TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION E. 279 



There is, however, no necessity why any doubt or un- 

 certainty as to the physical condition of the lower half of the 

 South Pacific Ocean should any longer exist — at least, so far as 

 the route between Australia and Cape Horn is concerned — for 

 this reason : — 



It has become the fashion now in the North Atlantic trade 

 to pay special attention to the reports of fast steam-vessels, 

 whether arriving either in England or in America ; and to such 

 perfection is this system of reports brought that vessels leaving 

 either America or England for the direct passage across are 

 thoroughly posted before their departure in all the impedi- 

 ments they are likely to meet with on their passage, whether 

 it be ice, or a derelict ship, or a broken-up wood-raft ; and their 

 information is seldom more than a week old. Now, there are 

 not many routes in the world where ice plays so important a 

 part as it does in both the North Atlaiitic and the South 

 Pacific, and therefore, if a system of reporting is found to be of 

 service on one route, it may be fairly asked whether it is not 

 possible to use it with advantage on the other. 



And it could be fairly effectively done in a very simple 

 manner by these naeans : If that part of the ocean lying be- 

 tween New Zealand and Cape Horn were mapped out on a 

 chart into squares, each square with a telegraphic code-word 

 assigned to it, and all steamers leaving New Zealand for Eio 

 de Janeiro were supplied with a coj^y of this chart, they could, 

 on arriving at Rio, if they had encountered ice, send in their 

 homeward telegram the word or words representing the squares 

 in which ice had been seen ; this word or words would be re- 

 peated back to New Zealand, and a very simple process of 

 working backwards would give both date and position for the 

 benefit of the next vessel to sail ; and the news would probably 

 be not more than fifteen days old. This would be extremely 

 valuable as a warning to vessels to exercise additional precau- 

 tion when in the vicinity of the reported position ; and also 

 they would be able to calculate with fair accuracy where the 

 ice was that had been reported. 



When it is remembered that there is a steamer leaving New 

 Zealand for Eio nearly every week, the value of the plan which 

 I propose is apparent. 



It may be contended that the expense of such a system of 

 reporting would be more than the absolute risk to shipping 

 justifies. It ma,y perhaps be so ; but £300 per annum would be 

 the extreme cost for telegrams, and the work might well come 

 within the scope of the Meteorological Office at Wellington. 

 The insurances of sonae of the lately missing vessels would pay 

 a number of three hundreds a year ; but, irrespective of any 

 such trifling detail, this time would appear to be particularly 

 suitable for the introduction of some such system. Australia, 



