Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

The great Thibetian plain of Central Asia, unknown to Europeans, is now being assailed by other adventurous travellers, better supplied with special scientific aid, from the side opposite to that entered by Messrs. Huc and Gubet. Three gentlemen, one, Mr. Cunningham, an officer of engineers, and son of the well-known Scottish poet and artist; another, Mr. Strachey, also an officer in the service of the East India Company, and already distinguished by his successful adventure, in 1846, to reach the Mansorawara Lake, the source of the Sutledge; the third, Dr. Thomson, a son of the eminent chemist, have been employed by the East India Company, charged with instructions from the Asiatic societies of Calcutta and Bombay, and furnished with requisite instruments and apparatus for exploring and defining the topography, hydrography, climate and productions of part of the Himalaya range. Leaving Simla in Aug., 1847, the combined party were to ascend the Sutledge and enter Thibet through the pass by which that river bas pierced the mountains. Thence, separating, Mr. Cunningham, with one party, was to proceed westward, along the course of the Sinde or Indus, and following it through the unexplored regions of Kaschmir, was to descend among the comparatively better known country of the Punjab. Another party, under Mr. Strachey, would revisit the scene of his former labours, and thence, crossing over into the valley of the Sanpoo, trace it along the southern frontier of Thibet, and finally determine the question yet unravelled, whether this last river is a continuation of the Brahmapootra, or whether it does not, perhaps, pour into the Irawaddy. The third party, under Dr. Thomson, is devoted to the investigation of the natural history of the mountain range itself.

It is possible, that with this last, may intersect another expedition, already on foot, under a distinguished British naturalist, Dr. Hooker, and supported by the British government. Sailing from England, in Nov., 1847, in a steam-frigate, for Calcutta, Dr. Hooker is to spend a few months after his arrival, in investigating the botany of Bengal, and then to betake himself, with the same view, to the southern slopes of the Himalaya. If time allows he will extend his excursion across into Thibet. He is expected, in 1849, to return to Calcutta; and thence visit, upon a similar exploration, the newly ceded British island of Labuan, on the west side of Borneo; and, finally, Borneo itself, in which the genius of Mr. Brooke has created a new State. It will be observed, from this, that the scientific object of Dr. Hooker's expedition is especially botanical; but the opportunities he will have

[ocr errors]

for observation will not fail to be utilized for other details of geography.

Before quitting this region, must be mentioned the quite recent publication of Baron Hügel-Kaschmir and the Empire of the Siekh; and the name of Sutledge recalls the melancholy fate of another traveller, who perished there, and whose reputation, like that of Mr. Dunlop, already mentioned in the notice of the American continent, is, so far as rests on publication, posthumous. This is Dr. Hoffmeister, an attendant of Prince Waldemar, of Prussia, whose Letters from India, not long published, cover an extensive tour (even only so far as India is concerned), from Calcutta through Bengal, into Nepaul, over the Himalaya, and thence by the pass of the Sutledge to Simla, and only make us regret the more the issue of the gallant day at Firozeschah.

The publication of the operations, from 1830 to 1843, for measuring sections of a meridional arc in India, extending for the extremes, from about 18° to 29° 30' of latitude, by Captain Everest, under the authority of the East India Company, adds another to the list of systematic geoderic works which the present century has produced. Although it may not compare, in point of absolute accuracy of result, with some others—for instance, the American survey, mentioned a little while ago— yet it is to be remembered, that it encountered and overcame local and attendant difficulties from which these others were exempt; and the indefatigable ingenuity of Capt. Everest, in adapting unfit instruments to his purpose, and his remarkable dexterity in their use afterwards, raise him to a very distinguished rank among geoderists.

The territory of Assam, since the Birman war, has been so little heard of, that it seems as if it had been wiped out by the elbow of the Brahmapootra. In the return of Mr. Robert, a French traveller, who, two years ago, was preparing to follow the course of the Sinde, and examine the upper districts of the Punjab, but who since returns to Trauce, after revisiting Assam, we may expect some valuable contributions to our knowledge. An interesting publication has, indeed, been recently made, of miscellaneous details relating to the geography, manners and customs and business statistics of the region, with copious and curious sketches and traditions of the hill tribes of Assam, by a military officer, on civil service, at Burpetah, who, while he accepted a service that the terror of junglefever allows but few to take, has withheld his name from a publication in nowise tending to his discredit.

The principal addition to the geography of China proper has been in the account by Mr. Collinson, of the royal navy, of the exploration of the Yang-tse-kiang, by the squadron under Sir William Parker, in 1840. Several miscellaneous narratives have also been published, such as that of Mr. Fortune, in which, among a good deal of solely personal adventure, occur also interesting notices of the botany of south-eastern China; and of Mr. Meadows, whose apparently familiar knowledge of its peculiar language (or rather languages), entitles to a good deal of weight, what he says about, not only philological questions, but also the government and people of that country, however his statements may differ from those habitually made and accepted. The account of the five years' residence there, from 1842 to 1847, by Mr. Forbes, an officer of the British navy, is without much accessory advantage of the sort; and a part of it links itself with other localities, in the narrative of the occupation of Labuan and Borneo.

This last locality has, indeed, quite a literature of its own; grown up out of the material furnished, and the impulses given by the Rajah of Sarawah, whose destiny is as oriental as the climes to which he has chosen to devote himself. In less than ten years from the time he published the prospectus of his design upon the Indian Archipelago, Mr. Brooke has worked wonders, not so magically instantaneous as those of the lamp of Aladdin, but more diffusive and enduring in influence and effect. His genius, if it find its sphere amid only the heat and glare of an equatorial sun, is at least more under command, more benevolent than the irresponsible soulless slave of the Arab's dim and flickering lamps. Since the publication, in 1845, of Mr. Keppel's expedition, we have a third edition, comprising recent intelligence; Mr. Mundy, a gallant and intelligent naval commander, has brought the narrative of events down to the cession and occupation of Labuan, and has given copious additional extracts from the earlier journals of the future Rajah. The talented young Maryat, whose unhappy fate struck down two lives, has transferred, in brilliant illustrations, some of the glow and richness of the Indian scenery; Mr. Low has given valuable information on Sarawah, its inhabitants and productions, and has particularly enriched the science of botany with new contributions; and, finally, Sir Edward Belcher, in the narrative of the surveys of the Samarang, during 1843 to 1846, while giving authentic data for the reformation of our maps of the Indian Archipelago, has also furnished important material for the ethnography and

natural history of the islands. Such, and so great are the results that can be effected by the energy and patience of one man!.

After an absence of very nearly nine years, Mr. Brooke returned to England, and reached Southampton on the 1st October, 1847. Honourably distinguished on every side, he made no long stay, but on the 1st of February following returned, in the Meander, to Sarawah and Labuan. The increased resources for civilized and Christian instruction, which have been promptly contributed by the mother country, cannot fail of producing the happiest effects; and the increased force at his disposal will enable him all the more promptly to suppress the Illanun pirates, and render as safe as it is beautiful, the navigation of the Indian Archipelago. Then only may we expect to see definitively removed, the confusion and vacuities which embarrass and disfigure our maps of that region.

Tributary to this end, may be mentioned the recent reconnoissance of the Loo-Choo groupe off the east coast of China, by French surveying vessels, under the direction of Admiral Cecille. Other islands remain unexplored, with the exception of Java, where a short visit, in a British surveying vessel, allowed Mr. Jukes, the naturalist and narrator of the expedition, to land, and thus enables us to connect the geography of Asia with that of the great assemblage which follows-the continental islands of Australasia.

4. Australasia.

In this region, and especially in Australia, although it is hardly sixty years since the first white settlements were made in New South Wales, extensive explorations have been already carried on, and proportionate discoveries have accrued to reward them. The last year, in particular, has been fruitful in interesting publications of what had been executed not long previously.

For instance, Dr. Leichardt, an enthusiastic and energetic young Prussian, geographer and naturalist, has given account of his overland expedition from Sydney, on the southeastern side of Australia, to Port Essington on the north, a distance, in a direct line, of not less than 2500 miles, passed over during 1844 and 1845. More recently, Sir Thomas Mitchell, the surveyor general of the colony of New South Wales, and the successful explorer of the Darling, has given the journal of an expedition in the same direction, and of as great extent, whose aim was to discover a feasible route from the settlements on the S. E. coast, to the Gulf of Carpentaria. This was successful in discovering a large river, to which the name of Victoria was given,

and which, doubtlessly, pours into the Gulf of Carpentaria. According to the latest intelligence, additional parties had been sent out to explore the river to its estuary; and strong hopes are entertained of the ability to establish a direct line of travel and traffic between Sydney, through the Gulf of Carpentaria and the Indian Ocean, and the frequented port of Singapore. Account has also been given of the expedition of Captain Sturt into the interior, which, although not so fortunate in its results, was yet valuable to geography. The official examination of Spencer's Gulf has resulted in details not less valuable to commerce.

It is hardly known whether a new and vast design of Doctor Leichardt is to be spoken of as among existing explorations. This was to pass over and determine the country, in a line as direct as possible, between Moreton bay on the east side, and Swan river on the west of Australia; an undertaking which, among all that have been spoken of in any part of the world, is without parallel, except in the instance of Mr. Raffenel, for Africa. The intelligence at the close of 1847 was, that the cattle which the traveller was employing, as well for the transport of necessary baggage and provisions as for food themselves, had, when reaching the western limit of civilized settlements and communication, become wild, and escaped from their drivers; thus postponing, at least, and seriously perilling the whole undertaking.*

The researches of Burnett on the Boyne, of Campbell in the interior, and of Gregory on the western side of Australia, do not yet furnish definitive data for geography.

In southern New Zealand, Mr. Brunner is reported to have started in December, 1846, accompanied by two natives, to attempt the passage from the south of IIourib lake to the open country below. In case of impracticability there, he purposed tracing the Buller river to its mouth. "On reaching the coast, he was to proceed to Araura, in lat. 43°, the termination of his journey along the west coast in the winter of 1845, and thence to cross the island to Port Cooper. From that point he would attempt to reach the heads of some one of the great southern rivers, and to strike the coast again about the southern boundary of the New Edinburgh settlement." However these de

* Since this was written, the intelligence of the total wreck of the expedition has been fully confirmed. Nevertheless, the indefatigable explorer only awaits fresh means- the result of his own labours and exertions -to renew his undertaking.

« AnteriorContinuar »