v. Danckelman.-Resultate der meteorologischen Stationen im Herero- und Namaqualand Mittheilungen des Vereins für Erdkunde, Leipzig, 1884-1885. Denkschrift des Reichskanzlers über die deutschen Schutzgebiete: D. Kol. Ztg. 1886. Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft für Südwestafrika: D. Kol. Ztg. 1886-1889. Dominikus.-Ueber die Entwicklung des südlichen Theiles von Südwestafrika : D. Kol. Ztg. 1891. Dove.-Das Klima des aussertropischen Südafrika, 1888. Einwald.-Zur Colonisation von Südwestafrika: Geographische Rundschau, 1887. A Recent Journey in the Kalahari: Proc. R. G. S. 1886. v. François.-Reise nach dem Ngami See: Verh. d. Gesell f. Erdkunde, Berlin, 1890, and Deutsches Kolonialblatt, 1890. Goering.-Bericht des Kaiserlichen Kommissars für das südwestafrikanische Schutzgebiet: D. Kol. Ztg. 1886. Grundemann.-Die Mission in Südwestafrika: D. Kol. Ztg. 1888. Gürich.-Geologischer Bau des afrikanischen Continents: Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen, 1887. Goldlagerstätten in Deutsch-Südwest-Africa: Zeitschrift d. deutschen geolog. Hahn.-Angra Pequeña vor 25 Jahren Mittheilungen der geographischen Unsere Südafrikanischen Kolonien und Schutzgebiete: Ausland, 1887. Hann. Klima der Walfischbai: Meteorologische Zeitschrift, 1888. -- Hermann. Ein Ritt durch das Südwestafrikanische Schutzgebiet: D. Kol. Ztg. 1888. Aus Südwestafrika: D. Kol. Ztg. 1889. Gross Namaland: D. Kol. Ztg. 1890. Hoffmann.-Beiträge zur Beschreibung der Küste von Damara und Gross- Einige Plätze an der Westküste von Africa; Kleine Hydrographische Israel.-Land und Leute in Damara und Namaqua Gebiete: Globus, 1885. Le Monnier.-Angra Pequeña : Geogr. Rundschau, 1884. Lüderitz.-Letzte Reise und Tod: Kolonial-Politische Correspondenz, 1887: D. Kol. Ztg. 1887. Merensky.-Deutschland's Interessen in Südafrika: D. Kol. Ztg. 1887. Meteorologische Beobachtungen in der Walfischbai.-Deutsche überseeische meteorologische Beobachtungen, herausgegeben von der deutschen Seewarte, 1888 and 1891. Moulle.-Mémoire sur la géologie générale de l'Afrique, 1885. Ngami-See.-Gebiet: D. Kol. Ztg. 1886. Nolte. Die Westliche Kalahariwüste: D. Kol. Ztg. 1886. Erlebnisse im Hinterlande von Angra Pequeña, 1886. Pechuel-Loesche.-Südafrikanische Laterite: Ausland, 1885. Die Walfisch bai und das Herero-Land: D. Kol. Ztg. 1886. v. Rohden.-Geschichte der Rheinischen Missionsgesellschaft, 3 Ausgabe, 1888. Schenck.-Das Gebiet zwischen Angra Pequeña und Bethanien: Pet. Geogr. Mitt. 1885. Die Geologische Entwicklung Südafrikas: Pet. Geogr. Mitt. 1888, and Sitzungsberichte der Niederrhein. Gesell. f. Natur- und Heilkunde, 1887. Schinz.-Deutsch-Südwest-Afrika, 1891. Die Koloniale Entwicklung Südwestafrikas: D. Kol. Ztg. 1887. Beiträge zur Flora von Südwestafrika: Verhandlungen des botanischen Exploration dans le Sud-Ouest de l'Afrique : L'Afrique explorée, 1887. Vorgänge in Südwestafrika: D. Kol. Ztg. 1888. Zur afrikanischen Orthographie und Nomenklatur: D. Kol. Ztg. 1889. Die Bedeutung von Südwestafrika als Kolonie : D. Kol. Ztg. 1891. Schulz and Hammar.-Erforschung der Chobe- und Cubango Flusse: Verh. d. Gesell. f. Erdk., Berlin, 1885. Schwarz.-Ein deutsches Indien, 1884. Otyimbingue: D. Kol. Ztg. 1889. Hendrik Witboy: D. Kol. Ztg. 1889. In den Goldfeldern von Deutsch-Südwestafrika, 1889. Im deutschen Goldlande, 1889. Das deutsche Kalifornien: Geogr. Rundschau, 1890. Spengler. Das Hinterland der Walfisch Bay: D. Kol. Ztg. 1887. Stapff-Das untere Khuisebthal und sein Strandgebiet: Verh. d. Gesell. f. Erdk., Berlin, 1887. Rechtschreibung von Walfischbai und Sandfischhafen: D. Kol. Ztg. 1887. Stapff-Das Untere Khuisebthal: Pet. Geogr. Mitt. 1887. Bodentemperatur im Hinterlande der Walfisch bai: Sitzungsberichte der Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien, 1888. v. Steinäcker.-Die Lage im Hererolande: D. Kol. Ztg. 1887. Aus dem Südwestafrikanischen Schutzgebiete: Pet. Geogr. Mitt. 1889. Stewart.-Southern Africa: Past and Present: Scot. Geogr. Mag. 1891. Theal.-History of South Africa. Tripp.-Physical Configuration and Rainfall of South Africa: Scot. Geogr. Mag. 1886. Wookey. The Kalahari : Chronicle London Miss. Soc. 1888. Wrey.-Report of the Surveyor-General of the Cape of Good Hope for 1885. MINERAL RESOURCES OF COLORADO. BY WM. A. BELL, M.A., M.B. CANTAB. (Read at Meeting of British Association, 1891.) THE rectangular section of the earth's surface which forms the State of Colorado and straddles the back-bone of the North American Continent at its greatest elevation, possesses in many respects a vast amount of interest. It lies 1000 miles distant from the Pacific on the west, and 2000 from the Atlantic on the east, is about equidistant from Mexico on the south and the British possessions on the north, and covers an area of a little more than 100,000 square miles-say half the area of France. Its general topographical features are too well known to need special description. The eastern one-third consists of rolling plains, then to the westward, at an elevation of from 5000 to 6000 feet, the mountains rise from the plateau, range behind range, with a general trend north and south, and more or less cover the country as far as the shores of the Pacific. Amongst the mountains some thirty-nine peaks reach an elevation of over 14,000 feet above the sea-level; not one of them reaches 14,500.—a remarkable instance perhaps of uniform glacial erosion. Along the eastern foot of the mountains the chief towns of the State are rapidly growing. To them, through the natural gateways in the mountains, come the mineral productions--the ores of silver, gold, iron, copper and lead. From the southern and south-western part of the State are brought the coal and coke required to smelt them; and, all along the mountainbase, there are already raised, by means of irrigation, more than enough grain and vegetables to feed the entire population. Agriculture is not, however, confined to the eastern mountain-base. The valleys amongst the mountains not higher than 7800 feet or lower than 7000 yield the hardier crops mostly without irrigation; and all over the State, particularly on the Pacific side of the continental water-shed, there are wide, warm, and very fertile valleys of lower elevation, which, by means of irrigation, have become very productive and are yielding the more tender fruits, including peaches and grapes, besides other produce. The broad valley of Grand River, above and below Grand Junction in the western part of the State, and the Montezuma valley to the south-west, are good examples. They are similar in general features to the Salt Lake Valley of Utah, and, if anything, more fertile. Cultivation by means of irrigation was a new industry to the American settler twenty years ago. Everything connected with it had to be learned, and the active-brained Western colonists took the subject up with characteristic energy. The lawyers at once commenced to frame laws adapted to the hitherto new conditions, and they have been striving most diligently to make the irrigation laws of Colorado as just and as easy of application as possible; and a very hard task they are striving to accomplish. This code of laws has been growing-developing, in factyear by year. Its main features are certainly worthy at least of mention. The theory of original land tenure in the United States (Texas excepted) is this, namely, that the land, until it becomes owned by some individual, is the property of the State, and that any man who desires to own land can acquire a certain limited quantity by paying certain moneys and doing certain acts. "First come, first served" is the maxim which has extended settlement so rapidly. Now, with respect to water, the State of Colorado considered itself empowered to make its own laws; and in its constitution it affirmed that the unappropriated water in the streams throughout the State and the bed of the streams were public property, and were open to "use and appropriation" by settlers just as the public lands were. Thus it separated the streams from the land. One man might take up land and another might take up water for use on a distant piece of land. But once a man acquired by "use and appropriation" a vested right to a specific amount of water, that amount of water became his property; and by paying certain fees and "proving up," as it is called, he had his water-right duly registered and accepted. Again, the maxim "First come, first served" obtains, and "priority of right" has been made the basis of the water laws of Colorado-and, we may say, of all the far Western States and Territories. Let us make this more clear. If A first takes from a certain stream a certain amount of water for the purpose of irrigating a certain piece of land, no matter where that land is situated with respect to the stream, it only being necessary that the water be diverted to the land and used to irrigate it, A then acquires a vested right for ever to take that amount of water from that stream provided the stream contains it, and B, who comes second as to his appropriation, or L, who comes twelfth, can only establish his right to water subject to the prior claims of those who are before him. This has been the principle adopted, instead of one looking to the equal subdivision of water amongst those who need it or its equal apportionment to neighbouring lands. An endless number of difficult points connected with water-rights have been, and are being, adjudicated in the courts of the State, and the legal difficulties involved in the equitable application of the "priority right" principle seem rather to increase than to diminish. And yet it is probably the best principle which an Anglo-Saxon nation can adopt. Meanwhile water companies have been formed all over the State, and millions of pounds sterling have been expended on irrigating canals and ditches. Indeed, the activity of the capitalist in rendering large areas of land arable, by putting them under ditch, has far outstripped the settler in his eagerness to acquire land under ditch. This may be accounted for, first, by the habitual caution exercised by the farmer before taking up any new process with which he is unfamiliar, and, secondly, by the fact that agricultural settlers are usually driven to seek a new locality on account of straitened circumstances, and lands under ditch have generally ceased to be public land, and have to be purchased at a profit to the owner. The water also, whether purchased outright or rented, costs the settler money. Thus, settlement on irrigable land in Colorado is for the most part beyond the reach of those who have not some means, and these latter are few as compared with the vast numbers of settlers who have been moving westward and extending the frontier line during the last twenty years, most of whom had very little, if any, capital. Colorado is very justly becoming widely known and appreciated on account of the healthfulness of its climate. Persons suffering from asthma, and those who are more or less consumptive, usually derive great benefit from it. The surface varies so much topographically, that great variety of temperature exists there. Taking, however, the more favoured mean, which is to be found close to the mountains along the eastern base, at from 5600 to 6500 feet above the sea-level, it may be said that the heat of summer is never excessive, nor the cold of winter trying to the most delicate constitutions. The snow-fall is very light, the winters are open and sunny, and the average yearly precipitation is about eighteen inches. One is very seldom confined to the house from stress of weather, and yet it often freezes hard during the night, and, but for the dryness of the air and the strength of the sun, the winters might, taking the mean temperature, be considered too cold for invalids. This is, however, not at all the case. It is during the winter half-year that the tonic effects of this dry bracing air act most beneficially upon the system impoverished by consumption or other debilitating chronic ailments. At such places as Colorado Springs and Maniton every comfort and many of the pleasures of life can be obtained, and banishment to the Rocky Mountains has become in reality a very enjoyable form of exile. Has the climate been changed by cultivation and irrigation? The meteorological observations of many years do not yield any evidence of a marked change having taken place. A feeling of local dampness disposes people to think that the climate is changing, but in reality if the cultivation and irrigation of a limited area does to some small extent tend to increase the rainfall, this tendency is counterbalanced by the destruction of timber by fire and by the axe. From an elevation of 7000 feet to that of 11,000, the surface of the hill-country has been and would be mostly covered by timber, chiefly pine and spruce, but for the forest fires. It is fortunate for the country that a fast-growing species of the poplar, the Quaking Aspen, at once takes the place of the pines and spruces when destroyed, and shades the ground and retards the melting of the winter snows. Were it not for this aspen, Colorado, like some other similar countries, would soon become a parched and barren land. Again, irrigation on a large scale has been carried on in the Salt Lake Valley of Utah much longer than elsewhere in the United States, and yet here also there is no distinct evidence of an increased average rainfall. Nor has the periodical rise and fall of the Great Salt Lake, which has been carefully studied for thirty or forty years, been apparently affected by the farming operations. At present this great reservoir happens to be at its lowest stage. From a scientific standpoint, however, the mineral resources of Colorado and the conditions under which they are found, are of far greater interest than its agricultural features. It is not only in the production of the precious metals that Colorado is pre-eminent. The country contains enormous coal-fields, vast deposits of iron ore and other base metals, and yields a good deal of petroleum from wells. We do not usually associate coal-fields with lofty mountains, gold and silver mines |