'206 president's address — section e. 



Wickham, King Island, and thence from the south point of that island 

 (Stokes' Point) to Cape Grim, Tasmania. As to the eastern boundary, 

 Admiralty charts and practice seem to vary ; in some instances Cape 

 Howe being taken as the northern point, and in others Wilson's Pro- 

 montory. Personally I would adopt the former. Eddystone Point, 

 Tasmania, is taken as the southern boundary, and the division line 

 may be taken as extending through the islands of Furneaux 

 Group. 



The celebrated German geographer. Dr. Karl Fricker, has sug- 

 gested that the channel between Tierra del Fuego and the Falklands, on 

 the north, and the South Shetlands and Graham's Land, on the south, 

 should be termed "Drake Strait," in memory of the great British navi- 

 gator who first sailed in its waters. The proposal does not seem to 

 have attracted the attention it deserves, and is worthy of support. 

 In view of the width of the channel, however, the term " Drake Sea " 

 seems preferable to that of " Drake Strait." 



Whilst the pioneer exploration of Australian lands is rapidly 

 approaching completion, the scientific examination of our southern 

 seas has scarcely been commenced, and the ]:)resent is a fitting occasion 

 for bringing the subject under notice. Thanks mainly to the work of 

 the British Admiralty, we have reliable surveys and soundings carried 

 out with considerable detail in the vicinity of our principal ports and 

 in such localities as Wilson's Promontory, and with less detail generally 

 along the coasts, whilst the soundings are sufficiently extensive to fix 

 with reasonable accuracy the position of the Australian continental 

 shelf, which we know passes to the south of Tasmania, and is of itself 

 an indication that the island was at one time connected with the main 

 land. Of deep-sea soundings we have but few, and, as a result, our 

 information as to the configuration of our ocean beds is very meagre, 

 being based mainly on observations made in connection with the 

 Challenger and Valdivia expeditions. In view of the enormous areas 

 to be covered, those observations were necessarily made at considerable 

 distances apart, and, as far as I can gather, not a single deep-sea sound- 

 ing has been made at Australian expense. And yet a detailed working 

 knowledge of our Australian seas would be of immense money value 

 to Australia. 



Ln 1902, before the Victorian Branch of our Australasian Geo- 

 graphical Society, I discussed the effect of variations in the level of 

 the ocean bottom in diverting the ocean currents, and showed that 

 the southern current of Tasman's Sea Avas derived in this manner from 

 the south equatorial current of the Pacific Ocean. My predecessor in 

 this chair. Professor Gregory, discussed the subject in his address to 

 the section at Dunedin, pointing out the effect of irregularities in the 

 ocean floor in mixing surface and lower waters, with consequent varia- 

 tions of temperatures and densities. In 1898, and again in 1900, I 

 directed the attention of the section to the effect of such variations of 

 temperature and density of our ocean waters in modifying the nature 

 of our seasons, and this view was subsequently supported very forcibly 



