584 



NA TURE 



[OcTOliEK 1 2, 1905 



On the following days visits were paid to various 

 mines, both to the underground and surface work- 

 ings, and to the native and Chinese compounds ; and 

 courteous guides explained the various gold extrac- 

 tion processes. At one of the mines some thousands 

 of natives delighted the visitors with a Kafir dance 

 to the accompaniment of music on native pianos and 

 drums. 



A lecture by Prof. Ayrton on " The Distribution of 

 Power," which had involved some weeks of prepar- 

 ation of elaborate machinery, was greatly appreciated, 

 though many heard with wonder of his disparage- 

 ment of the Victoria Falls as possible sources of 

 power in the future. 



A garden party at Sunnyside to which an invitation 

 was given by Lord Selborne was very largely 

 attended. Perhaps the great event of the Johannes- 

 burg visit was the occasion of Prof. Darwin's presi- 

 dential address, which consisted of a resumi of the 

 main features of the Cape Town section and the 

 delivery of the second half of his official paper. 



Opportunity was taken by Lord Selborne and Mr. 

 George Goch, the Mayor of Johannesburg, to tender 

 official welcomes to the association, to which the 

 president replied in one of the graceful and fitting 

 addresses which have constituted so noteworthy a 

 feature of the visit. 



Thursday, August 31, was taken up with a visit 

 to Pretoria as the main attraction, with the addition 

 of visits to the Modderfontein Dvnamite Factory and 

 the Premier Diamond Mine. 



At Pretoria the whole party was entertained at 

 luncheon at some of the principal hotels, and in the 

 afternoon Sir Arthur Lawley, Lieutenant-Governor of 

 the Transvaal, held a reception at the museum. The 

 president and some of the visitors stayed overnight 

 in Pretoria, where Mr. A. E. Shipley gave a lecture 

 on " Fly-borne Diseases." The same evening Prof. 

 J. O. .Arnold lectured in Johannesburg on " Steel as 

 an Igneous Rock." 



_ During the concluding day of the Johannesburg 

 visit, the general committee meeting and the annual 

 meeting of members were held, " when Dr. Ray 

 Lankester was elected president of the association 

 for the ensuing year, and the ofiicers and council 

 were re-elected with slight changes onlv in the 

 personnel of the latter. 



As many of the papers read at the various sections 

 had proved of deep South African interest, it was 

 heard with pleasure that local arrangements were 

 being made to publish the same in a separate volume 

 subject to the consent of the authors being obtained. 



From Johannesburg and Pretoria several treks of 

 special interest to geologists and others were 

 arranged, and among these were journeys across 

 country to Ma^'eking, which necessitated omitting the 

 visits to Bloemfontein and Kimberley, but evidently 

 resulted in compensation of quite another kind to 

 those who braved the inconveniences and hardships 

 of the journey. 



Prior to leaving Johannesburg Prof. Darwin 

 announced that some of his fellow-members desired 

 to establish a permanent link between the association 

 and South Africa, and it had been proposed that a 

 subscription should be raised for a medal to be given 

 annually to a South .African student in commemor- 

 ation of the visit of the British Association. 



The journey to Bloemfontein did not afford much 

 opportunity of seeing the country until early morn- 

 ing, when several scenes of war interest were passed. 

 The arrival in Bloemfontein on Saturdav, September 

 2, was followed by a public welcome b'v the mayor 

 and town councillors and the local Philosophical 

 Society in the Town Hall. The function was 



NO. 1876, VOL. 72] 



numerously attended, and the addresses were given. 

 and received with equal cordiality. During the morn- 

 ing the various public buildings were visited, and in 

 the afternoon a reception and garden party were held. 



In the absence through illness of Sir H. J. Goold- 

 Adams, the Lieutenant-Governor, his place was taken 

 by the Acting Chief Justice, Mr. Justice Fawkes, and 

 Mrs. Fawkes, who graciously received the visitors. 

 The trees and bush of the grounds afforded welcome 

 shade, and all the accessories of the occasion were 

 such as conduced to the comfort and pleasure of all 

 present. In the evening Mr. A. R. Hinks lectured 

 on " The Milky Way and the Clouds of Magellan." 



On September 3 a visit was paid by train to the 

 Government Experimental Farm at Tweespruit, a 

 halt being made en route at Sannah's Post with its 

 lamentable memories. In the course of the day a 

 trek party left for Kimberley by way of Abraham's 

 Kraal and Paardeberg, the scene of General Cronje's 

 capture. 



On the morning of Monday, September 4, the 

 main party left by train and proceeded by Nowal's 

 Pont, Naauwpoort and De Aar to Kimberley, which 

 was reached early the next morning. The pro- 

 gramme of entertainments for the next two days was 

 very full. Naturally the diamond mines were the 

 centres of greatest interest, and ample provision had 

 been made for visits underground, to the pulsator, 

 compounds, and surface works generally. Parties 

 were made up of numbers sufficiently limited to admit 

 of adequate explanation of the various processes 

 being given, an arrangement which was much 

 approved. 



On the afternoon of the first day, September 5, the 

 mavor and mayoress, Mr. J. D. and Mrs. Tyson, 

 held a garden party in the Public Gardens, which 

 afforded a much coveted opportunity for introductions 

 of citizens to visitors. In the evening .Sir Wm. 

 Crookes gave his lecture on " Diamonds " in the 

 Town Hall. Elaborate preparations had been made 

 for the interesting experiments by which the lecture 

 was illustrated, and these passed off most success- 

 fully. So numerous were the applications to attend 

 the lecture that Sir William kindly repeated it the 

 following afternoon. 



On Wednesday morning, September 6, most of the 

 visitors were taken by special train to the Du Toit's 

 Pan and Wesselton mines, and the compound life of 

 the natives was more minutely examined. The open 

 workings at Wesselton enabled a more perfect idea 

 to be formed of the methods which obtained in the 

 older mines at the beginning of operations. During 

 the da\' Alexandersfontein and Kenilworth attracted 

 many visitors, and in the evening Prof. J. B. Porter, 

 of McGill Universitv, gave a lecture entitled " The 

 Bearing of Engineering on Mining." 



At mid-dav on Thursday, September 7, the special 

 trains for Bulawayo commenced to leave, and a 

 journey which lasted until Saturday morning, 

 September 9, introduced the tr.avellers to many 

 interesting scenes, many of which were of a type 

 entirely different from any hitherto experienced. The 

 richly wooded districts of British Bechuanaland called 

 for frequent use of the camera, and not a few curios 

 were purchased from the natives. 



On arrival at Bulawayo, where the accommodation 

 was limited, many of the partv had to sleep in the 

 train, a proceeding which, however, was hardly re- 

 garded as an inconvenience. 



The library, which had been turned into a reception 

 room for the occasion, brought a numerous company 

 together, and the post-office counter was thronged 

 for a considerable period owing to the great demand 

 for the new Victoria Falls stamps just issued in 



