President's Address. xi 



fish he hauled on board a net full of dead fish in an advanced stage 

 of decomposition. There are traditions of extreme mortality among 

 the fish in the neighbourhood of Table Bay and on the west and 

 south coasts. If the interpretation, then, of these facts be correct, 

 the deposit of green mud is to be regarded as an ocean graveyard 

 and constitutes another striking feature of the sea and sea-life in 

 South African waters. 



I have endeavoured to present the outstanding features of the 

 South Africa marine fauna. It will have become apparent to 

 you that for an adequate solution of the scientific and practical 

 problems connected therewith, due consideration must be given 

 to its peculiar environment, by which it is linked on to the two 

 great oceans of the world, the Indo-Pacific and the Atlantic, 

 as well as to the Antarctic. The most outstanding problems 

 are those connected with the distribution of its diverse forms 

 of life, and you will have seen that these are as yet vaguely 

 defined and understood. I am confident, however, that further 

 research will afford a basis for valid conclusions of both a 

 scientific and practical value. 



If I were to attempt to sum up the general aspect of the subject 

 in one sentence, I should say that, as the Cape of Good Hope has 

 been and always will be the main natural highway between the 

 East and West, and is consequently characterised by the possession 

 of a cosmopolitan population, in itself the result of incursions from 

 the most diverse races, so the sea surrounding its coasts for the 

 same reason, viz., its geographical position, is characterised by 

 forms of life from the most remote regions — from the North 

 Atlantic, the Antarctic, and the Indian Ocean, and even an 

 element from the Far East. 



