I'.Y PUOl'KSSOK SIR T. W. K. DAVID. K.HK. KTC. JJg 



Ouse, Bronte, Lake St. Clair, Mount Kin^- William I., Mount 

 Arrowsmith, Coilinswood Valley, King River, Mount Lyoll, 

 Queen River, a 'id Macquarie Harbour, thence northward 

 across the Henty, Mount Heemsk\rk, Corinna, Whyte and 

 Heazlew^ood Rivers, Magnet Range, and Mount Bischoff, to 

 Emu Bay on the North-West Coast. Only those who have 

 experienced them can realise what terrible barriers to pro- 

 gress are the native scrubs, the "horizontal," the Bauera, and 

 the myrtle scrub.s, not to mention the dense masses of fern, 

 rotten sassafras, logs, etc., and the swiftly rushing and 

 swollen streams to be crossed, by the slow and tedious pro- 

 cess of felling trees to span the rivers. All this would 

 be most trying to the most vigorous and unencumbered of 

 men, but how Johnston and his colleagues and their hardy 

 predecessors, wet, ccld, weary, and half famished, fought 

 their way through these almost insurmountable obstacles, 

 each with his 60 to 701b. weight of pack, involved efforts 

 almost superhuman. 



We who have entered into their labours and follow now 

 .so easily and swiftly in train or car where they so slowly 

 and painfully, but so surely, blazed the trail, must not forget 

 the hardy heroic pioneers who marched ahead of the army of 

 occupation. Who were these heroes? Men such as he who 

 was such an early inspiration to science in this country, 

 the heroic sailor soul, Sir John Franklin, and it should not 

 be forgotten that in his desperate march through scrub and 

 jungle to Port Davey Lady Franklin went with him and 

 shared his hardships; men such as Charles Gould, C. P. 

 Sprent. J. A. Scott, W. C. Piguenit, Lieutenant Burgess, 

 and many another, and last, and not least, the man we to- 

 night specially delight to honour, R. M. Johnston. 



And while we honour these leaders among men, let us 

 not forget the pioneer work of the rank and file, that goodly 

 fellowship of prospectors and pathfinders, many of whom 

 perished lonely and unsung. Surely not the least honour is 

 due to the memory of these unknown warriois. 



The spirit of these men lives yet, in young explorer.s 

 of Tasmania to-day, as testified by the recent fine journeys 

 made under the leadership of Major L. F. Giblin and A. V. 

 Giblin, which have led to the conquest of Mount Anne. As 

 one who may be permitted to^claim to have attempted some 

 pioneering work in another field, I would offer here a humble 

 and heartfelt tribute to the pioneers of Tasmania, and fore- 

 most among them to my old comrade, R. M. Johnston, 



