CONTINENTS TO LET.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 64, 10 April 1909, Page 4

CONTINENTS TO LET.

NO MAN'S LANDS VOL' CAN HAVE IF YOU WANT THEM. It is odd that so much J'uss is made about tho North and South Poles, as if they were the only places on this globe that mail cannot reach. There is still enough unexplored land; iu the world to mako a new continent, if lumped together. • For instance, within ten days' journey from London, by modern express routes, there in a tract of country the size of Germany, France, and Holland combined, and as unknown as the mountains of tho moon. It occupies nearly the whole of central Southern Arabia. THE "DWELLING OF THE VOID.'' This pleasing district is known as the Dahkna, or the "Dwelling of the Void, 7 ' and consists of what Lord Salisbury once politely referred to as "chielly light •soil," when he was speaking of the French possessions in Africa. It is a mighty waste of sand, with not a single 1 river—as fur as can be judged—in over ! 400,000 square miles. Compared with this country, the Sahara is a pleasant and fruitiul tract, j It defies even the Arab and the camel, jit. is unlikely that the whob 400.000 I square miles is worth a ten-pound note. . | However, a plucky Englishman—Mr. I'Bury—is preparing to make an attempt to penetrate into the interior thin year. ! 1 Another wholly unknown tract of j country—one that is likely to show its ' j future explorers more profit than the last mentioned—is to be found in Thibet, along the Lower Brahmaputra. ' and is about the size of the. L'nited 'Kingdom. Oi cours.-, Central Thibet, ' 'Lhassa. and >o forth are mere "tripper" districts now, since the British expedition to the Secret City. But the south'eastern part of the country has yet to 'se. 1 a white man's face. According to ; the newspapers, however, *'au adven- | turous Englishman, carrying his life in his hands/ is -now starting to try his luck in this district. TliK TORTURE KINGS. ' The principal products of this mysterious country, according to rumors \ collected from hill tribesmen around the Outskirts, are vaks, by way of livestock, Kjnyx. agat.-, and other semi-precious | Htoncs, gold-dust, avid some very choice 1 anil ingenious methods of torture. / The priestly Lama* or the rest of •Thibet shun tiu's region, which they say ■is inhabited by low people, who live by ' -trading among each other, and whom , -tliey\ call Wahats. But tihey admit the [ •superiority of the Wahats' tortures, and respect Wahats as experts in that line. P rtndvx'd, the Lamas confess that their • ' IOWII little experiments, formerly made j ion travellers who tried to get into [ 'Lhassa, 'were taught them "by Wahats twho had strayed out of the unexplored territory. , It seems quaint that any part of the (British Empire should remain unitravcrsed by white men. Indeed, it i<, , inecessary to rush the next item into •print in order to include it; for, although unexplored at present, it will •not be so much longer. No less than (three expeditions are starting to pene-1 itrate the "unknown parts of NVv Itiuinea, but up till now nothing can be recorded about the district, except by guesswork, and any surprise may await (the explorers. i The coast is comparatively civilised, tand tin; British portion is administered Ibv the Crown. Certain parts of tho hinterland, too, are 'well known so Imuch so that the Birds of Paradis'* 'which once swarmed in one or two itracts have been 'nearly oMcnuinntcd |by skin-colh'etors employed by l'arl* and jjondon millinery linns. Large portions of the interior. liow•ever, are still jealously preserved by ifamilies who dine, for choice, upon vaeh 10ther. hi spite of this, the-whole island is divided between the British, German, and Dutch nations. 1 300,000 SQOAKE MILES VACANT. lVrhaps. Un the whole., the finest place tto g<'t absolutely lo*t ill is the interior iof South America, where 300,000 square .miles or so are still waiting lor the first iwhite man's foot to intrude on any out •of them. .Most. Of this lies around tin of the Upper Amazon and it* (tributaries. Many of the names politely ■ascribed by the atlas to the rivers and (mountains livre are efforts of imagination. Only a small number have really ("been reached or surveyed, i As two-thirds of the whole region is •impenetrable forest, it is not a place to itake casual strolls in; and over a dozen •expeditions liave either failed, been lost K.-ompletely, or wiped out bv accidents iof travel, in the past forty years, i tilt BAT SNAKES! The principal joys that await forth coming expeditions are fever of a very imalignaut sort, armies 01 ants that can •decimate a baggage-train and even over 1 '.whelm and cat its proprietors, impassible cypress-swampri, and snake-bite. The laUercoinmodity cannot In* equalled . anywhere el<e—there is no place on the igtolui whvi'e deadly »nakes swanu to ' isuch an extent, and hardly any of thvni 1 [permit the least hope of life after a Ibite. J

The fer-de-lance, water-mocassin, ami n dozen others are particularly plentiful; and, by May of variety, the anaiuomla, champion of the world in the .constricting und bone-smashing line, is abundant in the forests. Even the natives—maily harmless forest Indians—have 110 notion of th«e way about, l>ut kill places are alika to them. They Stave been known to bring gold - dust down from places which they cannot, or do not want to, describe. I It is curious to think that in the Iflinmlayas themselves, on the doorstep rf)f India, and 110 very great way from .Simla, there is a district across the border that is still unexplored, though as .large as any three English counties, ami nothing is known o'i the hill-tribes ♦that inhabit it except by rumor. IXTIiEIMD. IXDEED! ! According to native accounts, it is n icountrv of *ull'rageltes for the hill* ■women rule entirely, and each lady with ,lhe properly nullification has al leas! -four or live husbands, who do all the house and farm work and have no voice ,in affairs. This is nut uncommon anion? ,Himalayan, hill-men. but no regular .tribe has yet been found that makes « regular rule of it. Tt should be a good country to keep away from; but Dr. ! JjOngstafT, the well-known explorer. ' .does 71 ot think so, for he is moving in , that direction. • Finally, if you haw the exploring instinct that has made our Empire what lit is. there is stilL plenty of ground for •you, according to choice. If death by .'thirst attracts you, the- Dahkna is the hest place for it. Should you prefer (torture, try the P>ralnnaputra. For a giood chance 01 being broiled and eaten, .you cannot beat Papua; and for snaketbite or fever there is no place like N>\v Guinea. If you survive these the Uoyal Geographical Society will probably give •you it decoration and a dinner at the «lTotcl Cecil.—"Answers."