XIV 



Stuart,* the liberality of friends in New South Wales and the Government of that 

 colony, with whom, we on this side of the world ought also to include their then Agent- 

 General Sir Saul Samuel. Gratitude is expressed to these by name in tlie different 

 reports, and we crave pardon in advance for any inadvertent omissions, pleading as 

 excuse the number and the difficulties caused by the long distance between writers 

 and printers. But as Chairman of the Committee from the beginning, I can realise, 

 more fully perhaps than most, how much we are indebted for the success of this 

 undertaking to friends in, and the Government of. New South Wales, and trust 

 that the one and the other will be satisfied by the results. 



In the same capacity I may venture to acknowledge the valuable services of 

 not a few workers on this side of the world. We are indebted to Professor 

 Ray Lankester and to members of his staff at the British Museum of Natural 

 History for frequent assistance. All the members of the Committee have 

 given special help wlienever it was needed. Sir W. J. L. Wharton, Hydrographer 

 to the Admiralty, has been untiring in his efforts, and we cannot but feel that we 

 are greatly indebted to his good offices with that Department for the invaluable 

 assistance rendered to the Expedition by H.M.Ss. the " Penguin," under 

 Captain Mostyn Field, and the " Porpoise," under Captain Sturdee. Our 

 secretaries, Professor Sollas and Professor Watts, have earned our gratitude for 

 their constant help, and there are two other members of our Committee to whom we 

 are under a more than ordinary obligation. Professor Judd undertook, at the request 

 of the Committee and with the sanction of the Board of Education, which thus gave 

 a strong support to the investigation, to receive the cores despatched from Australia, 

 to prepare the materials for and exercise a general supervision over their examination, 

 and to have the chemical and mineralogical study carried out under his own eye 

 at the Boyal College of Science, South Kensington. The results, as will be seen 

 from Sections XII to XIV, have proved to ])e highly interesting. Dr. G. J. Hinde, 

 to whom the Committee also appealed for help, has devoted many months of labour 

 to the minute study of the organisms comprising the cores, and I venture to 

 say that the more his elaborate report ^^Section XI) is studied, the more its value 

 will be appreciated. Their unselfish devotion to this most laborious task entitles 

 them to the heartfelt gratitude of all lovers of Natural Science. May I also thank 

 them for their constant kindness to myself in responding to questions, in reading 

 proofs, and in supplying the defects of }ny own ignorance. 



* When preparations were lieing made for the despatch of the First Expedition, a committee was formed 

 in Sydney, by the initiative of Professor Anderson Stuart, consisting of himself, Professor Edgeworth 

 David, Captain Mostyn Field (in command of the " Penguin "), Mr. Robert Etheridge, Jun. (Curator 

 of the Australian Museum), Mr. C. Hedley (Conchologist to that Museum), and Mr. W. H. J. Slee 

 (Superintendent of Diamond Drills, Department of Mines). 



