Rensselaer Union, Volume 5, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 April 1873 — Unexplored Lands. [ARTICLE]

Unexplored Lands.

The Academy, London, gives us some interesting details upon the unknown regions of the globe. Tliese regions ’are •mainly four: The Antarctic region, theextent of which is about seventy-five times 111® of Great Britain; tlic Arctic region; Central Africa and Western Australia. That which lies around the South Pole is almost coterminous with the Antarctic circle, ..and can he traced out by the farthest points reached by the voyagers, Cook, Ballinglnutsen, Weddell, Biscoe, Kemp, Balleny, D’Urville, Wilkes, Ross and Moore, from 1773 to 1845. That, part of its boundary- of harrier ice which lies nearest the South Pole, in latitude 78 degrees 10 minutes south of New Zealand, was attained by- Ross in February, 1843. The unknown region of the Arctic Pole is also more or less circular in form, except where it. stretches southward to the vast inland ice fields of Greenland. In the long list of “furthest points” which constitute its margin, the inroads made on the previously unknown bv Gill is, Wrangell, Parry, Collinson, Madintoek, Kane, ltogjers, .Ilaycs, Pryor and Mack from 1707 to 1871 remain perhaps the most notable. J?o one lias as yet approached nearer the North Pole than Barry, who reached the latitude of 81 degrees 45 minutes, over ice,to northward of Spitsbergen, in July of 1827. The unexplored African area of tropical forests and great population, the most interesting of all, because it is the most promising in useful results, stretches from the furthest points explored By the Portuguese travelers of 180(5, of the Hungarian Ludislmis Magyar in 1850, and of Livingstone in later years, on the south to the points nearest (lie equator reached by Barth in 1855 on the north. Eastward its outline is given by points on the routes of Speke in 1862, Baker in 1804, Schwein-, forth, in 1870, and Livingstone in 1870-72. On the west the iimits of unknown Africa approach very closely to the coast' and, near the equator, have only been driven inland at the extremities of Du Cliaillu’s journeys of 1805 and 1860, and by- the high point on the Ogowai River attained by Walker in 1866. The settled parts of the coastland of Angola gave the boundary- on the southwest. If it be successful, the “Livingstone Congo” expedition, under Lieutenant Grundy, will penetrate to the very heart of the unknown space. In Australia the great unknown desert region lies west of the track explored from south to north by Stuart in 1861-62 which now murks tlie line of telegraphic communication across the continent. On the south it extends almost to the sleep shores of the great Australian bight; on the north, the greatest inroad on its domain was made by A. C. Gregory- in 1856; westward its outline is formed by the turning-points of tlie journeys made by- Roe, A. C. Gregory, Austin, F.'Gregory and Forrest from 1846 to the present time. The areas of these unknown regions are approximately- as . follows:. ■Square Miles. South Polar area 6.800,000 North. Polar area 2,000,000 Central African area .1:050,000 Australian area BM.OOtj 1 < i) — A Bakkel Full ok Money.— A well known Chicago commission merchant chant, while on a visit to this city, some time since, advised some of his customers that it was a good time to invest in corn, and that by such an investment, at the then prices, in his language “ a barrel of money could be made.” The advice was taken, and a hundred thousand or so bushels of corn purchased by several gentleqten. As time rolled on the hopes of an advanefe grew daily fainter, and at last (lie down? ward tendency showed tlie certain pro#, licet of a loss. On Saturday, a meeting of the victims was held, and,*after cohsultation, an empty flour barrel was procured and sent to the aloresaid commission meri chant, with the request that lie would fill it with greenbacks, and return. He lias not y-et been heard from, but it is supposed that'he will comply with - the request, as -he ia ' in-sluty-bound to (Vo so.— L'rfuytte (TmT.) Jo',mail. , An lowa City lien lias gone Into the priming business, She laid an egg she other day with several printed words on UiPJusidtf of tha shell,.