462 



NATURE. 



[June I, 191 1 



observalo 



prevailiiiji wind 1a.' i. 

 Another imfwrt.ii 



; lh-Wci>l. 

 ;H)int in ti 

 1)1 suffici ' 

 ncccssan 

 wur., . »..iiw.i .u.vi .-,v..., >.. v-,iier allied '.-..... 

 such as meteorology, astronomy, seismology, &i 

 case of inaL'ii<!tisiii, I would suggest that the o^^ 

 sht, site very far removed, while 



il,,: Id be accomplished in special 



n till' li.^lit of modern 

 r.-Miimi, ill.. I iMii.- -,i,..i.,.i ...■ a rapid means of com- 

 munication between the head workers in all the above 

 subjerts. since tlir" latter are si) inliinaf«lv assorlated with 

 one . •■'^ dopart- 



meiii^ ,,. i:.le valu.-, 



for iiislant i; and collaboratian ol the work 



Auhtra: 

 in goo<l 



of <'Xtr' 1 

 in ])artii 



ih. 



Saturday, Mai 



of the hi^niitifiil li. 



■'our future la'. 

 n\inc the net- 



Fig. I. — Evening Cloudscape in the Doldruii 



between the heads of departments can be most efficl' : 

 accomplished in this way. For such a large countr; 

 Australia this centralisation of work is, I think, the u.^.^. 

 economical and effective course to take. 



Trust that this brief summary of the resuUs of the 

 inspection of the site may serve a useful end, 

 I have the honour to be, Sir, 



Your obedient servant, 



William J. S. Lockver. 

 The Hon. King O'Malley, 



Minister for Home Affairs. 



On the evening of March 22 Mr. Hunt and I left by train 

 for Sydney, arriving there at 5 a.m. the next morn- 

 ing. After a short rest I went down to the wharf to see 

 about the ten gallons of spirit which had arrived in the 

 P. and O. steamship Mongolia, and had been for- 

 warded by the British Museum authorities for use at 

 Vavau for the preservation of the natural history speci- 

 mens I proposed to have collected for them. A few days 

 previously 1 had met Mr. A. W. Maclhvaine, of H.M.S. 

 Pegasus, and he told me of the valuable fish collection he 

 had made for the Sydney Museum on a previous cruise. 

 He put me up to all the wrinkles of catching, and escorted 

 me to the museum to introduce me to Mr. Maccullock, 



Ir. Maccullock 

 materials for ■ 

 iiid piuiuibeU to pack our 

 :(> London as soon as it arri 

 • < I ipse. 



34, was spent in packing and sayinf 

 ..,1 f.-;. ..,,!.. ..,..,...,..t,^ry ^Q going on board 



i'T seeing .Mr. Hunt 



• -. 1 lid like to tak<; this 



i thanking him for his extreme kindness to 



of us during the whole time we were in 



' he meteorology of Australia is 



staflf are working at problenw 



iiKii will be to t' ' '■ ' *. :^traI»a 



world in gener;> 



ii.}rs. " ti.. . :;-i/ 2. 



steaming majestically out 



y .nway to far-oflf Vavau, 



■■• ship, with her two 



1 irroni wires between 



' the tailing! 



►al, must 



pretty sight 



with the background of 

 abnormal green grass and 

 trees which studded the 

 shores. On board were the 

 two eclipse parties safe and 

 .sound, namely, Fathers Cortie 

 and Pigot and Brother 

 McKeon, and my party of 

 Mr. McClean and Mr. Ander- 

 son, while safely stowed away 

 Ixlow were the eclipse instru- 

 ments and huts. On board 

 also W' !'■ some livestock, 

 she'p. T' •"'' ''■"«, and 



last, bu- ship's 



goat. 



The first day out I erected 

 the screen for the three self- 

 recording instruments, which 

 ought to have been used all 

 thn way out from Tilbury. 

 T!i n I adjusted and started ' 

 (he instruments themselves, ' 

 the screen being placed on the ,: 

 >tarboard side of the ship 

 well forward of the funnete 

 ;uid against the conning 

 tower. That evening I gave 

 a lecture, having now lantern 

 and slides, the object Of 

 wliieh was to explain to the 

 whole ship's company the 

 kind of assistance they could 

 render us both in the prepara- 

 The lecture seemed to have 

 ained its end, for the captain asked all those who were 

 .viUing to assist to give their names in by six o'clock 00 

 Sunday, i.e. the next day. Not only did all the officers 

 come forward, but 168 men handed in their names. 



Sumi t\ was occupied in preparing lists of the require- 

 ments of assistance at each instrument and for several 

 parties, such as corona drawing, star observations, &c. 

 When this was completed the captain handed it to the com- 

 mander to portion off the officers and men for the several 

 lines of work. In addition to the eclipse work, there were 

 numerous volunteers for the " 'ologies," as the natural 

 history branches were termed. Thus the captain, assisted 

 by Staff-Surgeon Milln, volunteered to do the catching of 

 the butterflies, moths, beetles, spiders, &c.. and he stated 

 that Mrs. Colomb (who is on her way to Vavau with 

 other ladies, wives of the officers) was bringing him 

 the killing bottle. Mr. Anderson has occupied himself 

 with geological study preparatory to rock-specimen collect- 

 ing. The collection of flowers, seeds, and especially fern 

 seeds, will be undertaken by Lieut. Hunt Gruhl, while 

 Mr. Lane, the purser's clerk, was posted by Mr. 

 Macllwaine, of the Pegasus, in the art of catching fish. 

 Lieut. Clover will look after the birds and bats, &c., and 

 will be assisted by Staflf-Surgeon Milln in their pr^para- 



;ons and during the eclipse. 



NO. 2170, VOL. 86] 



