PROCEEDINGS, NOVEMBER. Ixiii 



Premier received the deputation very kindly, and said that, although he 

 could give no pledge, he had little doubt that Tasmania would be ready 

 to contribute her share of the £10,000 estimated as necessary to 

 start the expedition, provided it were federally divided among ail the 

 Australian colonies. Subsequently in reply to a telegram from Sir 

 Erasmus Ommanney, the secretary to the Antarctic Committee of the 

 British Association, our Society signified their concurrence in a united 

 appeal of the learned and scientific societies throughout Australia to 

 promote Antarctic exploration. We c;annot say what the ultimate result 

 may be, but I think it will be admitted that this Society has not been 

 wanting in its efforts to help forward to the best of its power the object 

 of Antarctic exploration. It is very satisfactory to find that the Royal 

 Geographical Society of London has lent its powerful aid in Antarctic 

 exploration, and I would ask you to listen to the following extracts 

 from an article in The Times of London which came by last mail 

 showing how much the thoughts of England are directed at present to 

 this subject. After recounting all that has been done in this direction 

 up to the present time it says : — 



"This, then, is all that has been done to advance our knowledge of 

 the immense area which to so large an extent influences the climates of 

 Australia, South Africa, and South America, and a knowledge of the 

 meteorology and oceanography, which is absolutely necessary before we 

 can pretend to understand the laws that govern the climates of our 

 globe. Only a few patches of land here and there along the Antarctic 

 ■Circle have been touched, and the big patch which Ross discovered to 

 the south of New Zealand. What we know of these patches has only 

 served to whet our curiosity to know more. There are certainly wonders 

 to be discovered there not surpassed in their kind by anything which 

 explorers have told us of the other end of the world. Of the great 

 enterprises which go so largely to make up the accumulated glory of our 

 country, exploring expeditions, polar and other, form a considerable 

 part . It is for the greater good of a nation to store up such a reputation 

 as these enterprises bring, and from this point of view aloue young 

 Australia should be encouraged to enter on the great work of exploring 

 the vast unknown region that lies at her door. But in doing so she 

 would be doing real service to her own material interests, and to the 

 interests of the world at large if her work were conducted on thorough 

 scientific principles. Any new expedition to the Antarctic should be 

 planned with the greatest care. It should be remembered that all that 

 has hitherto been done has been with sailing vessels ; now that we have 

 steam the task of exploration should be much easier. lb would be 

 absolutely necessary for a party to winter at as high a latitude as 

 possible, and two vessels at least would be required. One could steam 

 round the verge of the ice for weeks if desirable, and watch for a 

 favourable opening of whtch to warn the other vessel. But the great 

 matter at present is to decide whether Australia and England caa co- 

 operate in an important undertaking which will bring credit, and 

 mayhap profit, to both. If there is any difficulty about contributing 

 money, there are other ways in which the Mother Country could 

 materially co-operate with the most enterprising of her colonies." 



We have given our cordial assent to a proposal for scientific federation 

 of British and American geologists with the view of laying a broad 

 foundation of geological fact, classification, nomenclature, and represent 

 tation which would ultimately be adopted by other countries, as far as 

 local diversities and differences of language would permit. This 

 proposal originated in a communication from Sir W. Dawson, of 

 Montreal, to the president of the Royal Society in England, which was 

 forwarded to us in a communication from the High Commissioner of 

 Canada to our Agent-General. We regarded the proposal as of great 



