Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 7.djvu/231

Rh quakes, volcanic disturbances, floods, cyclones, etc., he alluded, in passing, to the geography of the sea-bottom as made known by the recent examinations of the Challenger Expedition, and then took up the geographical work in our own country, as carried on by the United States Engineer Corps, and other explorers. The explorations of Lieutenant Wheeler show that every State and Territory west of the Plains is crowded with the products of volcanic action, ancient and modern, the connected beds of lava in Arizona and New Mexico covering an area of 20,000 square miles; and the conclusions of the geologists of the expedition are, that volcanic disturbances and eruptions in our Western territory will be resumed, and may occur at any day. They have occurred so recently, geologically speaking, that it is extraordinary there is no human record of them. In the Department of the Platte, a new route to the Yellowstone Park has been discovered by Captain Jones's exploring party. The Black Hills country was penetrated by General Custer's military expedition, and explored by Captain Ludlow. Prof. Hayden's geographical survey has confirmed the discovery of 1872, that Colorado is the great centre of elevation in the United States, having fifty peaks that are about 14,000 feet high. In the Pacific Ocean, soundings have been made for ascertaining a practicable route for a telegraph cable between Japan and Puget Sound, and for one from San Francisco to the Hawaiian Islands.

The separate researches and explorations of M. Pinvart and Mr. W. H. Dall, in Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, were next reviewed. M. Pinvart is of the opinion that the Esquimaux of this region are of the same stock as those of Greenland and Baffin's Bay, and concludes from their legends and traditions that they came originally from Asia across Behring's Straits. The probability of this conclusion is doubted by Mr, Dall; moreover, many American ethnologists think that Greenland and vicinity were peopled from Europe.

Prof J. W. Putnam, of Salem, Mass., has been engaged in researches respecting the ancient inhabitants of North America. He believes that the southern Indians (the Mound-Builders of Ohio, Indiana, and other parts of the West) were not connected with the northern or eastern tribes, but were of the same stock as the ancient inhabitants of Mexico, though diversified by immigration and by mixing with other races.

In Central and South America specialists have carried on explorations in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and the lower part of South America. A French expedition has been exploring Tierra del Fuego.

The arctic event of the year has been the return of the officers and crew of the Tegethof, of the Austrian expedition, and the important discoveries made by them. This expedition, in the difficulties it encountered, the perseverance displayed, the discipline maintained, and the success achieved, is about as heroic as any thing that has occurred