May 



':)^ 



1911] 



NATURE 



429 



Roseby, Dr. Ouaife, Mr. Guthrie, Mr. VV. E. Raymond, 

 and Mr. Hamlet (representing the British Astronomical 

 Association and the Royal Society). 



Prof. Moors, introducing our two parties, remarked that 

 the Australian expedition, which was going to Vavau to 

 observe the eclipse, expected to learn a great deal from us. 

 .Mter Mr. Hamlet's reference to the voyage of Captain 

 Cook m 1770, when he sailed to the South Seas to observe 

 the transit of Venus, and also to the British and Common- 

 wealth expeditions on the present occasion, the Lord 

 Mayor heartily wished all the expeditions success, and 

 instanced the voyages of Sir Ernest Shackleton and 

 Captain Percy Scott as showing what could be gained to 

 science by close study under arduous conditions. 



Prof. Pollock expressed the hope that the advent of the 

 present British parties would benefit the scientific workers 

 in Australia and raise and sustain that enthusiasm with- 

 out which no good work was ever accomplished. Father 

 Cortie replied in an appropriate manner, pointing out that 

 Britishers felt quite at home in Australia, and that such 

 expeditions helped to cement further, if necessary, the 

 friendship between Australia and the Mother Country. 



In my reply I laid particular stress on the importance 

 of the occasion for furthering the proposal for a Solar 

 Physics Observatory for Australia. I pointed out the 

 importance of filling up the gap of longitude between 

 kodaikdnal (India) and Mount Wilson Observatory 

 (L.S..A.), and that in Australia the weather conditions 

 were ideal for a large observatory of this kind. I also 

 indicated the important part played bv the sun in con- 

 trolling our terrestrial atmospheric movements, and that a 

 close study of the sun was of first importance to 

 Australians, whose population was so largely composed of 

 those who reaped benefit from the soil. After this pleasing 

 ceremony was over we adjourned to another room to drink 

 the health of the King. 



In the afternoon we all went to Coccatoo Island to call 

 on Captain Colomb, the ship being still in dry dock. He 

 greeted us ver}- heartily, and at his request we gave him 

 n account of our programme and requirements. 

 In the evening we all attended a meeting of the British 

 A-itronomical Association, and at its conclusion Mr. 

 McClean, Mr. Anderson, and I went with Mr. Raymond 

 to the observatory to see the show clusters, nebulre, and 

 double stars of the southern hemisphere. 



The following morning was occupied in tallving all the 



lipse cases from the Otway. These were to be trans- 



rred to H.M.S. Encounter bv steam lighter on Monday, 



larch 20. During the afternoon I boarded the Encounter 



give Captain Colomb detailed information about the 



-istance required. I suggested to him the importance of 



-inmunicating with England as soon as possible after the 



.;;lipse in order to inform the home authorities of our 



results. This he took in hand, and it was arranged that 



H.M.S. Encounter should send a wireless mes.sage to 



H.M.S. Pioneer at .Auckland, which would be transmitted 



through to England by cable. 



The next day (Sunday, March iq) we all went out bv 

 steamer to the beautiful River View Jesuit College, wheiv 

 Father Cortie and Brother McKeon were staving. Tho 

 rector and the fathers received us in a most hospitable 

 manner. The college is situated away up towards the beau- 

 tiful harbour of Port Jackson, and is" an imposing structure 

 amongst lovely scenery. Since our arrival in Sydney it 

 had been very hot, and the damp atmosphere had made 

 our various duties rather laborious ; even the Australians 

 considered it so. The steam to River View was delightful 

 in the extreme, and we were able to gain some idea of 

 the great future such an important port must have. 

 T here is very deep water everywhere, and the largest 

 ships can lie alongside any of the innumerable harbours. 

 At River View the very beautiful seismographs, which are 

 in the charge of the distinguished worker Father Pigot. 

 wei-p shown to us. Evcrv detail of these instruments and 

 tlif^ir functions were carefully pointed out. 



Tho next day (March 2o)i at an early hour, the steam 

 lighter was alongside the wharf, and Mr. McClean and 1 

 Went and superintended the placing of the cases in the 

 lighter. Then wp steamed away, and with the help of 

 the Encounter's crew got all the rases safely stowed awav 

 in torpedo flats and other available spots. 



NO. 2169, VOL. 86] 



This morning I had expected Mr. Hunt to arrive from 

 Melbourne, as I had been requested by the Hon. King 

 O'Malley, the Minister for Home Affairs, through Mr. 

 Hunt, to visit and report on the proposed site for the 

 Solar Physics Observatory near the new Federal Capital 

 site, and Mr. Hunt was to escort me there and back. 

 Mr. Baracci had arranged to proceed to the site from 

 Melbourne, and we were all to meet there. At mid- 

 day I met Mr. Hunt, and he proposed that we should 

 start the same evening, to which I consented. In the 

 meantime, Mr. Hunt took me to call on Mr. Stephen 

 Mills, the Collector of Customs, who is the successor to 

 Colonel Lockyer (now retired) ; the latter I met in Mel- 

 bourne a few days ago. Colonel Lockyer had very kindly 

 given me two letters, one for Father Cortie, which would 

 clear us of any difficulty that might arise in relation to 

 custom duties. These proved very useful, and saved us 

 much anxiety. ' W. J. S. Lockyer. 



(To be continued.) 



THE WORK OF THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL 

 SOCIETY.' 





N looking to the future, it is important to inquire how 

 the society will be able to maintain its reputation and 

 its usefulness in the new conditions of geographical know- 

 ledge. It is true that the South Pole is as yet uncaptured, 

 that the map of Arabia is still largely composed of great 

 blank spaces, and that the bend of the Brahmaputra is 

 drawn by guesswork in our atlases. But all these 

 problems will, it is probable, be solved before long, and 

 where then will be the field in which the explorer may 

 hope to win renown by robbing the unknown of its 

 romance? We must sooner or later face the fact that the 

 work by which this society has become best known in the 

 past represents an almost finished chapter in geographical 

 history, and we should sometimes, in preparation for the 

 future, ask ourselves what ought to be our rdle when the 

 last leaf in that chapter has actually been turned. 



When endeavouring thus to take time by the forelock; 

 we should perhaps in the first place inquire more precisely 

 as to the nature of the change which is now taking place, 

 and as to how soon it is likely to be accomplished. 

 Systematic surveys are, we know, being pressed forward 

 in many parts of the world, of which until recently the 

 maps were produced mainly by the efforts of enthusiastic 

 amateurs, whilst now they are turned out with almost 

 machine-like regularity and precision by Government 

 officials. As to the British Empire, the annual reports of 

 the Colonial Survey Committee show how rapid has been 

 the advance in this direction, and what satisfactory pro- 

 gress has been made, though in certain localities the 

 authorities, in spite of past experience, seerri disposed to 

 linger on in a state of comparative topographical ignor- 

 ance. Outside the British Empire similar changes are 

 taking place, though less rapidly, with the result that when 

 tho international map of the world on the scale of 

 I : 1,000,000 is completed, as it will be before many years 

 have passed, a large proportion of it will be based on 

 surveys sufficiently accurate to ensure the work holding 

 good for many a century to come, except for the rise of 

 new towns and the alteration in political boundaries. But 

 in spite of all this prepress there are likely to remain 

 vast tracts of land, mapped in a fashion, no doubt, but 

 with the details inaccurate and incomplete, where for at 

 least half a century or more from this date the independent 

 traveller will find ample opportunities of adding to the 

 knowledge of the earth wc live in. Indeed, for some 

 years to come large areas are likely to exist our knowledge 

 of which can only be increased at the risk of the traveller's 

 life. But although the available topographical information 

 concerning many regions will for long remain very 

 imperfect, yet it is inevitable that the day will come when 

 the whole world will be mapped with fair accuracy, and to 

 that condition of things this society will have to adapt 

 itself. 



Nearly all great changes, however, take place gradu- 

 ally, the process of evolution being, as a ml' , m advance 



' Kxtractil from the addrcM of the president. Maim l.ionanl D.irwin, at 

 the .inniver»ary meeting of the Royal Geographical Society, May 32. 



