172 Land Magnetic Observations, 1914-20 



our arrival at Adelaide December 2. I proceeded to Melbourne, where matters in con- 

 nection with the work in Australia were wound up. The return journey to Washington 

 began December 9. The route taken was from Melbourne to Syndey, Wellington (New 

 Zealand), Rarotonga, Papeete, and San Francisco, and thence by rail to Washington. 

 The journey was broken at Wellington so as to enable me to spend 3 weeks in New Zea- 

 land on leave. I secured passage on the steamer Marama January 7 at Wellington, 

 and reached San Francisco January 27. Taking train for Washington the same day, 

 I arrived January 31, and reported at the office on the following day. 



Messrs. Brown and Parkinson were engaged in completing the intercomparison 

 work and in the checking of computations until their assignments, on December 10 and 

 December 26, respectively, to new field campaigns. 



Australia, as a whole, is highly disturbed magnetically, but particularly in Tas- 

 mania, South Australia, Victoria, and the coastal districts of New South Wales. The 

 great central and western desert and semi-desert country is probably somewhat less 

 disturbed than the coastal areas. There are numerous cases of very marked local dis- 

 turbance in Tasmania and on the mainland, e. g., Port Walcott, Mount Magnet, and 

 Magnetic Island. These are usually traceable to geological formations, but in South 

 Australia this is not so obviously the case. 



Throughout the whole work in Australia, great assistance and encouragement were 

 received from many government officials in all parts of the Commonwealth. This was 

 especially true with regard to the various lands and survey departments, and the gov- 

 ernment observatories. In the more sparsely populated districts, members of the party 

 were often dependent on the hospitality of the settlers, which was always of a most 

 cordial description. 



We are especially indebted to the kindness of Mr. P. Baracchi, the Government 

 Astronomer of Victoria, and of his chief assistant, Dr. J. M. Baldwin. Mr. Baracchi's 

 interest enabled me to use the Melbourne Observatory as a base-station to which my 

 mail could be addressed, and at which, with his assistance, intercomparisons of instru- 

 ments could be made. He also loaned a dip circle on several occasions, and helped in 

 numerous other ways. 



W. C. Parkinson, on Magnetic Work in Western Australia, April to October 1914. 



Following the instructions of my chief of party, Mr. E. Kidson, dated April 22, 1914, 

 I proceeded to carry out a survey along the southwestern and southern coasts of the 

 state of Western Australia, and along the rabbit fence running northward across the 

 state to Port Hedland. The instrument used for this work was universal magnetometer 

 No. 14 with the usual accessories. As the work outlined lay across regions where there 

 were but few railways, it had been planned to use a small automobile for transportation, 

 and accordingly one was purchased for the purpose. Mr. W. B. Alexander of the Western 

 Australia Museum accompanied the expedition over the first portion of the journey, 

 in order to collect natural history specimens in a region which had been little visited 

 for that purpose. 



We left Perth April 24, going first south by way of Bunbury and Cape Leeuwin, 

 and thence to Albany. After a short trip to Port Frankland, and a further delay on 

 account of heavy rains, we left Albany for the east on May 12, intending to follow the 

 coast to Bremer Bay. Owing to a breakdown resulting from becoming mired in a bog, 

 it was not until May 15 that we arrived at Marra on the Pallinup River. Here we learned 

 that the road to Bremer Bay was impassable, and a detour was made by way of Ravens- 

 thorpe in order to reach Hopetoun. We then followed the rabbit fence northward to 

 129-Mile Hut (see view 4 of Plate 4) where a station was established, after which we 

 went eastward again, reaching Esperance on May 26. Traveling eastward from the 



