Berlin, 1885–1890) or Bretschneider’s Map of China (1:4,600,000)
a new edition of which appeared at St Petersburg in 1900.
There are good survey maps of the British colony of Hong-Kong,
of Wei-hai-Wei and of the country around Kiao-chou, and the
establishment of topographical offices at Peking and Ngan-king
holds out some promise of native surveys. In the meantime
large scale maps prepared by European authorities are to be
welcomed, such as maps of Chih-li and Shan-tung (1:200,000),
from surveys by Prussian officers, 1901–1905, maps on East
China (1:1,000,000) and of Yun-nan by British, German
and Indian officers, of the Indo-Chinese frontier (1:200,000,
Paris 1908), and of the upper Yangtsze-kiang by S. Chevalier
(Shanghai, 1900).
Japan has a regular survey department originated by Europeans and successfully carried on by natives. The primary triangulation was completed in 1880, a topographical map coloured geologically (1:200,000) was published 1889–1897, and in addition to this there are being published an agronomical map on a scale of 1:100,000 (since 1887) and others. The Japanese government has likewise published a map of Korea (1:1,000,000; 1898).
The Philippine Islands are represented in a carefully compiled map by C. W. Hodgson (1:1,115,000, New York, 1908). Of Java we possess an excellent topographical map based upon surveys made 1850–1887 (1:100,000). A similar map has been in progress for Sumatra since 1883, while the maps for the remaining Dutch Indies are still based, almost exclusively, upon flying surveys. For general purposes the Atlas der Nederlandsche Bezittingen in Oost-Indie by J. N. Stemfoort and J. J. Ten Siethoff, of which a new edition has been published since 1900, may be consulted with confidence.
In Africa nearly all the international boundaries have been carefully surveyed and marked on the ground, since 1880, and yield a good basis as a guide for the map compiler. A general map of Africa, by Colonel Lannoy de Bissy, on a scale of 1:2,000,000 was first published in 1882–1888, Africa. but is carefully revised from time to time. The geographical section of the British general staff is publishing maps of all Africa on scales of 1:250,000 and 1:1,000,000. In Egypt excellent work has been done by a survey department organized and directed by Captain H. G. Lyons up to 1909. It has published a topographical map of the Nile valley (1:50,000), an irrigation map (1:100,000), a general map (1:250,000), numerous cadastral plans, &c. Work on similar lines is carried on in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. Algeria has been in course of survey since 1868, Tunis since 1878, and the results have been published on scales of 1:50,000 and 1:250,000. Of Morocco there are many maps, among which several compiled by the French service géographique de l’armée, including a Carte du Maroc (1:200,000), in progress since 1909. In the British colonies of tropical and of South Africa[1] surveys for the most part are carried on actively. Of the Gambia Colony there is a map by Major E. L. Cowie (1:250,000, 1904–1905); the survey of the Gold Coast Colony is being published by Major F. G. Guggisberg since 1907 (1:125,000 and 1:200,000); southern and northern Nigeria are adequately represented on the maps of the general staff (1:250,000). The states of British South Africa have each their surveyor-general, and a reconnaissance survey has been in progress since 1903. It is based upon a careful triangulation, superintended by Sir D. Gill, and carried in 1907 within 70 m. of Lake Tanganyika. This survey is rapidly superseding other maps, such as the surveyor-general’s map of Cape Colony (1:127,000); A. Duncan’s map of the Orange River State (1:148,705; 1902–1904) and Jeppe’s map of the Transvaal (1:476,000; 1899). The results of a survey of southern Rhodesia are given on the map of the British general staff (1:500,000; 1909), while of north-eastern Rhodesia we have an excellent map compiled by C. L. Beringer in 1907 (1:1,000,000). Surveys in British Central Africa were taken up in 1894; a survey of Lake Nyasa, by Lieut. E. L. Rhoades and W. B. Phillips, was published in 1902. As regards British East Africa and Uganda, the surveys in the latter (on scales of 1:10,000 and 1:125,000) have made considerable progress. The Victoria Nyanza was surveyed by Captain B. Whitehouse (1898–1900), and the results have been published on a scale of 1:292,000. These British possessions, together with the whole of Somaliland and southern Abyssinia, are satisfactorily represented on the maps of the British general staff.
Maps of the French Africa Colonies have been published by the service géographique de l’Afrique occidental and the service géographique des colonies. A map of Senegal (1:100,000) is in progress since 1905. The official maps of the other colonies have been compiled by A. Meunier between 1902 and 1909. They include French West Africa, (1:2,000,000; 2nd ed., 1908), French Guinea (1:500,000; 1902) and the Ivory Coast and Dahomey (1:1,500,000; 1907–1908). A map of the French Congo by J. Hansen (1:1,500,000), was published in 1907. In Madagascar a topographical bureau was established by General J. S. Gallieni in 1896, and the surveys are being published since 1900 on a scale of 1:100,000.
As regards the German colonies we are dependent upon compilations by R. Kiepert, P. Sprigade and M. Moisel. Good maps of the Portuguese colonies are to be found in an Atlas colonial Portugues, a second edition of which was published by the Commissão de Cartographia in 1909. Of the Congo State we have an official map on a scale of 1:1,000,000, published in 1907. Of Italian Eritrea we have excellent maps on various scales of 1:100,000, 1:200,000 and 1:500,000, based upon surveys made between 1888 and 1900.
In the states of Australia cadastral surveys conducted by surveyors-general have been in progress for many years, as also trigonometrical surveys (Western Australia excepted), and the publication of parish and township or county maps keeps pace with the settlement of the country; but with Australia. the exception of Victoria none of these states is in possession of a topographical map equal in accuracy to similar maps published in Europe. In Victoria the so-called geodetic survey was begun in 1858; the maps are published on a scale of 1:126,730. There exists also a general map, on a scale of 1:506,930. Maps on the same scale are available of New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania, on a scale of 1:560,000 for Western Australia, on a scale of 1:253,460 for Queensland. There are likewise maps on smaller scales, which undergo frequent revision. The map of British New Guinea is on a scale of 1:330,200 (1898). New Zealand has a good general map on a scale of 1:633,700. A trigonometrical survey was given up and only details of immediate practical use are required. The “Lands Department” of the Fiji Islands has published a map on a scale of 1:380,000 (1908).
The cadastral surveys in Canada are carried on by a commission of Crown-lands in the old provinces and by a Dominion land office, which lays out townships as in the United States, but with greater accuracy. A surveyor-general is attached to the department of the interior, North America. at Ottawa. He publishes the topographical maps (1:63,366) since 1906. They are based upon theodolite traverses 15 m. apart, and connected with the United States lake and coast surveys, the details being filled in by plane-table surveys on a scale of 1:31,680. The contours, 25 ft. apart, depend upon spirit-levelling. In the Rocky Mountains surveys photographic apparatus is successfully employed. The surveyor-general issues also “sectional maps” (1:190,000 and 1:40,000) and so-called “Standard” topographical maps for the thinly peopled west, on scales of 1:250,000 and 1:500,000. He is responsible likewise for maps of Yukon and of Labrador, supplied by the geological survey, the former on a scale of 1:380,200, the latter of 1:1,584,000. The intelligence branch of the Canadian department of military defence is publishing since 1904 topographical maps on scales of 1:63,366 and 1:126,730, with contours. A geodetic survey department, under Dr. W. F. King, chief astronomer of the Dominion, was established in 1909.
- ↑ See “The Survey in British Africa”: the Annual Report of the Colonial Survey Commission.
