XX 



tralia. (Laufthtev and applause.) We all 

 regret that Mr. James Barnard, who died 

 only last year, was not spared to be here 

 on this occasion, for he was a nieml)er of 

 the society when Captains Ross and Crozier 

 anchored 'in this port in 1840. But although 

 death has taken him from us, we still have 

 Sir James Agnew, whose letter you have 

 heard read. (Applause.) He joined the 

 society in that very year, 1840, and there 

 are two at least in this assembly who 

 visited the Erebus and Terror in this 

 harbour. I mean Mr. Charles Butler and 

 Mr. A. G. Webster. (Applause.) It may 

 well be asked, your Excellency, why Aus- 

 tralasia has not equipped this expedition. 

 The answer must be, I suppose, that new 

 countries have not often found it possible 

 to spend large sums on these scientific expe- 

 ditions outside their own borders. We 

 have not discovered Tasmania yet. Aus- 

 tralia has still thousands of square miles 

 capable of concealing many deRougemonts. 

 (Laughter and applause.) Nor, indeed, 

 has it been Canada which has laboured to 

 reach the North Pole, though it may almost 

 be said to be part of her own territory. 

 It is tlie mother covintry which has done 

 so much for discovery. But in the pre- 

 sent case we note this important difference. 

 Previous expeditions have been conducted 

 by naval men under the Governrr ent itself. 

 For Cook and Ross and the Challenger 

 Expedition were sent by the State. It has 

 been left to a private individual to expend 

 some i'50,000 on this expedition in the fur- 

 therance of science. The Royal Society 

 of Tasmania cordially recognises the public 

 spirit of Sir George Newnes, and wishes 

 him good success. (Applause.) Perhaps 

 now it will be not out of place if I put before 

 this assembly, representing every phase 

 of society, some of the plain reasons why 

 such an expedition to the Antarctic Con- 

 tinent ought to be Avelcomed. I am myself 

 no expert in these questions : I can but 

 give you the dicta of those best qualified 

 to speak, chiefly the opinion of Dr. Murray, 

 of the CballengeT- Expedition. No unknown 

 area of land or ice surface so large as 

 that at the South Pole exists anywhere 

 else on the earth. By some it is com- 

 puted to be 4,000,000 square miles — far 

 larger than the area of Australia. Nor 

 has any area of anything like the same 

 extent ever failed to yield results of prac- 

 tical value by its exploration. The 

 Challenger made but eight hauls in these 

 Antarctic regions, but they were by far 

 the richest in their results of any that were 

 made during the entire cruise. The ques- 

 tion of glacial action is far from settled, 

 and here southward we find it in its highest 

 form ; to study them there will be to help 

 to solve some of the most interesting 

 questions of geological science. Further, 

 this vast unknown region can help us to 

 explain far be ter than we can at present 



the distribution of organisms over the en- 

 tire surface of the glol)e, and so aid us to 

 understand the method of their distri- 

 bution everywhere. Fossil remains also 

 will teach us more of the history of our 

 planet, and indeed as that history *can also 

 t)e determined in its degree by living fauna 

 and flora, it is still to settle whether there 

 are any land birds or animals in these 

 regions at present hidden awaj^ by barriers 

 of ice. No such life has yet been noted. 

 But it is above all in the direction of mag- 

 netism and meteorology that the greatest 

 benefits are to be expected. In 1831 Ross 

 discovered the North Magnetic Pole. In 

 1841 he came, as he believed, within 1(50 

 miles of the South Magnetic Pole. It 

 remains to be seen whether he was right. 

 Says Dr. Murray: "The problem of the 

 earth's magnetism cannot be solved with- 

 out Antarctic exploration," and the es- 

 tablishn)ent of one magnetic observatory 

 for at least one year in the Antarctic 

 region will be of the greatest benefit. (Ap- 

 plause.) In regard to meteorology, " It 

 is worth remembering," says Dr.Neumaj'er, 

 "that not a single direct winter tempera- 

 ture has ever been observed within the 

 Antarctic circle ; and little is known about 

 atmospheric phenomena bej'ond the 60th 

 parallel of south latitude." I cannot help 

 quoting also some words of Professor 

 Thoulet on the immense interest of this 

 southern region. " To tell you the truth," 

 he says, " I have never been very much 

 enamoured of Arctic exploration. The 

 North Pole is continental, and is in con- 

 sequence the domain of irregularity, and 

 in my opinion its conquest is not worth 

 the efforts which it has already cost. But 

 it isquite otherwise with Antarctic regions, 

 which are oceanic, and, therefore, subject 

 to rule. The Arctic phenomena are compli- 

 cations and excep:ions. The Antarctic are 

 general phenomena, and their discovery is 

 bound to conduce to the formulation of 

 natural laws, which are the final aim of 

 science." Once more. Dr. Murray points 

 out that in our present Queen's reign we 

 have gained accurate knowledge of three- 

 quarters of the earth's surface covered 

 by the waters of the ocean, the work 

 chiefly of naval men and of telegraph ships. 

 This is the most splendid addition to our 

 knowledge of the earth since the circum- 

 navigation of the globe, and now we long 

 to present to Her Majesty our knowledge 

 of the only remaining portion of the oceanic 

 world. It will be seen then how vast is 

 the work to be done. Nothing less than 

 to chart a region of some 4,000,000 square 

 miles. It is this upon which scientific men 

 fix their eyes, not upon a dash to the South 

 Pole as is popularly supposed. No one ex- 

 pedition can of course do it. It means 

 the accurate, steady, laborious accumula- 

 tion of facts by many expeditions over 

 a great many years with the assistance of 



