CORNELL 
 
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 Address at the anniversary meeting of th 
 
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( 111 ) 
 
 PRESENTATION 
 
 ROYAL AWARDS 
 
 TO ELISHA KENT KANE, M.D. ; TO HEINR1CH BARTH, PH.D.. 
 AND TO CORPORAL CHURCH, of the Royal Sappers and Miners. 
 
 His Excellency G. M. Dallas, Minister of the United States of 
 America, having consented to receive the Gold Medal awarded to 
 Dr. Kane, the President addressed him as follows : — 
 
 " Sir, — The Founder's Gold Medal, the highest honour this Society 
 has in its power to bestow, has been awarded to Dr. Kane, of the 
 United States of America, for his distinguished services and important 
 discoveries in the Polar regions, while in charge of the expedition 
 fitted out in America to search for Sir John Franklin ; and for his 
 valuable Memoir and Charts, communicated through the Admiralty. 
 
 " In the absence of Dr. Kane himself, I could desire no greater 
 privilege than that of confiding the award, Dr. Kane has so justly 
 deserved, to the hands of the distinguished representative of the 
 nation to which he belongs ; in order that the feeling of this Society, 
 and I may say of the country at large, may go forth in its fullest 
 extent to the land which enrols the name of Dr. Kane among her 
 citizens. Sir, I cannot discharge this duty without passing a remark 
 on the peculiarity of the circumstances attending this occasion. 
 
 " It seldom happens that nations so distantly situated, sponta- 
 neously unite in such acts of humanity as those which have charac- 
 terized the late search for Sir J. Franklin. More rarely still do 
 we find the sympathies of individuals so enlisted in the fate of 
 foreigners, as to manifest themselves in acts of philanthropy of such 
 a truly liberal and substantial character as have here occurred ; and 
 this act of the United States, together with the. names of Grinnell 
 and Peabody, will long be remembered in this country, even after 
 the spirit of Arctic enterprise shall have passed away. But, Sir, if 
 the feelings of nations have been deeply enlisted in this search, how 
 much more so must have been the feelings of individuals, who enjoyed 
 the friendship of the object of it ? Sir, there are persons now present 
 who were early associated with our lamented countryman, who 
 shared with him his-first perilous encounter with that icy element 
 which was afterwards to become his tomb, and who enjoyed his 
 friendship through life. 
 
112 1>K. KANE— ROYAL AWARDS. [May 26, 1856. 
 
 " As one of these, you may imagine that it is with no small degree 
 of interest that I find myself now, in my official capacity, conveying 
 this award of the Society, to the officer who so strenuously endea- 
 voured to determine the fate of him, whom we all so deeply deplore. 
 
 " These sympathies, however, have had no share in the decision 
 of the Council. Dr. Kane's merits alone, have won for him this testi- 
 mony of the Society ; and I trust that these reciprocal acts of good 
 feeling between nations and individuals may tend to bind in lasting 
 ties of amity these two great nations, whose sympathies have been 
 shown to be so closely identified." 
 
 His Excellency the American Minister, having received the Medal, 
 replied : — 
 
 " Mr. President, — On behalf of my fellow-citizen, Dr. "Elisha Kent 
 Kane, I receive, with equal pride and pleasure, this testimonial, 
 awarded by your learned body, to his ability and services in that 
 branch of human knowledge, to which you are specially devoted. 
 
 " His country also, even now engaged in expressing her high 
 sense of his deserts, will be gratified to learn that her judgment, 
 which might, possibly, be ascribed to partiality, has been thus 
 sanctioned. 
 
 " Young as he yet is, and fairly entitled to count upon many years 
 of zealous intellectual activity, he can never achieve a prouder recog- 
 nition, considered in all its aspects, than this Medal of the Eoyal 
 Geographical Society of London. 
 
 "Dr. Kane, as is personally known to me, entered upon his career 
 of Arctic exploration under the influence of sentiments which were 
 strengthened, rather than shaken, by its depicted terrors. In the 
 medical department of the navy of the United States, on a remote 
 station, his Government scarcely intimated a disposition to join in 
 the search for Sir John Franklin, before he hurried forward to volun- 
 teer an enlistment for that noble purpose. There was a voice upon 
 the breeze that had caught his ear ; an ardent fondness for scientific 
 studies impelled him to a fresh field of research ; a daring and irre- 
 pressible spirit of enterprise co-operated with much experience and 
 peculiar attainments. He went—he went twice ; and, though he 
 vainly offered his own life to rescue another's, he brought back with 
 him observations, verifications, discoveries, and delineations, worthy 
 to be accepted by the masters of geographical science. If, as I 
 believe was the case, he penetrated to and actually beheld the ice- 
 encircled yet open sea, whose existence had been predicated of the 
 periodical northern flight of aquatic birds, of certain currents, and 
 of other indicia, he may justly feel that the practical solution of an 
 interesting problem has earned the honour of" your approbation. 
 
 " I do not wish, Mr. President, to eulogise my countryman. You 
 are far more competent than myself to appreciate the exact value of 
 whathe has effected. Your Council have affixed to his record this 
 their Great Seal ; and at your invitation, and with alacrity, I assume 
 the grateful task of transmitting it safely to his hands." 
 
Mat 26, 1856.] DR. BARTH— ROYAL AWARDS, 113 
 
 The President then addressed Dr. Barth, who was present, in the 
 following words : — 
 
 " Sir, — The Patron's Gold Medal of this Society has been awarded 
 to you ' for your successful and extensive explorations in Central 
 Africa, your numerous excursions about Lake Chad, your discovery 
 of the great river Binue, and for your hazardous and adventurous 
 journey to and from Timbuctii,' by which you have afforded to us 
 the first really authentic information respecting that important 
 locality. 
 
 " In conveying to you this testimony of the high sense entertained 
 by this Society of the merit of your performances, I cannot overlook 
 the important fact that it is just thirty-three years since I found 
 assembled upon the shores of Africa, whence you started, the dis- 
 tinguished but lamented travellers Oudney, Clapperton, Denham, 
 and Tyrwhitt, all bent upon the same great enterprise of opening 
 out the interior of that continent ; and although Laing, one of our 
 countrymen, did afterwards succeed in reaching the famed Timbuctii, 
 yet of all this party, and of those who attempted that great exploit, 
 you alone stand upon our shores as the successful accomplisher of 
 the enterprise. 
 
 " If, Sir, the service performed be measured- by the difficulty of 
 accomplishment, evidenced by the lapse of time and by the loss of 
 life that has occurred in this adventurous attempt, the award of our 
 Medal must be acknowledged to be justly merited. But you have 
 other performances to strengthen your claim ; for we are informed 
 that your labours have been so extensive, that the account of them 
 will reach over five volumes of matter, which, collected in such a 
 country, must prove of the highest import. 
 
 " Sir, I congratulate you on the successful accomplishment of your « 
 undertaking, and trust that this high tribute will stimulate you to 
 future enterprises." 
 
 Dr. Barth replied' : — 
 
 " Mr. President, — It is with great pride and satisfaction that I am 
 here to receive, at your hands, the Medal which the Council of the 
 Eoyal Geographical Society has awarded to me ; for nothing can be 
 more gratifying to a man who, from love of science, has thrown 
 himself into a dangerous and adventurous career, like that of a tra- 
 veller in the inhospitable and turbulent regions of Central Africa, 
 than the acknowledgment of such a distinguished body of learned 
 and eminent men as the Council of the Eoyal Geographical Society. 
 But it is not alone on my own behalf that I thank you ; as a member 
 of a foreign nation, who will be honoured by the distinction which 
 to-day you have conferred upon me, I offer you also their acknow- 
 ledgments as well as my own grateful thanks. 
 
 " I shall say nothing on the extent and purport of my discoveries, 
 
 which have been fully appreciated by competent men, and will 
 
 shortly be laid before the public in a full account of my Travels. 
 
 May I only be allowed toipxpress the hope that, after a great and 
 
 ^r m 2 
 
114 CORPORAL CHURCH— ROYAL AWARDS. [May 26, 1856. 
 
 practicable high road into the heart of Africa has been found at 
 length, with the sacrifice of the lives of so many noble, eminent, 
 and daring men, and after it has been proved to be such by the suc- 
 cessful voyage of Mr. Laird's steamer ' Pleiad,' and after a consider- 
 able advance' has been made in the knowledge of the interior of 
 the continent, which shows it to be of a far richer character than 
 has ever been supposed, Her Majesty's Government will not allow 
 the opportunity to pass by, to establish, in a vigorous manner, 
 legitimate commerce with those unfortunate regions, and thus hold 
 out to the natives a humane and lawful way in which they may be 
 able to supply their wants of foreign produce, without bringing, by 
 slave-hunts and slave-trade, misery and desolation over wide and 
 fertile districts. 
 
 " The present moment is the more important for such exertions, 
 as, by the abolition of the slave-trade in the regency of Tripoli and 
 in Fezzan, the trade of the interior has just been brought to a great 
 crisis, and the people are obliged to look most anxiously about for a 
 new channel by which they may supply their wants. The last news 
 received from Dr. Vogel gives a new proof how extremely anxious 
 the chiefs along the river Chadda or Binue are to enter into friendly 
 relations with the English, but how continually they are disappointed. 
 Certainly the commercial relations of the great western branch of 
 that immense river, the so-called Niger, principally between Tim- 
 buctu and Sansandi, are far more developed ; but the difficulties 
 which attend the navigation of the lower part of that river, as well 
 between the towns of Bousa and Yauri, as higher up the river be- 
 tween Tosaye and Kendaji, are considerable, although with the 
 means which human genius has made available, they appear by no 
 means insurmountable. 
 
 " I conclude, Mr. President, by repeating to you my grateful 
 thanks for the' distinguished honour conferred upon me this day." 
 
 Corporal Church having requested that Lieutenant-General Sir 
 John Burgoyne would kindly do him the honour to receive the 
 award of the Society on his behalf, the President addressed Lim as 
 follows : — 
 
 "Sir John Burgoyne, —The Eoyal Geographical Society have 
 awarded to Corporal Church this watch and chain, in acknowledg- 
 ment of his meritorious and intelligent services while employed upon 
 the African expedition under Dr. Vogel. It is the wish of the Society, 
 especially to mark with approbation, his diligence in conducting a 
 long series of meteorological observations at Kuka, and his ability in 
 assisting Dr. Vogel in those observations, by which he has deter- 
 mined astronomically so many positions on his route. 
 
 " It will be satisfactory to you, Sir John, to learn that Corporal 
 Church has amply sustained the high reputation of that excellent corps 
 of Sappers and Miners, whose unassuming labours have so materially 
 contributed to render the detail of the topographical survey of this 
 country so perfect, and have so largely contributed towards the sue- 
 
May 26, 1856.] CORPORAL CHURCH— ROYAL AWARDS. H5 
 
 cess of other geographical undertakings. If anything can enhance 
 the pleasure which I feel in the discharge of this duty, it is that of 
 delivering this acknowledgment of the merits of a zealous and faith- 
 ful soldier into the hands of so distinguished an ornament of the 
 army, one whose high scientific knowledge and military experience 
 have contributed so largely to the glory of this nation." 
 
 Lieutenant-General Sir John Burgoyne, accompanied by Corporal 
 Church, after the delivery of the honorary award, said : — 
 
 " Mr. President, — I have not been prepared to take any part in 
 this proceeding ; but although unexpectedly called upon, I cannot 
 refrain from expressing the gratification I feel, that any member of 
 the corps to which I have the honour to belong, should be thought 
 worthy of so flattering a mark of distinction as that now conferred. 
 I can assure the Meeting, that the corps of Eoyal Engineers and 
 Sappers are as ready to devote themselves to scientific enterprise, as 
 they are for military service in the field. 
 
 " With regard to Corporal Church, I believe him to be a zealous, 
 good soldier, a man of intelligence, and one who would be always 
 anxious to carry out the orders or wishes of his superiors ; and that 
 he would never bring discredit on the marks of favour thus shown 
 to him, by so distinguished a body as the Eoyal Geographical So- 
 ciety." 
 
( 116 ) 
 
 ADDRESS 
 
 TO THE 
 
 ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY 
 OF LONDON; 
 
 Delivered at the Anniversary Meeting on the 26th May, 1856, 
 By Rear- Admiral F. W. Beechet, 
 
 V.P.R.S., F.R.A.S., &c. 
 PRESIDENT. 
 
 Gentlemeu, — Before I address you upon the subject of the progress 
 and condition of that science which we more immediately cultivate, I 
 desire to convey to the Vice-Presidents and Members of the Council 
 for the past year, my acknowledgment of the great assistance I have 
 invariably received from them, especially during a long and serious 
 illness. To them, and to the unremitting attention of our Secretary, 
 is owing entirely the satisfactory conduct of the business of the Society 
 during that period. How well your interests have been attended to, is 
 manifest by the Eeport of the Council, in which you will find that, 
 whilst the sphere of usefulness of the Society has been enlarged, its 
 permanent fund has been increased, and the list of Members has 
 been extended. You will have learned also that our map-room and 
 library have been enriched by the receipt of the valuable collection of 
 maps and books bequeathed to the Society by Mr. Greenough; to whose 
 memory the Council have directed a marble bust to be executed and 
 placed in a suitable part of the building, as a justly merited testi- 
 mony of the high regard and respect the Society entertain for this 
 eminent geographer. This extensive collection has been arranged 
 for ready access, and embodied in the general catalogue, under the 
 judicious management of the map-committee and our curator, Mr. 
 Saunders. 
 
 You will have been made aware, by the receipt of the ' Pro- 
 ceedings,' that the Council have carried into effect their determi- 
 
May 26, 1856 J OBITUARY. 117 
 
 nation, conveyed to you at an evening meeting during the session, to 
 issue this publication. They considered that such a work would be 
 acceptable to the Members, and beneficial to the interests of the 
 Society, as a means of conveying early notices of the papers read 
 at the evening meetings, and of the discussions upq§ them; also 
 as an additional means of readily disseminating geographical in- 
 formation to the Public, who are at liberty to purchase the numbers ; 
 and our thanks are due to Mr. Galton, and the Eev. Messrs. Clark 
 and Nicolay, and to our Secretary, for the readiness with which 
 they have undertaken the compilation and editorship. In starting 
 a publication of this description, the Council have been careful 
 to put on record, the restrictions under which this work is to be 
 published, that it may be kept within due control, and strictly con- 
 fined to the object for which it was intended. I conclude this notice 
 of our household matters with recording the gratifying fact that 
 the obelisk to the gallant Bellot has been erected at Greenwich, and 
 the fund distributed ; and thus a great national testimonial has been 
 raised to the memory of that devoted individual, and a benefit be- 
 stowed upon his family. 
 
 Obituaey. 
 
 It is my painful duty to inform you that, during the past year, 
 the list of Members who have passed away is unusually large. 
 Among them are many names well known to science and to the 
 world at large, of whose merits I can give little more than a very 
 limited sketch. 
 
 In alphabetical order I have first to mention, 
 
 Adamson, John, Esq., one of the earliest Fellows of this Society, 
 and a relative of the celebrated traveller, Sir Eobert Ker Porter. 
 Mr. Adamson was the last surviving •> son of Lieut. Cuthbert Adam- 
 son, e.n., who accompanied the Hon. Capt. Phipps, afterwards Lord 
 Mulgrave, in 1773, as 2nd Lieutenant of the ' Eacehorse,' in his 
 voyage of discovery towards the North Pole. He was born Sep- 
 tember 13th, 1787, at Gateshead, and was sent at an early age to 
 Lisbon. From his youth he was devotedly attached to the pursuits 
 of literature, became a member of the Literary and Philosophical 
 Society of Newcastle in 1811, and one of its secretaries in 1825, 
 remaining in office up to the period of his death. Mr. Adamson's 
 brief visit to Portugal in 1803 had left impressions on his mind which 
 were never effaced, and gave him that taste for Portuguese litera- 
 ture which he retained during the remainder of bis life. In 1820 
 
118 REAR-ADMIRAL F. W. BEECHEY'S ADDRESS. [Mat 26, 1856. 
 
 appeared the work on which his fame chiefly rests — the Memoirs 
 of the Life and Writings of Camoens, the merits of which have been 
 appreciated at home and abroad. In 1836 he printed for private 
 circulation, under the title of ' Bibliotheca Lusitana,' a catalogue of 
 the books infcis library relating to Portugal — an interesting piece 
 of bibliography. 
 
 Mr. Adamson's last literary work was a labour of love. He 
 ushered into the world the first five cantos of the ' Lusiad,' trans- 
 lated by his friend Mr. Quillinan, whose lamented death prevented 
 him from completing the task he had imposed upon himself. He 
 was also the editor of several of the publications issued by the Typo- 
 graphical Society of Newcastle. His literary correspondence ex- 
 tends over half a century, and includes letters from geographers, 
 antiquaries, numismatists, naturalists, poets, men of letters and 
 science, and other distinguished- persons in various parts of the 
 world. He was a corresponding member of the Eoyal Society of 
 Northern Antiquaries at Copenhagen, of the Literary Society of 
 Iceland, of the Eoyal Academy of Inscriptions, Belles Lettres, &c, 
 at Stockholm, of the Eoyal Society of Literature of Courland, of 
 the Eoyal Academy of Sciences of Lisbon, of the. Archaeological 
 Academy of Madrid, a member of the British Association for the 
 Advancement of Science, as well as a Fellow of the Eoyal Geo- 
 graphical, the Linnean, and the Antiquarian Societies. 
 
 Barclay, Charles, Esq., f.s. a., formerly of Bury Hill, was the head 
 of the world-known firm of Barclay, Perkins, and Co. 
 
 In 1815 Mr. Barclay was elected a member of Parliament for the 
 borough of Southwark. He possessed a liberal and enlightened 
 mind and a benevolent disposition. He was an active and intelli- 
 gent magistrate for the county of Surrey, and a generous promoter 
 of education. His death was occasioned by a fall from his horse. 
 
 Buckingham, James Silk, Esq., was born near Falmouth, in 1786. 
 In his youth, he passed several years at sea, and also in a variety of 
 occupations on shore ; among which, his working as a compositor in 
 printing offices proved of most influence on his career through life. 
 He first became known in public affairs, by his attempts to open up 
 the journalism of India. Mr. Buckingham first went to Calcutta 
 about the year 1815, and always retained much interest in Indian 
 affairs, and hailed with warm satisfaction the removal of the restric- 
 tions on the press in India, which the wise and liberal policy of 
 Lords Metcalfe and William Bentinck at length effected. In 1825 he 
 established in London a paper, the * Oriental Herald,' (he pre- 
 
May 26, 1856.] OBITUARY. H9 
 
 cursor of the ' Athenaaum,' and of various other journals. On his 
 way to and from India, Mr. Buckingham travelled through different 
 countries, and afterwards published narratives of his travels. In 
 1822 appeared ' Travels in Palestine ;' in 1825, 'Arabia;' in 1827, 
 'Mesopotamia and adjacent Countries;' and in 1830, 'Assyria and 
 Media.' At a later period, he made tours in various parts .of Europe 
 and North America, his account of the latter occupying no fewer 
 than ten volumes, three devoted to the 'Northern States of the Union, 
 three to the Slave States, three to the Eastern and Western States, 
 and one to Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. The Eu- 
 ropean travels are described in two volumes on Belgium, the Ehine, 
 and Switzerland. All these contain much valuable descriptive and 
 statistical matter, the author having paid more attention than is 
 usual with tourists, to the social condition of the countries which' he 
 visited. Mr. Buckingham was one of the most pleasing and instruc- 
 tive popular lecturers, especially in describing places which he had 
 visited. In 1832, he was elected M.P. for Sheffield in the first 
 reformed Parliament, and retained, his seat till 1837. In his politi- 
 cal life, he chiefly took an active part in questions affecting social 
 reforms ; and the temperance movement had in him a zealous advo- 
 cate. In 1849, he published a volume, entitled ' National Evils and 
 Practical Eemedies,' in which he expounded his views on a variety 
 of topics of public interest. Mr. Buckingham died on the 30th of 
 June last, aged 69. His last work, published a few months before 
 his death, was his ' Autobiography.' 
 
 Carr, Commander Washington, entered the navy in 1811, and»hi 
 May, 1843, was appointed to the command, in the" West Indies, of 
 the ' Hermes ' steam-sloop. Commander Carr was known as an 
 amiable man and a sincere friend. 
 
 Chatterton, Sir William A., Bart., an early Fellow of this Society, 
 died in August last, at Bolls Park, Essex. He was born in 1787, 
 and was the second Baronet, a Deputy-Lieutenant of the county of 
 Cork, a Vice-President of the Boyal Literary Fund, a Fellow of 
 the Zoological Society, and a member of the Imperial Academy of 
 Sciences of St. Petersburg. 
 
 ColQT/houn, the Chevalier James de, ll.d., &c, one of the earliest 
 Fellows of this Society, was the only son of Dr. Patrick Colquhoun, 
 late Lord Provost of Glasgow, one of the first who applied him- 
 self to the development of the statistics of the British empire. 
 He founded and carried out the present system of Thames Police, 
 whereby the mercantile interest is now so efficiently protected ; and 
 
120 EEAE-ADMIRAL F. W. BEECHEY'S ADDRESS. [May .26, 1856. 
 
 suggested in Ms work on the Metropolitan Police, the adoption of 
 an improved system for the protection of public property and of 
 personal safety, subsequently carried out by the late Sir Eobert Peel. 
 
 In 1800, he became the private secretary of Mr. Dundas, then the 
 Secretary of State for the War Department ; three years later, he 
 received the appointment of Deputy Agent-General for the payment 
 of volunteers. In 1817, the Hanseatic republics constituted him their 
 representative here, and the legislatures of St. Vincent, Dominica, 
 St. Christopher, Tortola, Tobago, Nevis, and the Virgin Islands, at 
 different times nominated him to watch over their interests. In 
 1827, he was appointed Consul-General of the King of Saxony ; and 
 in 1848, his Eoyal Highness the late Grand Duke of Oldenburg 
 appointed him his Charge d' Affaires. He was Knight Commander 
 of the first class of the Eoyal Saxon Order of Civil Merit. On the 
 signature by Besbid Pasha, of a treaty of recognition between the 
 Hansea,tie republics, as their Plenipotentiary he received the Order 
 of Iftihar of the first class from the Sultan ; and the Hanseatic re- 
 publics conferred on him the honorary diploma of citizenship, to 
 which the Senate of Lubeck and Hamburg added their- honorary 
 medal. The University of Glasgow also conferred on him the 
 honorary degree of LL.D. ; and the Eoyal Antiquarian Society of 
 Athens constituted him an honorary fellow. As Hanseatic Plenipo- 
 tentiary he signed the commercial treaties with Great Britain, the 
 Ottoman Porte, Mexico, and Liberia ; and he also signed a treaty, 
 as Saxon Plenipotentiary, with Mexico. He died on the 23rd of 
 July, 1855, in the 76th year of his age. 
 
 Estcourt, Major-General J. B. Bucknall, died before Sebastopol 
 last June, of that disease — cholera — which carried off so many of our 
 brave countrymen, in hjs 53rd year. 
 
 General Estcourt, educated at Harrow, entered the army as an 
 ensign, and served in the expedition to the Eiver Euphrates from 
 1836 to 1837 ; he went out in 1854 on the staff of Lord'Eaglan ; and 
 served as Adjutant-General of the Forces, from the first landing in 
 the Crimea, sharing the glories and dangers of Alma, Balaclava, 
 and Inkermann. In 1848 he was elected a member of parliament 
 for Devizes.' 
 
 Eraser, James Baillie, Esq., of Eeelick, Inverness, a Deputy- 
 Lieutenant of that county, died in January last, in his seventy- 
 second year. He was born in June, 1783, and was the eldest of 
 four brothers, all remarkable men, sons of the late Edward S. 
 Fraser. James Baillie went early in life to the West Indies ; but 
 
May-26, 1856.] OBITUARY. 121 
 
 after a short residence there he resolved, like his brothers, to pro- 
 ceed to the East, whence he returned to this country, about the year 
 1822. Mr. Fraser again went to India, and was employed in a 
 diplomatics mission, in the course of which he rode on horseback 
 from Constantinople to Ispahan, the fatigues and hardships of which 
 gave the first shock to his vigorous constitution. When the Per- 
 sian princes visited this country, he was requested by Government 
 to accompany and take charge of them ; and on their return, he went 
 with them as far as Constantinople. Latterly, Mr. Fraser became a 
 zealous improver of his Highland estate, which is almost unequalled 
 for its magnificent woods and romantic burn scenery. 
 
 In 1820, Mr. Fraser published a ' Tour through the Snowy Eange 
 of the Himalaya Mountains ; ' in 1825, a ' Narrative of a Journey 
 into Khorasan in the Years 1821 and 1822, including an Account 
 of the Countries to the North-East of Persia ; ' and in 1826, ' Travels 
 and Adventures in the Persian Provinces.' In 1838, appeared his 
 work, ' A Winter Journey from Constantinople to Tehran, with 
 Travels through various parts of Persia.' He wrote also a History 
 of Persia, contributed various pieces to the Annuals, and ventured 
 once more into the regions of fiction by a Scottish story, ' The 
 Highland Smugglers.' . His last work was a military memoir of 
 Colonel Skinner, a distinguished Indian officer, who died at Delhi 
 in 1841, and was buried by the side of his friend William Fraser. 
 
 Mr. Fraser was as accomplished as an artist, as he was as an 
 author. He was an exquisite painter in water-colours, and several 
 of his drawings of Eastern scenes have been engraved. . 
 
 Hall, Dr. George-, was well known as an accomplished traveller. 
 Elected, in 1822, a Eadcliffe Travelling Fellow of Oxford, he went 
 abroad, and, after visiting the greater part of Europe, joined the 
 Count Alexander de la Borde, who, with his son Count Leon and 
 the Duke de Eichelieu, were about to travel in the East. Dr. Hall 
 accompanied that distinguished party throughout the whole of their 
 well-known journey through Egypt and Asia Minor, which gave 
 him opportunities of visiting some parts of those countries then 
 little known. 
 
 Whilst at Jericho he made an excursion to the ruins of the cities 
 of Geraza and Amman, in the country E. of the Jordan, of which he 
 printed an account in 1851, for private circulation. It is to be 
 regretted that with the exception of a description of Azani, which 
 appears in Colonel Keppel's ' Journey across the Balkan,' no other 
 portions of his travels have as yet been published. 
 
122 REAR-ADMIRAL F. W. BEECHEY'S ADDRESS. [May 26, 1856. 
 
 His varied and extensive knowledge and a most amiable disposi- 
 tion made Ms society always much sought after, and endeared him 
 to a large circle of friends who will long deplore his loss. 
 
 Hammond, William, Esq., was elected a Fellow inihe year 1838. 
 
 Harris, Captain Fortescue William, was born in 1821, edu- 
 cated at the Eoyal Naval School, and afterwards entered the mer- 
 chant service. After many voyages to China, the East and West 
 Indies, he was appointed to the command of the ' Madagascar ' in 
 1852; went to Calcutta and back, and sailed on the 6th of March, 
 1853, for Melbourne, Victoria. He left Melbourne homeward- 
 bound on the 12th of August the same year, since which time no- 
 thing has been heard of the crew or ship, which is supposed to have 
 foundered while coming round Cape Horn. 
 
 Irving, Edward George, m.d., r.n., was born 1st April, 1816, in 
 the parish of Hoddam, Dumfriesshire, where he"commenced his edu- 
 cation and continued his studies for several years. He then went 
 to the University of Edinburgh, and remained there until he ob- 
 tained the degree of M.D. In 1840, he entered her Majesty's navy, 
 and joined H.M.S. ' Britannia.' On the 14th October, 1840, he 
 was appointed to H.M.S. ' Bellerophon,' Captain C. Austen, and 
 was present at the siege of Acre. In August, 1841, he joined 
 H.M.S. ' Isis,' Captain Sir John Marshall, on the Cape of Good Hope 
 station, and remained in her three years. His next appointment 
 was in 1845, to H.M.S. ' Tortoise,' for service on the Island of 
 Ascension. He continued on the African coast until June, 1848, 
 during which time fever prevailed to a great extent, and his own 
 health suffered severely. He remained in England until May, 
 1850, when he again returned to the West Coast of Africa in H.M. 
 steam-sloop ' Prometheus,' Captain Henry Foote : that officer having 
 been ordered to proceed on a mission to Abbeokuta, Dr. Irving 
 accompanied him thither ; and on his return to England, in January, 
 1853, he wrote an account of their journey, which was published 
 in the ' Church Missionary Intelligencer. '* 
 
 The testimony of Captain Foote and Dr. Irving proved that the 
 natives of Abbeokuta and the Yoruba tribe generally, are an enter- 
 prising, industrious, and tractable people, and that the effect of 
 missionary labour had been, to turn their thoughts from war and 
 kidnapping to peace and the pursuits of lawful commerce. They 
 
 * Vide 'Church Missionary Intelligencer,' June, August, and October 1853 
 —Ed. ' 
 
Mat 26, 1856.] OBITUARY. 123 
 
 had also entered into treaty with the English Government, and 
 friendly relations had been established with the British' consuls on 
 the coast, as well as with her Majesty's cruisers engaged in the sup- 
 pression of the slave trade. 
 
 In this state of things the missionaries were the only persons 
 able to give the natives advice upon their political and commercial 
 affairs ; yet it was obviously desirable that, as religious teachers, 
 they should be relieved as far as possible from such temporal cares ; 
 and for this purpose the Committee of the Church Missionary 
 Society determined to send out a lay agent, who, while on friendly 
 and confidential terms with the missionaries, might also be autho- 
 rised to communicate with the Consul and naval officers, as well as 
 with the Home Government, upon matters which may tend to 
 promote British interests and commercial relations with the native 
 tribes. 
 
 Dr. living's experience of nine years upon the West Africa coast, 
 and the interest which he had taken in native civilisation and Chris- 
 tianity, pointed him out as a most eligible person for such an office. 
 It was, therefore, proposed to him to go out for three years on this 
 mission, and he readily acceded to the proposal. The Lords Com- 
 missioners of the Admiralty having granted the leave of absence, 
 Lord Clarendon, as her Majesty's Secretary for Foreign Affairs, 
 gave his sanction to the arrangement, and furnished Dr. Irving with 
 letters of introduction to the consuls. Furnished by the Hydro- 
 graphic Office and by this Society with instruments, with the use 
 of which he had made himself perfectly acquainted, Dr. Irving 
 proceeded to Africa in January, 1854, and diligently improved every 
 opportunity for gaining the confidence of the natives, for promoting 
 internal peace, and for inducing the chiefs to open and protect roads 
 from various towns in the interior, to the coast. His period of 
 labour was very short. He fell a victim to the climate after fifteen 
 months' residence, and his death was deplored by all the native 
 chiefs as a national calamity. His botanical collections have been 
 sent to our learned associate, Sir William Hooker, at Kew. 
 
 King, Philip Parker, Eear-Admiral of the Blue, f.rs. — Admiral 
 King, the son of Philip Gidley King, Esq., Post-Captain in the Boyal 
 Navy, was born at Norfolk Island on the 13th of December, 1793, and 
 was consequently in the 63rd year of his age. In early life, when only 
 in his sixteenth year, his gallant conduct in boat actions, had ob- 
 tained the favourable notice of the officers in command. In later 
 years, he conducted a survey of the coasts of Australia, and subse- 
 
124 REAR-ADMIRAL F. W. BEECHEY'S ADDRESS. [May 26, 1856. 
 
 quently of the southern coasts of America. In February, 1817, he 
 was entrusted with the conduct of an expedition haying for its 
 object a survey of the coasts of Australia, a service on which he 
 continued employed in the ' Mermaid,' cutter, and ' Bathurst,' sloop 
 — to the command of which he was promoted by commission, dated 
 17th July, 1821— until his return to England in 1823. The results 
 of the undertaking are contained in a Narrative of the Survey of the 
 Inter-tropical and Western Coasts of Australia, and in an Atlas, both 
 compiled by Captain King, and published, the former by Murray, 
 and the latter by the Hydrographic Office of the Admiralty. In 
 September, 1825, from the feeling of confidence with which he had 
 impressed the Admiralty, in the discharge of his late duties, he was 
 appointed to the ' Adventure,' sloop, and ordered to survey the 
 southern coast of America, from the entrance of the Eio de la Plata 
 round to Chiloe, and that of Tierra del Fuego. He was paid off on 
 his arrival in England, 16th November, 1830, and has not been since 
 employed. His post commission bears date 25th February, 1830. 
 
 In 1832, Captain King published, as the partial fruit of his recent 
 voyage, a volume entitled, ' Sailing Directions to the Coasts of 
 Eastern and Western Patagonia, including the Straits of Magellan, 
 and the Sea Coast of Tierra del Fuego.' 
 
 On his retirement from active service, Captain King returned to 
 Australia, and shortly after his arrival, succeeded Sir Edward Parry 
 as manager of the affairs of the Australian Agricultural Society, the 
 duties of which office he discharged with characteristic and exem- 
 plary ability and attention for several years. He was appointed a 
 nominee member of the Legislative Council by the governor, Sir 
 Charles FitzEoy ; but latterly he held his seat in the House in the 
 more honourable capacity of a representative member, having, at the 
 general elections of 1851, offered himself as a candidate for the con- 
 stituency of Gloucester and Macquarie, and on that occasion was 
 returned by a large majority over his opponent, Mr. Joseph Sim- 
 mons. During the last session of Council, he strongly supported, in 
 particular, the proposition for the establishment of a nautical school. 
 For some time past he held the office of chairman of the Denomi- 
 national Board of Education, and was consequently regarded as the 
 representative of that body in the Council. 
 
 His was the first instance of a native of Australia rising to so 
 distinguished a rank in the British navy, and every one must feel 
 a deep regret that his enjoyment of the honour was for so brief a 
 period. 
 
May 26, 1856.] » OBITUARY. 125 
 
 Both, in public and in private life, Admiral King merited, as lie 
 obtained, the cordial regard and high respect of all to whom he was 
 known, whether personally or by repute. 
 
 Lawrence, the Hon. Abbott, who died at the age of 63, was the 
 fifth son of Samuel Lawrence, and was born in Groton, Massa- 
 chusetts, became a member of the Common Council of Boston in 
 1831, and in 1834 was elected to Congress, and served the term. 
 He declined a re-election, but consented in 1839 to be a candidate 
 to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Bichard Fletcher, 
 was elected, and took his seat in the House in December of that 
 year. Upon his entrance into Congress he was put on the Com- 
 mittee of Ways and Means. 
 
 Mr. Lawrence, in 1842, was appointed a commissioner on the 
 part of Massachusetts, to arrange the North-Eastern Boundary 
 Question, and rendered most efficient service. In 1849, he was 
 invited by General Taylor to take a seat in his Cabinet. He de- 
 clined the offer, but accepted the appointment of Minister to Great 
 Britain, the duties of which office he performed honourably to him- 
 self, satisfactorily to this, and advantageously to his own country. 
 Mr. Lawrence was public spirited, liberal, charitable, and benevo- 
 lent. In all schemes of public improvement he took a deep interest, 
 and aided them with his hand and purse. His foundation of the 
 Lawrence Scientific School, at Cambridge, by a gift of 50,000 dol- 
 lars, and the bequest of an, additional 50,000 dollars in his will, 
 his establishing prizes for the deserving scholars of, the public 
 schools, and the aid always generously given by him to churches 
 and to religious and charitable associations, are well known. 
 
 Loch, James, Esq., died last July at his residence in Albemarle- 
 street, aged 75. He was an Advocate and Barrister-at-Law, and 
 Fellow of the Boyal Geographical, Geological, Statistical, and 
 Zoological Societies of London ; formerly M.P. for the Kirkwall and 
 Wick district of burghs. 
 
 Mr. Loch was the author of a ' Memoir of George Granville, late 
 Duke of Sutherland,' 4to. 1834; and his second son was the late 
 Captain G. G. Loch, k.n"., f.r.g.s., Surveyor of the Biver San 
 Juan de Nicaragua, and author of ' The Closing Events of the 
 Campaign in China,' 1843, 8vo. 
 
 Mitchell, Colonel Sir Thomas L., d.cl., f.k.s., Surveyor-General 
 v of New South Wales, and one of the earliest members of this Society, 
 died in October last, aged 63. He joined the army in the Peninsula 
 when only sixteen, served on Wellington's staff to the close of 
 
126 REAR-ADMIRAL F. W. BEECHEY'S ADDREI-^. [May 26,' 1856. 
 
 the war, and was subsequently sent back to survey the battle-fields 
 of the Peninsula. His model of the Lower Pyrenees is in the 
 United Service Museum. In 1827, he was sent to survey Eastern 
 Australia, having the appointment of Deputy Surveyor-General. A 
 report of all his surveys is to be published by the Australian Legis- 
 lature. Sir T. Mitchell made several exploring expeditions into the 
 interior of the country, of which valuable narratives have been 
 published. 
 
 In Australia, the name of Sir Thomas Mitchell will be remembered 
 with respect, as one of the earliest and most useful explorers of these 
 rapidly-rising colonies. 
 
 Molesworth, the Eight Hon. Sir William, Bart., m.p., f.e.s., died in 
 October last, at his residence in Eaton-place, in his forty-sixth year. 
 Sir William was the eighth baronet of Pencarrow, Cornwall, her 
 Majesty's principal Secretary of State for the Colonies, and M.P. for 
 Southwark, a deputy-lieutenant and magistrate of Cornwall, &c. 
 
 On his entry into public life, Sir William joined with that section 
 of philosophical Eadicals, who were for a period united by subscrip- 
 tion to the doctrines of Bentham ; he contributed to the ' West- 
 minster Eeview,' and published at his own cost an elaborate edition 
 of the works of Hobbes. He took office, with a seat in the Cabinet, 
 some three years ago ; and, last spring, was raised to that particular 
 office, the Colonial Secretaryship, for which universal consent pro- 
 nounced him to be so eminently fitted. Sir William, on the recom- 
 mendation of Sir Eoderick Murchison, appointed our Associate, Dr. 
 C. P. Sutherland, who. had previously accompanied Captain Penny 
 and Captain Inglefield to the Arctic regions, as Government Geolo- 
 gist and Surveyor at Port Natal, a post for which his abilities emi- 
 nently qualified him. 
 
 Nbeld, Joseph, Esq., m.p., f.s.a., f.l.s., died, at his residence in 
 Grosvenor-square, last March, aged 67. Mr. Neeld was a Deputy- 
 Lieutenant of Wiltshire, M.P. for Chippenham, and High Steward of 
 Malmesbury. 
 
 Outram, Sir Benjamin Fonseca, m.d., r.n., cb., f.r.s., also one 
 of the earlier Fellows of this Society, died at Brighton in February 
 last, aged 82. He was the son of Captain W. Outram, was first 
 employed in the medical naval service in 1794, and rose to the rank 
 of surgeon in 1796. He graduated at the University of Edinburgh 
 in 1809, became a licentiate of the College of Physicians in 1810- 
 and was a few years since elected a Fellow. During the long 
 war he was actively engaged in his professional duties, and received 
 
May 26, 1856.] OBITUARY. 127 
 
 a medal and clasps for the actions in the ' Nymphe,' the ' Boadicea,' 
 and the ' Superb.' He was appointed Inspector of Fleets and Hos- 
 pitals in 1841, and in 1850 nominated a Companion of the Bath and 
 a Knight Bachelor. Sir Benjamin took a lively interest in the 
 pursuits of this Society, and constantly attended its evening 
 meetings. He was a true friend and a kindhearted man, and 
 in his will bequeathed various sums to several charitable institu- 
 tions. 
 
 Parry, Bear-Admiral Sir i William Edward, Kt., d.c.l., f.r.s., &c. 
 &c. — It is now my melancholy duty to pay a tribute of respect and 
 regard tp our great Arctic navigator, Sir Edward Parry, whose 
 memory will ever be coupled with the records of Arctic adventure 
 of the nineteenth century. Early associated with Sir E. Parry as a 
 messmate, afterwards his first lieutenant during the memorable 
 voyage to Melville Island, and his friend through life, I shall, I 
 am sure, be excused for dwelling on his distinguished career. He 
 was born at Bath in the year 1790, and entered the Boyal Navy at 
 the age of twelve, under the patronage of Lord Cornwallis. Zealous 
 in his profession, intelligent and ambitious, Parry soon recom- 
 mended himself to notice, and in January, 1810, he was promoted 
 to the rank of Lieutenant and appointed to the ' Alexander,' em- 
 ployed in protecting the Spitzbergen whale v fishery. It was here 
 that he first became acquainted with that frozen ocean, amidst whose 
 dangers and difficulties he was destined to earn celebrity. -Subse- 
 quently serving in the ' Hogue,' he assisted in destroying twenty- 
 seven of the enemy's vessels, three of which were heavy privateers. 
 This, and a few skirmishes with the Danish gunboats, are the only 
 actions with the enemy which fell to his lot. 
 
 On his return to England in 1817, the extraordinary changes 
 reported to have taken place in the state of the Polar Sea, determined 
 the Government to equip an expedition for Arctic discovery. Then 
 was the turning-point in Parry's life. Like most men of enterprise, 
 he seized the occasion and determined to devote himself to Arctic 
 adventure. There are but few who have not, at some time, the 
 chance of distinction, and Parry took advantage of his. We accord- 
 ingly find him in command of the ' Alexander,' and, under the orders 
 of Sir John Boss, leaving England in quest of the North-West Pas- 
 sage, by way of Davis Strait ; the result of this expedition, it is well 
 known, was the restoration to our map of the outline of Baffin Bay, 
 and the re-discovery of the famed Lancaster Sound. 
 
 Dissatisfied, however, with the account which had been given of 
 
 N 
 
128 REAR-ADMIRAL F. W. BEECHEY'S ADDRESS. [May 26, 1856. 
 
 the result of this voyage, and anxious to remove an erroneous impres- 
 sion conveyed by Sir John Boss on the subject of Lancaster Sound, 
 he made such representations to the Admiralty as induced Govern- 
 ment to send another expedition to the same place. Of this expedi- 
 tion Sir E. Parry was appointed chief. During the voyage, an 
 opportunity occurred for displaying that vigour and determination 
 in overcoming difficulties, which, though they might daunt the 
 generality of men, were unable to turn him from his purpose. In the 
 upper part of Baffin Bay there presented itself what appeared to be 
 an impenetrable barrier of ice ; undismayed by the dangers that 
 threatened, he dashed into the midst of it, accomplished his purpose, 
 and entering Lancaster Sound in safety, succeeded in passing over 
 that imaginary chain of mountains with which Eoss had closed the 
 strait. 
 
 The demolition of these phantom mountains, and the discovery of 
 the opening into the Polar Sea on the west, of Prince Regent Inlet 
 on the south, and of Wellington Channel on the north, together with 
 Parry Islands (the Ultima Thule of Arctic discovery) and Banks 
 Land, the terminating points of Sir E. Parry's and Sir E. M'Clure's ex- 
 plorations from opposite directions, were the consequences • of the first 
 summer of this expedition. Having passed the meridian 110° W., 
 the Commander and his associates became entitled to the award of 
 5000/. offered by Government for the encouragement of Arctic enter- 
 prise. The winter they were destined to pass in this dreary region 
 afforded another opportunity for Parry to display those qualities 
 which so eminently fitted him for the work he had selected, since, 
 by his admirable arrangements for the health, comfort, and amuse- 
 ment of his men, he was enabled to keep the crews in vigour, 
 mental and bodily, while, by the vast number of observations he 
 carried on, he determined his geographical position with a precision 
 worthy of a better object. 
 
 In the following spring, by an overland journey, he discovered 
 Liddon Gulf, where his broken cart remained to be seen by M'Clin- 
 tock, thirty years afterwards. Finding any farther advance with 
 his ship impossible, he determined in the latter part of the summer 
 of 1820 to return to England, where he arrived in safety, and received 
 on all sides, a most enthusiastic greeting. He had but little rest 
 however, for- in the May following he was again appointed to com- 
 mand another expedition, which was to prooeed by way of Hudson 
 Strait and Sir T. Eowe's Welcome. Although this voyage, like the 
 last, failed in its main object, much valuable geographical know- 
 
MSY 26, 1856.] OBITUARY. 129 
 
 ledge resulted from it, and considerable information as to the Esqui- 
 maux tribes of that region was obtained. On returning to England 
 Parry was promoted to the rank of Captain, and in another year 
 found himself once more on his way to the frozen North, in order, if 
 possible, to co-operate with an overland expedition under Franklin. 
 This was the last of Parry's North-Western voyages. The subject of 
 our memoir was now confirmed in the office of Hydrographer to the 
 Admiralty, which had before been temporarily held by him ; still, 
 however, directing his attention to Arctic research, he offered to 
 carry out a scheme, which had been proposed in 1818 by Franklin 
 and myself : namely, to attempt reaching a high, northern latitude by 
 travelling over the Spitzbergen ice. He accordingly sailed in 1827 
 for Hammerfest, and doubtless would have succeeded in his object, 
 but that an unexpected impediment presented itself; for the ice 
 over which he travelled was found to move southward at almost 
 the same rate he advanced northward, and he was most unwillingly 
 compelled to retrace his journey, having proceeded to 82° 45' N. 
 lat. — farther towards the Pole than any of his predecessors. 
 
 In 1829, Parry was appointed Commissioner for the management of 
 the affairs of the Australian Agricultural Company, and, in pursuance 
 of the duties of the office, took up his residence at Port Stephen, 
 60 miles to the north of Sydney. Before leaving England, he re- 
 ceived the order of knighthood, and was created D.C.L. of Oxford. 
 
 Returning once more to England, after an absence of five years, he 
 was made Poor Law Commissioner in the county of Norfolk, but did 
 not long hold an appointment which was uncongenial to his tastes. 
 Soon after this, Sir E. Parry was selected to organize and conduct a 
 newly-created department of the Admiralty, under the title of Comp- 
 troller of Steam Machinery, and it was during the time that he 
 remained in this office, that the screw-propeller, now indispensable 
 to our fleets, was introduced into the navy. 
 
 In 1847, in consequence of failing health from over-work, he re- 
 signed this also, and became Captain-Superintendent of Haslar 
 Hospital ; and, in 1853, the Lieutenant-Governorship of Greenwich 
 Hospital falling vacant, he accepted it. 
 
 Disease, however, had begun its ravages, and, und«r the direction 
 of his medical advisers, he determined to try the waters of Ems. 
 On his way to these baths he was detained by exhaustion at Coblentz, 
 and only reached Ems to die. 
 
 Thus ended the career of one of the most distinguished officers of 
 his age, who had spent his days in active usefulness, and whose life 
 
 n2 
 
130 REAR-ADMIRAL F. W. BEECHEY'S ADDRESS. [May 26, 1856. 
 
 was remarkable not only for its varied character, but also for the 
 genuine and -unaffected piety which pervaded it. 
 
 Among the works which Sir E. Parry left behind him, we may 
 enumerate a small volume on ' Astronomy by Night,' another on the 
 ' Parental Character of God,' and an ' Address to the Sailor,' besides 
 the narrative of his voyages, which, in value, compete almost with 
 those of Cook. We find him also associated with three papers in the 
 Transactions of the Eoyal Society. 
 
 Phillimore, Joseph, Esq., d.c.l., was the eldest son of the Bev. 
 Joseph Phillimore. He graduated in Civil Law, becoming B.C.L. 
 in 1800, and D.C.L. in 1804. He had been distinguished for his 
 scholarship, and especially for the talent for composition which he 
 displayed, as well at Westminster, as after his removal to Christ 
 Church, where he gained the College prize for Latin verse. In 1798 
 he obtained also the University prize, which was adjudged to his 
 English essay on ' Chivalry.' After some residence in foreign parts, 
 he settled in London, and was admitted an advocate in Doctors' 
 Commons 1804. On the death of Dr. Lawrence, in 1809, he was 
 nominated judge of the Cinque Ports by Lord Hawkesbury ; Chan- 
 cellor of the Diocese of Oxford by Bishop Moss ; and Eegius Pro- 
 fessor of Civil Law at Oxford — an office upon the reputation of which 
 his classical taste and language have shed additional lustre. 
 
 On the installation of the Marquis Camden as Chancellor of the 
 University of Cambridge in 1834, Dr. Phillimore was invited to 
 Cambridge, to receive an honorary degree from the sister University. 
 
 Pusey, Philip, Esq., d.c.l., f.e.s., of PuseyPark, Berkshire, died 
 July last, at his brother's residence in Christ Church, Oxford, aged 
 56. He succeeded to the family estates on the death of his father 
 in 1828, and entered parliament in 1830, as one of the members 
 for Chippenham. 
 
 As a practical agriculturist, Mr. Pusey was highly distinguished. 
 He was the President of the Eoyal Agricultural Society in 1853 
 and he edited and largely contributed to the Journal of that Society. 
 He was universally beloved, for there was a natural frankness and 
 warm-heartedness with him, that developed themselves in every 
 relation of life ; and among his tenantry it was impossible for any 
 one to be more highly esteemed. 
 
 Santarem, 'le Vicomte de, Manoel Francisco de Barros e Sousa 
 da Mosquita de Macedo, Leitao e Carvalhaza, Corresponding member 
 of this Society. 
 
 This learned Portuguese, bom at Lisbon in 1792, was a member 
 
May 26, 1856,] OBITUARY. 131 
 
 of one of the most ancient and illustrious families of Portugal. After 
 having received an excellent education, he was sent as minister of 
 Portugal to the Court of Denmark ; recalled after the revolution of 
 1820, he was appointed, in 1823, keeper of the archives of the realm, 
 having already, in 1821, during a sojourn in Paris, collected numer- 
 ous documents hearing upon the history of Portugal from" among 
 the MSS. in the ' Bibliotheque Eoyale.' In 1827, he was appointed 
 Minister of Foreign Affairs, hut shortly afterwards, upon his retire- 
 ment, he proceeded to Paris, where he joined the Geographical 
 Society in 1835, and was afterwards elected Vice-President. The 
 library of our Society is enriched with numerous works from his 
 pen ; and it was but last year that my predecessor in this chair 
 directed the attention of the world to his beautiful work on the 
 'Discoveries of the Portuguese,' and other labours, which have 
 been so suddenly interrupted by his death, which took place in 
 February, 1856. 
 
 •Symonds, Eear- Admiral Sir William, k.h., c.b., f.r.s.- — late Sur- 
 veyor of the Navy — died in March, on his voyage from Malta to 
 Marseilles, aged 74. Sir William entered the navy at an early 
 age, and, during the early part of his career, was much engaged in 
 active service on the coasts of France, Spain, and in the West 
 Indies. He obtained post rank in 1827 ; and in 1831, Capt. Symonds 
 was enabled, through the munificence of the Duke of Portland, to 
 -build the 10-gun brig 'Pantaloon,' the triumph of which vessel led 
 to the construction, under his superintendence, of the ' Vernon,' 50 ; 
 ' Vestal,' 26 ; ' Snake,' 16, and others. On June 9th, 1832, he was 
 offered, and accepted, the appointment of Surveyor of the Navy, 
 which he continued to fill until 1847. 
 
 Sir William Symonds received the honour of knighthood for his 
 services, and the thanks of the Admiralty in 1830 for a memoir con- 
 taining 'Sailing Directions for the Adriatic Sea;' and again, in 
 1837, for " the valuable qualities of his several ships, and for im- 
 provements introduced by him into the navy." He was elected a 
 F.E.S., 1835, and nominated a C.B. on the Civil division, 1848. In 
 1854 he became a Eear- Admiral on the retired list. 
 
 Uecullu, Don Jose de, was born in Hamburg on the 8th April, 
 1787. His father, D. Manuel de Urcullu, the Spanish Consul in 
 that city, brought him, at an early age, to Bilboa, where he 
 had possessions. On the death of his father, he was sent to be 
 educated to the college of Sao Jose de Calasan, in Saragossa,' 
 where he graduated in the faculty of Philosophy. In 1807, having 
 
132 REAR-ADMIRAL V. W. BEECHEY'S ADDRESS. [Mat 26, 1856. 
 
 completed his studies, and [being then little more than 20 years of 
 age, he entered the regiment of S'aragossa, and was made prisoner by 
 the French in 1808. He continued in the military profession till 
 the year 1820, when he left it, having attained the rank of Captain, 
 and dedicated himself, with all the ardour of a studious mind and a 
 lively imagination, to the pursuit of literature ; writing and trans- 
 lating various works in prose and verse. These works gained for 
 him the distinction of being nominated a Corresponding memher of 
 this Society ; of the Geographical Society ,of Paris ; and of Eio 
 Janeiro. In the year 1822, when secretary to the Captain-General, 
 he married the eldest daughter of Mr. Eichard Allen, the English 
 Consul at Corunna ; and the Consul dying soon after, he proceeded 
 with his wife and family to establish himself in the city of Oporto, 
 but was obliged to emigrate to England in the following year in 
 consequence of political disturbances. He returned to Oporto in 
 1827, and was appointed manager of the Fiscal Department of the 
 Eoyal Tobacco Contract, and subsequently Administrator of the 
 Commercial Press of Oporto. In the same year he was appointed 
 Consul of the Eepublic of Peru at Oporto. In 1847 he returned 
 to Oporto from Puerto de Sta. Maria ; and in 1850, at the request of 
 a private friend, resident in Bilboa, he went to that city to open 
 and direct a college for superior edtication, which undertaking he 
 carried out with the most praiseworthy success. Finding, how- 
 ever, himself in ill health, he returned in 1851 to the bosom of his 
 family, and, after long and severe suffering, he died, much lamented 
 by his relatives and friends, by whom he had been always esteemed 
 for his many virtues and high character. He was buried in the 
 cemetery of Nostra Senhora da Lapa, in the city of Oporto. 
 
 Wharnclifpe, John Stuart, Lord, f.e.s., second Baron Wharncliffe 
 of Wortley, county of York, died in October last, at his residence, 
 Wortley, Sheffield, at the age of 54. 
 
 His Lordship was greatly attached to agriculture, seeking all the 
 newest modes to improve the culture of the land. He addressed a 
 letter to Philip Pusey, Esq., on Drainage, published in the Journal 
 of the Eoyal Agricultural Society. 
 
 Widdkington, Captain Samuel E., r.n., f.e.s., died January last, 
 at his residence, Newton Hall, near Felton, Northumberland. He was 
 the eldest son of the Eev. Joseph Cook, m.a., of Newton. In October, 
 1829, Captain Cook went to Spain, and having subsequently resided 
 for three years in that country, he published, in 1834, in two 
 volumes octavo, ' Sketches in Spain during the years 1829-30-31 
 
May 26, 1856.] OBITUARY. 133 
 
 and 32, containing Notices of some Districts very little known ; of 
 the Manners of the People, Government, recent Changes, Commerce, 
 Fine Arts, and Natural History.' This work, which was dedicated 
 to Lord Prudhoe. (afterwards Duke of Northumberland), was the 
 most complete account in our language. 
 
 In 1843 (having then assumed the name of Widdrington) he 
 repaired to Spain again, and, in the following year, published 
 another book, entitled ' Spain and the Spaniards in 1843,' in 2 vols. ; 
 also dedicated to the Duke of Northumberland. 
 
 Captain Widdrington was a magistrate and deputy-lieutenant of 
 Northumberland. 
 
 Wielhoeski, the Count de, who died in the Crimea, whither he had 
 been. despatched by the Empress of Eussia upon a charitable mission 
 of relief to the sick and wounded of the Eussian army. This amiable 
 young nobleman was well known to this Society in connection with 
 his kind services in procuring the necessary letters of introduction to 
 the governors of Eussian America for various Arctic commanders, 
 as well as for his presentation to our library of the ' Agricultural 
 and Statistical Atlas of European Eussia,' with a translation into 
 good English, made by himself at the request of our Secretary. 
 
 Yates, Joseph Brook, Esq., f.s.a., the last name on our list, 
 and one of the earlier Fellows of this Society, died in December 
 last at Liverpool, aged 75. 
 
 Mr. Yates was educated at Eton, and subsequently became actively 
 engaged in commercial pursuits, which however in no wise dimi- 
 nished his taste for literary and scientific subjects. In 1812, he and 
 Dr. Traill, now of Edinburgh, mainly contributed to the foundation 
 of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Liverpool. 
 
 In 1839, Mr. Yates drew attention to a subject of great local im- 
 portance — the rapid changes which take place in the mouth of the 
 Mersey ; and noticed the possible difficulties which might hereafter 
 be experienced in the commerce of the port. These had attracted 
 the attention of the marine surveyor and of many ordinary observers, 
 but it was not easy to discover a cure for an admitted evil. At the 
 meeting of the British Association at Liverpool in 1854, Mr. Yates, 
 in a paper read before the Geographical section, again directed atten- 
 tion to the subject, and a committee was appointed to inquire into 
 ,- the whole matter, which has held its sittings in the house of the 
 Eoyal Geographical Society, and which is still pursuing its labours. 
 
 In ihe. pursuits of geographers and travellers he took a deep 
 interest, and he possessed some curious medieval maps and charts. 
 
134 REAR-ADMIRAL F. W. BEECHErs ADDRESS. [May 26, 1856. 
 
 In February, 1838, he read a paper on the State of Geographical 
 Knowledge and the Construction of Maps in the Dark Ages, with 
 an account of their revival in the sixteenth century. He was a 
 Fellow of this, of the Antiquarian, and of several other learned 
 Societies. 
 
 Geographical Progress. 
 
 The great military events in which the country has been engaged 
 during the past year, and the objects to which .the energies of £he 
 nation have necessarily been directed, may naturally be supposed to 
 have diverted attention from those pursuits of science which are not 
 of a military character. Although this may be true in some respects, 
 yet much has been accomplished in the branch of science which we 
 cultivate, and but few of the meetings of the Society have passed 
 without some addition to our store of geographical knowledge. 
 
 Europe. 
 
 Great Britain — Ordnance Survey. — The present year will be marked 
 as a great epoch in the history of the geography of our own country. 
 The Trigonometrical Survey, which commenced, in 1784, under 
 General Eoy, r.e., has just been brought to a close under Lieut.- 
 Colonel James, r.e., the present zealous superintendent of the 
 Ordnance Survey. The principal object which the Government had 
 in view when the Trigonometrical Survey was commenced, was the 
 determination of the difference of longitude between the observa- 
 tories of Greenwich and Paris ; and for this purpose a base line 
 was measured on Hounslow Heath, from which a series of tri- 
 angles, including the Observatory of Greenwich as one of the 
 points, was carried to Dover and the opposite coast of France. 
 The French geometricians at the same time extended their ope- 
 rations also to the coast, and the connection between the triangu- 
 lations of the two kingdoms was made by conjoint simultaneous 
 observations. 
 
 This chain of triangles from Hounslow to Dover was then made 
 the basis of the Topographical Survey, which was also in progress 
 at that time under the Master-General of the Ordnance; and from 
 Hounslow as a starting point, the triangulation has been carried- 
 over the whole extent of the United Kingdom. Lieut.-Colonel 
 James has recently communicated to the Eoyal Society the principal 
 results of the Trigonometrical Survey, in a paper ' on the Figure, 
 
May 26, 1856.] ORDNANCE SURVEY. 135 
 
 Dimensions, and Mean Density of the Earth, as derived from the 
 Ordnance Survey.' In this communication, he states that now 
 that the observed angles have been corrected by the most refined 
 methods of mathematical science, the triangulation is rendered 
 perfectly symmetrical and consistent in itself, so that, any side 
 being taken as a base, the same length will be reproduced when 
 it is calculated through the whole or any part of the triangulation. 
 This, as regards the angular measurements, leaves nothing to be 
 desired ; and when' the five measured bases are incorporated in the 
 triangulation, although some of them are 400 miles apart, and from 
 5 to 7 miles in length, the greatest difference between the measured 
 and computed lengths of the bases does not amount to 3 inches ; and 
 it may be safely affirmed that such a degree of accuracy was never 
 before attained in so extensive a triangulation. 
 
 Astronomical observations have been taken at numerous trigono- 
 metrical stations for the purposes of determining their latitudes, and 
 by comparing the amplitudes of the astronomical with the geodetical 
 arcs, the figure and dimensions of the Earth have been determined. 
 In determining the most probable spheroid from all the observed 
 amplitudes, continues this talented officer, it was evident that the 
 plumb-line was deflected from the true direction of the zenith at 
 several points, and that this was the case at the Eoyal Observatory of 
 Edinburgh and Arthur's Seat near it, to the extent of 27" to the south. 
 The configuration of the ground — the great valley of the Frith of 
 Forth being on the north, and the range of the Pentland Hills on the 
 south — presented a tangible cause for the deflection ; but as the con- 
 toured plans of this district were published, and Colonel James was 
 himself personally acquainted with the geological structure of the 
 country, he had observations made on the summit and on the north 
 and south flanks of Arthur's Seat, with the view of determining the 
 amount of the attraction of its mass, and from thence deducing the 
 mean specific gravity of the Earth. The computed deflection of 
 the plumb-line due to the configuration of the ground, accounted 
 in great measure for the observed anomaly in the amplitudes of the 
 arcs of the meridian. The longest arc of meridian which has been 
 computed in Great Britain, extends from Dunnose in the Isle of. 
 Wight, to Saxaford in the Shetland Islands, and is 10° in length. 
 The Polar diameter of the Earth, as determined by the Ord- 
 nance Survey = 7,900 miles; the Equatorial = 7,926 ; the com- 
 pression = ¥¥ j. 3S - ; the mean density = 5 - 316. 
 
 These great" geodetical operations have now been brought to a 
 
136 REAR-ADMIRAL F. W. BEECHEY'S ADDRESS. [May 26, 1856. 
 
 close, and a full detailed account of them is in the press, and 
 will be shortly published. The latitudes and longitudes are now 
 being engraved on the marginal lines of all the first published sheets 
 of the Survey of Great Britain. The progress of the detailed 
 Survey of Scotland and the northern counties of England has fre- 
 quently been brought to the notice of this Society, and much dis- 
 satisfaction has been expressed at the slow progress which has been 
 made. Since 1851, when the Committee of the House of Commons, 
 of which Lord Elcho was chairman, reported upon the subject, the 
 question as to the scale upon which the MS. plans should be drawn 
 may be said to have been under constant discussion ; and for two 
 years of this period, the officers engaged in the survey, in consequence 
 of the frequent change of orders and the long period during which 
 they were without any orders whatever, made scarcely any progress 
 at all. Another Committee of the House of Commons has recently 
 reported upon the subject. They had before them, the written 
 opinions of the most able professional and scientific men in the 
 kingdom ; and, continues Col. James, it is to be hoped that the re- 
 commendations of that Committee will now be finally adopted for 
 the future guidance of the officers on the survey. They are, as nearly 
 as possible, having reference to the difference in the standards of 
 measure in the two countries, conformable to the instructions for 
 the survey of France, viz. — 
 
 1. For the cultivated districts the original plans are to be drawn on 
 the scale of ^ 6 5 of the linear measure of the ground, or 25'334 inches 
 to a mile, which is sensibly the same as one square inch to one acre. 
 
 2. The uncultivated districts are to be drawn on the scale of 6 
 inches to a mile, and the 25-inch plans are also to be reduced to this 
 scale, previous to the whole being reduced to the scale of one inch to 
 a mile, to complete the general map of the kingdom on that scale.* 
 The object which the Government now has in view is, to make the 
 National Survey the basis for the valuation and registration of the 
 sales of property, to facilitate the transfer of property, and for all 
 general or local engineering purposes, including the Hydrographical 
 and Geological Surveys, and every purpose for which an accurate, 
 authentic plan or map is required. This gives an importance to the 
 survey which it never before possessed ; and with the ample funds 
 which the Government appear disposed to grant, it is expected that 
 
 * An arrangement which will, I am sure, be gratifying to our excellent ci-devant 
 President, Sir R. Murchison, who so strenuously advocated it in his last Address 
 to this Society.— See Vol. XXIII. 
 
May 26,-1856.] ADMIRALTY SURVEYS. 137 
 
 the whole of Scotland will be finished, as well as the north of 
 England, within ten years. 
 
 The -system of registering the levels by means of horizontal con- 
 tours, has been for some time generally adopted on the Ordnance 
 Survey, and their great value is now very generally acknowledged. 
 The contours, when reduced to the one-inch scale, form the most 
 perfect basis for the hill-sketching ; and the plans now produced are 
 the most perfect in all respects which were ever made. In England, 
 the counties of Lancaster, York, and Durham have been surveyed 
 for the large scales. In Scotland, the shires of Wigton, Kirkcud- 
 bright, Edinburgh, Haddington, Linlithgow, Fife, Kinross, Ayr, 
 Dumfries, Peebles, with the Isle of Lewis, have been surveyed. 
 Eight of the above counties have already been published, and the 
 remainder are in course of publication, whilst the survey is now 
 proceeding in Berwick, Lanark, Eoxburgh, and Selkirk-shires. 
 
 The one-inch general Map proceeds pari passu with the surveys 
 on the larger scales. 
 
 The whole of Ireland has been published on the 6-inch scale, and 
 the 1-inch map is rapidly progressing, and several of the sheets are 
 published. 
 
 While the subject of our Trigonometrical Surveys is under con- 
 sideration, I may mention, on the authority of Col. James, that the 
 Surveys of our Colonies are proceeding in the following places, 
 under officers of the Eoyal Engineers, having, in most places, men 
 of the Royal Sappers and Miners under them : — Australia, Tasmania, 
 Ceylon, Mauritius. 
 
 Admiralty Surveys.— -To a maritime nation like Great Britain, the 
 importance of detailed nautical charts, with ample sailing direc- 
 tions for the guidance of the mariner, is too obvious to render any 
 excuse necessary for entering with some minuteness into the state 
 of the survey of our own shores. A rapid reconnaissance of a coast 
 might have been tolerated half a century ago ; but such a survey of 
 any shore, much less of our own shores, cannot now be accepted. 
 The Ordnance large-scale survey, with its almost mathematical 
 exactness (within certain limits), and the labours of the civil 
 engineer, with his accurate lines of levels extending across the 
 island from sea to sea, have shown us that greater accuracy in 
 our coast surveys has become requisite. Hence the necessity, 
 among other considerations, of determining the tide levels with 
 the greatest care in our estuaries and rivers. This has lately 
 
138 REAR-ADMIRAL F. W. BEECHEY'S ADDRESS. [May 26, 1856. 
 
 been done by Commander Alldridge, whom I have the pleasure to 
 acknowledge as a pupil of my own, in the river Dee, andin other 
 places; by Mr. E. K. Calver in the Orwell and Tyne; and by 
 Captain Williams in the Fal ; while at the same time the progress 
 of the tide wave, marked by the successive times of high water, 
 has been carefully recorded, and the results have been of much 
 assistance to the civil engineer. 
 
 England. — I learn from »ur able and zealous hydrographer, Capt. 
 Washington, k.n., that on the south of England, Lieutenant Cox and 
 Mr.Usborne have mapped the coast from the Bill of Portland westward 
 to Golden Head, including the remarkable shingle beaches of Abbots- 
 bury and the Chesil Bank, and have made a detailed plan of the 
 harbour of Bridport. They have now begun a careful examination 
 of Plymouth Sound, the result of which must be looked forward to 
 with much interest, as it will show what effect the breakwater has 
 had upon that anchorage, during the forty years that have elapsed 
 since the stone of that structure first raised its head above the level 
 of low water. 
 
 In Cornwall, Captain G. Williams and Mr. Wells have completed 
 the thirty miles of coast between Eowey and Falmouth', with plans 
 on a large scale of the harbours of Pentuan and Mevagissey, the 
 latter so valuable to our pilchard fishery. 
 
 In the Bristol Channel, Commander Alldridge and Mr. D. Hall 
 have produced an excellent plan of the rivers Taw and Torridge, 
 leading up to Barnstaple and Bideford on the north coast of Devon. 
 Their last year's work, namely, the plans of Milford Haven, with 
 Pembroke Eeach, on the scales, respectively, of 4 inches and 12 
 inches to a mile, have been published at the Admiralty. 
 
 .Farther north the channels and shoals at the entrance of the Solway 
 Firth have been re-examined, and the charts have been corrected 
 for the material changes, which have occurred during the last twenty 
 years, since this Firth was originally surveyed. 
 
 A new edition of Part I. of the Channel Pilot, comprising the 
 entrance of the Channel and the coast of England as far as the 
 Downs, has been compiled by Mr. J. W. King, Master b.n., and 
 published at the Admiralty. Part II., which will contain the north 
 coast of France, from Grisnez to Ushant, is well advanced. 
 
 Scotland. — The remarkably broken outline and indented shores of 
 the Western Highlands of Scotland, embracing picturesque fiords 
 and lochs, afford constant occupation for a large force of surveyors. 
 Commanders Bedford and Creyke are employed in Argyllshire ; and 
 
May 26, 1-856.] ADMIRALTY SUEVETS. 139 
 
 parts of Jura, of Loch Spelve in Mull, and Loch Feochan, have been 
 mapped during the past season. 
 
 More to the north Commander Wood, and Messrs. Jeffery and Tay- 
 lor, are engaged on the shores of Skye, and have recently examined 
 its northern coast from Loch Sligachan to Kyle Akin and Kyle Ehea. 
 The nautical survey of these coasts, however, can only proceed 
 slowly, as the "coast surveyors have to do not alone their own legiti- 
 mate work, but that of the Ordnance also, as the land survey has 
 not yet reached the Western Highlands and islands of Scotland. 
 
 With the exception of part of the isle of Lewis, the Hebrides are 
 yet unsurveyed ; but a strong force, tinder Captain Otter, has again 
 broken ground there, and there is reason to believe that this out- • 
 lying portion of the realm of Scotland will not much longer remain 
 the opprobrium of our maps and charts. 
 
 The Orkneys and Shetland have been revisited, during the past 
 summer, by Mr. E. K. Calver, in order to revise and prepare for 
 immediate publication the sailing directions of those intricate groups. 
 This work has been very satisfactorily executed, and the Directions 
 are now passing through the press. 
 
 In the Firth of Forth, Lieutenant Thomas and his assistants have 
 examined the coast of Fife as far as Fifeness ; they have filled in 
 the deep-water soundings to the eastward of the isle of May ; and if 
 the season prove favourable, they will this year complete the survey 
 of the Firth of Forth as far as St. Abb's Head, its natural southern 
 limit. 
 
 Ireland. — Captain Washington, continuing his report, ohserves, 
 in the county of Antrim, on the north-eastern shore of Ireland, 
 Messrs. Hoskyn, And, and Yule have mapped the coast from Carrick- 
 a-Bede southwards to Garron Point, a distance of about 40 miles ; 
 they have also connected by soundings Eathlin Island with the 
 Main. The same party is now employed in recording the remark- 
 ahle improvements that public spirit and good engineering have 
 within the last few years effected in the harbour of Belfast. 
 
 On the coast of Donegal Captain Bedford and Lieutenant Horner 
 have completed an elaborate and admirable plan of Lough Swilly, 
 which shows all the striking features of that fine inlet of the sea, 
 which has often proved a harbour of refuge to the toil-worn mariner 
 in the hour of need. 
 
 On the south-west coast of Ireland, in the uounty of Kerry, Com- 
 manders Beechey and Edye, with Mr. W. B. Calver, have made 
 a beautiful plan of Castlemaine harbour and bay, and are now ad- 
 
140 REAR-ADMIRAL F. W. BEECHEY'S ADDRESS. {May 26, 1850. 
 
 vancing along the northern shore of the "peninsula which forms the 
 southern limit of Tralee Bay. 
 
 A little farther to the southward, on the same coast, Commander 
 ' Church and Lieutenant Veitch have mapped the shore of Kerry, 
 from Ballinskelligs Bay to Port Magee, and for the first time, laid 
 down correctly and given us the soundings around those striking 
 schistose rocks, the Skelligs, which rise, almost precipitously, to a 
 height of 700 feet ahove the level of the water, and on which bursts 
 the whole force of the Atlantic ocean swell. This was a labour of 
 no common kind, and required for its accomplishment a combination 
 of skill, seamanship, and persevering energy that falls to the lot of 
 few.* 
 
 Baltic. — A time of warfare, at first sight, would not seem favour- 
 able to the advancement of hydrographical knowledge, or at 
 least to the more peaceful branches of science, yet, observes 
 Captain Washington, we are enabled to state that at the close of 
 the struggle now happily terminated our acquaintance with the 
 Baltic, and the Gulfs of Finland and Bothnia, is considerably in 
 advance of what it was when the campaign opened ; but it is to the 
 Danish, Swedish, and Eussian charts of those seas that we owe the 
 fact of our ships being enabled to pass the Kattegat, the Belts, and 
 the Sound without hesitation, and to navigate the inner gulfs of the 
 Baltic without danger. Notwithstanding all the vague assertions to 
 the contrary, it does not admit of a question, that no fleet ever left 
 the shores of Great Britain so well provided with charts as the 
 Baltic fleet. It is but an act of justice to the eminent hydrographers 
 of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Eussia (with whose charts the 
 fleet was furnished), that their fame should be vindicated. The 
 names of Zahrtmann, Klint, Vibe, and Liitke are of European repu- 
 tation, and afford ample guarantee for the accuracy of the charts 
 published under their superintendence. That opportunities have 
 since been afforded for making additions to them is only what might 
 
 * It is with extreme regret that I have to add that this was the last labour of 
 Commander Church. On his way to Ireland, after depositing his charts at the 
 Admiralty, he was suddenly taken ill at Bristol, and in three days was no more. His 
 worn-out frame, which had toiled for many years under an African sun, and had 
 bravely buffeted with the Atlantic surge while mapping the coasts of Cork and 
 Kerry, sunk under the attack, and thus deprived H.M. service of one of the best of 
 its surveyors. Skilful, energetic, zealous, of unbending integrity, and a thorough 
 seaman, he combined all the qualities of an accomplished surveyor ; and so long 
 as the Fastnet Rock and Cape Clear continue to be the landfall of vessels crossing 
 the Atlantic from America, the mariner will have cause to bless the skilful hand 
 that, by accurately defining the dangers of that iron-bound coast, has converted 
 them into friendly landmarks for which the sailor may safely steer. 
 
May 26, 1856.1 • ADMIRALTY SURVEYS. 141 
 
 have been expected. A fleet' numbering occasionally 1 00 sail could 
 not be cruising for two summers in a narrow sea without taking 
 soundings ; and it is highly to the credit of the masters of that fleet 
 generally that they availed themselves of every occasion of adding 
 to the charts all the, information they obtained. Our special sur- 
 veyors, Captains Sulivan and Otter, and their assistants, Com- 
 manders Cudlip, Creyke, and Burstal, and Lieutenant Ward, e.n., 
 were enabled to make plans of Led Sound in the Aland Isles, and 
 the approaches to Bomarsund ; of Baro and Hast Sounds, with the 
 southern access to Sweaborg ; of Wormso Sound on the south side of 
 the Gulf of Finland, with various tracks as far as Tomea and Hapa- 
 randa, at the head of the Gulf of Bothnia. 
 
 It is worthy of special remark that the magnetic variation 
 throughout these seas was found to be sensibly decreasing ; indeed 
 such proves to be the case all over the North Sea, the Irish Sea, 
 and the Channel, and probably extends throughout the greater part 
 of Europe ; and the. mariner cannot be too much on his guard 
 against the amount of variation he finds marked on charts professing 
 to be corrected up to the present year. The westerly variation in 
 the British Isles appears to have reached its maximum in the year 
 1836, since which time it has been decreasing at an average rate of 
 about six minutes yearly. 
 
 Black Sea.- — As in the Baltic, so in the Black Sea, our cruisers 
 have added materially to the charts. To Manganari's atlas of that 
 sea, completed in 1836, several details, have been added by Captain 
 Spratt, K.sr., C.B., and the surveying staff under his directions, 
 Lieutenants Mansell, Wilkinson, and Brooker, who have discovered 
 several rocks, especially near the Strait of Kertch, and off Anapa 
 on the Circassian coast, which had escaped former examinations. 
 They have also sounded around Kinburn Spit and the estuary of 
 the Dnieper and Bug, leading up to the towns of Khersdn and 
 Nicolaief, charts of which -rivers, on a large scale, have been pub- 
 lished. An elaborate and beautiful plan of the Khersonese penin- 
 sula, including Kazach and Kamiesh Bays, and showing the position 
 of the Allied camps and batteries, has been completed by Lieutenant 
 Wilkinson, and is a work that does him the highest credit. 
 . Captain Spratt's. reconnaissance of the country between Kustenji 
 and the Danube at Chernavoda, a sketch of much interest in the 
 discussion of the various projects, either of a railway or a canal, to 
 unite the Danube and the Black Sea, has just been published, as also 
 his chart of the Narrows of the Dardanelles, which includes the 
 
142 • REAR-ADMIRAL F. W. BEECflEY'S ADDRESS. [Mat 26, 1856. 
 
 site of the new hospital at Aren-kieui, in Asia Minor, a few miles 
 from the Plain of Troy. 
 
 On the coast of Egypt, Commander Mansell, in the ' Tartarus,' has 
 commenced the examination of the north shore, from the Damietta 
 mouth of the Nile eastwards, with a view to ascertain whether it 
 affords a suitable site for the entrance of a ship-canal, which has 
 been proposed to connect the Mediterranean' and Red Sea by the 
 Isthmus of Suez. 
 
 South Africa. — The survey of the shores of the Cape Colony 
 advances slowly ; yet, notwithstanding the scanty means placed at 
 the disposal of Lieutenants Dayman and Simpson, the officers em- 
 ployed in the survey, they have been enabled to- map the coast from 
 Hangklip to Cape Agulhas and the intermediate dangers, on the 
 scale of one inch to a mile, which will be immediately published for 
 the benefit of the mariner. They have also surveyed Algoa Bay and 
 Port Natal. Whatever has been done has been carefully done, and 
 is based on the triangulation carried on by Mr. Maclear, Astronomer 
 at the Cape, from the Observatory as far as Cape Agulhas. Much, 
 however, remains to be effected. Both the land survey of the colony 
 and that of the coasts ought to be pressed forward ; every year that 
 they are delayed bars the progress of the settlers, hinders the de- 
 velopment of the resources of the district, and is attended with loss 
 to the colonial exchequer. 
 
 The Cape Colony has the advantage of possessing a number of 
 accurately fixed points, extending over a surface of more than 400 
 miles on its western seaboard, and comprising the whole country 
 between Cape Agulhas and the mouth of the "Orange Biver ; these 
 were obtained, at the expense of the Home Treasury, in the mea- 
 surement of an arc of the meridian by Mr. Maclear, her Majesty's 
 astronomer at the Cape of Good Hope ; and the only use to which 
 they have yet been put in improving the defective geographic and 
 hydrographic knowledge of this part of the world, has been in the 
 construction of the chart before noticed, of about 70 miles of coast- 
 line between Capes Hangklip and Agulhas, by Lieutenant Dayman 
 of the Eoyal Navy. 
 
 "VVe owe this small contribution to hydrography to a catastrophe 
 which will not soon be forgotten — the loss of H. M. troopship 
 ' Birkenhead ' and 656 lives, near Point Danger. 
 
 Algoa Bay has been lately surveyed by the same officer on a large 
 scale, but the existing chart of the intermediate line of coast westward 
 to Cape Agulhas is most unsatisfactory. This may be quickly re- 
 
May 26, 1856.] ADMIRALTY SURVEYS. .143 
 
 medied, and at small expense, by extending Mr. Maclear's arc of 
 meridian triangles (the last of which terminates near the Breede 
 River) along the coast to Cape Eecife, and it is to be hoped that the 
 colony, under the rule of its present enlightened Governor, Sir 
 George Grey, will perform this necessary duty for its own benefit. 
 A surveying vessel might then find ample field for laborious, but 
 highly useful, employment in these seas. 
 
 Indian Ocean. — A chart of the Indian Ocean in two sheets has 
 been recently published by the Admiralty, in which the curves of 
 equal variation have been carefully laid down for the year 1855, by 
 Mr. Frederick J. Evans, chief of the Compass Observatory. It 
 forms a valuable contribution to physical geography. A similar 
 chart of the Pacific Ocean is in progress. 
 
 Siam. — A tolerably accurate chart of the Gulf of Siam has lately 
 been published by the Admiralty, in which some of the grosser 
 errors of former maps and charts are corrected. It is still, however, 
 very imperfect ; but Messrs. Eichards and Inskip, surveying officers 
 on the China station, have been despatched to Siam ; and there 
 seems ground for hope, not only from their labours, but from the 
 facilities offered by the present enlightened King of that country, that 
 in the course of the present year the chart of the Gulf will be rendered 
 sufficiently accurate for all the common purposes of navigation. 
 
 Japan. — The accidents of the late war have led to a slight im- 
 provement in our acquaintance with the coasts of the islands of 
 Niphon and Yesso, and especially as to the Strait of Matsumae, or 
 Tsugar (hitherto improperly named Sangar in all our maps and 
 charts), which lies between them. This Strait has been examined 
 by Mr. Eichards, as well as a portion of the west coast of Niphon, 
 which proves to be laid down in all our charts some 10 miles to the 
 eastward of its true position. 
 
 TarCary.- — Farther north, in the Gulf of Tartary — a quarter not 
 visited by any ship of war since Broughton, in 1797 — our cruisers 
 have, during the last year, partially traced the western shore of the 
 island of Saghalin, where coal in situ and fallen timber, from the 
 wooded land above, are to be found in abundance along the shores. 
 They have examined Castries Bay on the mainland, and traced a 
 deep-water channel, carrying 3 fathoms throughout, towards, but 
 not into the mouth of the Amur. Farther to the south-west, in the 
 parallel of 43° N., bays, harbours, and gulfs, which have received 
 the names of Victoria, Eugenie, Napoleon, and DAnville, have been 
 explored and surveyed by the officers of the Allied squadrons, and 
 
144 REAR-ADMIRAL F. W. BEECHEY'S ADDRESS. [Mat 26, 1858. 
 
 especially by MM. Bouchez, Hill, Wilder, Johnson, and May, who 
 have completed a chart which is highly creditable to these -young 
 officers. Some useful information has also been obtained respecting 
 the great river Amur, and of the harbour of Aian and other points 
 in the Sea of Okhotsk. 
 
 China. — A slight break has been made in our ignorance of the 
 Gulfs of Pecheli and Leotung, by the visit of Captain Edward Van- 
 sittart, e.n., who, in H. M. S. 'Bittern,' chased a fleet of Chinese 
 pirates to the head of the Gulf, where the greater part of them were 
 destroyed. In this dashing affair he boldly took his ship into waters 
 hitherto unexplored, obtained numerous soundings, and corrected 
 approximatively the outline of the eastern shore of the Gulf. 
 
 The chart of the island of Palawan and its off-lying reefs, the 
 result of the elaborate survey of Commander Bate, in the 'Boyalist,' 
 between the years 1851-5, has just been published at the Admiralty, 
 accompanied by full sailing-directions. We understand that this 
 skilful officer has returned to China to take command of a ship ; 
 may we hope that he will be employed on some service better 
 adapted to his abilities than the usual routine of cruising er carrying 
 despatches. There is "ample room and verge enough" in that 
 region for the labours of several surveyors ; large tracts of coast 
 are yet unexplored, and dangerous reefs yet unexamined ; and of 
 this latter class perhaps none calling more loudly for immediate 
 examination and marking, both by beacons by day and a light by 
 night, than the extensive coral lagoon-reef of the Pratas, barely 
 rising above the level of the sea, lying only 60 leagues to the 
 E.S.E. of our own colony at Hong Kong, and directly bordering on 
 the track of vessels approaching Canton in that direction, either by 
 Dampier Strait or the Gillolo Passage. 
 
 New Zealand. — A general chart of this group, comprising the 
 whole of the recent surveys under Captains Stokes and Drury, on 
 the scale of r % of an inch to a mile, or „ ,'„ T7r of the natural scale, 
 has recently been published at the Admiralty, together with plans 
 of Cook Strait and Port Nicholson, which are important features of 
 the group, as they include the settlements of Wellington and 
 Nelson. The whole is accompanied by a complete set of sailing- 
 directions, compiled by Captain George Eiehards and Mr. F. J. 
 Evans, r=n. (both assistants on the survey), from the various 
 Admiralty surveys which have been carried on since the year 1848, 
 and are now brought to a close by the return to England of the 
 ' Pandora,' Commander Drury, who brings away with him gratifying 
 
May 26, 1856.] ADMIRALTY SURVEYS. 145 
 
 testimonials from the colony as to the value of his services in those 
 regions, increased by the promptitude with which he made them 
 available to the navigator, by furnishing accurate accounts of the 
 result of his surveys through the medium of the ' New Zealand 
 Gazette.' 
 
 Pacific Ocean. — Capt. Denham still pursues his useful labours in 
 the Western Pacific. Within the past year he has surveyed and 
 fixed the position of Norfolk Island, to which place much interest 
 attaches in consequence of some of the Pitcaim islanders being in 
 course of removal to that spot, as their future dwelling. He has 
 determined the position of Conway Eeef, an extensive sandbank 
 only 6 feet above the level of high water, and has planted cocoa- 
 nuts upon it, with a view to render it more conspicuous hereafter, 
 a practice which all navigators will do well to follow for the gene- 
 ral benefit of the mariner. On his route to the Fiji Islands, Capt. 
 Denham obtained soundings and brought up bottom from a depth 
 of 1020 fathoms, containing thirty distinct genera of foraminifera, most 
 of which belong to existing forms in the Pacific, though only trace- 
 able as fossils in the northern hemisphere. Plans of Levuka har- 
 bour and island and of the Embau waters in the Fiji group complete 
 his work for the past season. 
 
 Farther to the east, in the North Pacific, Fanning Island has been 
 visited by Capt. Morshead, and its true position found to be in lat. 
 3° 49' N., long. 159° 19', or 32 miles to the westward of that 
 usually assigned to it in our charts. 
 
 Nova Scotia. — Plans of Halifax harbour and of the coast to the 
 eastward as far as Shut-in-Island, resulting from the surveys of 
 Capt. Bayfield and his party, have been published at the Admiralty 
 during the past year on the respective scales of three inches and one 
 inch to a mile. Their recent labours during the past season have com- 
 prised a detailed survey of the coast and harbours from Cape Canso 
 westward to Country Harbour — a laborious and very creditable work. 
 
 In the Bay of Fundy, Commander Shortland has completed the 
 survey of the Grand Manan islands at the entrance of the Bay, and 
 a portion of the south-western coast of Nova Scotia. Both the 
 above-named officers are now lending their aid and pointing out the 
 best track for laying the submarine cable that is to connect Cape 
 Bay, the southrwest point of Newfoundland, with the island of Cape 
 Breton, a strait only 60 miles in width with a depth of about 200 
 fathoms. When this connexion is made, there will, we believe, be 
 uninterrupted communication by electric telegraph from New Orleans 
 
 o2 
 
146 REAR-ADMIRAL F. W. BEECHEY'S ADDRESS. [May 26, "1856. 
 
 on the Mississippi to St. John's, Newfoundland, a distance of about 
 2000 miles. 
 
 West Indies. — A plan of Port Escoces and Caledonia harbour, sur- 
 veyed by Messrs. Parsons and Dillon, has been published by the 
 Admiralty during the past year. These officers have recently been 
 engaged in the examination of the islands of Santa Cruz and St. 
 Lucia, the former of which is finished and the latter far advanced. 
 
 South America. — On the coast of Brazil the dangerous shoal known 
 by the Portuguese name of As Roccas, lying about 120 miles west of 
 Tristan d'Acunha, has been visited by Lieut. Parish, in H.M.S. 
 ' Sharpshooter,' and, at the suggestion of the British Consul at 
 Pemambuco, cocoa-nuts have been planted in the sand, with the hope 
 that at no distant day they may by their growth serve to warn the 
 mariner of his approach to a danger on which doubtless many a 
 vessel has met its fate. 
 
 Bio de la Plata. — In this river, above Buenos Ayres, Lieut. Sidney, 
 with slight means at his command, has re-examined the approach 
 to the river Parana, and re-sounded the shoals in the vicinity of 
 Martin Garcia. The whole of this vast estuary requires a care- 
 ful survey. - During the past year a sketch-chart of the river Para- 
 guay from Corrientes upwards to Asuncion, by Lieut. Day, e.n., on 
 the scale of one inch to a mile, has been published by the Admiralty ; 
 and, on a much smaller scale, the upper part of the river as high as 
 Coimbra, from Portuguese authorities. 
 
 In the Falkland Islands a plan of Port Egmont, one of the many 
 safe harbours in that group, surveyed by Capt. Sulivan, c.b., in 
 1849, has recently been published on a large scale, and may prove 
 useful to the numerous whalers and other vessels which occasionally 
 resort to those islands. 
 
 France. — I learn from my zealous and intelligent correspondent, 
 Mr. J. B. Pentland, that the Dep6t General de la Guerre has continued 
 the publication of its great Map of France, 9 sheets of which have 
 been published during the past year. This magnificent work will 
 consist of 258 sheets, of which 175 have been already engraved. 
 The geodesic operations of this work being concluded, it is proposed 
 to determine astronomically the longitudes or meridian distances of 
 the several trigonometrical stations by means of the electric tele- 
 graph ; a body of officers appointed for that purpose, under Com- 
 mandant Eoget, are now engaged in the preliminary researches at 
 the Imperial Observatory of Paris. 
 
May 26, 1856.] FRENCH MARITIME SURVEYS. 147 
 
 The beautiful survey, by the officers of the French Etat-Major, of 
 the environs of Eome has been completed, but only one sheet has 
 as yet been published ; the remaining ones will, however, shortly 
 be in the hands of the public. 
 
 French Maritime Surveys. — The maritime surveyors of Prance have 
 conducted their surveys along the coasts of Italy and of the Strait 
 of Gibraltar. M. Darondeau has completed the remainder of the 
 survey of Western Liguria ; and the whole coast of Italy may now, 
 be said to be completed from the Var to the mouths of the Tiber, 
 and is in course of publication. M. Darondeau is now occupied in 
 conducting operations in the Neapolitan dominions, and has 
 already connected the islands of the Ponza group, with his triangu- 
 lation of the continent. 
 
 The hydrographic expedition despatched by the French Govern- 
 ment to survey the Strait of Gibraltar and the adjoining coasts of 
 Morocco and Spain, has most satisfactorily completed its laborious 
 task, thanks to the zeal of Captain Kerhallet, well known by his 
 works on the Currents of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and of 
 M. Vincendon Dumoulin, one of the most eminent of the corps of 
 Ingenieurs Hydrographes of France. The survey, based on an accu- 
 rate triangulation, extends from Cape St. Lucar on one side, and Cape 
 Spartel on the other, to Gibraltar, and on the northern coast of Mo- 
 rocco as far east as the Zafarina Islands. This excellent survey, I am 
 told, is now in the hands of the engravers. The most important results 
 of the operations of MM. Kerhallet and Dumoulin are the discovery 
 of several new shoals off the Spanish coast ; of an extensive rocky 
 plateau, from 15 to 18 miles in length, off Cape Trafalgar; and the 
 correction of various dangerous reefs between Cape Trafalgar and 
 Cadiz. But by no means the least important part of this survey, is the 
 determination of the depth of the Strait of Gibraltar, in olden times 
 supposed to be unfathomable, and continued so until the assumption 
 was dispelled by our able Mediterranean surveyor, Admiral Smyth. 
 The depth of this Strait has been considerably overrated in the 
 Spanish and English surveys, as it has been found in man}' parts to 
 average from 380 to 490 fathoms only ; the greatest depth being 503 
 fathoms (1010 metres) about mid-channel, at one mile east of the line 
 extending from Europa Point to Almina, at Ceuta. Numerous obser- 
 vations were made on the set of the currents in the Strait and on the 
 temperature of the sea at different depths, which dispel the belief in 
 an undercurrent setting out of the Strait. We must acknowledge with 
 gratitude to MM. Kerhallet and Vincendon Dumoulin this great addi- 
 tion to our store of improved hydrography and physical geography. 
 
148 KEAR-ADMIEAL F. W. BEECHEY'S ADDRESS. [Ma* 26, 1856. 
 
 In the catalogue published by the Depot de la Marine will be 
 found many new charts of great interest and importance ; amongst 
 others, surveys of the French establishments on the coasts of New 
 Caledonia. 
 
 Spain. — The Spanish Government has caused a survey of that 
 kingdom to be commenced upon an uniform system, and a part of 
 the preliminary triangulation has been completed. A series of 
 triangles, in a meridional direction, has been carried on from Pico, 
 E. of Malaga, on the coast of the Mediterranean, to Santander, on 
 the Bay of Biscay, and on the direction of the parallels from the 
 Portuguese frontier to Aragon, where it has been connected with 
 the operations of MM. Biot and Arago for the measure of the 
 arc of the meridian between Dunkirk and Formentera. An im- 
 portant addition to Spanish geography has appeared in a work 
 entitled ' Atlas de Espana y sus Posesiones Ultramar,' of which 
 25 sheets have already been published, constructed by our much- 
 esteemed Corresponding member, Colonel Coello. These comprise 
 Cuba, Porto Bico, the Philippine, Marian, and Balearic Isles, the 
 Canaries, African possessions, and part of her continental provinces. 
 In addition to these separate maps of the departments of Spain 
 and of her foreign possessions, the Atlas contains enlarged plans 
 of the principal cities and towns, and notices of the statistics, 
 administration, and history of each division, contributed by an- 
 other of our distinguished Corresponding members, occupying an 
 eminent position as both statesman and geographer, Don Pascual 
 de Madoz. 
 
 M. de Verneuil, the eminent French geologist, whose name Jias 
 often been alluded to by my predecessors, has continued, during 
 the past year, his geological survey of Spain and his barometric 
 levellings. His late researches have extended over the desolate 
 province of La Mancha, where he has fixed the height above the sea 
 of several hundred points. 
 
 Italy. — The Piedmontese Government has continued the publica- 
 tion of the map of its continental possessions, on a scale of- <-- 
 and it is expected that the whole will be completed next year. ' 
 
 The Abbe Poncet has published the number of 360 measured 
 heights in Northern Savoy— an interesting addition to those already 
 given by De Candolle and Professors Chaix and Favre. Mr. Borson 
 has contributed an extract of the geometrical measurements of the 
 Sardinian Staff, which adds the positions and heights of sixty more 
 places to the above. . 
 
May 26, 1856.] SWITZERLAND. 149 
 
 The Austrian Geographical Institute of Vienna has given the 
 public the last sheets of its great Map of Central Italy, alluded to 
 in previous Addresses of the Presidents ofthis Society. The map 
 is now accompanied by statistical data of considerable interest con- 
 cerning Tuscany and the Papal States, and the work, as a whole, 
 is a most useful and important contribution to geographical science. 
 
 As to Naples, I am not aware that any progress has been made 
 in the publication of the survey commenced by the late General 
 Visconti, often alluded to by my predecessors. 
 
 Switzerland. — From our Corresponding member, M. J. Ziegler, we 
 learn that the geodetical and topographical operations of Switzer- 
 land have been continued in the north of the Canton of Tessin and 
 in the chain of the Alps, crossed by the passes of Lukmanier, 
 of Bernhardin, and Splugen. The principal labours which have 
 been executed in the past season were commenced chiefly in a 
 geological point of view, such as that by Dr. Heusser in Valais, 
 which was undertaken in order to make some observations in the 
 environs of Visp, the centre of commotion of the destructive earth- 
 quakes which, even to this day, make themselves felt. 
 
 Professor Heusser, of the University of Zurich, has visited these 
 places, and has given the results of his personal observations in 
 a little work which the Society of Natural History at Zurich 
 has published. M. Eiou has published an account of the earth- 
 quakes which were felt in 1855, in the months of July and 
 November. Meteorological observations have also been made 
 during the past winter throughout the whole extent of the central 
 Alps. 
 
 By the uninterrupted railway works throughout Switzerland the 
 number of hypsometrical data is increasing, and the interest in 
 hypsometry is becoming greater. Hypsometrical charts are more 
 numerous, and the use of them is becoming general in proportion 
 as we can compare with exactitude the elevation of different 
 countries. I may particularly allude to Mr. Ziegler's Hypsome- 
 trical Atlas, in course of publication. 
 
 Our learned Associate, Professor Chaix, of Geneva, informs us of 
 the expected return of Messrs. H. de Saussure and H. Peyrot from 
 their journey to Mexico, and that Professor De Candolle has pub- 
 lished, in two volumes, a comprehensive treatise on Botanical Geo- 
 graphy. Prom the same high authority our Secretary has just 
 received an interesting communication on the Hydrography of the 
 
150 REAR-ADMIRAL F. W. BEECHEY'S ADDRESS. [May 26, 1856. 
 
 Valley of the Arve, which will be laid before the Society at an early 
 period. 
 
 Norway. — Our Associate, Professor Munch, of Christiania, has en- 
 riched our collection with several recent maps and charts of the 
 Coast Survey of Northern Norway, forming a series, beginning 
 about the 64th parallel and extending to the Eussian frontier. 
 
 The Coast Survey Charts of Southern Norway have also been 
 received, as well as Professor Munch's Map of Southern Norway, 
 Northern Norway with Finmarken, 1852, and Norway, published at 
 Christiania in 1854 ; also the Amt Maps, by Captains Eamm and 
 Mnrthe. 
 
 Major Vibe, of the Norwegian Engineers, informs our Secretary 
 that, in addition to the Coast Surveys already mentioned as having 
 been lately published, others, by Munch, Giessing, &c, are in 
 course of preparation. 
 
 Denmark. — The Eoyal Society of Northern Antiquaries has just 
 held its anniversary meeting at the Palace of Christiansborg ; its 
 President, Frederick the Seventh, King of Denmark, in the chair. 
 Prof. Ch. Eafn, our Associate, communicated an account of the 
 proceedings of the Society during the past year, and exhibited 
 the new volume of the ' Annales ' of Northern Archaeology and 
 History ; the new number of the Society's Eeview, and of the 
 ' Memoires des Antiquaires du Nord.' He also laid before the 
 Society the second part of the ' Lexicon Poeticum ' of the Icelandic 
 language, compiled by Sweinjorn. Among the articles in the ■ An- 
 nales " may be especially noticed ' King Oswald hin Helliges (the 
 holy) Saga,' with a preface by Jon Sigurdsson, and translations by 
 Thorl. G. Eepp ; also a notice on Virdaland's Ancient History, by 
 Prof. A. Cronholm, of Lund ; and a Grammar of the Faeroe Lan- 
 guage, by the Eev. V. U. Hammershaimb, of North Strasamey. In 
 the Antiquarian ' Tidsskrift ' are found papers on the OZd-English 
 and OM-Norsk, by Gisle Brynjulfsson ; on the Ancient Languages 
 of the North, by G. E. Lund; Old-Norsk Eemains among the 
 Orkneys, by G. Petrie, Esq., of Kirkwall; Antiquarian Contribu- 
 tions from Sclavic Lands and Monuments of the Bosphorus, by 
 Edwin M. Thorson ; Eeport on the Cabinet of American Antiquities, 
 by Ch. Eafn. In the number just published of the ' Memoires ' are 
 papers on Eunic Inscriptions in Sodor and Man, with a Geographical 
 elucidation of the Irish and Scotch names occurring in the Sagas, by 
 
May 26, 1856.] ARCTIC. 151 
 
 P. A. Munch. The Saga of St. Edward the King, with an Introduc- 
 tion by Kafn and Sigurdsson ; Remarks on a Danish Eunic Stone 
 from the Eleventh Century, lately discovered in the centre of London, 
 with Eunic inscriptions, alluding to the Western Countries, by Eafn ; 
 and, finally, one by Brynjulfsson, entitled ' De l'Ancien Eoman 
 Francois et de l'lnfluence exercee sur son Ddveloppement par les 
 Normands.' The King communicated to the Meeting the results of 
 the researches which he had carried out among the ancient royal 
 sepulchres at the Cathedral at Bingsted in Seeland ; upon which 
 the Vice-President, C. F. "Wegener, read a Memoir on the Tombs of 
 King Waldemar the Great, and his Queen Sophia, daughter of Valo- 
 diinir of Eussia. The Secretary read a statement of the progress 
 made during the last year in deciphering the Eunic inscriptions so 
 numerous in Scandinavia,- — an account of which he is preparing for 
 publication. 
 
 Portugal. — "We have received, through the polite attention of Count 
 Lavradio, several numbers of a periodical, published by the Portu- 
 guese Government, entitled ' Boletim e Annaes do Conselho Ultra- 
 marino,' which contains rich contributions to African geography. 
 
 Germany. — It is with great pleasure I have to notice the establish- 
 ment of a Geographical Society at Vienna. 
 
 We continue to receive Herr Gumprecht's valuable ' Geographical 
 Journal,' containing the proceedings of the Berlin Geographical 
 Society, in addition to other material. 
 
 Hungary. — The ethnographical studies, by M. Valerio, of the 
 various races forming the population of Hungary, have been pub- 
 lished, with numerous illustrations. 
 
 Greece. — A work on the Peloponnesus, byM. Beule, appears to form 
 an excellent guide to the Morea, and is worthy of being translated. 
 
 Arctic. 
 
 At the opening of the Address of last year by my noble predecessor, 
 the return of Dr. Eae was announced, bearing with him evidence of 
 the fate of the long missing expedition under the lamented Sir John 
 Franklin ; and I have now to notice amongst the papers read at the 
 meetings of the Society, the expedition consequent upon the informa- 
 tion furnished by him. You will remember that Mr. Anderson, who 
 conducted this expedition, pursued his route down the river Back, 
 
152 REAR-ADMIRAL F. W. BEECHEY'S ADDRESS. [May 26, 1856. 
 
 bearing testimony to the great accuracy with which the distinguished 
 navigator, from whom it derives its name, had described and laid 
 down the features of that dangerous river. Among much valuable 
 information which Mr. Anderson collected, will be found the deeply 
 interesting fact of his having discovered upon Montreal Island the 
 remains of a boat, upon part of which was cut the word ' Terror,' and 
 upon the frame of a snow shoe the name of ' Stanley,' the surgeon 
 of the ' Erebus,' leaving no doubt as to the fate of those unfortunate 
 vessels, viz. that they had either been wrecked or inextricably fixed and 
 abandoned ; and confirming in all essential particulars the informa- 
 tion brought home by Dr. Eae. # The great interest which attaches 
 to this journey of Mr. Anderson, intimately connected as it is with 
 the fate of our countrymen, the sufferings and privations endured by 
 himself and his party, will render this volume of our Journal of 
 deep and general interest. 
 
 Scarcely had the breath of novelty passed over this sad but too 
 certain history, when the announcement of the return of our medallist, 
 Dr. Kane, completed the page of past adventure in search of our 
 missing countrymen. The important discoveries of this gallant 
 officer consist of an elongation of Smith Sound to a higher northern 
 latitude than that of any other known land in the Arctic regions, 
 and to a higher parallel than had ever been reached by any navi- 
 gator, except Parry ; and of the discovery of a vast ocean beyond, 
 apparently free from ice, with which it communicated. The patient 
 endurance under hardship, sickness, and privation, the zeal dis- 
 played in the execution of this arduous service, and important disco- 
 veries in those inhospitable regions, have earned for Dr. Kane the 
 unqualified approbation of this country ; and the highest honour 
 this Society has to bestow, has been awarded to him ; while the mo- 
 desty with which he has related his perilous adventures, and the 
 merit he bestows upon all his party, will place his narrative amongst 
 the most fascinating papers in our Journal. 
 
 Contemporaneously with the notice of Dr. Kane we announced 
 the return of Commodore Eogers of the United States Navy from 
 the seas to the northward of Behring Strait. He records having 
 ascended Herald Island, from which he could see no land whatever ; 
 and having sailed over Plover Island, which he removes from the 
 chart ; as also the islands reported to have been seen to the north of 
 
 * Dr. Eae and his companions have now received the award of 10,000Z. offered 
 by the Admiralty for the first clue to the remains of the expedition. 
 
May 26, 1856.] ARCTIC. 153 
 
 Cape Yakan. He discovered a vast barrier of ice on the north, so 
 solid as to lead him to declare that no keel has ever divided those 
 waters. 
 
 During the last year our indefatigable Captain Collinson has 
 -returned to our shores from Behring Strait, rich in Arctic enter- 
 prise, and enjoying the distinguished honour of having, by skill, 
 energy, and patient endurance, brought his vessel, the ' Enter- 
 prise,' safely back from her perilous adventures, and returned 
 her to the shores, whence he departed with her; an act which 
 should not be overlooked in the catalogue of the meritorious deeds 
 •of that highly scientific navigator. . About the same period ap- 
 peared ' The Last of the Arctic Voyages,' by our associate, Sir 
 Edward Belcher ; in which he gives an account of his pro- 
 ceedings, and of the many land and boat journeys undertaken by 
 himself and officers under his command ; completing, through their 
 instrumentality, the northern coast of the Parry group, and adding 
 Victoria Land and other geographical features to the cartography of 
 those regions. Then, as if to swell the mention of Arctic enterprise, 
 at this time appeared a reprint, by the Hakluyt Society, of the quaint 
 but interesting documents of old voyages^ and also a voluminous 
 summary, entitled ' Scoperte Artiche,' compiled for the enlighten- 
 ment of the Italians, by Conte Francisco M. Erizzo. Lastly, I have 
 to notice among the events of the past year, as connected with 
 Arctic enterprise, the bestowal of the. honour of knighthood upon 
 Sir Eobert M'Clure (our medallist), the gallant officer who virtually 
 accomplished the North-West -passage — a justly-merited tribute of 
 the nation, and a token of the high sense it entertains of the worthy 
 deeds of those navigators who had so laboriously pursued their 
 perilous researches in those ice-encumbered seas.* 
 
 At this period of Arctic discovery it will perhaps be expected that 
 I should offer some remarks upon the results and the benefits which 
 have been derived from it by the country. 
 
 It is now nearly forty years since the revival of our Polar voyages, 
 during which period they have been prosecuted with more or less 
 success, until, at length,'the great problemhas been solved. Besides 
 this grand solution of the question, these voyages have in various 
 ways been beneficial ; and Science at least has reaped her harvest. 
 They have brought us acquainted with a portion of the globe before 
 
 * The sum of 10,000?. was also voted to him and his gallant companions by the 
 House of Commons. 
 
1 54 KEAR-ADMIRAL F. W. BEECHEY'S ADDRESS. [May 26, 1856. 
 
 ■unknown. They have acquired for us a vast addition to our store of 
 knowledge — in magnetism, so important an element in the safe con- 
 duct of our ships; in meteorology; in geography, natural and physical; 
 and which has led to the prosecution of like discoveries in the regions 
 of the Antarctic Pole. They have shown us what the human frame 
 is capable of undergoing and of accomplishing under great severity 
 of climate and privation. They have opened out various sources of 
 curious inquiry as to the existence at some remote period of tropical 
 plants and tropical animals in those now icy regions, and of other 
 matters interesting and useful to man. They have, in short, ex- 
 punged the blot of obscurity which would otherwise have hung over 
 and disfigured the page- of the history of this enlightened age ; and, 
 if we except the lamentable fate which befel the expedition under 
 Sir John Franklin, we shall find that they have been attended with 
 as little if not less average loss of life than that of the ordinary course 
 of mankind. And if any one should be disposed to weigh their ad- 
 vantages in the scale of pecuniary profit, they will find that there also 
 they have yielded fruit, if not to us, at least to a sister nation in whose 
 welfare we are greatly interested, and whose generous sympathy in 
 the fate of our countrymen endears her to us, and would render it 
 impossible that we should begrudge her this portion of the advan- 
 tage of our labours. I need hardly remind you of the Eeport from 
 the Secretary of the United States Navy to the Senate, to the effect 
 that in consequence of information derived from one of our Arctic 
 expeditions to Behring Strait, a -trade had sprung up in America by 
 "the capture of whales to the north of that Strait, of more value 
 to the States, than all their commerce with what is called the East ! 
 and that in two years, there had been added to the national wealth 
 of America, from this source alone, more than eight millions of 
 dollars. 
 
 Africa. 
 
 I would next direct your attention to a region widely different in 
 its physical character to the last, but one in which we have alike 
 pushed our discoveries, with slow and occasionally painful progress, 
 it is true, but upon the whole with steady success — the region of 
 Africa. It is from this country I have to congratulate the Society 
 on the safe return of that distinguished traveller Dr. Barth, the suc- 
 cessful explorer of a large portion of Central Africa, and of the 
 famed city of Timbuctii. An account of this expedition is now pre- 
 paring by Dr. Barth for publication, in five volumes, with maps ; 
 
May 26, 1856.] AFRICA. 155 
 
 and, from the extent of the work and the care bestowed upon it, we 
 may expeot to derive an enlarged knowledge of the country through 
 which he passed. 
 
 From letters communicated by the Foreign Office, we learn that 
 Dr. Vogel was at Gujeba in January last, and had thence proceeded 
 to Yakoba. His last letter is from Grombe. It appears that, in 
 attempting to reach Adamaua, he had crossed the Binue, at a point 
 where the steamer under Dr. Baikie had stopped, and that he there 
 left letters in expectation that another steamer would be despatched 
 up the Chadda. We learn, with regret from Dr. Vogel that his 
 health had suffered, but, on the other hand, we have cause to be 
 thankful that his life had been saved through an accident, which 
 prevented his joining a party of fifty persons going to Yola, all of 
 whom, except two, were murdered the same day. 
 
 Our associate, Dr. Baikie, has recently published an interesting 
 and instructive description of the voyage of the ' Pleiad ' steamer up 
 the Niger and Chadda, including a map from the original survey by 
 Mr. May, k.n., and much general information respecting the nations 
 and countries of that important part of Africa. In the mention of 
 this work, which reflects credit upon its author, I must not omit to 
 notice an oversight which I am sure Dr. Baikie will, with his usual 
 candour, acknowledge. In alluding to the origin of the Expedition, 
 Dr. Baikie does not mention the persevering part taken by the 
 Council of this Society, and particularly by Sir Boderick Murchison, 
 in promoting it ; and he has entirely omitted to connect the name 
 of M'Leod with the great and novel feature of the plan which 
 rendered this Expedition so successful in all respects, and will 
 govern the operations, in regard to season, of all future expe- 
 ditions.- It will be seen in our Journal that, early in 1852, a pro- 
 ject for ascending the Niger with the rising waters, was laid before 
 the 'Council by Lieut. Lyons M'Leod, who had been employed for 
 some years on the African coast. Haying been referred to the 
 Expedition Committee, attention was directed to a clause in Mr. 
 Laird's mail contract with the Admiralty, which provided for the 
 ascent of one of the African rivers, by steam, at a small expense ; 
 and the Committee recommended Lieut. M'Leod to communicate 
 with Mr. Laird and adapt his plan to this arrangement. Other steps 
 were also taken and communicated to the Society by Sir Boderick 
 Murchison, in his Presidential Address of that year. In 1853 the 
 Expedition having been brought under the notice of the Govern- 
 ment by Sir Boderick, as President of the Society, some progress 
 
156 REAR-ADMIRAL F. W. BEECHEY'S ADDRESS. [May 26, 1856. 
 
 was made, but a change in the Cabinet caused delay ; and in the 
 mean time the arrival of Dr. Barth on the banks of the Upper 
 Chadda, directed attention to that branch of the Niger, and turned 
 the proposed course of the Expedition towards it. The plan re- 
 ceived the warmest encouragement from Lord Clarendon, but the 
 favourable season being past, it was necessary to defer proceedings 
 till the ensuing year. These circumstances were also laid before 
 the Society in the Presidential Address for 1853. In 1854 the 
 Expedition started, and it was intended that the veteran African 
 explorer, our late member, Mr. Consul Beecroft, then residing at 
 Fernando Po, should take the command ; but his lamented decease 
 having occurred a few days before the arrival of the party from 
 England, the command devolved upon Dr. Baikie, with whom Mr. 
 May, of her Majesty's ship ' Crane,' was associated as surveyor, 
 through the kindness of Captain Miller, e.n., f.e.g.s., then chief 
 officer on the station. 
 
 I have felt it to be due to the persevering efforts' of this Society 
 in promoting this Expedition, and to the individuals whose names 
 are so honourably connected with it, to insert in some detail these 
 facts connected with its origin ; of which, I am sure, Dr. Baikie 
 will acknowledge the justice and propriety. 
 
 The spirit of adventure is again revived : Dr. Baikie, the suc- 
 cessful explorer of the Chadda, has offered his services to con- 
 duct an expedition up the Niger, and, leaving a trading party at 
 Babba, to pursue his route thence by land to Sokatii, the residence 
 of the Sultan, whose influence is said to be so great, that could it 
 only be obtained, an impulse would be given to commerce, and 
 slavery would be annihilated. 
 
 A communication from Governor O'Connor, describing a visit to 
 the Island of Bulama, in the Bisagos group, and a voyage up the river 
 Casamance, -informs us of the present condition of those places, and 
 the state of the settlements there. 
 
 Captain Skene, B.N., of the ' Philomel,' is about to return from the 
 West Coast, where he has ascended the Bonny, the Congo, and the 
 river of Lagos, and from whose journals we may expect some in- 
 teresting information. 
 
 "We learn that Commander Lynch, of the United States Navy, has 
 examined a large part of the coast of Liberia, and several of its 
 rivers, as a preliminary to an exploration of the interior. Sickness, 
 however, obliged him to discontinue his labours.* 
 
 * Of the death of Vr. Schonlein, at Cape Palmas, mention has already been 
 
Mat 26, 1856.] AFRICA. 157 
 
 We may mention here that M. Eaffenel has at length published 
 an account of his failure to penetrate to the interior of Africa' from 
 the French settlements on the Senegal. 
 
 Comte d'Escayrac de Lauture has presented the Society with a 
 copy of his Memoir on Soudan, accompanied by a map, in which the 
 positions of the principal towns and the courses of the rivers in 
 Central Africa are discussed with great ability and research, and 
 the habits of the people are also described. The Count has just 
 proposed to attempt, with the assistance of the Egyptian Govern- 
 ment, the ascent of the Nile to its sources. 
 
 The enterprising Sardinian trader, M. Brun-Eollet, whose esta- 
 blishment on the White Nile was mentioned in my noble prede- 
 cessor's last Address, having returned to his outpost, of exploration 
 and commerce in that region, has since penetrated for a considerable 
 distance along the Misselad ; and we are indebted to our Corre- 
 sponding member, M. le Chev. Negri, of Turin, for the following 
 account of M. Brun's proceedings, dated from the banks of the 
 Misselad, Feb. 1, 1856:— 
 
 "After a month's research M. Brun-Eollet came to reconnoitre 
 the lake, by which the waters of the Misselad and of the Modj or 
 Lut communicate with the Bahr el Abiad. He found it about 
 50 leagues in length from north to south, and discovered the 
 entrance of the Misselad into the lake. He entered the Misselad 
 with three. boats (barques), and an escort of 23 soldiers, obtained 
 from an Egyptian post recently established at the confluence of the 
 Sanbat, in the Bahr el Abiad ; and the intrepid traveller had already 
 ascended the river for nearly 40 leagues, with the determination to 
 push his exploration as far as possible. The Misselad appears to be 
 so large and deep that M. Brun-Bollet, who has previously visited 
 the Blue Nile, or Bahr el Azrek, as well as the White" Nile, or Bahr 
 el Abiad, declares that he has no doubt of the Misselad being the- true 
 Nile. It appears that during the rainy season this river inundates 
 an immense extent of country. The vegetation of this region is 
 magnificent, and the reception offered by the inhabitants, although 
 not always favourable, had not been hostile. M. Brun-Bollet and 
 his companions, among whom is Madame Brun-Bollet, a young 
 Marseillaise, continued to enjoy excellent health." 
 
 made in the Third number of the Proceedings of the Society ; and it is with much 
 regret that I now hear of the decease of a young French explorer, M. Couturier, 
 which took place at Brezina, an oasis in the Sahara, where he had stopped some 
 time in order to acquire a knowledge of some of the native dialects. 
 
158 REAR-ADMIRAL F. W. BEECHEV'S ADDRESS. [May 26, 1856. 
 
 From the Eastern Coast we have received, through the Church 
 Missionary Society, an interesting communication from the Eev. J. 
 Erhardt, informing us concerning a large inland sea, long known to 
 exist, and now stated to extend over nearly ten degrees of latitude 
 and four degrees of longitude, with a description of several routes 
 by which diiferent portions of this sea are visited by parties from 
 Mombas, Tanga, Mbomaji, Kiloa, and other towns upon the sea-coast, 
 affording facilities for discovery in that quarter, which the Council 
 have not neglected. 
 
 Eower down, upon this coast, we have received information of the 
 return of a party of Moors from the Western Coast of Africa. The 
 24th volume of our Journal contains an account of a journey per- 
 formed by a party of Moorish traders from Zanzibar to Benguela, 
 on the West Coast. This is the same party whose arrival we have 
 just announced. It appears that they left Benguela on the 9th June, 
 1853, and arrived at Mozambique on the 12th November, 1854, 
 crossing large rivers and passing many thickly -inhabited towns in 
 their way ; but they do not afford us any means of determining the 
 positions of these places. 
 
 I must not conclude these brief remarks" upon this continent 
 without calling your attention to the limited extent of our knowledge 
 of that portion of it known as Equatorial Africa. This exten- 
 sive region, occupying nearly twenty degrees of latitude, and 
 extending from coast to coast, with the exception of the fringe 
 of the shore on either side and the limited discoveries up the 
 Bahr el Abiad, still remains to us almost a " terra incognita." As 
 before observed, we have pushed our expeditions from time to 
 time over its borders, on the north and south and on the east and 
 west, but with sufficient success only to ascertain the general feature 
 of the country in those directions, and to inform us in what quarter 
 we may with the greater advantage direct our future movements. 
 Equatorial Africa really lies still unexplored, and yet, by information 
 from various sources, it seems to present a fruitful field to travellers. 
 The thickly-inhabited towns and large rivers mentioned by the 
 Arabs — the vast inland sea of Niassa mentioned by Erhardt — alone 
 would immortalize the discoverer who should undertake the task ; 
 while the existence of mines of copper and other precious metals in 
 that direction, if true, would bid fair to repay the toil. 
 
 The source of the Nile, yet undiscovered, lies mysteriously hidden 
 in this vast unexplored region, and, with Niassa, asks who shall 
 unlock its mysteries? We trust that this question will not long 
 
May 26, 1856.] AFRICA. 159 
 
 remain unanswered:, nor this vast inland region continue almost a 
 blank upon our maps. There are not wanting, in this and other 
 countries, men both willing and able to undertake the task. 
 The gallant Commander of the expedition from Zayla to Harar, 
 Captain Burton, has volunteered to proceed from Zanzibar inland 
 towards the famed Sea of Niassa, and, after exploring its locality, to 
 turn northward towards the Bahr el Abiad ; and I will here mention 
 that the Council are now in communication with the Foreign Office 
 and the East India Company, on the subject of the means for 
 sending out an expedition in this direction, a deputation having 
 already had interviews with the Earl of Clarendon. 
 
 In Southern Africa, our medallist, Dr. Livingston, is still prose- 
 cuting his indefatigable researches. At the last Anniversary, we learnt 
 that he reached Loanda in an exhausted condition, labouring under 
 the effect of fever. His journey thither will be found most interest- 
 ing, and will well repay the perusal. He then announced his inten- 
 tion of returning to the interior, and of visiting the great chief Muata 
 ya Nvo, or Matiamvo, and of ultimately descending the Leeambye to 
 Quilimane, on the east coast of Africa. By a letter from him* at 
 Cassange, we learn that he had so far carried out the first portion of 
 his plan ; but from other sources we are informed that he left Cas- 
 sang6 in February last, crossed the Quango, and pushed on for a 
 trading station, named Cobango, on the river Chihombo, with a view 
 of carrying out his before-mentioned intention of putting himself in 
 communication with Matiamvo. On reaching this place his health 
 was found to have suffered much, from having slept several nights 
 upon a vast plain entirely covered with water ; and he was compelled 
 to abandon his intention of visiting Matiamvo, and obliged to strike 
 off southward towards the country of his companions, which he 
 appears to have reached in safety, and in excellent health. Dr. 
 Livingston's observations have been communicated to the Society 
 by Mr. Maclear, the astronomer at the Cape, by whom they have 
 been recalculated and found to be of the most satisfactory cha- 
 racter — a feature, in the qualification of a traveller, of the first mo- 
 ment, and which this Society will do well to encourage. 
 
 In connection with discovery in the south-east part of Africa, Mr. 
 Moffat, the father-in-law of Dr. Livingston, anxious to learn his fate 
 and to forward supplies for him, had proceeded to Moselekatse's 
 country, the full accounts of which interesting visit have been 
 kindly forwarded to us, by the London Missionary Society, 
 and will be printed in the Journal. 
 
 p 
 
160 REAR-ADMIRAL F. W. BEECHEY'S ADDRESS. [MAT 26, 1856. 
 
 On the South-West, Mr. Halm, the Ehenish missionary, had left 
 Cape Town for Walfisch Bay, for the purpose of proceeding thence 
 overland to Mossamedes. It was the intention of Mr. Hahn to 
 settle near the mouth of the river Nourse, or Cunene, north of the 
 Ovampo Country, and thence to make expeditions inland along its 
 course. This river appears to be the shortest and most healthy 
 road to this part of the interior. 
 
 That persevering and hardy explorer, Mr. Charles John Andersson, 
 to whom the Council adjudged, last year, one of the Eoyal awards for 
 his journey to Lake Ngami, has published an excellent account of 
 his labours in South Africa, with a map, and many striking iEustra- 
 tions. Mr. Andersson has again started to renew his pursuit of 
 African enterprise, and he also intends directing his attention to the 
 Cunen6 Eiver. 
 
 Lastly, I have to mention M. Lesseps' very interesting pamphlet 
 and map of the Isthmus of Suez, showing the line of a canal which 
 it is proposed to make between the Mediterranean and the Eed Sea. 
 
 The importance of a ship canal from the Mediterranean to the Eed 
 Sea cannot be overrated in a commercial point of view, and especially 
 to this country, when considered in connection with its Indian pos- 
 sessions and colonies. M. Lesseps has shown its importance in other 
 respects, by opening out fresh sources of trade along the shores of 
 the Eed Sea itself, and otherwise ; and we can only hope that the 
 project, if undertaken, will realize the expectations it has created. 
 The map is a good specimen of chromolithography. 
 
 If to these prospects, we add results which may be expected from 
 our indefatigable Associate, Dr. Sutherland, who is a resident at 
 Natal ; and from the projected expedition of the United States, vid 
 Liberia on the west — from the continuation of Livingston's labours 
 in the south — from the appointment of Mr. M'Leod as consul at 
 Mozambique, and from the encouragement offered by the French 
 Geographical Society jn the shape of rewards for discoveries in 
 Africa — we may hope to see discovery pushed for"ward in that conti- 
 nent with vigour ; and posterity may possibly witness the resources 
 of this vast continent, brought under the influence of European civili- 
 zation, its geography known, and its inhabitants emerge from bar- 
 barism and slavery. 
 
 ' Asia. 
 
 India. — By far the most important work in this quarter of the globe 
 that has been laid before the Council in the past session, is that of 
 
Max- 26, 1856.] , ASIA. 161 
 
 the Trigonometrical .Survey of a large portion of India, by Lieut.- 
 Colonel Waugh, the Surveyor-General of India. 
 
 This work consists of geodetical operations of the highest order, 
 carried on through countries for the most part unexplored, and, 
 until lately, inaccessible to Europeans, or, in the words of the 
 Society's motto, " Terras Bealusce." 
 
 The first series of this important work is mentioned by my noble 
 predecessor in his Address, as extending from the Seronj base to 
 Karachi,; and I gather from a paper laid before the Council by our 
 Vice-President, Colonel Sykes, that the second series of operations 
 branches off to the north-west, from the great meridional arc at 
 Banog and Amsot, through the plains of the Punjab, and along 
 the southern face of the Sub-Himalaya ranges to Attock and 'to 
 Peshawur. At Attock, a base of verification was measured. This 
 series extends over seven degrees of longitude, and over a space of 
 more than 100 miles in width. The .third series consists of meri- 
 dional arcs passing through Sind and the Punjab from Karachi to 
 Attock, thereby uniting the before-mentioned bases of verification at 
 those places ; and the whole completes a gigantic geodetical- quad- 
 rilateral, of which the great are, between Seronj and Banog, forms 
 the western side, and corresponds with a similar grand quad- 
 rilateral on the eastern side, begun and partially completed by 
 our Associate, Colonel Everest, &c. 
 
 Too much .praise cannot be bestowed upon this most elaborate 
 and important work, carried on as it has been with such precision 
 through countries almost wholly unexplored and injurious to the 
 health of Europeans. 
 
 Prom Mr. J. Walker, the Hydrographer to the East India Com- 
 pany, we learn, that after the measurement of the base of verifica- 
 tion near Karachi, a party remained to observe the latitudes, and 
 to compute and register tidal observations ; while another party 
 was detached to build towers, to facilitate the triangulation of the 
 Great Indus series. Another party also has been engaged on the North- 
 West Himalaya series, the operations of which were carried on in 
 the region of perpetual snow, and it required all the energy and 
 determination of the parties to accomplish the work assigned to 
 them. The Assam longitudinal series had proceeded eastward, as 
 far as longitude 89° 30' 29", when the party was obliged precipitately 
 to withdraw for the season on account of the floods. The South-Coast 
 series has been extended to Kuttack ; its farther progress, however, 
 was retarded by the whole party having been prostrated by fever. 
 
 P 2 
 
162 REAR-ADMIRAL F. W. BEECHEY'S ADDRESS. [May 26, 1856. 
 
 Topographical, — The Survey of the Plains of the Punjab advances 
 satisfactorily. The work, we are informed, will be executed in a 
 style not inferior to that portion which has already been submitted 
 to the inspection of the members of this Society. The Ganjam 
 Survey continues to progress. As it is now being carried on in a 
 country hitherto almost a blank in our maps, and through a number 
 of petty states, the names of which were hardly known, its com- 
 pletion is looked forward to with much interest. 
 
 Bevenue. — These surveys are proceeding steadily. The districts 
 of Kajeshaye, Goalpara, and the Jnlindher Dooab have recently 
 been completed. 
 
 Fifty sheets of the ' Indian Atlas ' are now published. Several 
 others will be finished during the ensuing season. 
 
 Marine. — A new and elaborate survey of the harbour and outer 
 roads of Karachi, has been executed on a large scale by Lieut. 
 Grieve, I.N., and is now being engraved. This harbour, in connec- 
 tion with the railway and electric telegraph, will no doubt become 
 one of the most important stations on the western coast of India. 
 Another sheet of the Survey of the Malacca Strait, extending from 
 Cape Eachado to Mount Formosa, by Lieut. Ward, i.n., has recently 
 been sent home. The Survey of the North Preparis Channel, in 
 the Bay of Bengal, extending from Preparis Island to Cape Negrais, 
 by Lieut. Ward, has also lately been published. 
 
 Turkey in Asia. — I have next to notice a memoir on the Map of 
 Damascus, the Hauran, and mountains of Lebanon, from personal 
 survey, by our associate, the Eev. J. L. Porter, containing various 
 journeys in Syria, in the performance of which he corrected many 
 errors in the received geography of that country. About Damascus, 
 he finds that the Bahr el Merj is not one lake, but three distinct lakes, 
 and that the plain around Damascus contains many villages, none of 
 which appear on the map. Balbeck is in error in its bearing from 
 Damascus ; the Antilibanus chain requires correction. Thus the 
 author proceeds, pointing out numerous errors in the topography of 
 the country, and concludes by observing that the present Ard*el- 
 Bathauzel is the ancient Batanea. 
 
 Mr. Arrowsmith is preparing a beautiful map of Syria and Palestine, 
 in three sheets, for the Foreign Office. 
 
 We have next an important paper, comprising notes of a journey 
 from Busrah to Bagdad, with descriptions of some Chaldean re- 
 mains, by Mr. William Kennett Loftus. 
 
 In this paper the author furnishes a highly interesting description 
 of the country through which he passed, both in a geographical 
 
May 26, 1856.] ASIA. 163 
 
 and antiquarian point of view. He visited the sites of some of the 
 most ancient cities upon record, comprising those of Bahel, Efech, 
 Accad, and Calneh, mentioned in the Bible ; and, as Sir Henry Eaw- 
 linson.has observed, Mr. Loftus may be considered as the discoverer 
 of Wurka, perhaps the Erech of the Bible. Mr. Loftus gives minute 
 details of the country and of the various modes- of irrigation. He 
 particularly directs attention to the eifect of the Hindieh Canal, a 
 branch of the Euphrates, which diverts the main stream from its 
 proper channel, thereby occasioning drought and causing the inha- 
 bitants of the villages, in the interior of Mesopotamia, to desert their 
 lands. The Hindieh passes through the Bahr el Nedjef, and forms 
 the Semava branch of the Euphrates. The paper contains much 
 important and valuable information. 
 
 It will be remembered that in 1848 a Commission was formed for 
 the purpose of determining the boundary line between the Turkish 
 and Persian empires. Its members were appointed by the English, 
 Eussian, Turkish, and Persian Governments, and designated the 
 Turco-Persian Frontier Commission. The chief of the English party 
 was Colonel Williams, the present celebrated Sir William Williams 
 of Kars, under whom Lieutenant Glascott, e.n., acted as chief sur- 
 veyor, and Mr. Loftus as geologist. We learn from Mr. Loftus, 
 that the surveys extended from Mohammerah to Mount Ararat, a 
 direct distance of about 600 m. ; the operations being trigonometri- 
 cal on an astronomical basis. The opportunities which occurred for . 
 extending the examination of the country enabled careful route 
 surveys, corrected by nightly observations, to be extended as far as 
 Shiraz on the S. ; along the plains of the Euphrates and Tigris to 
 Zobeir, Meshid Ali, and Mosul on the W. ; and across the mountains 
 on the E., along the high plains of Persia, as far as the tomb of 
 Cyrus, Ispahan, Hamadan, Lake Urumia, and Bayazid. The Com- 
 mission had returned to Constantinople, and were engaged in 
 elaborating the results of their labours when the late war broke' out, 
 and a separation of the parties constituting the Commission took 
 place ; the Eussians taking with them that portion of the observa- 
 tions which they were contributing. 
 
 The accuracy of Lieutenant Grlascotf s labours has been remarkably 
 exhibited in working out the triangulation of this survey, and the 
 Society has already been indebted to that officer for his map of 
 Kurdistan on a scale of 6 inches to a degree, accompanied by a list 
 of his astronomical positions, which appeared in the sixth volume 
 of the Journal. 
 
164 REAR-ADMIRAL F. W. BEECHEY'S ADDRESS. [May 26, 1856. 
 
 The return of peace will, it is hoped, admit of the production of 
 the invaluable geographical material resulting from the international 
 researches of the Commission. 
 
 The Vestiges of Assyria, surveyed by order of the Government 
 of India, by Commander Jones of the Indian Navy, and published 
 in three sheets, exhibit the topographical features of the country, in 
 which are situated the ancient cities of Nineveh, Mosul, and Nim- 
 rud, over which the labours and writings of Layard and Eawlinson 
 have thrown such a charm. 
 
 The return to this country of that distinguished and learned scholar 
 in Eastern languages,. Colonel, now Sir Henry Eawlinson, has been 
 announced ; and we learn that he has brought to a close, for the 
 present, the excavations in Assyria and Babylonia. A notice of some 
 of his labours has appeared in the Transactions of the Asiatic Society ; 
 but they are far beyond any attempt of mine to do' justice to them, 
 either in point of value or description. It is with pleasure we learn, 
 that he intends devoting his time to describing his labours and to 
 decyphering the numerous inscriptions he has collected, &c. &e. ; a 
 work which, if he succeed in accomplishing, must entitle him to the 
 gratitude of the world : for, hidden under those- mysterious mounds 
 and written in those dark inscriptions, may we not hope to find the 
 history of a great nation, whose, existence was collateral with that of 
 Israel, and which at many points 1 touched that of the sacred people ? 
 May we not hope to read in the records of Assyria, additional proof 
 of those wars and slaveries which are spoken of in the Bible, and to 
 discover traces of those captives, who sat down and wept by the 
 waters of Babylon, and hung their harps upon the willow-trees of 
 a foreign land ? 
 
 Persia. -^Abbott's 'Itineraries in Persia' contain descriptions of 
 such parts of the route from Tehran through Save, Kum, Kashan, and 
 Ispahan, and thence to Yezd, Kerman, Shiraz, and Bunde,r Bushir, on 
 the Persian Gulf, as have been but seldom or never visited by Euro- 
 pean travellers. From Bunder Bushir he. crossed the Persian Gulf to 
 the mouth of the Shat-el-Arab, as the joint stream of the Tigris and 
 Euphrates is called, and thence by Mohammerah to Bagdad, and by 
 Kermanshah and Hamadan to Tehran. The route is carefully kept 
 by compass-bearings and estimated distances, and the descriptions 
 of the country, towns, and inhabitants', are carefully given. 
 
 Siam. — I mention next in order ' Notes on Siam,' with a new map 
 of the lower part, of the Menam Eiver, by our Associate, Mr. Henry 
 Parkes ; also an interesting paper, which affords extensive informa- 
 
Mat 26 r 1856.] NORTH AMERICA. 165 
 
 tiom of the inhabitants, productions, and commercial resources of a 
 country of which we had before but a very imperfect knowledge. 
 
 Chinese Empire. — Having already alluded to Mr. Meadows' work 
 on China, I have only to mention the publication, of a new map of 
 Corea by Andrew Kim, edited by M. Jomard ; and to allude to the 
 want of a better knowledge of the northern seaboard of China and 
 of North-eastern Asia generally, including particularly its navigable 
 rivers, which recent events have proved to be so little known. 
 
 America. 
 
 North America. — During the present session, the United States 
 Government has presented to the Society, the reports, plans, and 
 sections of the several important, expeditions despatched by order 
 of Congress to discover the best route for a railway from the 
 Mississippi to -the Pacific* between the 32nd and 49th parallels. 
 These., expeditions, organized by the Secretary of War under 
 various leaders, have contributed very largely to American geo- 
 graphy, observations having been made from the Mississippi to 
 the Pacific," between the 49th and 47th parallels — the 41st and 
 43rd — also near the 38th, the 35th, and the 32nd — touching 
 upon the ocean at Puget Sound, San Francisco, S. Pedro, and S. 
 Diego. The report of the Secretary of War, on the results of these 
 labours, concludes, " that the route of the 32nd parallel is, of those 
 surveyed, the most practicable and economical route for a railroad 
 from the Mississippi Eiver to the Pacific Ocean." Other impgrtant 
 additions to a knowledge of the North American continent have been 
 communicated in the Ninth Eeport of the Smithsonian Institution. 
 Lieut. Beale, superintendent of Indian Affairs in California, accom- 
 panied by Mr. G. H. Heap, travelled from Westport, Missouri, to 
 Los Angelos, on the Pacific,, in 1 00 days, following the route, near 
 the 38th parallel, to the Little Salt Lake, then turning south- 
 westerly, across the Mohave desert, to the Pacific. 
 
 Our gallant medallist, Colonel Fremont, also made a special 
 journey, along the same route, to test the depth of winter snow in the 
 mountainous region. He reached the Huerfano on December 3rd, 
 passed the Coochetope Pass on December 14th, where he found only 
 four inches of snow,, and reached the Little Salt Lake settlements on 
 February 9th. 
 
 Under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution, an examination 
 of Northern Wisconsin has been made by Mr. Baird,, in regions 
 
166 REAR-ADMIRAL F. W. BEECHEY'S ADDRESS. [May 26, 1856. 
 
 almost unknown before, and several lakes and rivers have been dis- 
 covered and named by him. 
 
 Captain Marcy has explored the head waters of the Brazos and 
 Big Witchita Bivefs, in Texas, a region never before trodden by 
 white men ; and a survey of the United States and Mexican boundary 
 was also commenced by Major Emory. 
 
 Lieutenant Couch, of the United States' Army, has made a scien- 
 tific journey into Mexico, at his own expense, leave of absence 
 having been granted to him, at the instigation of the Smithsonian 
 Institute. He went to Matamoros and Monterey, examining the 
 adjacent sierras; thence he proceeded to Parras, the plains of 
 Mapimi, and the Caves of Durango. Among other motives for this 
 journey, was the acquirement of a large collection of manuscripts, 
 map?, and natural objects, made by Luis Berlandier, a Swiss, and a 
 member of the Academy of Geneva, who had resided in Mexico, 
 and devoted himself to Mexican research from 1826 to 1851, when 
 he died. This collection was found very valuable, and "purchased 
 from the widow. A catalogue is appended to the Smithsonian Eeport. 
 
 Among various works which have appeared, and which throw 
 light upon the geography and ethnography of America, I notice a 
 ' Memoire sur les Anciennes Populations Mexicaines,' by M. Lude- 
 wig ; a treatise on the Hydrograpby of the Ohio, by Charles Ellet ; 
 a notice and map of the projected canal between the Pacific and 
 Atlantic through Nicaragua, by M. Dupuy. Mr. J. H. Coffin has 
 written upon the distribution of winds in the northern hemisphere ; 
 and g^eat light has been cast on the comparative philology of the 
 American languages by the labours of the Bev. B. S. Biggs, and 
 his acquirement of the Dakota language. Mr. Julius Froebel has 
 furnished a work on the Physical Geography of North America ; 
 and I notice an excursion to the ruins of Abo, Quarra, and Gran 
 Quivira in New Mexico, by Major J. H. Carleton, U.S.A. 
 
 Central America. — In Central America, Mr. E. G. Squier, formerly 
 Charge d' Affaires of the United States to the republics of the 
 Isthmus, has pursued his indefatigable researches so far, as to 
 cause a survey to be made of the country lying between Puerto 
 Caballos in the Bay of Honduras, and the Gulf of Eonseca on the 
 Pacific. The results of this investigation have been stated in a 
 Beport, advocating the construction of the Honduras Interoceanic 
 Bailway ; and also in a volume by Mr. Squier, entitled ' Notes 
 on Central America, particularly the States of Honduras and San 
 Salvador, their Geography, Topography, Climate, Productions, Po- 
 
Mat 26, 1'856.] SOUTH AMERICA. 167 
 
 pulation, &c. ;' with an original map and sections, which the author 
 has presented to our library. 
 
 Our active associate Mr. Power, of Panama, has recently pre- 
 sented to the Society an important addition to the geography of 
 Central«America, in a tracing of an original manuscript map of the 
 province of David, on 'the frontiers of New Granada and Costa 
 Eica, made from a new survey by Colonel Codazzi. This survey 
 has enabled an interesting portion of the Isthmus to be delineated 
 which was previously a blank on our maps. 
 
 West Indies. — The Geography of Cuba has been published by 
 Don Esteban Pichardo, under the auspices of the Eoyal Junto of 
 Fomento. 
 
 Among the Papers of this Session, I notice the Landfall of Co- 
 lumbus, by Captain A. B. Becher, e.n. The first land in the New 
 World that was seen by the great Genoese adventurer is a point of 
 considerable historical interest. Hitherto, in this country, the sub- 
 ject has been treated in works of biography and history ; but it has 
 now been taken up by a really practical hydrographer, and the re- 
 cords of the Spanish archives compared step by step with the confi- 
 guration of accurate modern charts. In like manner, the spot where 
 Julius Caesar first planted his foot upon British ground was treated 
 of by the most eminent geographers of their day — D'Anville, 
 Halley, Eennell, and others ; but it has been left for the enlight- 
 ened Astronomer Eoyal, from an investigation of certain phenomena 
 which modern science had brought to our knowledge, to prove, with 
 almost mathematical certainty, the precise spot in dispute ; * and 
 thus, by assiduous research and comparison, has our Assistant Hydro- 
 grapher arrived at conclusions by means of modern delineations 
 with respect to the Landfall of Columbus, which seem to be worthy 
 of equal attention. 
 
 South America. — The progress of geographical research in South 
 -America has been scarcely less active than in the northern and 
 central parts of the great Western continent. 
 
 New Granada. — The course of the navigable river Atrato, which 
 falls into the Gulf of Darien, has been subjected (along with its west- 
 ern afHuents and the adjacent streams flowing to the Pacific) to the 
 investigations of several surveying expeditions, despatched by Mr. 
 F. M. Kelley, of New York, at his own expense. For more than fifty 
 years, Baron Humboldt had continued to direct attention to the 
 facilities, which the Atrato was reported to present, for establishing 
 
 * See ' Archaeologia,' vol. xxxiv. 
 
168 REAR-ADMIRAL F. W. BEECHEY'S^DDRESS. [Mat 26, 1856. 
 
 ■water-communication between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. 
 Actuated by the writings of the veteran geographer, Mr. Kelley has 
 caused the whole course of the Atrato, from its mouth to its head- 
 waters, to be surveyed ; and having discovered a route, by way of 
 the Truando, whieh he deems to be favourable for a ship-canal, he 
 has considered the subject to be of so much importance to the great 
 maritime powers, as to invite an international investigation before 
 any further steps are taken. The scrutiny of the project, which 
 Mr. Kelley has invited from gepgraphers and from civil engineers 
 in this country, has, upon the whole, been favourable to his plan ; 
 and his proposal to make a more perfect examination of the locality, 
 seems to be a project well deserving of encouragement. 
 
 Lieutenant Gilliss, of the United States' Navy, has presented to the 
 Society two quarto volumes, published by order of Congress, com- 
 prising a portion of the results of " the Astronomical Expedition to the 
 Southern Hemisphere " under his orders in the years 1849 to 1852. 
 
 Ghile* — The first of these volumes, besides a summary of the scien- 
 tific observations made by Lieutenant Gilliss and the officers under his 
 command in Chile, contains a personal narrative of their journeys in 
 that Eepublic, and many interesting particulars regarding its present 
 political state. In describing its physical geography Lieutenant 
 Gilliss has frankly acknowledged his obligations to the scientific indi- 
 viduals who, under the patronage of the Chilean Government, have 
 been for some years engaged in investigating, surveying, and de- 
 scribing the geology, topography, and natural resources of the Ee- 
 public, especially Messrs. Claude : Gay, Professor Domeyko, and 
 Messrs. Pissis and Allan Campbell, whose labours have been long 
 known to us in Europe. 
 
 It was a source of great satisfaction to Lieutenant Gilliss, upon the 
 completion of his own astronomical observations, to find that the 
 Government of Chile was desirous to purchase the valuable instru- 
 ments he had with him, as well as the observatory which he had set 
 up. These were handed over to them; and thus Chile may boast of 
 a national observatory, in addition to the various other scientific 
 institutions, already founded by the liberality and enlightened 
 poliey of her rulers. 
 
 The second volume contains the results of a journey made by 
 Lieutenant MacEae, the next officer of the expedition, across the 
 Cumbre and Uspallata Passes of the Andes, and from Mendoza to 
 Buenos Ayres, his instructions being to make a series of observa- 
 tions for elevation, latitude, and longitude, as well as magnetical and 
 meteorological, for each 3000 feet of elevation on the slopes of the 
 
May 26", 1856.] SOUTH AMERICA. 169 
 
 Andes, and for each 100 miles of longitude on the line of road across 
 the Pampas,, — a task which he completed in 60 : days. 
 
 The. results, which are given in a tabular form, constitute an im- 
 portant collection of authentic data for geographers. It is satisfac- 
 tory to observe how they corroborate the accuracy of the labours of 
 the old Spanish officers, Bauza and Espinosa, whose map of the same 
 line of country over the Pampas was published in the Hydro- 
 graphic: Office at Madrid in 1810. A copious appendix gives a 
 particular account, drawn up by various learned individuals in the 
 United States, of the Indian antiquities, and of the zoological,, bota«- 
 nical, and mineralogical collections made by the officers in the 
 course of their travels. 
 
 These; volumes are beautifully embellished by well-executed 
 plates, especially the natural history part; and the- work reflects 
 great credit not only upon the scientific attainments of the officers 
 employed in carrying out the great astronomical and geodesical 
 work entrusted to them, but also on the industry and ability with 
 which they have brought together a large and varied mass of in- 
 formation regarding the countries they passed through; and the 
 Government of the United States has: done but justice to their 
 labours in publishing the results of this important survey in the 
 most liberal manner at the expense of the State, 
 
 Brazil. — The labours of our Honorary Member, Dr. Martins, in 
 Brazil have come before us recently under a new form, in a volume 
 presented to us by the author, containing fifty beautiful views illus- 
 trating the vegetation of Brazil. 
 
 Paraguay.-^Fram Lieut. Page, commanding the U. S. Steamer 
 ' Water Witch,' we learn,, under date " Buenos Ayres, Dec; 26, 
 1855," that " the embarrassments arising from the jealous prohi- 
 bition of the Government of Paraguay have, ta such a degree, con- 
 tracted the' field of operations, as to deprive this expedition of the 
 privilege of making contributions to geographical science' and 
 natural history to the extent that I had anticipated. I neverthe- 
 less hope that our labours will prove not to have been in vain in 
 either of those fields; and that the result may give rise to com- 
 mercial intercourse with countries) fruitful in natural products and 
 susceptible of extended and varied cultivation, but whose resources 
 as yet lie dormant, waiting for the hand of energy and industry to 
 awaken them to life. I allude particularly to those provinces most 
 directly interested in the navigation of the river Salado, a river 
 rising in the Cordillera, in the western part of the province of Salta 
 and discharging itself into the Parana at the town of Santa Fe. 
 
170 REAR-ADMIRAL F. W. BEECHEY'S ADDRESS. [May 26, 1856. 
 
 " By our exploration of this river we have shown that the Salado 
 is navigable to within the province of Santiago, without presenting 
 an obstacle, and that, with the expenditure of a little labour, it 
 could, in the course of a few months, be made navigable to with- 
 in the province of Salta, a distance of not less than 900 miles by- 
 land. 
 
 " The navigation of this river will open to the provinces Jujui, 
 Salta, Tucuman, Catamarca, Santiago del Estero, parts of Cordova 
 and Santa F6, an easy way by which to transport their products and 
 merchandise, which now, under the most disadvantageous circum- 
 stances, are conveyed in ox carts of the most unwieldy construction, 
 involving an expenditure of time and money, and prohibiting the 
 exportation of many valuable articles of commerce which could easily 
 and profitably be transported by the river. 
 
 " The river was ascended in a small steamer from its mouth, the 
 distance of 150 m. in a right line, aad 350 by the river. This being 
 in July (the season of low water), the steamer could not ascend 
 higher. The river was then entered from its upper waters ; its diffi- 
 culties, its obstacles to immediate navigation throughout the above 
 extent, carefully examined ; its rise and fall considered ; and the 
 result showed no obstacle that may not easily be removed ; and none 
 of those obstacles, such as shoals and banks, which, when removed 
 from one place, reproduce themselves in another. 
 
 " We have recently discovered also a new channel between the 
 island Martin Garcia and the coast of the Banda Oriental, of 2 ft. 
 more water than the old channel contains. The importance attached 
 to this discovery is not confined to the greater depth of water in 
 the new channel, but it assumes a political character. It deprives 
 Martin Garcia of that important geographical position which is 
 attached to it by the Government of Buenos Ayres, in whose hands 
 it is at this time. Instead of Buenos Ayres possessing, as she now 
 claims, exclusive jurisdiction over the old channel, leading into the 
 rivers Parana and Uruguay, on the ground that her territory is on 
 both sides, over the new channel, she has only concurrent juris- 
 diction with the Banda Oriental. The new channel is more easily 
 entered, and in it vessels are not obliged to pass nearer to Martin 
 Garcia than li m. j thus taking from this island the perfect com- 
 mand it formerly had over the entrance to the rivers Parana and 
 Uruguay.'' 
 
 M. Francis de Castelnau continues the publication of his important 
 journey in South America. 
 
May 26, 1856.] - AUSTRALIA. J 71 
 
 M. Delaporte has published an account of his journey in the 
 country of the Araucanians. 
 
 Benjamin Vicuna Mackenna has reported upon the agriculture of 
 Chile and upon European migration to that country. 
 
 M. Isambert and M. de Angelis, and Lieut. Maury, u.s.N., have 
 written upon the free navigation of the Amazon. 
 
 Australia. 
 
 By far the most important information we have had communicated 
 to us with regard to this country is the progress which has been made 
 by the North Australian Expedition under Mr. Augustus Gregory. 
 
 Prom this enterprising explorer, whose exploits in Western Aus- 
 tralia are well known, by a letter communicated through the Colonial 
 Office, we learn that the Expedition left Moreton Island on 13th 
 September, 1855, in the ship 'Monarch' and the 'Tom Tough' 
 schooner, and after nearly encountering shipwreck at the entrance 
 of Port Patterson, was landed at Point Pearce. 
 
 At the time of the last despatch the stock had suffered from the 
 voyage, and the horses.were in a weak condition ; but the Expe- 
 dition was in all other respects in an efficient state, and the 
 officers and men were all in good health and full of ardour. The 
 horses having been landed from the ship, were to proceed round 
 the head of the Fitzmaurice, making their way to the Kangaroo 
 Point in Victoria Eiver, whence the Expedition would take its 
 final departure for the interior. No natives had been seen, but it 
 was evident by many fires and other traces that they were numerous 
 on that part of the coast. Through Sir Eoderick Murchison some 
 information has been received from Mr. Wilson, the geologist to 
 the Expedition; and Mr. Baines, the artist, has illustrated the 
 country about Moreton Bay by the sketches which have been laid 
 on our table. 
 
 The importance of this Expedition in opening out to our know- 
 ledge the interior of the northern portion of Australia, in bringing 
 us acquainted with the physical and geographical features of the 
 country, by which we may hope to forward the progress of that 
 most important and desirable object; the settlement of this portion 
 of the continent; the determination of the watersheds of those 
 important rivers, the Victoria and Albert, supposed to have their 
 rise in an extensive range of mountains in the locality to be explored, 
 and of the facilities or otherwise of connecting Carpentaria with 
 
172 REAR-ADMIRAL F. W. BEECHEY'S ADDRESS. [May 26, 1856. 
 
 the southern ports, by which the dangerous navigation of the coast 
 and of Torres Strait and the delays from monsoons will he avoided ; 
 — the importance, I say, of all this information, which we may 
 expect to derive from this Expedition, cannot be too highly esti- 
 mated, whether as regards the welfare of the people, or the vast 
 interests which are involved in this country, with respect to that 
 portion of our colonies. 
 
 I cannot quit the subject of this Expedition without mentioning 
 an instance of rare liberality in the cause of geographical science 
 which was communicated at one of our evening meetings, during 
 this session, by Count Strzelecki. When the North Australian Ex- 
 pedition was first planned, and when, owing to the length of 
 time which had elapsed before it started, it was supposed that funds 
 were wanting to carry it out, an associate of this Society, Mr. 
 M. Uzielli, generously offered to place the munificent sum of 10,OOOZ. 
 at its disposal. Another of our Associates, Mr. W. S. Lindsay, m.p., 
 had also previously offered to contribute largely towards the outfit of 
 the Expedition. As, however, the Government have taken the matter 
 into their own hands, these gentlemen have not been called upon 
 to fulfil their promises ; but we must still look upon the offers as 
 proofs, that the labours of the Geographical Society are fully appre- 
 ciated by practical men, and of the zeal that exists among us for the 
 advancement of geographical knowledge. 
 
 In connection with this part of my subject, I next mention a paper 
 by our Associate Captain Stokes of the Eoyal Navy, on steam com- 
 munication between our settlements in Australia and this country, 
 India, and China, and on the establishment of a Penal Settlement in 
 connection with a colony in the vicinity of the Gulf of Carpentaria. 
 In this he proposes a new route through Torres Strait, and to render 
 its various passages safe by the erection of lighthouses and the 
 establishment of pilots. 
 
 The necessity for improving the navigation of Torres Strait was 
 some months ago brought prominently forward by the great body 
 of the shipping interests in Australia, in a memorial transmitted to 
 this country, and communicated to Lloyd's ; and there can be no 
 doubt that the vast interests involved, demand our serious attention • 
 for whether or not the proposed means of communication ultimately 
 become the direct routes to and from those colonies, Torres Strait 
 will still remain the high road of communication between India and 
 the South Pacific Ocean, and between our Southern Australian 
 colonies, India, and China. 
 
Mat 26, 1856.-] AUSTRALIA. 173 
 
 New Caledonia. — From the ' Annales de la Marine et des Colo- 
 nies,' we learn that the French have made a complete investigation 
 of New Caledonia,, and have taken possession of the whole island, 
 and caused the sovereignty of France to he acknowledged. 
 
 The loss of a Chinese junk upon D'Entrecasteaux Eeef, New- 
 Caledonia, has been the occasion of bringing us better acquainted 
 with that most dangerous reef, and with its vast extent and correct 
 geographical position, by Lieutenant Chimmo, R.N., and with its 
 formation and natural history by Dr. McDonald, the assistant- 
 surgeon of H.M.S. ' Torch,' under lieutenant Chimmo's command. 
 
 Norfolk Island. — You will have learned from our ' Proceedings ' that 
 Norfolk Island, in a complete state of preparation, ,and with all its 
 buildings, has been appropriated to the use of "the Pitcairn Islanders, 
 who have all consented to be transferred there. The planting a 
 colony consisting of persons of such exemplary moral conduct, and 
 of such uniform piety, may perhaps exercise a . beneficial effect 
 - upon the other islands of the Pacific within their influence. 
 
 Bonin Isles. — The Bonin Islands have obtained some notoriety 
 lately, from the mention which has been made of them by Commo- 
 dore Perry of the United States' Navy, who considers them to be of 
 great importance from their geographical position, and that they may 
 be looked upon as offering -to a maritime nation a most " valuable 
 acquisition." In an early stage of the question this oflicer claimed 
 them as the property of the United States, under the impression that 
 the group had been visited by an American citizen before the islands 
 were formally taken possession of by myself hi 1827. But having since 
 learned from the Address of our late President, the Earl of Ellesmere, 
 that the individual im right of whom he claimed them, was an 
 Englishman, he has generously acknowledged that he was probably 
 misinformed. And here I would leave the matter, except that I 
 think it due to myself to reply to his remark, " that in naming these 
 islands I had very unjustly overlooked the name of Coffin, who had 
 visited the southern part of the group before I had." To this I have 
 only to plead entire ignorance of Captain Coffin ever having visited 
 these islands at all, until I read the remarks of Commodore Perry. 
 The right of possession from priority of discovery is a question of 
 which nations are naturally jealous ; but I trust that not only in re- 
 spect of these islands, but in all other cases, our relations will be 
 such, that our ports will be mutually open for the general benefit of 
 navigation and commerce. 
 
174 REAK-ADMIRAL F. W. BEECHEY'S ADDRESS. [May 26, 1856. 
 
 New Publications. 
 
 Numerous donations have been presented to the Society, includ- 
 ing 4 atlases, upwards of 350 maps and charts, and 663 volumes and 
 pamphlets ; affording an excellent proof of the desire to bring its 
 members acquainted with the publications of the day, and denoting , 
 a sense of the Society's usefulness. A complete list of these will 
 be printed as usual in the Journal, and many have been specially 
 alluded to in the course of the Address. Among the donations con- 
 tributed by our own countrymen, though not at present associated 
 with us, may be mentioned the learned work on the Chinese and 
 their Eebellions, by Mr. Meadows, which will receive further 
 notice in the ' Proceedings.' 
 
 Our associate, Mr. Alexander Keith Johnston, has completed the 
 new edition of his superb Physical Atlas. The publication of the 
 first edition of this great work, ten years since, had the effect of 
 introducing in this country almost a new era in the popular study 
 of geography, through its attractive and instructive illustration of 
 the prominent features of the science. This second edition is to 
 some extent an entirely new work, owing to the additions and 
 improvements which have been introduced. I have only to refer 
 to the names of Murchison, Forbes, Brewster, Ami Boue, and Berg- 
 haus, to stamp the high character of the work ; but I must not 
 omit to mention, among new contributions, the Geological Map of 
 Europe, by Sir Eoderick Murchison and Professor Nicol ; that of 
 America, by Professor Rogers ; General Sabine's Map of Terrestrial 
 Magnetism ; the Distribution of Marine Animals, by the lamented 
 Professor Edward Forbes ; and the addition of a large general Index 
 adds materially to the utility of this extensive compendium of 
 Natural Geography. 
 
 The Imperial Atlas of Modem Geography, edited by our associate, 
 Dr. Blackie, of Glasgow, has reached its twelfth number. The 
 maps are very neatly and correctly executed by some of our best 
 cartographers. 
 
 The Eoyal Illustrated Atlas, with an introductory notice on 
 the existing literature of geography, by Dr. Shaw, is also in 
 course of publication by Messrs. Fullarton, and has reached its 
 eighth part. The design of this atlas goes beyond the ordinary 
 scope of unadorned cartography, in combining with the maps, -pic- 
 turesque vignettes and illustrations of the countries and their in- 
 habitants. The maps are prettily drawn according to the latest 
 
May 26, 1856.] NEW PUBLICATIONS. 175 
 
 authorities, and the pictures, which form an unusual, though instruc- 
 tive feature of the work, are neatly engraved. 
 
 ,1 may include in this notice of our own labours, a beautiful Map 
 of Madeira, published in London, in the English language, and 
 dedicated, by permission, to this Society, by our Corresponding mem- 
 ber M. Ziegler of Winterthur. The physical features of this island, 
 including the distribution of its vegetation, are skilfully portrayed ; 
 and in addition to -his own observations, Mr. Ziegler acknowledges 
 the assistance he has derived from the labours of Captain Vidal, 
 e.n., and Sir Charles Lyell ; and especially from the communications 
 of Mr. Hartung, whose portfolios are rich with the researches of six 
 winters. Such a map cannot fail to prove valuable to the geo- 
 grapher, and an interesting companion to those who seek in Madeira, 
 for a milder climate than our own. 
 
 The successful researches which have been prosecuted among the 
 mounds of Mesopotamia have led to the production of a series of 
 three beautiful Maps for the Government of India, by Commander 
 Jones, I.N., delineating the remains of Khorsabad, Nineveh, Sela- 
 miyeh, and Nimrud. 
 
 One of the latest communications received from our lamented Cor- 
 responding member, Vicomte de Santarem, contained the donation of 
 a copy of the fac-simile published by the Vicomte of the large Map . 
 of the World drawn by Fra Mauro in 1459. This fac-simile is of 
 the same size as the original, and published on six sheets. 
 
 Among our members who have contributed to Crimean geography 
 may be now mentioned Mr. G. Cavendish Taylor, who has recently 
 published a Journal of Adventures with the British Army, in two 
 volumes. 
 
 One of our earliest members, General Monteith, whose Map of 
 Georgia and the Caucasus was engraved several years since by the 
 Society, and still remains in repute, has lately published a volume 
 on Kars and Erzeroum, with an account of the Campaigns of Prince 
 Paskiewitch and of the Eussian Conquests beyond the Caucasus. 
 
 Mr. William Ferguson, our associate, has published his journal of 
 a visit, entitled ' America by Eiver and Eail, or Notes by the Way 
 on the New World and its People.' 
 
 Dr. J. D. Hooker and our associate Dr. Thompson have published 
 separately, their Introductory Essay to the Flora Indica, including 
 outlines of the Physical Geography and Botany of the Provinces of 
 India. 
 
 A fine Map has been published lately by Mr. Stanford con- 
 
176 REAR-ADMIRAL F. W. BEECHEY'S ADDRESS. [May 26, 1856. 
 
 taming the eastern frontier of the Cape of Good Hope, drawn 
 by Mr. Henry Hall, of the Ordnance department in that colony, 
 whose merits as a cartographer are well known. This map appears 
 very opportunely, as it includes the country of the Bassutos, where 
 disturbances are apprehended. Mr. Stanford has also presented a 
 copy of the new edition of Baily's Map of Central America, with 
 corrections from the recent surveys of Squier, Codazzi, and others. 
 
 Capt. Burton has completed the narrative of his dangerous journey 
 to Mecca and Medina, in the disguise of an Affghan pilgrim ; and he 
 has also published an -account of his visit to the African city of 
 Harar, which had been deemed inaccessible, owing to the savage 
 and hostile character of the chief, as well as of the people. 
 
 Our associate, Captain Charles F. A. Shadwell, R.N., c.b., has added 
 to his useful publications on navigation a case containing, on a 
 dozen cards, 'Formulae of Navigation and Nautical Astronomy;' 
 also another work on the Management of Chronometers. 
 
 The labours of other Members have been alluded to in various 
 parts of this Address in connection with the different countries to 
 which they relate. 
 
 Physical Geography. 
 
 During the past year there has appeared, under the direction of 
 the zealous superintendent of the Ordnance Survey, an abstract 
 of the operations, carried on in Ireland, for the purpose of re- 
 ferring the mean water levels upon various parts of the coast to 
 a common standard. Although these observations have long been 
 discussed by our Astronomer Eoyal, and will be found in the 
 Transactions of the Eoyal Society, yet it is only now that the com- 
 plete details of the operations have been published ; and as the 
 observations present this curious result, viz. that the mean sea level 
 is higher upon the northern part of Ireland than upon the southern 
 part, and as no notice of this has ever appeared in our Journal that 
 I am aware of, I take this occasion of observing that, if we take as 
 the standard Courtown, in Wicklow — a spot remarkable as having 
 no perceptible rise or fall of its tide, and about midway on the axis 
 of the great tidal wave between the extremities of Ireland — we shall 
 find that the mean sea level stands higher on the north of Ireland 
 (Ballycastle) by 0-881 feet and lower on the south (Castle Townsend) 
 by 0-938 feet than it does at Courtown, I know it will be interest- 
 ing to many of our Associates to have these facts inserted in their 
 Journal. 
 
May 26, 1856,] PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 177 
 
 Of late, various papers have appeared on the circulation of the 
 waters of the ocean ; and as new facts are received, the interest of 
 the subject increases. The labours of America have in this respect 
 been very fruitful ;' Lieutenant Maury, our able and newly elected 
 Corresponding member, has laboured deeply in this field, and has 
 shown us with what accuracy he has determined ihe course and 
 velocity of the Gulf Stream, by the remarkable agreement between 
 the real and calculated position in which the unfortunate ' San Fran- 
 cisco' was found, after being disabled and drifting many days in the 
 strength of the current. 
 
 The American Surveying Expedition, under Lieutenant Lee, has 
 also contributed to the subject ; and, while pursuing its observa- 
 tions upon the streams of the ocean, has largely added to our store of 
 ocean temperatures at various depths, and has furnished us with a 
 most interesting section of the basin of the Atlantic, which will 
 throw considerable light upon the practicability of the project of 
 connecting the two great continents of Europe and America by a 
 telegraphic wire. 
 
 Mr. Findlay, our Associate, has added to his former contribu- 
 tions on the subject of ocean streams ; and Captain Irminger, of the 
 Danish Eoyal Navy, has supplied us with information as to a new 
 course of the stream on the coast of Greenland. 
 
 It has been the practice of my predecessors to notice the progress 
 of magnetic science from the natural connection between the com- 
 pass and topographical operations. During the past year a committee 
 has been formed at Liverpool for the purpose of inquiring into that 
 subtle subject, the disturbance of the compass in iron vessels. They 
 have made a report of their labours, up to the end of the year, to 
 the Board of Trade, which presents some curious and interesting 
 results, and they are still continuing their investigations. The Board 
 of Trade encourages this inquiry, so manifestly advantageous to the 
 shipping interest, by an annual grant of money. 
 
 The question of local attraction in ships has also engaged the at- 
 tention of our learned and indefatigable Astronomer-Eoyal, who 
 has recently furnished a valuable paper on the subject to the Eoyal 
 Society. 
 
 Various papers on this subject by other authors also have been 
 published since the last anniversary, of which some have been 
 read before the British Association at Glasgow, particularly those 
 by Dr. Scoresby, and by Mr. Towson. 
 
 It will be interesting to know that Mr. Piazssi Smyth, the Astro- 
 
 Q 2 
 
178 REAR-ADMIRAL F. W. BEECHEY'S ADDRESS. [MAr 26,. 1856. 
 
 nomer-Eoyal at Edinburgh, is about to proceed to Teneriffe, to make 
 astronomical observations on the summit of the famed Peak of Teyde. 
 
 The distinguished author of the ' Law of Storms,' Sir William 
 Eeid, has published a notice of the motion of winds and storms in 
 the Mediterranean, and drawn a comparison between the gales and 
 forces of the winds of Malta and of Bermuda. The work embodies 
 a memorandum by our valued associate, Captain Graves, r.n., on the 
 advantages which shipping will derive from pursuing a certain 
 course -in the Mediterranean, with respect to prevailing winds at 
 certain seasons of the year. 
 
 I am happy to be able to announce the completion of an important 
 series of observations upon the tidal streams of the seas around our 
 own shores, which have been carried on for several years in a small 
 vessel, which the Admiralty liberally placed at my disposal. These 
 observations are of great importance as regards this particular branch 
 of science, as they satisfactorily establish, in tidal waves of a 
 peculiar character, the existence of a simultaneous turn of stream 
 throughout the wave, notwithstanding the remarkable fact of there 
 being a progressively increasing tidal establishment. This theory 
 was advocated in two papers under my own hand, printed in the 
 ' Transactions' of the Eoyal Society ; and it has now been further 
 confirmed by numerous observations. The result will facilitate and 
 simplify the navigation of our channels, and will affect much that 
 has been written upon the subject of tides. 
 
 In connection with this branch of physics, I mention a work by 
 Mr. E. A. Keller, an able hydrographical engineer of the French navy, 
 entitled, ' Expose du Begime des Courants dans la Manche et la Mer 
 Allemagne.' The author has endeavoured to arrange the results 
 derived from the first series of the observations, published, as before 
 mentioned, in the Philosophical Transactions, in a manner whjch, he 
 is of opinion, will render them more generally useful to mariners. 
 
 Lieutenant Maury has furnished a pamphlet on ' Lanes for 
 Steamers,' , or upon the routes which he would have steamers 
 follow, when passing between England and America, in order to 
 render this much frequented route more safe, by diminishing the 
 chance of collision. In addition to lessening the danger of these 
 passages, Lieutenant Maury points out several other advantages 
 which would attend the adoption of his plan, and gives much useful 
 information on the course of the Gulf Stream, as well as on districts 
 where fogs and gales are most frequent, and the times when they 
 most prevail. 
 
May 26, 1856.] CONCLUSION. 179 
 
 Conclusion. 
 
 I have now laid before you as much of the general outline of the 
 state and progress of Geographical science during the past year, as 
 may be conveniently comprised within the limits of an Address, 
 and I feel satisfied that there is much upon which the Society may 
 be congratulated. The numerous communications made to the 
 Society during the Session from all parts of the globe— the animated 
 and enlightened discussions upon them, which are recorded in our 
 useful periodical, the ' Proceedings,' which has been so successfully 
 started, and the enlarged dimensions which our Journal has attained 
 under the careful editorship of our zealous Secretary, Dr. Norton 
 Shaw — are proofs of the many and fruitful sources whence informa- 
 tion flows to us ; and when we recollect how few of our evening 
 meetings have been passed within these walls without some positive 
 addition to the science we cultivate, we shall be able to comprehend 
 the progress that is continually being made in Geographical research, 
 and the great increase of the general interest which it excites. But 
 it is not in the 'pages of our records alone, that the full benefits of' 
 the Society are seen — the mere facts added, year by year, to our store 
 of knowledge, are but the promise of the successes before us, and of 
 benefits to be derived from our labours. It is impossible to read 
 the list of names enrolled as members of this Society without 
 feeling convinced that its labours are considered valuable to every 
 interest and to men of all professions ; for it is not the geographer 
 alone who will be found thus supporting our efforts : side by side 
 with him stand the politician and the merchant, who regard with 
 deep interest new enterprises opened out for commerce ; and next 
 to him the divine, who foresees in the extension of our science, fresh 
 means of spreading the blessings of Christianity, and its attendant, 
 the civilization of man. And so I might pass on to other professions, 
 all concurring in the same sentiments and interests. In this union 
 of views we cannot but foresee the enlarged success of the Society ; 
 and feel that it is with no exaggerated hopes we may look for- 
 ward to its steady and satisfactory progress, and to its increasing 
 importance and usefulness.