BETURN OF THE ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION. 



126 



Expedition, on behalf of himself, Alder- 

 men, and citizens."— I have, etc., J. W. 

 C. Hamilton. Town Clerk. 



Chamber of Commerce, Hobart, Tas- 

 mania, April 18, 1900. To C. E. Borch- 

 grevink, Esq., Leader of the Antarc- 

 tic Expedition.— Dear Sir,— "As repre- 

 senting the members of the Chamber 

 of Commerce, I have sincere pleasure 

 in welcoming you and your staff on your 

 return to this port, after bravely en- 

 during the extreme hardships of the 

 South Polar Regions. I trust that all 

 the information you desired to obtain 

 by the expedition have been secured, 

 and that you will return to Europe to 

 enrich our geographical knowledge, and 

 receive the encomiums you have so well 

 deserved ; and I trust to fully re-estab- 

 lish good health. The mercantile com- 

 munitv of Hobart feel especially inter- 

 ested in the result of your labours, be- 

 cause this port has been the starting 

 and returning point of the two most 

 celebrated expeditions to Antarctic 

 regions." — Yours, etc., C. H. Grant, 

 President. 



Field Naturalist Club of Victoria, 

 Melbourne, April 10, 1900.— Alex. Mor- 

 ton. Dear, Sir, — "At our meeting last 

 evening, I was instructed by resolution 

 to forward the congratulations of the 

 above club to the members of the An^^- 

 arctic Expedition on their safe return 

 and trust you will convey same to 

 them." — Yours, etc., George Coghill, 

 hon. see. 



Launceston Microscopical Club, Laun- 

 ceston, April 12, 1900.— C. E. Borch- 

 grevink, Esq., F.R.G.S., etc. Sir — 

 "On behalf of the members of the above 

 club, we beg to tender our hearty con- 

 gratulations upon your safe return from 

 the perilous voyage of discovery -n 

 nobly undertook in the interests of 

 science, to the regions bounding the 

 Southern Pole. We trust that in due 

 course, when the final results of your 

 work are made known to the world, the 

 forecasts made two years ago will be 

 amply verified. We also hope that, n 

 the near future, you will be spared to 

 have the privilege of leading a second 

 expedition, so as to still further enhance 

 our store of knowledge respecting the 

 Antarctic regions. It is with deep re- 

 gret that we heard of the lamented 

 death of Mr. Hansen, of the zoological 



staff. We offer our sincere condolence, 

 trusting his demise at the post of duty 

 may to some extent mitigate the loss." — 

 We have the honour to remain, on be- 

 half of the Launceston Microscopical 

 Club, yours, etc.. W. F. Petterd, Pre ii- 

 dent ; F. E. Burbury, acting hon. sec. 



To Carsten E. Borchgrevink, 

 F.R.G.S.— Sir,— The Council of tho 

 civil Service Association of Tasmania 

 desire to join with other public bodies 

 in the colony in tendering to you and to 

 the scientific staff and ofl&cers of the 

 ship Southern Cross a very hearty wel- 

 come upon your return to our shores 

 from the Antarctic regions. Although we 

 do not expect you to publish here any 

 of the results of your explorations, we 

 feel assured vour discoveries during 

 your arduous expedition will necessarily 

 prove of intense interest to the world 

 at large and of great utility in scievi- 

 tific circles. We wish the Southern 

 Cross a. pleasant voyage to Europe, and 

 we trust that you and each of your com- 

 rades will receive a due recognition of 

 the indomitable pluck and perseveranoa 

 you have exhibited. We remain, yours 

 faithfully, Bernard Shaw, President 

 A. Moat. Secretary. Hobart. April 18. 

 1900. 



The Treasurer (Hon. B. S. Bird), on 

 behalf of the Government, welcomed 

 the leader and members of the exp-'di- 

 tion, and expressed regret at the a^. 

 sence of the Premier, which was "'u- 

 avoidable. He was proud to take part 

 in the welcome which the Government 

 accorded to the leader and members of 

 the expedition. They welcomed the 

 men, but not entirely without sorrow, 

 as the expedition had cost a life. Still 

 they were anxious to offer the explorers 

 a true British welcome. (Applause.) 

 Of course they would like to hear some 

 of the particulars of the expedition, but 

 they must wait until a report was pub- 

 lished by Sir George Newnes. Some 

 people were apt to ask what was the 

 benefit of the expedition ? Whether the 

 results of the expedition had a commer- 

 cial or geographical value, the informa- 

 tion obtained must be of great interest. 

 All they could do at present was to 

 heartily congratulate Mr. Borchgreevinii 

 and his party on their attempt to brid:4e 

 the gulf between the ignorance that was 

 and the knowledge that now existed. He 

 hoped to see a further exploration made. 



