48 Addreti. [Feb., 



i \<m- increasing field, as the Society still holds to the rule laid 

 down by its founder that " the bounds of its investigation will be the 

 geographical limits of Asia ; and, within these limits, its inquiries will 

 be extended to whatever is performed by man or produced by nature." 

 It is also to be remembered that in most cases we have only received 

 the European publications for the first half of the past year, and 

 that the time chosen for the annual address is also the busiest one for 

 almost all of us in our public and private avocations. Personally, I 

 much regret that you have not before you to-day one who could satis- 

 factorily carry out the programme, but, gentlemen, I was elected to the 

 post that I have the honour to hold by your suffrages, and therefore the 

 fault of having such an imperfect representative rests with you. I can 

 only say that, craving your indulgence for its many imperfections and 

 omissions, I will, with the assistance of the many* who have come for- 

 ward to aid me, endeavour to give you some account of some portions of 

 the work done outside the Society during a part of 1886. 



Survey of India. — We can always turn to the records of the Survey of 

 India with the assurance that we shall find there something of novelty and 

 interest. The great feature of the year has been the completion of the 

 work undertaken by the Afghan Frontier-delimitation Commission on 

 which three officers and several native surveyors have been so long employ- 

 ed. It will be some time before the results can be made ready for publica- 

 tion, and we are glad to learn that it is the intention of Government to 

 collect and publish the whole of the reports as a separate volume. We, 

 however, know that an independent traverse without a break was taken 

 from Quettah to Kushan, a distance of 767 miles. Between Nushki and 

 Khwajah Ali the country was triangulated, and a topographical survey 

 was carried on along two separate routes, embracing an area of about 

 6000 square miles. The Helmand valley was mapped up to the Hamun, 

 and the total area plane-tabled along the route amounted to 15,000 

 square miles. We have not yet details from which we can apportion to 

 1886 the work done in that year, but we know that the survey was 

 continued and carried on to Kabul itself on the return journey, and 

 that Captain Gore proceeded from Khamiab through Herat to Kirman 

 and thence to Bandar Abbas on the Persian Gulf. The Survey of India 

 was also represented on Colonel Lockhart's Gilgit mission, which 

 traversed much new ground, including parts of Chitral, Yassin, and the 

 borders of Kafiristan, and should be able to fill up many blank spaces 

 on our maps. In connection with this elevated region reference may 



* I would particularly record my obligations to Mr. II. B. Medlicott, Dr. G, 

 King, Dr. D. D. Cunningham, Dr. Burgess, Mr. H. Blanford, Mr. G. A. Grierson, 

 and Mr. H. llislcy. 



