ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 23 



is partly due to the method of teaching languages, which in too 

 many cases appears to aim simply at teaching the student to 

 translate and to do a little composition, in the style of certaM 

 selected models, instead of leading him to study the structure, 

 development and relationship of languages to one another — i.e., 

 the art only of languages is too often taught instead of the science 

 of languages. Every one will admit that even in Australia alone, 

 there is much to be learnt respecting the various dialects or 

 languages. In the course of a few years it will be too late, for 

 the natives are becoming changed by contact with the white man, 

 and are fast dying out, hence what is done should be done 

 quickly. 



Amongst other matters connected with the Australian aborigines 

 there is still a large amount of interesting work to be done in 

 describing and reproducing the rock and tree carvings which are 

 to be found scattered about the Colony, and especially along the 

 coasts ; there must still be a great many unrecorded ones even in 

 the neighbourhood of Sydney ; only within the past three months 

 a carving was exposed, by the heavy rains, on the rocks on the 

 Burnt Bridge Creek, (about two miles from Manly) in a place 

 where one would not have expected to find them. 



Antarctic Exploration. — In addition to the objects already 

 mentioned as worthy of investigation there are many others, 

 some of which, however, are beyond the means of private indi- 

 viduals, and one of these is that of Antarctic Exploration ; this topic 

 has been brought before the Australasian public many times 

 during the past few years by members of the Australian Geo- 

 graphical Societies and others ; the British Association has had a 

 Committee for this purpose since 1885, and three reports have 

 been presented to the British Association by this committee ; the 

 Baron von Mueller in 1886 strongly advocated the dispatch of an 

 exploring Expedition and Mr. G. S. Griffiths, f.r.g.s., read a 

 paper upon this subject in 1888 before the Sydney meeting of our 

 local Association for the Advancement of Science. Such an 

 Expedition would probably collect much information of commercial 



