TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 151 



hope that by giving and taking ground in an amicable manner with our kinsmen of 

 the United States, we may be enabled by a more southern railroad to traverse the 

 prairies on either side of the neutral boundary, and then pass down the river Co- 

 lumbia to Vancouver Island. By this operation the great Gulf of St. Lawrence and 

 Hudson's Bay on the east, may eventually be placed in communication with the 

 noble roadsteads of Vancouver Island and the adjacent mainland on the Pacific. At 

 all events, Britain will doubtless not be slow in establishing communications between 

 the Atlantic and Pacific, first by the electric telegraph, next by ordinary roads, and 

 finally, it is to be hoped, in part at least, by railroads. 



On these subjects we are to be favoured at this Meeting with a paper by Captain 

 Synge, in addition to the viva voce communications of Captain Palliser and his asso- 

 ciates. 



Having not as yet had access to many of the papers which are to be communi- 

 cated to this Section, I can allude to a few more of them only. In a Memoir on the 

 Geographical Distribution of Plants in Asia Minor and Armenia by my distinguished 

 friend M. Pierre de TchihatchefF, you will find some remarkable results as flowing 

 from the long-continued researches of that ardent and successful traveller. After 

 accounting for the absence of some plants and the profusion of others in given 

 localities as dependent on climatal conditions (an example of which is, that the grape 

 there flourishes in one tract at the great height of nearly 6000 feet above the sea), 

 M. de Tchihatcheff brings out some striking statistical data, showing the vastly 

 greater abundance and variety of vegetation in Asia Minor compared with that of 

 any other country. He points out that the plants of five mountains only amount 

 in number to double the entire quantity of British plants, and concludes with an 

 eloquent regret that these classic regions, so blessed by the hand of the Creator, and 

 which in the earlier history of mankind were replete with highly civilized communi- 

 ties, should now, through misgovernment, be the scene of oppression and barbarity. 



Another distinguished Russian geographer, M. N. Khanikoff, who has explored 

 large portions of Persia and the adjoining countries, will bring before us his maps 

 and descriptions of the mountainous tracts of the countries of the southern parts of 

 Central Asia, where the lofty mountains of Ararat, Demavend, and Savalan form the 

 chief elevations of the region to which we look as the cradle of our race. 



But, to revert to subjects connected with Britain. In no portion of the surface of 

 the globe have we made such great and rapid advances as in Australia. Doubtless 

 much of this progress in settlement and civilization, particularly in Victoria, is due to 

 the discovery of those enormous masses of gold which are producing far and wide 

 such powerful effects. But looking to the work of purely geographical pioneers, I can 

 declare, that some of the most valuable and daring researches from the earliest days 

 to the present time have been completed, wholly irrespective of profits gained 

 through the attraction of the precious metal. The great discoveries of Sturt, Eyre, 

 and Leichhardt were made before the existence of gold was known ; and even now, 

 when it is the most seductive of baits to entice the traveller, see what vast regions 

 the brothers Gregory have laid open in Northern, Eastern, and Western Australia 

 without the recompense of a single yellow nugget. Again, look to South Australia, 

 where gold is scarcely known, at least in any appreciable quantity, and see what its 

 inhabitants have done in pushing far into the interior, simply to acquire fresh pas- 

 ture-lands. In contemplating these recent discoveries, we read with astonishment 

 of what one individual, Mr. M'Dougall Stewart, has accomplished in so short a time, 

 and of the privations he underwent to realize the existence of freshwater streams 

 and oases on the borders of the great interior saline desert. 



Still more were we surprised when we learned that this great continent, the rivers 

 of which were so long considered to be useless, has had its one mighty stream, the 

 Murray, rendered navigable for 1800 miles. With its affluents, the Darling and 

 Murrirabidgee, this river may indeed be said to have been laid open for 2500 miles, 

 »'. e. between many new towns which have sprung up in the interior and the sea — 

 and all this by the clearing away of the stems and stumps of trees, the result of ages 

 of decay. 



There are now indeed in England some of the eminent men, whether governors, 

 statesmen, or explorers of this great colonial region, who will, I hope, before we 

 adjourn, throw fresh light on these recent discoveries. 



