Of General Interest

Articles in The Geographical Journal. Several interesting articles have appeared recently in The Geographical Journal (London).

“Search for Power in the British Columbia Coast Range,” by R. C. Farrow, Chief Hydraulic Engineer of the Water Rights Branch of the Province of B. C., in the issue for September-Octo- ber 1945, deals with three seasons’ field work in the years 1928, 1929 and 1930 in the Coast Range between the Fraser and Skeena Rivers. The problem was to estimate the reserves of water power and their possible harnessing, from the lakes and glacial rivers of this rugged and unsurveyed area. Without going into details, the accounts of the struggles of the several survey parties to get about in this wild country are of particular interest to mountaineers who have to face similar difficulties in approaching the peaks of the Coast Range. The general feeling among the surveyors

was that this was the most formidable country they had ever worked in. Most of their time was spent in the Chilko Lake, Tatlayoko Lake and Homathko River sectors. (Conditions there remain unchanged in 1946.)

“Researches on Snow and Ice, 1918-1940,” by H. W. Ahlmann, appeared in the January-February 1946 issue. The areas covered include the Jotunheim in southern Norway and the Karsa Glacier farther N., the Vatnajökull in Iceland, Clavering Island off the E. coast of Greenland, and some glaciers in Spitsbergen and North East Land. The article is well illustrated and has numerous excellent diagrams and sketch maps. There are comments at the end by N. E. Odell, G. Seligman, Dr. Federov and other well known authorities.

In the March-April 1946 issue is an article on “The 1945 Eruption of (Mt.) Ruapehu” (New Zealand), by C. A. Cotton. To one who has climbed this long somnolent volcano, with its crater filled by a lake some 600 yards in diameter, this recurrence of volcanic activity is indeed a surprise. There are several fine close-up aerial photographs of the various phases of the eruptions. In the same issue are three articles on the Arctic flights of the British R.A.F. Lancaster Aries in May 1945, over the North Pole, North Magnetic Pole, Iceland, Greenland, Ellesmere Island, and routes over northern Canada.

H. S. H., Jr.