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From the National Geographic Magazine, copyright 1911
The great Rainbow natural bridge of southern Utah
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REDWAY'S GEOGRAPHICAL READERS WEALTH OF THE WORLD'S WASTE PLACES AND OCEANIA BY JEWETT C. GILSON FORMER SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA ILLUSTRATED CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS NEW YORK :::::::::::::::::: 1913 |
Copyright, 1913,
by JEWETT C. GILSON
PREFACE
viiAlthough the term "Waste Places" carries an implied meaning of"worthless," yet, interpreted in the light of Nature's methods, eachregion described, useless as it may apparently seem, possesses adefinite relation to the rest of the world, and therefore to thewell-being of man. The Sahara is the track of the winds whose moisturefertilizes the flood-plains of the Nile. The Himalaya Mountains condensethe rain that gives life to India. From the inhospitable polar regionscome the winds and currents that temper the heat of the tropics.
Nature has secreted many of her most useful treasures in most forbiddingplaces. The nitrates which fertilize so much of Europe are drawn fromthe fiercest of South American deserts, and the gold which measuresAmerican commerce is mined in the arctic wilds of Alaska or in thealmost inaccessible scarps of the western highlands. The description ofthese regions and the portrayal of their relation to the rest of theworld is the purpose of Part I of this book.
Part II of the book deals with Oceania—more especially with our islandpossessions in the Pacific Ocean. It presentsviii the salient features ofthe 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., forsuggesting the subject of Part I and for the inspiration he receivedfrom 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