AUSTRALIA 143 



basket-making, and some of the party collected 

 information in regard to cat's-cradle games and native 

 genealogies. The anthropological collections in the 

 museums at Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, 

 and Perth were naturally of great interest, and under 

 the guidance of the curators and other local anthro- 

 pologists there were important discussions and critical 

 examinations of specimens by experts, which will 

 doubtless lead to further research. In the Melbourne 

 Museum the magnificent collections of Australian 

 stone implements, specially brought together for 

 the occasion by Messrs. Kenyon and Mahony, as well 

 as the ceremonial objects collected by Professor 

 Spencer [Sir W. Baldwin Spencer], were on exhi- 

 bition during the meeting, and were the subject of 

 careful examination and discussion. Much of the 

 more productive scientific work of the anthro- 

 pologists naturally consisted in informal con- 

 ferences with the local workers, and it was hoped 

 that as one of the results of such consultations 

 it might be possible to obtain from the Federal 

 Government the assistance which is necessary for 

 the prosecution of further research in the fast- 

 disappearing cultural anthropology of the tribes in 

 the Northern Territory. 



6 Field-work naturally played a large part in the 

 botanical programme. At Perth an extended expedi- 

 tion to Albany, lasting for the greater part of a week, 

 gave opportunities for studying the characteristic 

 vegetation of the arid districts of Western Australia. 

 From Adelaide there were three important excur- 

 sions arranged specially for botanical work one 

 to study the Salicornia scrub and the mangrove 

 swamps of the coastal region, one to the Mount 

 Lofty Kange to see the fern gullies and the scrub 



