30 miles an hour by flying at about a twomile altitude.

The air navigator of the future will be in constant touch by radio, and there will be radio stations to give him accurate information of weather all along the route, so that he can alter his course to get the maximum advantage from the wind.

He will have flares, which will ignite upon hitting the water, for getting his wind drift at night, and he will have powerful candle parachute flares which will light up the surrounding country in case of a necessary landing at night.

We believe that the America possessed all the essential qualifications in itself for

a safe transatlantic flight. What must be done now is to build a similar plane of twice its size, establish a meteorological organization, and provide large concrete take-off and landing fields and radio beacons and direction-finding stations all along the land part of the route, especially at the landing base. When this is done, I would not hesitate to take with me across the Atlantic my closest friends or relatives.

We feel that our fight with the elements and our labor and preparation are well worth while if we, even in a small degree, helped the progress of aviation and international good-fellowship.

All re

ARTICLES and photographs are desired. For material which the Magazine can use, generous remuneration is made. Contributions should be accompanied by an addressed return envelope and postage.

IMMEDIATELY after the terrific eruption of the world's largest crater, Mt. Katmai, in Alaska, a National Geographic Society expedition was sent to make observations of this remarkable phenomenon. Four expeditions have followed and the extraordinary scientific data resulting given to the world. In this vicinity an eighth wonder of the world was discovered and explored-"The Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes,' a vast area of steaming, spouting fissures. As a result of The Society's discoveries this area has been created a National Monument by proclamation of the President of the United States.

AT an expense of over $50,000 The Society sent a notable series of expeditions into Peru to investigate the traces of the Inca race. Their

of the United

CHARLES G. DAWES
Vice-President
States

JOHN BARTON PAYNE Chairman American Red Cross

A. W. GREELY

Arctic Explorer, Major General U. S. Army

GILBERT GROSVENOR
Editor of National Geographic
Magazine

GEORGE OTIS SMITH

Director U. S. Geological Survey

O. H. TITTMANN

Formerly Superintendent U. S.
Coast and Geodetic Survey

HENRY WHITE

Member American Peace Commission, Formerly U. S. Ambassador to France, Italy, etc.

STEPHEN T. MATHER

Director National Park Service

OF GEOGRAPHIC KNOWLEDGE" discoveries form a large share of our knowledge of a civilization waning when Pizarro first set foot in Peru. THE Society also had the honor of subscribing a substantial sum to the expedition of Admiral Peary, who discovered the North Pole. NOT long ago The Society granted $25,000, and in addition $75,000 was given by individual members to the Government when the congressional appropriation for the purpose was insufficient, and the finest of the giant sequoia trees of California were thereby saved for the American people.

THE Society is conducting extensive explorations and excavations in northwestern New Mexico, which was one of the most densely populated areas in North America before Columbus came, a region where prehistoric peoples lived in vast communal dwellings and whose customs, ceremonies, and name have been engulfed in an oblivion.

TO further the important study of solar radiation in relation to long-range weather forecastings, The Society has appropriated $60,000 to enable the Smithsonian Institution to establish a station

for four years on Mt. Brukkaros, in Southwest

Africa.

N

ORTH of India and Kashmir, across the snowy ranges of the Himalaya and Karakoram, lies a vast area known as central Asia. It is a land of varying characteristics, comprising beautiful mountains, tremendous deserts, and fertile oases. The western part is under Russian domination, but the eastern portion is ruled by the Chinese, who call it “Sinkiang" (the New Dominion).

Sinkiang, or, as it is more generally known, Chinese Turkestan, has for many centuries been the scene of varied migrations, conquests and reconquests. Across it lay the great trade route by which silk was first brought from China to Rome.

MARCO POLO DISCOVERED THE OVIS POLI

Through its northern part stretches the Tien Shan, the Celestial Mountains of the Chinese. Among the snowy peaks ibex are found, and the forested lower slopes are the homes of wapiti and roe deer. Wild sheep roam the rocky hillsides of the range, and gazelle frequent the barren. plains north and south of it.

But it is the Pamir, the high, bleak region of southwestern Chinese Turkestan and southeastern Russian Turkestan,

which holds one of the most interesting wild sheep of the world. There range Ovis poli, named for Marco Polo, who first brought word of their existence when he returned to Venice, in the thirteenth century, after his wanderings across Asia. Record Ovis poli horns far exceed the measurements of those of any other known sheep. Though they have been shot at various times, no comprehensive single collection had been previously obtained.

In 1923, while collecting in the Himalaya of Baltistan and Ladakh, I made inquiries regarding the possibility of a future expedition into the Pamir. All information was that Ovis poli were very scarce. Reports indicated that there had been an epidemic of some disease which had so reduced the number of these sheep that there seemed little chance for a successful expedition.

I noted, however, that all these reports came from Chinese Turkestan, and that none indicated what conditions might be. were an expedition able to operate on the Russian side. The idea occurred to me that it might be possible to find these sheep in greater numbers if permits to hunt there could be obtained.