6 ANNIVEESAET ADDEESS. 



allowed to become the victims of a too-ready reliance on the mere 

 shadows of those qualifications which should alone justify sensible 

 men in committing themselves to the navigation of a dangerous 

 ocean. 



Lieutenant Growlland deserves great credit for the manner in 

 which he conducted his exploration. It was his second voyage 

 along the N.E. coast, the first having been unsuccessful and 

 disappointing in its results to our Colonial Astronomers, from 

 causes beyond the control of any Palinurus or Kepler of modern 

 times.* 



Turning from the gloomy pictures represented in these refer- 

 ences to the past, let us glance at the prospects presented to 

 us in relation to the progress now being made in the investigation 

 of the mineral wealth of the Colonies. 



Diamond Field of Bahia. 

 In my last Address I offered such information as I had obtained 

 as to the origin of, and search for, diamonds in Brazil, India, 

 Africa, and Borneo. 



As new matter on the subject relating to Brazil and Africa has 

 been obtained, I would wish, so far as I am enabled, to supplement 

 what I have previously stated. 



After that Address had been circulated beyond the Colony, I 

 received a letter from an eminent geological explorer in Brazil 

 (The Eev. C. Gr. Nicolay,) a communication on the occurrence of 

 diamonds in the province of Bahia, my former remarks extending 

 chiefly to the province of Minas Geraes, to the south of Bahia. 



Mr. Nicolay was ten years travelling in Brazil, and has collected 

 a great amount of information respecting the diamond-bearing 

 rocks in the Chapada of Bahia. An abstract of a paper on the 

 subject, which had escaped my notice, was published by the British 

 Association ; and in the valuable account of the " G-eology and 

 G-eography of Brazil," by Professor Hartt, of Cornell University 

 published at Boston, in 1870, as part of the Scientific Results of 



* In reference to the Expedition to watch the Eclipse of the Sun on 12th 

 December, 1872. 



