TJie Australasian Association. 2*79 



even in the extreme South of New Zealand could hardly be 

 expected to disclose phenomena that would escape the vigi- 

 lance of the Melbourne observatory. But star gazing is 

 only one branch of the routine work of an observatory. It 

 is true that we have a moderate but efficient observatory 

 establishment in New Zealand sufficient for distributing 

 correct mean time, and that our meridian distance from 

 Greenwich has been satisfactorily determined by telegraph, 

 also thanks to the energy and skill of the Survey Depart- 

 ment, despite most formidable natural obstructions, the 

 major triangulation and meridian circuits have established 

 the basis of our land survey maps on a satisfactory footing, 

 so that sub-divisions of the land for settlement and the 

 adoption and blending of the excellent work done by the 

 Provincial Governments of the colony is being rapidly over- 

 taken. 



Further, I have already recalled how much the co- 

 lony is indebted to the Mother Country for the complete- 

 ness and detail of the coastal and harbor charts. But there 

 is much work that should be controlled by a physical ob- 

 servatory that is really urgently required. I may give a 

 few illustrations. The tidal movements round the coast 

 are still imperfectly ascertained, and the cause of their irre- 

 gular variations can never be understood until we have a 

 synchronous system of tide meters, and a more widely ex- 

 tended series of deep-sea soundings. Excepting the Chal- 

 lenger soundings on the line of the Sydney cable, and a few 

 casts taken by the United States ship Enterprise, the depth 

 of the ocean surrounding New Zealand has not been ascer- 

 tained with that accuracy which many interesting prob- 

 lems in physical geography and geology demand. It is 

 supposed to be the culmination of a great submarine pla- 

 teau ; but how far that plateau extends, connecting the 

 southern islands towards the great Antarctic land, and how 

 far to the eastward, is still an unsolved question. Then, 

 again, the direction and intensity of the magnetic currents 

 in and around New Zealand require further close investiga- 

 tion, which can only be controlled from an observatory. 



