8 
CAPTAIN STURT’S LECTURE. 
therefore at once volunteered to His Excellency to 
take the command of any party that might be sent 
out, to find one-third of the number of horses 
required, and pay one-third of the expenses. Two 
days after this a lecture was delivered at the Me- 
chanics’ Institute in Adelaide, by Captain Sturt, 
upon the Geography and Geology of Australia, at 
the close of which that gentleman acquainted the 
public with the proposal I had made to the Go- 
vernor, and the sanction and support which His 
Excellency was disposed to give it. The following 
extract is from Captain Sturt’s address, and shews 
the disinterested and generous zeal which that 
talented and successful traveller was ever ready to 
exert on behalf of those who were inclined to follow 
the career of enterprise and ambition in which 
he had with such distinction led the way. 
‘ ‘ Before I conclude, however, having drawn your attention to 
the science of geology, I would for a moment dwell on that of 
geography, and the benefit the pursuit and study of it has been 
to mankind. To geography we owe all our knowledge of the 
features of the earth’s surface, our intercourse with distant 
nations, and our enjoyments of numberless comforts and luxuries. 
The sister sciences of geography and hydrography have enabled 
us to pursue our way to any quarter of the habitable and unin- 
habitable world. With the history of geography, moreover, our 
proudest feelings are associated. Where are there names dearer 
to us than those of the noble and devoted Columbus, of Sebastian 
Cabot, of Cook, of Humboldt, and of Belzoni and La Perouse? 
Where shall we find the generous and heroic devotion of the 
explorers of Africa surpassed? Of Denham, of Clapperton, of 
Oudeny, and of the many who hnve sacrificed their valuable 
