PREFACE xi 



My thanks are due to Professor Todd and Professor 

 Woodhouse who gave kindly help in my slight sketch of 

 the " ancient conception " ; and to Professor David and 

 Professor Cotton who gave me the modern geological 

 criticism of the argument, so much used in our story, that 

 there must be a great continent in the South. Dr. Frederick 

 Watson has most kindly corrected the dates in the chapters 

 which tell the story of Cook's First Voyage. 



And most hearty are my thanks to my sister-in-law, 

 Miss Laura Whitfeld, who, with incredible insight and 

 industry, translated impossible hand-writing into alluring 

 type, and made me hope that the lectures might become 

 a useful book. 



G. A. WOOD. 



UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY, 

 December , 1921. 



