masses that rise abruptly from the bottom of the Pacific. Mauna Loa, on the island of Hawaii, stands 13,675 feet above sea level, according to the United States Geological Survey, but its slopes descend beneath the sea, as shown by deep-sea soundings, with a grade fully equal to if not greater than that of the visible slopes. The same is generally true of the submarine slopes of the other islands, and the depths attained by these continuous slopes, within 30 to 50 miles of the shores, vary from 14,000 to 19,000 feet. Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, if their true bases are considered to be at the bottom of the Pacific, are therefore mountains of as great an altitude as Mount Everest, or approximately 30,000 feet. In general the Hawaiian Island group consists of summits of a gigantic submarine mountain chain which projects only its loftier peaks and domes above the water. On the island of Hawaii the volcanic forces are still in operation.

The one continuously active volcanic vent of the island is Kilauea, far down on the eastern flank of Mauna Loa-"the great mountain." No other volcano in the world approaches Mauna Loa in the vastness of its mass or in the magnitude of its eruptive activity. There are many volcanic peaks higher in the air, but most of them are planted upon elevated platforms, where they appear as mere cones of greater or less size. It is not yet known at what level the base of Mauna Loa is situated, but it is below the sea-probably far below.

Mauna Kea-"the white mountain"-is also a colossus among volcanoes. Its summit-13,825 feet-is a trifle higher than that of Mauna Loa, but its slopes are steeper and its base is therefore much smaller. The magnitude of Mauna Loa is due chiefly to the great area of its base, which is nearly elliptical in shape, with a major diameter of 74 miles and a minor diameter of 53 miles, measured at sea level.

In the aggregate of its eruptions Mauna Loa is also unrivaled. Some of the volcanoes of Iceland have been known to disgorge at a single outbreak masses of lava fully equal to those of Mauna Loa. But such outbursts are infrequent in Iceland, and a century has elapsed since any of such magnitude have occurred, though there have been several minor eruptions. The eruptions of Mauna Loa are all of great volume and occur irregularly, at an average interval of about eight years. In view of the total quantity of material it has disgorged during the last century, no other volcano is at all comparable to it.

Mauna Loa and Kilauea are in many respects abnormal volcanoes. The most notable feature is the singular quietness of their eruptions. Rarely are these events attended by any of that extremely explosive action which is characteristic of nearly all other volcanoes. Only once or twice within the historic period have they been accompanied by earthquakes or subterranean rumblings. The vast jets of steam blown miles high, hurling stones, cinders, and lapilli far and wide, filling the heavens with vapor and smoke, and hailing down ashes and fragments over the surrounding regions, have never been observed here. Some action of this sort is indeed represented, but only in a feeble way. The lava wells forth like water from a hot, bubbling spring, but so mild are the

explosive forces that the observer may stand to the windward of the grandest eruption, so near the source that the heat will make his face tingle, yet without danger. Ordinarily the outbreak takes place without warning and without the knowledge of the inhabitants, who first become aware of it at nightfall, when the sky is aglow and the fiery fountains are seen playing. As the news spreads, hundreds of people flock to witness the sublime spectacle, displaying almost as much eagerness to approach the scene of an eruption as the people of other countries show to get away from one.

CHILE AND ARGENTINA

Clippings from Prof. E. A. Ross's fourth paper on "South of Panama" in the Century for February—

"In Valparaiso one is struck with the signs of English influence: on the commercial streets every third man suggests the Briton."

"The central valley running north and south for two hundred miles * is the heart of Chile."

"This is a land of great estates, held chiefly by absentees, and its produce goes not to sustain a fine rural life but to keep up a house in a provincial capital, or a mud-and-marble mansion in Santiago.

roads.

"The best thing in Chile is the horse *** the worst thing in Chile is the

"About 30 years ago a stream of German immigration laved southern Chile. *** The country abounds in fine farm houses and big barns like those of the Germans in Wisconsin. *** In every case the mayor is a German, elected by Chilean votes, for the Germans enjoy a great reputation for probity in public office."

"As a laborer the Chilean has good points-physical endurance and energy; but he must have direction, and working on his own place for himself, he is fitful.”

"After a night's run we woke half way across Argentina. The pampa is amazingly level-as flat as the flattest prairies of Illinois. Channels, erosions, or other signs of running water there are none. In one hundred and fifty miles I noticed not one bridge or culvert on the railway."

"Buenos Aires, with its million and a half inhabitants, is a veritable Niagara of human power."

"Argentina has the future of a white man's country; *** the proportion of the blood of the Argentine people which is non-Caucasian certainly does not exceed five per cent. *** No people of the Western Hemisphere, save the Canadians, is racially so European as the population of Argentina."

"While Argentina has in store growth and prosperity, I do not look for her people to manifest as much force of character as the American people at the corresponding stage."

Volume XIII

T

APRIL 1915

THE GEOGRAPHY OF TENNESSEE

By W. M. Gregory

Normal School, Cleveland, O.

Number 8

ENNESSEE is the child of North Carolina and Virginia. Her northern and southern boundaries are inherited lines from colonial land grants given by Charles II. The rugged Unaka Mountains, the western range of the Blue Ridge, are the barrier on the crest of which is the eastern boundary; the western limit of the state is determined by the Mississippi River. This stream was a route offering easy access to the early explorers, among whom were DeSoto in 1541 and LaSalle in 1682. The Unaka Mountains were such a difficult barrier that the early settlers in the state felt so isolated from their homes in North Carolina and Virginia, that they formed the state of Franklin and, for the purpose of protecting their trade upon the Mississippi, even considered casting in their lot with a foreign country. In consequence of these early ambitions, Tennessee was admitted as a state in 1796 with its capital located at Knoxville. The early settlement of the state was due to its rivers, which were a means of easy transportation reaching back to the gaps in the mountains; also the early quieting of Indian claims had a considerable share in rendering the land safe to the pioneer. Tennessee was the route across which moved a great stream of settlers for other states, and in this manner became a "mother of states." It has been the home of three Presidents: Jackson, Polk, and Johnson. Many southern statesmen claim Tennessee as their native state, and in the Civil War it was a battlefield second in importance only to Virginia.

The state includes a portion of nearly all the great physiographic regions east of the Mississippi River. The hard crystalline rocks along its eastern border form the highest mountains of the Appalachians; the folded limestones and shales have been deeply eroded to form the Great Valley; the horizontal sandstones constitute the Cumberland Plateau, west of which is the Central Basin and the western valley of the Tennessee River; and the extreme western portion of the state is a low plateau, the bluff of which overlooks the alluvial plain of the Mississippi.

These eight distinct physical regions of Tennessee have influenced or controlled the occupations and industries of the state to such an extent that it seems best to describe them more in detail.

1. The Unaka Mountains

These granite mountains are the most massive of the Appalachian Highland and in their parallel ranges on the eastern border of the state are the high, well-rounded domes of Mt. Mitchell and Mt. Guyot. These mountains are the base upon which was deposited the series of sedimentary rocks from which

the features of other portions of the state have been eroded. The long continued erosion has entirely removed the former covering of sedimentary rocks, and now the granite core forms the well weathered slopes of the Unakas. These smooth, waste-covered slopes are heavily forested nearly to the grassy "bald" at their summit. Where the tributaries of the Tennessee cross these mountains occur deep, rugged valleys occupied by railroad lines and highways. 2. The Valley of East Tennessee

This portion of the Great Valley was eroded from layers of sedimentary rocks which have been greatly folded and faulted. This long valley is about sixty miles wide from the Cumberland Gap to the edge of the Unakas, while farther south in the vicinity of Chattanooga it is less than forty miles in width. The western edge of this great valley is determined by the almost continuous escarpment of the Cumberland Plateau, Walden Ridge, which stands about 1000 feet above the general level of the valley floor. On the floor of this valley are low longitudinal ridges which are the most continuous and the highest in its western half, while in the eastern portion the ridges are much smaller and less continuous. These ridges determine in a very striking manner the course of the minor streams and the lines of traffic. The Tennessee, flowing southwest, is the master stream; the southern half of its course is at the foot of Walden Ridge which position it has attained by cutting across the longitudinal ridges from Knoxville to Kingston. The Clinch, Holstein, and French Broad are its tributaries from the northeast, while the Hiwasse is a transverse branch from the southeast. The latter stream has many creeks, joining it at right angles from the valleys or "coves" between the main ridges. Near Chattanooga the Tennessee River turns sharply upon its course in the famous "Moccasin Bend" and passes into the deep, steep-sided gorge which it has cut into the Cumberland Plateau. It has been suggested that this course of the Tennessee is the deeply intrenched course of the ancient river.

3. The Cumberland Plateau

This region, often incorrectly called the Cumberland Mountains, is a smooth tableland except along its ragged western edge and the steep, irregular face overlooking the Great Valley. The bed rock is a horizontal sandstone which bears the coal measures of the state. The land is wooded with scrub oak and the lean soil derived from the underlying sandstone is ill adapted to agriculture.

4. The Highlands and the Basin of Middle Tennessee

The central portion of the state is a saucer-like depression, the deep portion of which is the Central Basin while the broad rim is the Highland Region or Rim. The Central Basin is 300 to 400 feet lower than the Rim, and its surface is gently rolling with here and there a small unconsumed rocky hill. The Basin has outlets cut in its rim by the Duck, Elk, and Cumberland rivers. The rich soil has been weathered from the underlying blue limestone, and it is the richest agricultural region in the state. It is a "Blue Grass" region as

fertile as the more famous one of Kentucky. This "Dimple of Tennessee" supports the largest part of the population of the state. Nashville, which is situated on the southern-most bend of the Cumberland river, is in a low part of the Central Basin. The Rim of Highlands consists of barrens along the edge of the Basin. Back from the edge is a belt of fertile red soil, while throughout the Highlands limestone sinks are widely distributed, and caves frequently occur.

5. The Western Valley of the Tennessee

The Tennessee in its northern course across the state has entrenched itself in a deep and narrow valley, less than ten miles wide and nearly 500 feet below the general surface. Excellent soils occur in the narrow bottom lands, and the stream is a highway for river traffic.

6. Uplands of Western Tennessee

The lands slope gradually from the valley of the Tennessee to the bottomlands of the Mississippi. The "Bluff" edge of these uplands overlooks the broad flood plain of the Mississippi, and where the river reaches the base of the bluff, there is a natural site for a landing place and a trading city. The light sandy soils are formed from the soft Cretaceous and Tertiary bed rock. The bluff loess is a broad belt 20 to 30 miles wide in the western half of this region, and undoubtedly owes its origin to the fine alluvium carried by the wind from the bottom lands to the bluff.

7. The Mississippi Bottom Lands

Along the western border of the state are the low swampy bottom-lands of the Mississippi flood plain, which are not over 215 feet above the Gulf of Mexico. It is the smallest of the natural provinces of the state, and it has its greatest width in the Reelfoot Lake district at the northwestern corner of the state. This latter region is of considerable interest as it was not in existence before the earthquake of 1811-12. This disturbance dammed up the old course of Reelfoot River forming a lake 18 miles long and three miles wide.

CLIMATE, SOIL AND AGRICULTURE

Climate. The climate within the state is considerably modified by the range in elevation from 200 feet above sea in the Western bottom-lands to 5,000 feet in places in the Unaka Range. The average annual temperature for places in the latter range is 45 degrees and for the bottom-lands 61 degrees. The length of the growing season, or the season between killing frosts, is of the greatest importance where agriculture is the chief occupation. The growing season ranges from 180 days to 200 days. In some sections of the state a wheat and corn crop may be taken from the same soil each season. The total precipitation is nearly 50 inches, and the months of the growing season receive the most rain, while fall droughts are common. In 1913 Nashville had 261 days with no measurable fall of rain. Snowfalls are light and remain only a few days. Low temperatures are rare and of short duration; in conse