TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION E. 447 



declination (and the earth's perihelion), which causes the yearly period. The influ- 

 ence of the moon, on the other hand, upon the movement of the deep water 

 causes the periods of abundant and scarce fishing every eighteenth or nineteenth 



vear 



MONDAY, SEPT EM DEL' 4. 



Joint Discussion with Sections C and K on the Relation of the present 

 Plant Population oj the British Isles to the Glacial Period. — See p. 573. 



The following Paper was then read : — 



British Exploration in Dutch New Guinea. 

 By Captain C. G. Rawling, CLE. 



The object of the expedition, which was organised by the Ornithologists' 

 Union, assisted by the Royal Geographical Society, was to survey the south- 

 western part of Dutch New Guinea, and to study the flora and fauna of the 

 districts. The expedition was led at first by Mr. W. Goodfellow, who acted as 

 ornithologist, and after his departure by Captain Rawling. A landing was 

 effected near the mouth of the Mimika river, where a base camp was formed. 

 The party then advanced along the Mimika to Parimau — thirty miles in a direct 

 line from the coast — where a base was established. The whole of the intervening 

 country was covered with a dense growth of Pandanus, Artocarpus, Ficus, 

 Hat tans, and other plants. From Parimau attempts were made to penetrate 

 into the mountains, but at first with little success. The Mimika proved useless 

 as a means of advance, and the expedition was forced eastwards across and 

 along the great rivers Kamura, Wataikwa, and Iwaka. A branch of the Wania 

 was then followed for some distance, after which the exploring party made for 

 the foothills, eventually reaching an elevation of 6,000 feet. Here a magnifi- 

 cent view was obtained. To the south lay the densely forested plains and foot- 

 hills, while to the north was the Nassau Range with its steepy precipitous front, 

 which is over eighty miles in length and varies from 8,000 to 10,500 feet in 

 sheer height. 



Among other results of the expedition large and valuable collections of birds 

 and animals were made, together with botanical and ethnographical specimens. 

 A new and unknown race of pigmies was discovered and studied ,- over 3,000 

 square miles of country were surveyed and mapped ; and the impossibility of 

 the Mimika, and the value of the rivers further east, as a line of advance to the 

 snows, was ascertained. 



TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5. 

 The following Papers were read : — • 



1. International Air-Map and Aeronautical Marks. By Ch. Lallemand. 



The author described the resolutions recently adopted, at his suggestion, by 

 the Permanent Committee for Aerial Navigation of the Public Works Depart- 

 ment of the French Government on the subject of the production of an Inter- 

 national Air-Map and the establishment of marks required by aviators and 

 aeronauts. The map, designed on the scale of 1 to 200,000, after a provisional 

 model submitted by the Aero Club, will be a subdivision of the ' International 

 Map of the World,' on the scale of 1 to 1,000,000, for the production of which a 

 common agreement was recently arrived at between the principal States of the 



