1915] on the Visit of the British Association to Australia 339 



the first time, that no one had thought out a plan of campaign for 

 our voyage and that we were sacrificing golden opportunities! We 

 felt this still more keenly lat^r on, when we were denied the chance 

 of passing close enough to see the islands of St. Paul and Amsterdam, 

 near the 38th parallel of latitude, in the Indian Ocean. 8t. Paul is 

 one of the most remarkable volcanic islands in the world, on account 

 of the way in which one side of the cone is breached, letting in the 

 sea to form a crater lake. This time we were too soon and w-e passed 

 considerably to the south of the islands during the night : had we 

 spent an additional four hours at the Cape we could have been 

 abreast of them during daylight, in which case our captain was to 

 have taken us within a mile of St. Paul. We were timed to arrive 

 in Australia only the day before proceedings commenced, without 

 any allowance for contingencies : had we had a couple of spare days 

 at our disposal or had our ship been less of a tramp, with a spare 

 ounce or two of power, all would have been well — we should not 

 have journeyed thousands of miles only to miss an opportunity such 

 as can never be regained. In the end, it was found that a retardation 

 to enable us to see St. Paul could easily have been allowed, as on 

 our arrival, on July 28. we were unable to land at once at Freemantle, 

 West Australia, the Port Medical Ofl&cer being absent at Perth at 

 the garden party arranged in our honour. This time Mr. Marconi 

 either failed us or no notice was taken of the signals advising our 

 anival ; but we coidd forgive him this one breakdown, as he had 

 stood by us so well during the voyage. The splendid isolation of the 

 past is no more known at sea : though not a single vessel was sighted 

 by us during the long passage from the Cape to Australia, we were 

 always in svmpathetic vibration with one or more and even learnt of 

 the assassination of the Austrian Archduke while on our way, an 

 event which some of us at once thought to be of serious import. 



Though unvisited by man after leaving the Cape, we were always 

 accompanied by a ntimber of giant albatross, 9 to 12 feet at least 

 across the wings, whose wonderful powers of flight and beauty on the 

 wing were a sotirce of constant enjoyment to us. And at night we 

 had the Southern Cross to admire and a starry firmament remark- 

 able in comparison with that of our northern hemisphere, on account 

 of the prominence of stars of high magnitude, the beauty of the 

 nebtdfe and the remarkable density of the Milky Way. 



The port of Freemantle is but a short motor ride from Perth, 

 which is most beautifully situated on hills bordering the Swan River, 

 so named because it is the home of the black swan. Here we were 

 in a strange land, full of wonders. Ordinary people will tell of the 

 agricultural development and possibilities, of the timber and the vast 

 quantities of wheat that are being brought down from the interior. 

 And a truly wonderful development is to be recorded. In 1890 the 

 amount of wheat produced was about half a million bushels but in 

 1913 this had risen to 13-5 millions, the averasre vield bein^ 



