26 A. LIVERSIDGE. 



presented at the Bath meeting and printed in the volume for 1888 

 as follows : — " Since the meeting held in Manchester last year, 

 " the above committee have been in communication with the scien- 

 " tific bodies in Australia, New Zealand, and Tasmania. These 

 " colonies have manifested a very great desire for exploration of 

 " the Antarctic Regions, which is strongly advocated by their 

 " respective Governments. The result is that the Government of 

 "Victoria has voted .£5,000 towards an expedition provided that 

 "the Imperial Government contributed a similar grant." 



"The Colonial Office submitted the application to H.M. Treasury 

 for favourable consideration, who sent it to the Royal Society for 

 their report on the expediency of the expedition. A very influential 

 committee was accordingly appointed by that learned body to 

 consider the matter. The reply from the Royal Society together 

 with a letter from the Colonial Office and the Treasury are 

 annexed herewith which sufficiently explains the motives for 

 declining the grant. It may be inferred from the tone expressed 

 in the official letters that H.M. Government is favourably disposed 

 towards Antarctic research. It is therefore to be hoped that 

 the leading scientific societies and men of eminence in this 

 country may combine in preparing a case to submit to H.M. 

 Government that will justify an appeal to Parliament for an 

 expedition being prepared on a scale equivalent to the one which 

 met with such valuable results under Sir James Ross. It should 

 be stated that the subject has been brought under the notice of 

 the Admiralty, and your committee have met with the support of 

 the Royal Geographical Society and other influential bodies besides 

 eliciting encouragement from men of great eminence in the pro- 

 motion of science. Your committee having thus given publicity 

 to this desirable project, feel that their services are no longer 

 required at present, but they trust the Council of the British 

 Association may embrace any early opportunity for approaching 

 H.M. Government to carry out this noble work of research into 

 the Antarctic regions." 



