PROCEEDINGS. 



OF 



THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY 

 OF LONDON. 



SESSION 1855-6f 



First Meeting, November 12, 1855. 



Rear-Admiral F. W. BEECHEY, Presid|:nt, in the Chair. 



Capt. JR. Collinson, r.n., c.b. ; 3Ir. R. Anderson, Surgeon r.n. ; 

 the Rev. Brownrigg Smith, m.a, ; and Thomq^s W. Laroche, Bsq., fvere 

 elected Fellows. 



Sir Roderick Murchison announced the recent erection of the obelisk 

 on the quay of Greenwich Hospital to the memory of Lieut. Bellot;, 

 in the following terms : — 



" Mr. President and Gentlemen, — To the assembled geographers who 

 originated the subscription for the Bellot Testimonial, I beg to announce 

 that an obelisk of granite has just been erected in memory of the noble- 

 minded French officer who in the year 1853 perished amid the Polar 

 ice whilst serving in the last British expedition that sailed in search of 

 our illustrious member, Franklin. At the same time I have to inform 

 you, that about 1500/., the surplus of the subscriptions beyond the cosj: 

 of the obelisk, having been already partially distributed, wijl shortly 

 be entirely divided among the five sisters of the deceased. 



" Not attempting on this occasion to give a sketch of the life of Bellot, 

 I may be permitted to say, that whilst in his earlier naval services he 

 gained the esteem of British sailors by his gallant co-operation, whether 

 in the Rio de la Plata or in suppressing the African slave trade, he 

 afterwards won the affection of all his associates during two perilous 

 and adventurous voyages in search of our missing explorers. In short, 

 the fortitude and daring he exhibited in moments of peril, and the 

 benevolence which shone out in his bright but short career, were emi- 

 nently calculated to rouse that warm an,d genial sympathy for his fate 

 throughout Britain which the monument is destined to mark. 



*' As Chairman of the ComTpittee appointed by the General Meeting 



B 



