Preface

Although the term "Waste Places" carries an implied meaning of "worthless," yet, interpreted in the light of Nature's methods, each region described, useless as it may apparently seem, possesses a definite relation to the rest of the world, and therefore to the well-being of man. The Sahara is the track of the winds whose moisture fertilizes the flood-plains of the Nile. The Himalaya Mountains condense the rain that gives life to India. From the inhospitable polar regions come the winds and currents that temper the heat of the tropics.

Nature has secreted many of her most useful treasures in most forbidding places. The nitrates which fertilize so much of Europe are drawn from the fiercest of South American deserts, and the gold which measures American commerce is mined in the arctic wilds of Alaska or in the almost inaccessible scarps of the western highlands. The description of these regions and the portrayal of their relation to the rest of the world is the purpose of Part I of this book.

Part II of the book deals with Oceania—more especially with our island possessions in the Pacific Ocean. It presents the salient features of the ocean grand division in the light of most recent knowledge.

The author wishes to give credit to Mr. Jacques W. Redway, F.R.G.S., for suggesting the subject of Part I and for the inspiration he received from the distinguished geographer in developing the subject.

J. C. G.

Oakland, California,
December 25, 1912.

CONTENTS

PART I WEALTH OF THE WORLD'S WASTE PLACES

PAGE

Introduction

CHAPTER

I. The Wealth of the Arid Southwest

II. The Grand Canyon of the Colorado

III. Yellowstone Park

IV. Two Prehistoric Cemeteries—Giant Reptiles and Giant Trees

V. Death Valley

VI. The Mineral Wealth of the Andes

VII. The Czar's Greater Domain

VIII. The Mystic Highlands of Asia

IX. The Primal Home of the Saracen

X. The Sahara

XI. Polar Regions—the Conquest of the Arctic

XII. Polar Regions—Antarctica

XIII. Iceland, the Maid of the North

XIV. Greenland

XV. Where the Two Great Oceans Meet

XVI. Reclaimable Swamp Regions

XVII. Strange Rock Formations—Natural Bridges

XVIII. Strange Rock Formations—Table Mountain of California

XIX. Strange Rock Formations—Gibraltar

XX. The Baku Oil Fields

XXI. The South African Diamond Fields

PART II OCEANIA

XXII. The Islands of the Pacific

XXIII. Australia

XXIV. The Great Barrier Reef

XXV. The Gold Fields of Australia

XXVI. Tasmania

XXVII. New Zealand

XXVIII. Samoa and Fiji

XXIX. The Hawaiian Islands

XXX. Guam

XXXI. The Philippine Islands

XXXII. The Dutch East Indies—Java

XXXIII. The Dutch East Indies—Sumatra and Celebes

XXXIV. Borneo and Papua