00000517 |
Previous | 517 of 595 | Next |
|
small (250x250 max)
medium (500x500 max)
Large
Extra Large
large ( > 500x500)
Full Resolution
All (PDF)
|
468 LIFF
spaces which still have to be explored at the two poles form nearly one-
seventeenth part of the surface of the earth—that is to say, a tract equal
to about sixty times the area of France; in those regions there is still a
very considerable extent of unexplored land and sea, and even in our days
a few pusillanimous geographers have expressed a fear that these districts
will remain forever unknown. Captain Cook, the brave navigator of the
frozen Antarctic Ocean, asserted that no one had, or even could, approach
"any nearer to the pole than he had done. Pigafetta, also, in his account
of the great voyage which he took with Magellan, gives as his opinion,
" that in the future no sailor would be bold enough to brave the dangers
and fatigues of another circumnavigation of the world." It must certainly be confessed that fifty-six years elapsed before another sailor, Drake,
brought to a happy termination a second voyage round the world; in the
present time nothing is thought of such voyages, so often are they accomplished.*
The energy with which the explorers of the polar regions have undertaken and are always ready to recommence their perilous voyages across
the ice, is a sure guarantee of their future success; for though the obstacles remain the same, the experience of sailors and the resources of science
are ever increasing. The discoveries which have still to be made in the
centres of the vast continents of Asia, Africa, South America, and Australia can not fail to be accomplished before very long; for most of the difficulties which impede travelers are of the moral order, and will gradually
disappear, thanks to the progress of commerce and civilization. The horrible trade which makes the white man so justly abhorred in the centre
of Africa, as well as in the basin ofthe Amazon, will soon come to an end;
the tribes, once appeased, will welcome the explorers, and supply them
with guides; groups of colonists, advancing by stages across continents,
will form links of connection between the districts inhabited by civilized
races. Every year the spaces of land we still have to examine and trace
upon our maps are diminishing in size, and hundreds of heroes, numbers
of whom are destined to die in obscurity, are still further endeavoring to
narrow them. The most extensive surface which up to the present time
has remained untrodden by the feet of European explorers, is that part
of the African continent which is comprised between the sources of the
Nile, the Congo, the Ogobai, and the Benue.
When man at last becomes acquainted with the whole surface of the
globe of which he styles himself the master, when Columbus's saying is
realized, "El mundo espoco" (the world is small!), the great geographical work will then be, not to explore distant lands, but to thoroughly
study every detail of the country which we inhabit, to make ourselves acquainted with every river and every mountain, and to point out the part
taken by each portion of the terrestrial organism in the life of the whole._
This work, at the present time, is the task to which most of our savants,
geographers, geologists, and meteorologists are specially devoting them-
* Oscar Peschel, Geschichte der Erkunde.
| Title | The ocean, atmosphere, and life |
| Creator | Reclus, Elisée |
| Publisher | Harper |
| Place of Publication | New York |
| Date | 1873 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000517 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | 468 LIFF spaces which still have to be explored at the two poles form nearly one- seventeenth part of the surface of the earth—that is to say, a tract equal to about sixty times the area of France; in those regions there is still a very considerable extent of unexplored land and sea, and even in our days a few pusillanimous geographers have expressed a fear that these districts will remain forever unknown. Captain Cook, the brave navigator of the frozen Antarctic Ocean, asserted that no one had, or even could, approach "any nearer to the pole than he had done. Pigafetta, also, in his account of the great voyage which he took with Magellan, gives as his opinion, " that in the future no sailor would be bold enough to brave the dangers and fatigues of another circumnavigation of the world." It must certainly be confessed that fifty-six years elapsed before another sailor, Drake, brought to a happy termination a second voyage round the world; in the present time nothing is thought of such voyages, so often are they accomplished.* The energy with which the explorers of the polar regions have undertaken and are always ready to recommence their perilous voyages across the ice, is a sure guarantee of their future success; for though the obstacles remain the same, the experience of sailors and the resources of science are ever increasing. The discoveries which have still to be made in the centres of the vast continents of Asia, Africa, South America, and Australia can not fail to be accomplished before very long; for most of the difficulties which impede travelers are of the moral order, and will gradually disappear, thanks to the progress of commerce and civilization. The horrible trade which makes the white man so justly abhorred in the centre of Africa, as well as in the basin ofthe Amazon, will soon come to an end; the tribes, once appeased, will welcome the explorers, and supply them with guides; groups of colonists, advancing by stages across continents, will form links of connection between the districts inhabited by civilized races. Every year the spaces of land we still have to examine and trace upon our maps are diminishing in size, and hundreds of heroes, numbers of whom are destined to die in obscurity, are still further endeavoring to narrow them. The most extensive surface which up to the present time has remained untrodden by the feet of European explorers, is that part of the African continent which is comprised between the sources of the Nile, the Congo, the Ogobai, and the Benue. When man at last becomes acquainted with the whole surface of the globe of which he styles himself the master, when Columbus's saying is realized, "El mundo espoco" (the world is small!), the great geographical work will then be, not to explore distant lands, but to thoroughly study every detail of the country which we inhabit, to make ourselves acquainted with every river and every mountain, and to point out the part taken by each portion of the terrestrial organism in the life of the whole._ This work, at the present time, is the task to which most of our savants, geographers, geologists, and meteorologists are specially devoting them- * Oscar Peschel, Geschichte der Erkunde. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| B |
|
| C |
|
| G |
|
| H |
|
| M |
|
| T |
|
| U |
|
| Y |
|
|
|
