Geographical Journal (Journal of the Royal Geographical Society): Volume VIII, No. 5 [‎42r] (86/154)

RAILWAYS IN AFRICA.
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ever recorded, but be has established the truth of his theory of Polar currents,
and has brought back a mass of valuable scientific information. When Nansen
comes to England, I am certain that we shall give him a reception which will prove
how much we admire the heroism of this brave Norwegian.
Besides the news of this most remarkable achievement, the results of a con
siderable amount of useful exploratory work have been published since the British
Association met last at Ipswich. With regard to other Arctic expeditions, we have
had the account of Lieutenant Peary’s third season in Northern Greenland, from
which place he came back in September last, and to which he has again returned
though without the intention of passing another winter there. In October the
Windward brought home more ample information as to the progress of the Jackson-
Harmsworth Expedition than that communicated by telegram to the Association at
Ipswich, and on her return from her remarkably rapid voyage this summer she
brought back the record of another year. As to geographical work in Asia, Mr.
and Mrs. Littledale returned safely from their explorations of the little-known parts
of Tibet; the Pamir Boundary Commission, under Colonel Holdich, has collected a
great deal of accurate topographical information in the course of its labours; Dr.
Sven Hedin continues his important researches in Turkestan; and the Royal
Geographical Society was glad to welcome Prince Henry of Orleans when he came
to tell us about his journey near the sources of the Irrawaddy. As to Africa, the
most important additions to our knowledge of that continent are due to the French
surveyors, who have accurately mapped the recently discovered series of lakes in
the neighbourhood of Timbuktu, Lake Faguibine, the largest, being found to be
68 miles in length; Dr. Donaldson Smith has filled up some large blanks in the
map of Somaliland; and Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Bent have investigated some
interesting remains of ancient gold workings inland of the Red Sea. In other parts
of the world less has been done, because there is less to do. Mr. Fitz Gerald has
proved for the first time the practicable character of a pass across the Southern
Alps, thus supplementing the excellent work of Mr. Harper and other pioneers of
the New Zealand Alpine Club; and Sir W. M. Conway has commenced a systematic
exploration of the interior of Spitzbergen, a region to which the attention of several
other geographers is also directed.
It is impossible in such a brief sketch to enumerate even the leading events of
the geographical year, but what I have said is enough to remind us of the great
amount of valuable and useful work which is being done in many quarters of the
world. It is true that if we compare this record with the record of years gone by,
we find a marked difference. Then, there was always some great geographical
problem to be attacked ; the sources of the Nile had to be discovered; the course
of the Niger had to be traced ; and the great white patches on our maps stimulated
the imagination of explorers with the thought of all sorts of possibilities. Now,
though there is much to be learned, yet, with the exception of the Poles, the work
will consist in filling in the details of the picture, the general outlines being all
drawn for us already. Personally I cannot help feeling a completely unreasoning
regret that we have almost passed out of the heroic period of geography. What
ever the future may have in store for us, it can never give us another Columbus,
another Magellan, or another Livingstone. The geographical discoverers of the
future will win their fame in a more prosaic fashion, though their work may in
reality be of even greater service to mankind. There are now few places in the
world wheie the outline of the main topographical features is unknown ; but, on the
other hand, there are vast districts not yet thoroughly examined. And, in
examining these more or less known localities, geographers must take a far wider
view than heretofore of their methods of study in order to accommodate themselves
to modern conditions.