president's address. 773 



Australia, solely for the purpose of discharging a religious duty, 

 but, owing to his knowledge of botany, his connection with a 

 leading horticultural establishment in England, and his love of 

 observing and collecting, the results of his journey have proved 

 extremely valuable. 



He kept journals and formed a considerable herbarium, 

 including many plants collected by .Sir William Macarthur : his 

 name is commemorated in that of the genus Backhousia. 



Mr. Ronald Campbell Gunn, with his friend and companion 

 Mr. Robert William Lawrence, of Tasmania, who died in 1832, 

 commenced exploring the northern parts of that island, and 

 afterwards, between 1832 and 1850, collected so indefatigably 

 over a great part of Tasmania, that there are few plants there 

 which he did not see alive and collect : his collections were all 

 transmitted to England in perfect preservation, accompanied by 

 notes which displayed remarkable powers of observation and a 

 facility for seizing important characters in the physiognomy of 

 plants, such as few experienced botanists possessed : the name 

 Gunnia was bestowed in his honour on the only epiphytal orchid 

 in Tasmania, now relegated to Sarcochilus. 



In 1833, Baron Charles von Hiigel, an Austrian, made con- 

 siderable collections in the Swan River colony, and, in 1837, 

 commenced the publication of his " Enumeratio Plantarum," 

 which, however, was never finished. 



In 1838, the establishment of Port Essington was attempted 

 for the fourth time by Sir Gordon Bremer, and Mr. Armstrong 

 went to reside there as collector for the Kew Herbarium. John 

 McGillivray was stationed there for some time, and in 1842 he 

 accompanied an expedition in H.M.Ss. "Fly" and ''Bramble," 

 sent out to make a further survey of the tropical coasts of 

 Australia. In 1847 he accompanied an expedition in H.M.S. 

 " Rattlesnake " to Port Curtis, Rockingham Bay, Port Molle, 

 Cape York, and Goold, Lizard and Moreton Islands, and, owing 

 to the death of Captain Stanley, the narrative devolved upon 

 him. His book abounds in interesting observations on the vege- 

 tation of Australia. 



