April, 1908.1 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 187 



tions of the Royal Society of Victoria on " The Eucalypts of 

 Gippsland," dealing with the variations of the different species, 

 their distribution in relation to altitude and geological formations, 

 &c. This was only an introduction to a more complete work 

 which he hoped some day to publish. In 1891 he outlined, in a 

 paper on " The Organization of Australian Tribes," the salient 

 features in regard to this important and somewhat intricate 

 question ; this, indeed, was*only one of a valuable series of 

 memoirs dealing with the same subject, most of which were 

 published in the journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great 

 Britain from the year 1S83 onwards. 



In 1 90 1 he retired from the public service of Victoria. Not 

 the slightest notice was taken of his retirement, which was exactly 

 what he himself would have desired, and the members of the 

 service were probably quite ignorant of the fact that they were 

 parting with a colleague who was without any doubt one of the 

 most distinguished men who have ever held office in the public 

 service of Victoria. 



In the quiet seclusion of his picturesque home at Metung, on 

 the shores of the Gippsland Lakes, he began to review and 

 publish the results of his life's work in ethnology, botany, and 

 petrology. He was not, however, able to do this without serious 

 interruption. His peculiar knowledge and experience marked him 

 out as the man most fitted to act as chairman of a Royal Com- 

 mission on the coalfields of Victoria, and shortly after he had 

 completed this work his wide scientific experience and knowledge 

 again caused his appointment as a member of the inter-Slate 

 commission dealing with the choice of a site for the future capital 

 of the Commonwealth. Despite the time and energy that these 

 commissions entailed, not only in travelling and judging the 

 value of evidence, but in acquiring practical knowledge of the 

 geology, water supply, and general conditions of the various 

 localities proposed for the capital of Australia, he still continued 

 his special studies. He had planned out three pieces of work. 

 The first was to deal extensively with the organization and 

 customs of Australian tribes, the second was a work on the 

 eucalypts of Victoria, and the third was a study of the rocks of the 

 Gippsland district, which he knew better than anyone else. He 

 was destined to complete only one of these researches. 



In 1904 he published " The Native Tribes of South-East 

 Australia," a volume that comprised the work of 40 years, during 

 which he had conducted his own investigations amongst the 

 tribes of Central Australia and those of Gippsland, and had at 

 the same time been in correspondence with workers in various 

 parts of Australia. This work will ever remain a classic so far as 

 the study of Australian aborigines is concerned. 



In the same year, happy in the knowledge that at least this 

 part of the task which he had set himself to do was well accom- 



