BY SYDNEY B. J. SKERTCHLY. XXVll 



ever about it, for the <j;round is as level as an American prairie ; 

 yet one sees with dismay that this agricultural and timbered 

 land is in a state of stagnation, and that timber is being brought 

 from the south for the construction of the Chillagoe 

 railway, which passes within a feAv miles. When I left the dis- 

 trict at Christmas, timber could hardly be bought in Cairns, yet 

 if the line had been carried on to Atherton it would have been 

 abundant. This leads me again to express my deep regret that 

 the Mareeba- Chillagoe line did not pass through x\therton, 

 Herberton, and Watson ville — it would then have tapped proved 

 rich mineral ground all the way, whereas its present route is 

 over quite half its distance through country without even a 

 settler. 



I should not like to close without saying a word of praise of 

 an Institution which, through great difficulties, and I believe 

 with no external aid, is by sheer merit forcing itself upon the 

 public attention. I allude to the Technical College, Brisbane. 

 It has advanced by leaps and bounds, and is the strongest proof 

 of the growing yearning for more accurate training in the arts 

 and sciences. To the students of this College I look in great 

 measure for the advance in accurate methods of reasoning to 

 which we must trust, if our noble Colony is to keep pace with 

 the rest of the world — it is the outward and visible sign of an 

 inward and spiritual grace, which will prove of incalculable 

 benefit in the very near future. 



Foot Xotc. — For the admirable set of diagrams with which 

 my address was illustrated, I am indebted to my friend, pupil, 

 and late colleague, Mr. Leonard C. Green, of the Geological Survey 

 of Queensland. The blocks herein produced are kindly supplied 

 by one of our members, Mr. W. Lees, of the firm of Messrs. 

 Outridge and Co., who is bringing out an admirably illustrated 

 work on Chillagoe, Sec. 



The Hon. A. Norton moved, and Mr. J. Shirley seconded, 

 a vote of thanks to Mr. Skertchly for his address, and also that 

 it be printed in the Society's Proceedings. This was carried by 

 acelamation. 



