here been yearly rains, the nitrates long since would have been
leached out. So, the lands the nitrates now fertilize are far greater in
area than that of the region of the nitrates.

Then, perhaps, we turn our eyes oceanward. What! wealth in these great
wastes? Most certainly, and indispensable wealth at that. Let us forget
for a moment that the oceans produce about as much meatstuffs as the
land; this is really the least important feature about them. The oceans
produce one thing that is absolutely necessary for every living thing
almost every hour of the day, and that is fresh water. Every drop of
fresh water that falls on the land is born of the ocean. Even the cold,
polar oceans are indispensable to life, for their waters are constantly
flowing out into the warmer oceans, thereby tempering the water of the
latter and preventing it from being too warm for living things.

Thus we see that, after all, Dame Nature is not very unkind to her
subjects. Compensation is her great law; if her supplies are "short" in
one direction they are "long" in another. And when we take the broader
view we must conclude that there are no waste places. It is only when we
take the extreme and narrow view that we voice the persiflage of the
poet Pope:

"While man exclaims: 'See all things for my use'--
'See man for mine,' replies a pampered goose."

Now, these waste places are of various kinds and in pretty nearly every
locality. Some are deserts pure and simple; some are very dry and, to
avoid hurting our national feelings, we politely refer to them as "arid
regions"; some are so rugged and inaccessible that nothing short of
dirigible balloons and aeroplanes could open a general communication
with them; still others are in polar regions and too bleak and desolate
to produce foodstuffs or support human life. The purpose of these
chapters is to present the characteristics of these waste places. Most
of them have been conquered by man, and their resources have been opened
wide to the world. Possibly others yet remain to be conquered, but "what
man has done, man can do."

CHAPTER I

THE WEALTH OF THE ARID SOUTHWEST

Years ago the maps of the United States depicted a vast region west of
the Missouri River stippled with dots, which were supposed to imitate
sand, and marked with the portentous legend, "Great American Desert." As
sturdy pioneers pushed their settlements farther and farther westward,
the great American desert