INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 



THE Local Committee of the " Funafuti Coral Reef Boring 

 Expedition, of the Royal Society " (London), in charge of 

 Prof. Sollas, LL.D., F.R.S., having suggested to the Trustees 

 of the Australian Museum that one of their Officers should be 

 deputed to accompany the Expedition, Mr. Charles Hedley was 

 selected for the purpose. 



Mr. Hedley left Sydney in H.M.S. "Penguin," under the 

 command of Capt. Mervyn Field, R.N., on May 1st, arriving at 

 Funafuti on May 21st. He remained on the island for two and 

 a half months, leaving in the same vessel. On the return voyage 

 to Fiji, the Island of Nukulailai was touched at, where scientific 

 investigations were renewed for two days. Mr. Hedley finally 

 reached Sydney on August 22nd. 



During his stay on Funafuti, Mr. Hedley succeeded in amassing 

 an interesting collection, particularly of Invertebrate and Ethno- 

 logical objects, together with much valuable scientific information. 

 The collections are now in process of description by the Scientific 

 Staff of the Museum, and the results are being published in the 

 order in which the study of the various groups is completed. 



A brief account of the results of the boring operations at 

 Funafuti, extracted from Prof. Sollas' letters, will be found in 

 "Nature" of 24th Sept., 1896, p. 517. 



R. ETHERIDGE, Junr., 



Curator. 



Sydney, 21st December, 1896. 



