Page:The National geographic magazine, volume 1.djvu/181

 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.