434 



Geographical Collections. 



Secretaries. 

 Captain M'Konochie, R.N. I Rev. G. C. Renouard, Foreign and 

 I Hon. Sec. 



Council. 



Viscount Althorp, F.R.S. 



Francis Bailey, Esq. F.R.S. 



Captain Beaufort, R.N., F.R.S. 



John Britton, Esq. F.S.A. 



W. Brockedon, Esq. 



Robert Brown, Esq. F.R.S. 



Sir A. de Capell Brooke, Bart. F.R.S. 



Hon. Mountstuart Elphinstone 



Col. Sir Augustus Frazer, R.A., F.R.S. 



Captain Hall, R.N., F.R.S. 



W. R. Hamilton, Esq. F.R.S. 



R. W. Hay, Esq. F.R.S. 



J. Cam Hobhouse, Esq. F.R.S. 



Captain Horsburgh, F.R.S. 



Colonel Jones, R.E. 



Captain Mangles, R.N., F.R.S. 



Thomas Murdoch, Esq. F.R.S. 



Right Hon. Sir George Murray, G.C.B. 



F.R.S, 

 Captain Lord Prudhoe, R.N., F.R.S. 

 Captain Smyth, R.N., F.R.S. 

 H. G. Ward, Esq. 



" The Chairman then addressed the following Observations to the Meeting, ex- 

 planatory of the general views of the Society. 



" The * Geographical Society of London' being now established, the Provi- 

 sional Committee cannot close its proceedings without adverting to the grati- 

 fying fact of there being enrolled, on the List of its Members, within so short a 

 space of time, considerably more than Four Hundred names. From this great 

 and increasing number, and still more from the general character of the Sub- 

 scribers, it is fair to conclude that a favourable opinion has been formed of the 

 utility likely to result from the labours of such a Society. The degree of utility, 

 however, which will be really affected, the Committee deem it almost unne- 

 cessary to observe, must depend on the attention and assiduity which the Presi- 

 dent, the Vice-Presidents, and the Council may bestow on its concerns, quite as 

 much as on the stock of knowledge they may bring to the consideration of the 

 several subjects that will come before tliem. And not on the Council alone will 

 depend the extent to which the useful labours of the Society are expected to be 

 carried, but in a very great degree also on the assistance which they may receive 

 from the many individuals eminent in the Arts, Sciences, and Literature, and 

 from the distinguished Oificers of the Army and Navy whose names appear on 

 the List of Members. 



" The many opportunities that are aiForded to Officers of the Army, while on 

 Service abroad, and the promptitude and ability with which they avail themselves 

 of them, (as the Office of the Quarter-Master-General and the Board of Ord- 

 nance so amply testify,) are the best pledges of what may reasonably be expected 

 from that quarter ; and the more so since the Committee has had the satisfaction 

 to witness the readiness with which so many distinguished Officers of the Royal 

 Artillery and Engineers have come forward to join the Society. 



" With the same confidence the Committee look for aid from the Officers of 

 the Sister Service, who on their own peculiar element in particular, will it is hoped, 

 be assisted by other experienced Navigators, whether of and belonging to the 

 Corporation of Trinity, the East-India Company, or to any other Maritime 

 Service. On the exactitude of the minutest details of Hydrography must always 

 depend the safety of Commerce and Navigation. Numerous dangers unques- 

 tionably exist in various parts of the ocean, that have not yet been ascertained, 

 while others that have no existence still figure on our Charts, to the dread of 

 Navigators. It has been well observed, that " the man who points out, in the 

 midst of the wide ocean, a single rock unknown before, is a benefactor of the 

 human race ;" and scarcely less so is he, who, after careful examination, is able 

 to decide that a rock or shoal, which appears on a chart, is either misplaced or 

 has no existence These, it is true, may not be ranked among brilliant disco- 

 veries ; but the smallest obstruction, whether rock or shoal, that exists in the 



