page break

First Meeting of the Provisional Committee.

The first meeting of the Provisional Committee of the Geographical Society of Australasia took place on Friday evening, in the meeting room of the Free Public Library. There were present: Messrs. E. Du Faur, F.R.G.S., Chairman; F. Gerard, Treasurer; E. Marin La Meslée, Com. Geog. Soc., Paris, Hon. Secretary; P. F. Adams, Surveyor General of New South Wales; Professor Stephens, Sydney University; the Hon. W. A. Brodribb, M.L.C., F.R.G.S.; Dr. Belgrave, the Rev. James Jefferis, LL.B.; Messrs. Harrie Wood, Under Secretary for Mines, W. Freeman, H. Vantin, Gresely Lukin, J. C. Neild, M. Lyons, W. B. Christie, L.O. Mr. E. Parrott, C.E., representing the New South Wales Institute of Surveyors, and Lieutenant Usborne Moore, B.N., in command of H.M.S. "Dart," were also present at the meeting. Mr. E. Du Faur took the Chair, and addressed the gentlemen present, pointing out the object of this first meeting, which was to adopt measures for the constitution of a Geographical Society of Australasia. The sub-committee appointed at the preliminary meeting held on April 2, at the residence of Dr. Belgrave, had adopted a plan which would be submitted for the consideration of this meeting. The Chairman noticed that many gentlemen were present to-night who were not at the preliminary meeting; but as the members of the original Committee were at liberty to add to their number, it would be desirable that these gentlemen should be regularly admitted as additional members of the Committee. A motion to that effect was adopted. The Chairman then requested the Hon. Secretary to read the correspondence and explain the plan adopted by the sub-committee for the constitution of the Society. Mr. E. Marin La Meslée, Hon. Secretary, read a letter from the Secretary for Education in South Australia, to the effect that Mr. Ernest Favenc, now at Normanton, Queensland, had been communicated with by his Department, and advised by telegraph of the formation of the Geographical Society; and a letter from Mr. Christie Palmerston, now exploring in Northern Queensland, addressed to Dr. Belgrave, was also read, in which the explorer expressed his pleasure at the news of the formation of the Geographical Society, and intimated that he will be happy to put himself in communication with the Society. A communication was also read from Dr. Tarrant, regretting that he was unable to attend the meeting this evening.

page xiv

The Secretary then proceeded to read the various articles of the constitution framed by the sub-committee, the main features of which are:—The formation of an institution essentially Australasian in character upon a broad and federal basis, composed of honorary, corresponding and ordinary members, whose affairs should be managed by a Council elected in such a manner that every one of the Australasian Colonies should be represented by an equal number of members. Ladies might be admitted as members of the Society. The objects would be the same as those of other scientific and commercial Geographical Societies in existence in all parts of the world, that is, the advancement of geographical science, and the study of the physical and commercial geography of the world, more especially that of Australasia. The Society would fill up a great gap in the education of the people, and public lectures would be given on all countries, illustrative of their commerce, productions, and industries. Having read this plan in its entirety, Mr. E. Marin La Meslée made the following remarks:—"As to the necessity for the establishment of a Geographical Society of Australasia, the feeling of the last meeting appeared to have been unanimous. It is not necessary for me to dwell at any length on that point, but within the last few days several facts have been disclosed which show how important to the Colonies at large, as a means of giving even the English people a more accurate knowledge of their immense resources, a Geographical Society would be. But a few days ago I had occasion to see the text of a letter addressed by the Curator of the Map Department of the Royal Geographical Society of London to the authorities here, requesting that certain maps of the Colony of New South Wales published years ago by the Survey Department be forwarded to the Society; the knowledge of the existence of those documents having come to that gentleman through the medium of a celebrated German geographical publication, 'Petermann Mittheilungen.' This fact shows how very little attention seems to have been paid to the geography of the Colonies, and there is not the slightest doubt that in the British Isles, as well as on the continent of America, a great deal more is known about Timbuctoo, the Congo, and the negro lands of Central Africa than about Australasia. Those countries have been brought prominently before the public of late years through the remarkable discoveries of Burton, Speke, Grant, Cameron, Stanley, Livingstone, De Brazza, &c., &c., whilst peaceful plodding Australia is left comparatively in the cold, and little attention is ever directed by the Press of the old world to the growing importance of its settlements, the immensity of its natural resources, and the great field which it opens to European colonization. The average educated Englishman will tell you that the interior of Australia is a desert, and that the present prosperity of the Colonies is due to the fact that the gold mines page xv are not all worked out yet. The first object of the Society must, therefore, be to dispel the ignorance prevailing abroad about the Australasian Colonies, and at home educate the people to a better knowledge of the world we live in, and the advantages of commercial intercourse with other nations. We are not in a position here to divide commercial from physical geography, but the work is not too great for a single Society to undertake. That there is a great deal yet to be explored in and around Australia, and that a Geographical Society of Australasia might do much towards solving the remaining geographical mysteries in our part of the southern hemisphere there is not the slightest doubt, but this would involve so much cost as to be for the present, at any rate, impracticable. But a great deal may be clone towards that end by granting rewards in the shape of medals or other honorific distinctions to successful explorers. This would stimulate explorations in all parts of Australasia, and before many years little work would remain to be done by the geographical pioneer, and that result would be attained without the Society having been put to any great expense. Should we receive, however, outside help in the shape of donations, such as similar Societies in Europe have received from friends of civilization, the Society might materially contribute towards the solution of great geographical problems. Until then we must look to the practical side of the question, and our first care must be to collect the most complete records of past explorations in Australasia, besides obtaining the best works on the geography of the world in general. A great deal has been done by the Survey Departments of the various Colonies, and avast amount of geographical information lies buried in their records, mixed up with an equally large amount of departmental and technical information. There is little doubt that the Society may rely on the help of the eminent officers who are at the head of those Departments in the various Australasian Colonies. The presence of the Surveyor-General of New South Wales amongst us to-night is a guarantee that his support may be relied upon by the Society. I need not dwell upon the last item on the programme; every one will see at once the advantage to be derived by all classes of the community through the spreading of the knowledge of other countries and other races, their industries and resources, and the advantages that are offered by intercourse with them. In fact, is there any doubt that the various colonial Governments, anxious as they have shown themselves to promote the interests of education, will heartily approve of a project so well calculated to dispel ignorance abroad, and to spread at home a better and sounder knowledge of the physical and commercial geography of Australasia and the world at large 1 When the fact is known that in the year 1882 a Geographical Society was actually founded in the Portuguese possessions in Central Africa, under the patronage of page xvi the Portuguese Governor of Mozambique, it will appear pretty clear that it is high time we in Australia should be awakened to the importance of an institution which is recognized as a necessary one by the Portuguese colonists at Mozambique."

Professor Stephens addressed the Surveyor-General with regard to the statement made by Mr. E. Marin La Meslée in the first part of his remarks. The Surveyor-General said that the statement was perfectly correct, and explained that about four years ago the celebrated German geographer Von Petermann wrote to him, requesting that he would kindly supply him with the latest geographical documents published by his department. He (Mr. Adams) immediately forwarded to Germany a number of maps of New South Wales, forming a very complete collection, and it was only quite recently that the Curator of the Maps Department at the Royal Geographical Society of London, having seen these documents mentioned in the admirable geographical work of Petermann, wrote to the authorities, requesting that a similar collection be forwarded him.

The Hon. W. A. Brodribb directed the attention of the meeting to a letter which had just been handed to him from the Rev. Tenison-Woods, in which the rev. gentleman stated that he regretted being unable to attend the meeting to-night, but he wished his honorable friend to convey to those interested his willingness to co-operate, and to state to the meeting that he was about to proceed on a scientific exploration of some portion of the Malayan Peninsula, and that he would be happy to put himself in communication with the Society during his journey. The hon. gentleman congratulated the infant Society upon having secured the spontaneous co-operation of one who has rendered such great services to science in Australia. He would propose that the Secretary be requested to officially acknowledge the communication. Mr. Brodribb also added that, since the first meeting at Dr. Belgrave's, several of his friends had signified their willingness to join the movement—The Hon. William Macleay, M.L.C., the Hon. W. A. Busby, M.L.C., Professor Stephens, Messrs. J. Griffin, M. Lyons, George Lougham, Murray Campbell, and Mr. Taulton, of the New Zealand Bank. The Secretary had also secured the co-operation of Mons. J. De Court, Consul for France; Mr. F. Pluss, Consul for Switzerland; Mons. A. Conil, the Agent for the Messageries Maritimes Co., and several other gentlemen.

The Chairman requested the attention of the meeting to the various articles of the constitution, which were to be discussed seriatim, and called upon the Secretary to read the first article. The Secretary read the first article:—"The Society shall be styled 'The Geographical Society of Australasia.'" Dr. Belgrave said that the original name—"The Federal Geographical Society of Australasia"—should not be discarded, and pointed out that it would almost page xvii become necessary that local Societies should be established in the various capital cities of Australasia, and that the term would be most appropriate.

Professor Stephens thought that, before proceeding to name the Society, an exact definition of the term Australasia should be arrived at, and suggested that the following rider should be added to this first article:—"That the Australian region, as defined by W. Wallace, shall be recognized by this Society as the space within which the operations shall be concentrated." A discussion followed, and on the proposition being seconded by Mr. M. Lyons, it was agreed to by the meeting.

The second article, stating the objects of the Society, was then read by the Secretary, and agreed to. The Secretary read the third article, but before a discussion took place, Mr. Christie, L.S., proposed that the plan of the constitution of the Society should be printed and distributed among the members of the Committee, arguing that it would be impossible to deal with such an important measure at a first committee meeting. The course proposed by him would give time for the measure to be considered by the members, and would greatly facilitate business. The motion was seconded by Mr. J. C. Neild and agreed to.

Dr. Belgrave suggested that the other articles be read by the Secretary, in order that the members of the sub-committee might make themselves acquainted with the general view held by the meeting, and that a debate of a conversational nature should take place on the subject. The Secretary then proceeded to read a few more articles, and an interesting conversation took place, which was brought to a close attention being directed to the lateness of the hour, and it was suggested that the sub-committee, consisting of Messrs. Belgrave and Gerard and E. Marin La Meslée, should request one or two more gentlemen to join them. They would meet at an early date and study the plan for the constitution of the Society, amending the original if necessary before it be printed and circulated amongst the members of the Committee. Messrs. Parrott, C.E., and Harrie Wood kindly accepted the task with the above-mentioned gentlemen, and the meeting adjourned. At the conclusion of the proceedings, Dr. Belgrave moved that a vote of thanks should be given to the Chairman, which was seconded and carried unanimously.