7 
Ararat, Portland, Maryborough, and the Murray ; and from all 
these places replies have been received of a very satisfactory nature. 
In the Report for 18G5 the Council mentioned that, at the sug¬ 
gestion of the Hon. J. G. Francis, Commissioner of Customs, a con¬ 
siderable number of goats, rabbits, pigs, fowls, ducks, and geese, had 
been sent down by the Society, in II.M.C.S. Victoria, for liberation 
at the Auckland Islands, to be of service to any persons who might 
unfortunately be shipwrecked there. It was not then anticipated 
how soon these animals would bo required, but it is now known 
that within five months of their being placed on the Islands, the 
survivors from the “General Grant” were indebted to them for 
sustenance. In consequence of this success, the Council has 
determined to ship a much larger quantity of stock by the first 
opportunity to these Islands. 
The establishment of State Forests by the Government will greatly 
facilitate the dispersion throughout the colony of the various descrip¬ 
tions of game and other useful animals, and will enable the Society 
to introduce them into localities where, for want of proper protec¬ 
tion, any attempt at acclimatisation was previously attended with 
great difficulty. 
It having been thought advisable to alter the date at which the 
annual subscription to the Society shall bo payable, an alteration 
in Rule No. 3 will be submitted for your approval, by which the 
date fixed will be 1st January instead of 1st September. 
During the visit of H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh to the colony, 
the Council prepared the following address, which, with copies of 
the Society’s Reports, was presented to H.R.II. by the President, 
and to which a reply has been received. 
