30 



AUSTRALIA AND POLYNESIA. 



with a long base north and south, are always 

 erroneous, as the two observers never see the 

 same aurora." Occasionally the characteristic 

 auroral line was revealed in the spectroscope 

 when no aurora was visible to the eye ; and 

 the phosphorescent " shine," or diffused lumi- 

 nosity, was observed so regularly as to induce 

 the conclusion that that manifestation is a 

 nearly constant accompaniment of the winter 

 nights of Northern Lapland, and is of auroral 

 origin. From his observations as a whole, 

 Prof. Lenstrdm has drawn the conclusion that 

 "the experiments at Luosrnavaara in 1871 and 

 atOratunturi and Pietarintunturi in 1882 clear- 

 ly and undeniably prove that the aurora borealis 

 is an electric phenomenon," ; and also prove 

 " that aurora borealis may be produced in na- 

 ture by a simple contrivance assisting the elec- 

 tric current flowing from the atmosphere to 

 the earth." 



Dr. Tromholt's Observations in Fionmarken. Dr. 

 Sophus Tromholt, of Norway, spent the win- 

 ter of 1882-'83 at Kautokeino, in North Finn- 

 inurketi (latitude 69 north, longitude 23 east), 

 making observations in connection with the 

 Norwegian station at Bossekop, about one de- 

 gree north, and the much more distant Finn- 

 ish station at Sodankyla, southeast of his post, 

 for the purpose of obtaining the parallax of the 

 aurora. The station is peculiarly favorable, for 

 it is in a zone where the auroral displays at- 

 tain their maxima, and are nearly constant. He 

 made several attempts to photograph the phe- 

 nomena, but without success, even the most sen- 

 sitive English dry plates failing to give a trace 

 of a negative. This he believes to be because 

 of the exceedingly limited substance of light 

 possessed by the glow ; a flood of which, il- 

 luniiimting the whole heavens, would not alto- 

 gether possess a lighting power equal to that 

 of the moon when full. He has confidence in 

 the practicability of his plan for measuring the 

 height of the arc, and estimates it at 150 kilo- 

 metres; and he believes that its plane is to 

 be found far above that of the clouds. Prof. 

 Lenstrdm, while he admits that the height is 

 variable, is of the opinion that it has been 

 greatly overestimated. Dr. Tromholt expect- 

 ed to spend the winter of 1883-'84 in Northern 

 Irehmd, experimenting with Prof. Lenstrom's 

 " utstrdmnings " apparatus. 



AUSTRALIA AND POLYNESIA. Consolidation. 

 The movement for the consolidation of the 

 Australasian colonies into a federal union, on 

 the lines of the confederation of British North 

 America, i.s piining ground in Australia, and 

 receives the strongest encouragement from the 

 present Government of Great Britain. The 

 tendency toward union became apparent in 

 1883 in different acts of co-operation and 

 manifestations of a sense of common interests. 

 A second conference to discuss the question 

 to what extent confederation is practicable at 

 the present time met at Sydney in November. 

 The legislatures of the different colonies were 

 represented by delegates selected from their 



number. The conference was appointed at 

 the suggestion of the Victorian Parliament and 

 Government. It arrived at no practical con- 

 clusions on the main question. The question 

 of the annexation of the Melanesian Islands 

 gives a new import to the movement. All the 

 colonies of Australia, through resolutions of 

 their legislatures during the year, called upon 

 the Imperial Government to occupy those isl- 

 ands to prevent their falling into the hands of 

 other powers. The British Government holds 

 out the hope that their wishes will be gratified 

 as soon as they shall combine in a strong po- 

 litical union, and show that they can, at some 

 future, time, take into their care and govern- 

 ance the new possessions, and meanwhile bear 

 their share of the cost of the occupation, 

 administration, and defense of these vast re- 

 gions. 



Postal Union. A conference of delegates from 

 all the colonies, except New Zealand, which 

 refused to join, was held at Sydney, for the 

 purpose of considering the question of adopt- 

 ing the arrangements of the Universal Postal 

 Union. The meeting was called at the in- 

 stance of Mr. Fawcett, the English Postmaster- 

 General, who wished to have the votes of Aus- 

 tralian delegates at the Lisbon conference in 

 1884, in order to help the interests of the Brit- 

 ish steamship lines. The Postal Union expects 

 to reduce the maximum rate of ocean postage 

 to ten cents a letter. The Sydney meeting took 

 action in conformity with Mr. Fawcett's views, 

 and appointed commissioners to attend the 

 congress. The effect of the proposed arrange- 

 ments will be to give the bulk of the business 

 of carrying Australian mails to the Peninsular 

 and Oriental Steamship Company, diverting 

 that portion which is carried across the United 

 States, and entailing losses on the colonies 

 which have mail contracts with the Pacific 

 Mail and other steamship companies. Such 

 losses the colonies agreed to share with one 

 another. 



Defenses. The various colonies are proceed- 

 ing with the organization of a militia, and have 

 already spent large sums in a system of coast 

 defense fulfilling the latest requirements of 

 naval science. "The. approaches to the prin- 

 cipal ports are guarded by batteries mounted 

 with modern artillery and by sunken torpe- 

 does. A considerable fleet of powerful gun- 

 boats and torpedo-boats of improved construc- 

 tion is building for the colonial governments 

 in England. Victoria ordered two gunboats, 

 one of 530 tons' displacement and a speed of 

 12 knots, to carry a 25-ton gun, two smaller 

 guns in the stern, and improved Gatling guns ; 

 the other, with a displacement of 350 tons and 

 a speed of 10 knots, to be similarly armed, 

 with a lighter gun in the bow. South Aus- 

 tralia is having built a vessel which is rather a 

 cruiser than a gunboat, with a displacement of 

 900 tons and a speed of 14 knots, to be armed 

 with an 8-inch gun in the bow, four 6-inch 

 broadside guns, another in the stern, and five 



