Ecuador was visited in 1862 by three English geographers, who explored different portions of it, and published their observations in 1863. Mr. Jameson, setting out from Quito, visited Mount Cayamba; Mr. Richard Spruce visited the region lying southeast of Quito; and Mr. James Wilson made a geological and geographical tour through Esmeraldas, a province which he regards as destined to become of great commercial importance if it can only be provided with tolerable roads. The Ecuadorian Government has undertaken to build a road connecting the city of Esmeraldas with Quito. This province was once famous for the beautiful emeralds found there, and Mr. Wilson is satisfied that the supply is still far from being exhausted, although very few are now brought into market. It is also a fine cotton country.

Venezuela has been, during the past year, as for most of its independent history, torn by internal convulsions and revolutions, which almost prohibit any material or commercial progress. Under a strong, wise, and good government, it could hardly fail to take a high position among the South American States, from its great mineral and agricultural resources. Dr. Plassard, a French geologist, discovered in 1862 valuable and extensive gold deposits in Tupuquen, and his account of them has led to a considerable emigration thither.

In Guiana a joint French and Dutch scientific expedition was engaged in 1861 and 1862 in exploring the basin of the Maroni river, which forms the boundary between French and Dutch Guiana, and in tracing the course of its two principal affluents, the Awa and the Tapanahoni; MM. Vidal and Rech, the French members of the expedition, published in 1863, in the Revue Maritime et Coloniale, an extended account of the results of their explorations, with a map of the river basin. They describe the country as very rich in agricultural promise, producing in great abundance tapioca, rice, sweet potatoes, maize, sugar cane, cotton, tobacco, all kinds of leguminous plants and fruits, and rare and valuable woods for timber, and for cabinet purposes, which are fully described by M. Rech, who was the naturalist of the expedition. M. Rech also gives an interesting account of the native tribes whom he found there, the principal of whom were the Ronconyènes, a mild and gentle race of Indians, and also of the Maroons, mixed races, Indian and negro, known as the Yucas, and the Bonis, who inhabit a part of the river basin. The new governor of French Giuana, M. de Montravel, in his report to the French Government, announces that the sea-island cotton is thoroughly acclimated there, and that its culture had been commenced on a grand scale. Mr. Bollärt, the VOL. III.-28 A

eminent naturalist, who has devoted great attention to the ethnology, geography, and history of the South American States, has edited for the Hakluyt Society, the past year, a narrative of an expedition to Guiana, undertaken in 1560 and 1561 by Pedro de Ursua and Lopez de Aguirre, in search of the El Dorado, so often sought by the early Spanish and Portuguese navigators.

Brazil, though possessing a larger amount of unexplored territory than any other South American State, is more advanced in its intellectual condition, and is doing more to develop its own wild regions, and to ascertain their capacities and products, than any other country in South America. It has an active Geographical Society at Rio Janeiro, and its Revista Trimensal, a quarterly scientific review, conducted by the Imperial Institute, devotes special attention to geographical discovery and exploration in Brazil. The Emperor, who is himself one of the most accomplished physicists in the empire, gives special encouragement to this department of science. As a consequence of this encouragement, geographical explorations have been very numerous of late years in Brazil. The narratives of five have been published in 1863, viz.: "a Description of Brazil," by the eminent traveller Baril de la Hure; "An Account of the Indians of Matto Grosso," by Dr. Moore; "Report upon the Prince of Parana," by Señor Vereker; "Fred. Gerstaecker's Narrative of the Condition and History of the German Colonies in the South of Brazil, as well as of those in Peru and Chili; " and "A Description of the Province of Minas Geraes," by Dr. Von Tschudi, with a map by Messrs. Halfeld and Fred. Wagner, published as a supplement of Petermann's Mittheilungen.

The Argentine Confederation, though engaged in war with Buenos Ayres for a portion of the year, has with the recurrence of peace set itself to the work of developing more fully its resources. In the early summer of 1863 it sent a scientific expedition up the Vermejo river, one of the principal branches of the Parana, to examine its capacity for navigation, and the advantages of the districts which it drains for commercial enterprise. One of the members of the expedition, Mr. Porter C. Bliss, a citizen of the United States, and for several years an attentive observer of the manners, habits, and customs of our North American Indians, was specially charged with the investigations concerning the Indians of the Upper Vermejo. Mr. Bliss returned to Buenos Ayres in the latter part of September, and brought with him ample notes in regard to these tribes, and the adaptation of the country to immigrants. His narrative of his expedition has not yet been published.

Uruguay has recently completed a census, though like that of most of the South American States, it makes no great pretensions to accuracy. The number of inhabitants is stated at 350,000, distributed in 13 departments or provinces. The population of the capital, Monte

video, is given in 1863 at 45,765. Its imports in 1862 were said to amount to $13,568,330, and the exports to $15,395,073. One hundred and fifty thousand of the inhabitants are said to be of foreign birth. In June, 1863, the territory of the republic was invaded by an army from Buenos Ayres, under the command of a former president of Uruguay, Venacio Flores, but after a struggle of several months he was defeated and expelled from the country.

Paraguay, under the government of President Lopez, and since his death under that of his son, has attained a high degree of prosperity. An interior State, and without an extensive foreign commerce, it has, by the industry and intelligence of its inhabitants, and the productiveness of its soil, maintained itself in peace and comfort, has no public debt, and has an annual revenue of about $2,500,000, of which nearly two thirds arise from the sale of the Yerba mate, or Paraguay tea, and other products of the national domains. Its population, according to official statistics, is 1,337,431, and that of the capital, Assumpçion, 48,000. M. Mouchez, a French geographer, who has resided for many years in Paraguay, and is the author of a series of excellent maps of the republic, thinks the official estimate of the population too high by one half. A work on Paraguay, of great interest, and embodying much valuable information in regard to the country, by Dr. Demersay, was published in 1863. Messrs. Köner and Kiepert have also a paper illustrated with a map by the latter on the topography of Paraguay in one of the numbers of the Zeitschrift für Erdkunde for 1863.

There have been no further attempts during the past year, to explore Patagonia, or the bleak islands of the Fuegian Archipelago, but a very interesting narrative of adventure in the latter in October, 1855, has recently been given to the public in "Harper's Magazine," by the captain of a British schooner, sent to visit the inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, after the terrible disaster which befell Capt. Allen Gardiner and his party. He describes the Fuegians as generally of tolerable height (ranging from 5 ft. 3 in. to 5 ft. 7 in.), and well formed; but as going nearly nude, even in that severe climate, covering the skin with ochre and grease. They resemble the Esquimaux, but are less amiable and honest than they. Their principal food consists of shell fish and an edible fungus, which grows upon the trees. They are cannibals, but more from necessity, the captain thinks, than from choice. They live in conical huts, built over a hollowed pit in the ground, and their tents are always filled with smoke. Their condition seems very wretched, but they were content, and exhibited strong attachment to their families, and especially to their children. An attempt made in 1857 to take some of them away to educate and civilize them, led to a rencontre, in which the entire crew of an English vessel, except the cook, was killed.

Chili, happily separated by the Andes and the

Atacaman desert from the other States of South America, is almost wholly delivered from the questions of boundaries, which have so often given rise to desolating wars in some of the States, and under a judicious government has made rapid progress during the last ten or twelve years in the arts of civilization. M. Pigris, the South American geographer, has communicated during the past year to the French Academy several memoirs on the Andes. He ascertained by careful geodesic measurement the height of Aconcagua, the most elevated of the yet known peaks of South America, as 22,210 feet. Three other peaks in the same vicinity measured respectively, 22,097 feet, 21,213 feet, and 20,628 feet. In the northern part of Chili, within the Atacama desert, 300 miles north of Copiapo, extensive mines of silver of great purity have been discovered. The region also abounds with the best copper.

In Bolivia, the return of peace has been accompanied by the re-discovery of extensive gold mines, all traces of which had been lost in the years of civil war. They are situated near the village of Baures, in the basin of the Beni.

Peru has for many years been a favorite region of geographical exploration and research, and the past year has contributed its full share of works relative to its geography and ethnology. Professor Antonio Raimondi, a Peruvian scholar, has presented to the Peruvian Government a memoir entitled Apuntes sobre la Provincia literal de Loreto, in which he gives a very full and interesting account of the Indian tribes in that vast, wild province, which covers more square leagues than all the rest of Peru. This memoir, it is understood, is but one of a series on which Prof. Raimondi has been engaged for many years, in which he will discuss the geographical, mineralogical, geological, botanical and zoological features of Loreto. In the ANNUAL CYCLOPÆDIA for 1862, some account was given of the Jivaros, one of the tribes inhabiting the province. Prof. Raimondi gives a further account of them, as well as the other tribes which occupy that region, some of whom, as the Mayorunas and Caschibos, are cannibals, eating the old people of their tribes. Their habits and customs, as well as their language, differ materially from each other, and would seem to indicate that they were sprung from different sources; the Jivaros may have been originally of the Quichua race, their language and habits bearing considerable resemblance to it, but the Caschibos, Setebos, Sipibos, and Conibos speak dialects of the Pana language, which abounds in aspirates and gutturals, and has no affinities with the Quichua, the Jivaro, the Piro or the Campo, which have an abundance of vowels and are soft and musical. Conibos flatten the heads of their children between two boards, one applied in front, the other behind. Prof. Raimondi estimates the number of Indians in Loreto at about 90,000, of whom about 40,000 are independent, having never been subdued by the whites. The country

The

is rich in grains (rice and maize principally), cotton, coffee, cocoa, and the edible palms, bread fruit, oranges, lemons, plantaius, yuccas, pine apples, plums, cherries, pawpaws and other delicate fruits; has numerous medicinal and poisonous plants and gums, as well as abundant dye-stuffs and precious woods; and its mountains yield salt, sulphate of lime, alum, sulphur, iron ore, lignite and gold.

Among the works throwing most light upon the geography of the central portion of South America, which have been recently published, there has been none more satisfactory in its portraiture of the inhabitants, animals and plants of that partially explored region, than Henry Walter Bates' "Naturalist on the River Amazon; a Record of Eleven Years' Residence and Travel under the Equator," published in London, in 1863. During his long residence in South America Mr. Bates visited all the navigable portions of the Upper and Lower Amazon, as well as several of its larger affluents, and resided for some years at Santarem, on the Rio Negro, and afterward for other years at Ega, on the Upper Amazon. Among the spoils brought or sent home from his South American explorations, were 15,000 species of insects, 8,000 of them new to naturalists, numerous new species of mammals, fishes, &c., and a great abundance of birds of most beautiful plumage. He confirms Professor Raimondi's testimony in regard to the cannibalism of some of the Indian tribes, but regards the Indian, as in general, inferior to the Negroes and Mulattoes of the country. There is no caste distinction there; the Negro, Indian, half-breed and white enjoy ing the same privileges and consideration, and holding the same offices. Of these, in general, he found the Negroes the most intelligent, refined and honest.

The Royal Society of London sent, some years since, Mr. Clements R. Markham to Peru, to investigate the regions producing the various spices of Chinchona or Peruvian bark, and to attempt their transplantation to India. After many difficulties the attempt has proved successful, and Mr. Markham's report of his experiences is exceedingly interesting.

The explorations of the geologist indicate that there are changes of elevation in progress along the coasts of North and probably also South America. The coast of Greenland, for a distance of six hundred miles, is subsiding, while that of the American continent, on its eastern coast, is gradually rising, from the shores of the Arctic Sea to the northern coasts of South America, and perhaps farther. On the Pacific coast, too, there is, at some points, a gradual elevation-whether at all, is not yet certain. The effect of these changes on the topography and extent of the continent is likely to be very great in the course of time. The arctic lands which now approach nearer than the eastern continent to the north pole, may reach it; Hudson's Bay may become a fertile valley with several considerable lakes; the banks of

Newfoundland join the mainland, and thus permit the crossing of the Atlantic in three or four days; the coast line of the Atlantic States may be carried out to the edge of the Gulf Stream; the West Indies be united into three or four large islands; the Delta of the Mississippi extend a hundred and fifty miles further into the Gulf, and the other rivers of the coast be lengthened in a corresponding degree. With these changes must come also material modifications of climate, an intense cold and greater barrenness at the North; fiercer and more tropical heat at the South; a milder but moister climate along the Atlantic coast. These changes will hardly come in our time, but if the present rate of elevation be continued, a century hence may be sufficient for the development of most of them.

The West Indies offer little of interest or novelty in a geographical point of view. Hayti, which offered, in 1862, strong inducements to colored emigrants from the United States, has not been able to fulfil all its promises, and the grant of the island A'Vache, on its southern coast, to an adventurer named Bernard Koch, who sought to improve it by means of laborers obtained from the freedmen in Virginia, has turned out badly: the emigrants have been brought back to this country, after losing nearly one fourth of their number by sickness and death, the result of exposure and hardship, the survivors having lost their time and services, and all that they had, by the fraud and dishonesty of Koch. A remarkable cave has recently been discovered in Cuba not far from the city of Matanzas. It is called the Cave of Bellamar, and in the magnificent size of its apartments, and the beauty of its stalactites and stalagmites, seems to be one of the wonders of the world. The entrance hall, called the Gothic Temple, is 900 feet in length by 240 feet wide, the roof being, at its highest point, 60 feet above the floor of the hall. It is adorned with numerous pillars and mantles of great beauty. Beyond this is the Gallery of the Fountain, a corridor 2,400 feet in length, having in its centre a spring hemmed in with stalactites of most exquisite forms. Beyond, and after passing through a finely formed arch, the visitor comes to the Hall of the Benediction, the floor, walls, and vault of which are of the purest white, and these, as well as the numerous columns and pendants, sparkle in the light with the most brilliant crystals. The Mantle of the Virgin, the Snow Drift, the Lake of Dahlias, the Closet of the Beautiful Matanceras, the Hatuey Gallery, &c., are names bestowed upon other portions of the cave. Many of the concretions possess the property of double refraction, and some of them are violet or rose colored, or of golden hues. The cave runs from west to east, and its maximum depth is 36 feet. Its temperature never exceeds 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

In EUROPE, there have been few geographical but many archæological explorations. The

insurrection in Poland has led to the publication of some maps and descriptions of that country, and the agitation of the SchleswigHolstein question, which in the beginning of 1864 has developed into a war, caused in the closing months of 1863 the issue of some descriptions and maps of the country in dispute. Rev. Fortescue Anderson has published in London "Seven Months' Residence in Russian Poland in 1863," which gives a graphic account of a portion of the country.

In July, 1863, a submarine volcanic eruption took place accompanied by the formation of a new island, off the coast of Sicily, in the Mediterranean, about twenty-five miles from the shore, and near the island of Pantillaria. It is on what is said to have been the site of a former volcano, and in an old chart of 150 years ago there is a reef laid down on this spot; but for many years past the water over the present site of the island has been 135 fathoms deep. The island is now about three fourths of a mile in circumference, and seems to stand on a broad base. It is at its summit about 200 feet high, and is composed of cinders of all sizes heaped loosely together. There is a crater on the island thirty or forty yards in diameter containing boiling water, and emitting steam and sulphurous vapors. Severe earthquake shocks were experienced in Rhodes in April and May, 1863, destroying entire villages and causing a loss of some hundreds of lives. They were preceded by great commotion of the sea, which, for a time, receded from its ancient level; but after the shock, regained more than its former territory.

Turkey and Greece have been explored both for geographical and archæological purposes, and one of the latest books of travels in reference to both is Mr. Chr. Cooke's "Journey Due East," which was made in 1862-'3.

The Prussian General Bäyer has issued a circular to the most eminent physicists of the different nations of Europe, proposing the measuring of an arc of meridian from Palermo to Christiania. The progress toward completion of most of the topographical surveys of the European states is rapid. The survey of France on a scale of 1-80,000 is completed; but it will be several years before the map engravers will have finished their work upon it. It is to be re.gretted that the scales on which these surveys are made differ so much in the different states. They range from 1-20,000 to 1-288,000; whereas if the scale of 1-100,000, which is that of Prussia, Belgium, Hanover, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, and Portugal, or of 1-50,000, which is that of Holland, Italy, and most of the smaller German states, or even of 1-80,000, which is that of France, Naples, Denmark, and Belgium, were generally adopted, the maps of the continental countries might easily be brought together, and a map of uniform scale of all made. The number of geographical maps published in Europe during the past year is very great, amounting to several thousands, most of

them of local interest mainly. The geographical periodicals are also numerous. The following are the principal: "Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society," London; "All round the World," edited by M. W. Ainsworth, London; Bulletin de la Société de Geographie, Paris; "Mittheilungen," edited by Dr. Petermann, Gotha; Zeitschrift für Erdkunde, edited by Dr. Keuer, at Berlin, and serving as the bulletin of the Geographical Society of Berlin; Annuaire of the Society of Friends of Geography at Leipzic; Mittheilungen of the Geographical Societies of Vienna, of Darmstadt and of Frankfurt-am-Main; Bulletin and Memoires of the Geographical Society of Geneva; Comptes rendus and Memoires of the Russian Geographical Society; the Memoires of the Italian Geographical Society at Turin; The Nautical and Geographical Bulletin of Rome, edited by Prof. E. Fabri Scarpellini; Bibliotheca geographico Statistica of W. Muldner, at Florence (?); the "Nautical Magazine," London; Tour du Monde, edited by M. Charton, Paris; Globus, edited by Dr. K. Andree, Paris; Nouvelles Annales des Voyages, Paris; Revue Maritime Coloniale, Paris; Archives des Sciences de Russie, edited by Dr. Erman, St. Petersburg; Bulletin and Annales of the Foreign Council at Lisbon; the Annuario Maritimo of the Austrian Lloyds at Trieste.

ASIA is, as it has been for many years past, one of the favorite haunts of geographers, and in its vast table lands, deserts, and mountain ranges, its inland seas, and its dense but isolated populations, they are sure of finding much that is interesting to the scientific and often to the general reader. Beginning with its western states, we find that the Sinaitic Peninsula, in Arabia, has been visited in 1862 and 1863 by two geographers, Rev. T. J. Prout, an English clergyman, and M. W. Howlett, each of whom ascended the mountain Oum Chamar, the highest peak of the Sinaitic Mountains. It is situated about 11 miles S. W. of Djebel Katherin, and according to M. Howlett is 9,100 feet high. Another English traveller, Mr. Charles Foster, has applied the photographic art to the representation of this region, and has given views of the sacred mountains of the peninsula, under the title of "Sinai Photographed."

The intellectual apathy of the Turks has given way under the pressure of European scientific enterprise, and early in the year there was published a volume of travels in the Turkish capital, by an Osmanli scholar, the narrative of a journey of exploration along the Turko-Persian frontier, entitled Siahatnamer Hodud.

English commercial enterprise is making itself felt on the Euphrates and Tigris as well as in Asia Minor. Steamboats now ply between Bassorah and Bagdad, and a line of steamships has been established between Bassorah and Bombay. A railway is also said to be in progress from Smyrna to Ephesus. Syria has been very thoroughly explored by the French Government since 1861, and several

eminent geographers have taken part in the surveys and have published accounts of their discoveries. The War Department of the French Government published, early in 1863, a very fine map of the Libanus range and its spurs and offshoots, the result of the topographical surveys of the French engineers. M. R. Edwards issued a semi-historical treatise on Syria from 1840 to 1862; M. Desmoulins published under the sanction of the War Department "Hydrographic and Statistical Information concerning the coast of Syria." MM. H. Guys, Louet, Stepp, Bevet, and Isaacs, have written works on Syria, and an English writer, Mr. Mansel, has published a "Coast Survey of Palestine." Dr. Beke, the African traveller, has during the past year penetrated into the country lying east of Palestine, known as the Hauran, as far as the mountains of Galaad (the ancient Gilead), but his narrative of his travels is not yet published. Two French savans, MM. Mas Latrie and Kotschy, have been exploring the isle of Cyprus, and the former has published a map of it. Other eminent scholars, and among the number Messrs. Vogue and Waddington, have been engaged in archæological explorations of the island, and their labors have been rewarded by interesting and important discoveries. M. Kotschy, after his return from Cyprus, penetrated into the interior of Asia Minor, and visited the pashalic of Adana, in the ancient province of Cilicia. In the district of Zeitun, in that pashalic, he found a little Armenian confederation of about 15,000 souls, who had maintained an ecclesiastical and civil independence, recognizing no other authority than that of their patriarch, whose see was at the Monastery of Sis, to the west of Marach. They had been attacked by the Mohammedans in 1862, and some of their people slain. The clergy of the confederation had sent a delegation to ask the assistance and protection of the Western powers. Turning to Persia, we find evidences of abundant activity in geographical exploration. Northern Persia has been visited and explored with great thoroughness by the Chevalier Gasteiger-Ravenstein and his party. The narrative of the scientific journey of M. Dorn in Mazenduan, Ghilan, etc., in 1861 and 1862, has been translated into Russ, by the Russian geographer Khanikoff, who has himself travelled through the greater part of Persia and Khorassan. Messrs. Watson, Brugsch, and others, who ascended the peak of Demavend, in 1861, read a paper before the Royal Geographical Society of London, which was published in the proceedings of 1862, giving an account of their ascent. They state the height of the mountain as 20,800 feet. Dr. Brugsch has since published, at Leipsic, an extended narrative of these explorations in this part of Persia, under the title of "Voyage de l'Ambassade Prussienne en Perse, en 1860, 'et 1861," with a map by M. Kiepert. The "Journal of the Royal Geographical Society at London" contains a narrative of discoveries in Per

sia, Khorassan, and Afghanistan, by Captain Claude Clark. The British Admiralty have published, in 1863, a survey of the Persian Gulf in two charts, the result of the labors of Commander Constable and Lieutenant Stiffe. The telegraph has made its way into Persia, Teheran, its capital, being in communication with Recht, Tauris, and Bagdad, and through the latter city with Constantinople and Europe. The Persians, less apathetic and indolent than Turk or Tartar, have fairly started on the highway of progress; a fondness for scientific research is manifested; the young men of the higher classes are sent to England and France to be educated, and return imbued with a fondness for science. The French language is taught in the schools of Teheran, and spoken especially by the youth in the streets of that city.

The Caucasus has been explored within the past two years by several Russian savans, and General Chodzko, M. Lapinsky, and M. O. Blau, have published maps and narratives of their travels. Captain Ivanchinzoff has made a survey of the Caspian Sea, and published a map of it.

Afghanistan has been the scene of some revolutionary movements during the year 1863, having for their object the obtaining possession of the city of Herat (see DosT MOHAMMED KHAN), but there have been no new geographical explorations. Dr. Bellew, who was at the head of an exploring party in that country, in 1857, has published, during the year, a journal of his observations at that time.

Central Asia has been explored more fully during the past two years than at any previous period. The Kirghis Prince, Sultan Valitchanoff, mentioned in the ANNUAL CYCLOPÆDIA for 1862, as having traversed the slopes of the Thian-Shan mountains, has continued his explorations in Chinese Turkestan, and has published interesting narratives of his discoveries in the provinces of Kashgar, Yarkand, Khotan, Aksou, &c. M. de Semenoff, a Russian geographer, has also continued his labors in this region, and has thrown much light upon its orography. The Asiatic Bureau of the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Government, has published a special map of the lower portion of the Amou-dária, the river Oxus of the ancient geographers.

Siberia has been traversed, and its mountains and rivers, its coasts and valleys, very thoroughly explored within the past three or four years, by Russian, German, and French geographers. In 1862 and 1863, Messrs. Maack, Maximowicz, Radde, Fr. Schmidt, Schwartz, Glenn, and others, have traversed this dreary country, and have thrown much light on the eastern portion of it by their interesting narratives of travel, and their maps, which have been remarkable for their minute accuracy of detail. A summary of their discoveries has been published in London the past year by Mr. Ravenstein, under the title of "The Russians