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CONTACT WITH INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE 



came two Dutch scientists, Dr. J. D. Hardenberg and Mr. C. Veen, who 

 after spending several years as prisoners of war under the Japanese had 

 been retained in the services of the new State of Indonesia. Among our 

 Austrahan guests was Mr. Gilbert Whitley, an expert on fishes, whose 

 excitement at seeing so many "names" in the fish world gathered together 

 in one place was as great as was Dr. Bolin's later on. Mr. Whitley tra- 

 velled with us from Brisbane to Sydney on a sort of return ticket, having 

 gone with the Dana in the reverse direction in 1929. Another Australian 

 guest was Miss Isobel Bennett, who succeeded in obtaining valuable 

 supplementary measurements of temperature for her great work on the 

 natural conditions of the Australian coast. 



But the best contact of all, as well as the most valuable interchange of 

 knowledge, was gained while the Galathea was in New Zealand waters. 

 The New Zealand islands are so isolated that their fauna and flora are 

 unique and highly specialized, as exemplified in that wingless bird, the 

 kiwi, and in the kauri pine, a tree which can attain to a height of 80 

 metres. In many parts of New Zealand, especially in the vicinity of large 

 towns, animals and plants introduced from abroad have ousted the native 

 species and combating them has become a great national problem. Wise 

 from experience, the New Zealanders have enforced strict protective mea- 

 sures, from which exemption is rarely given. However, our New Zealand 

 colleagues included eminent scientists who were able to explain to their 



Mr. C. Veen and 

 Dr. J. D. T. Hardenberg 

 from Indonesia, 

 admiring rare fishes. 



