LANDS YET UNKNOWN.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXVI, Issue 13416, 1 July 1911, Page 4

LANDS YET UNKNOWN.

The London Daily Telegraph corrects a common erroneous impression that moat of the earth's surface has been explored, and points out that there remains much for the explorers to accomplish. In Africa thoro are the Sahara, Wadai. and the valley of the Sobat. In the Sahara the highlands of Tibesti and those of Ahaggnr need.exploration. Wadai has been visited by only a very few persons, and although > it would be very difficult to penetrate into the territory itself, it is thought that useful exploring work might be done in some of the outlying districts approachable from the Upper Denne or the Übangi Wells. The regions between Lake Rudolf and Abyssinia and the valley of the Sohat, a tributary of the White Nile, are boih'ved to be of great interest, but arc almost unknown. Aside from these three regions, it may be said that there is a fair knowledge of the geographical features of Africa, but much detail remains to be ascertained, and much indifferent work must be done again. It thus appears that Africa still offers a wide and interesting field of research to the explorer. In Asia there are unexplored districts in various directions. Despite recent journeys in Oman and in the Tladramaut, there is still an unknown region in Arabia upwards of 400 miles square; and there is also much yet to he done in Asia Minor. In Persia parts of Luristan and the country of the Persian Kurd still remain unexplored. Further east Sven Hedin and others, extensive as their travels have been, have left a great deal of work for the future explorer. There are passes from Tibet into Nopal, much unknown country in South-western Tibet, the mighty range that bounds the Tsanpu Valley on the north, and extensive tracts of the northern plateau, all awaiting the scientific explorer. The great river Tsanpu, from longitude 94 degrees and 10 seconds east to its entrance into the Valley of Assam, under the name of Dihong, is practically unknown. The region embracing the complicated mountain and river systems between India and China also afford opportunities for the adventurous explorer, inasmuch as there is much to I learn about it. In the mass of'islands lying to the smith of Asia there is a groat field for exploration, especially in New (lunion. Some of the larger islands to the east of New Guinea are also virgin ground. In “North America most of the work of the explorer has boon done, yet in the Dominion of Canada vast unknown tracts invito the explorer. Many parts of the Colombian Cordilleras still need exploration, as well as the basins of several northern affluents of the Amazon; while to the eastward there is an enormous tract that is still practically unknown. This is that wild, forest-covered region that was the scene of the adventurous searches for El Dorado in the sixteenth century. Further south, although the region to the eastward of Cuzco, the ancient -capital of the Incas, is now attracting attention, much is yet to be done.