New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1873-01-09
Exploring EXPEDITIONS.
-"s LtV'ngssoae and '.ChaiIrpgeT" Psrti.s
An Interesting Programme

-"s Ltvingssoae and &c n aiIrpgeT" Psrti.s
An Interesting Programme.
The London TINS reports rs below the
niveths OF the Royal Geographical Society.
neid on December 10. in the theatre of the
London University. The chair was oCrurjed
Dy MI. rancis Gallon. The chairman said
that since the society had held its last meet
ing numerous geographical events had occur
teu. Before abiding to those events he felt
bound 10 a.lude to two great losses the so-
ciety had sustained. The first was in the
death OF Mrs. Somevile, who died a few
days since ut Naples. lie need scarcely saw
that Mrs. S0meryiiio was full of geographical
enthusiasm to the last, and he might mention
that almost in the last week of her life her
textbook on physical geography had been
/ accepted IN many, if not in most, of the coll
leges of India rs a book osnstruction. The
other loss To which he referred came more
( Immediately home to them all-he alluded to
the death of Sir Donald Mcleod, who was
regular attendant at all their meetings. That
eminent Indian administrator died, as they
were aware, only a few days since. from the
result of his lamentable accident, and he was
sure they all deplored his loss. The geo.
| graphical facts they had to record were
numerous. lie believed he might saw that
this very night Sir Bart, Brere would land
! in Alexandria with his party, on his way 10
Zanzibar. Lieutenant Grandv was at that
moment off the coast of Africa, and on or
about the 18th Of this month would land in
Sierra Leone, and make the first step in his
onward journey, the result of which was
looked forward t. with such interest He
might add that the Admiralty, the Colonial
Office, and the Portuguese authorities had
given the expedition the most valuable as
sistance, particularly by letters to consuls
tlan 70 fst hn obi k.Nf,l L.,
expedition in every way in their power. lie
had also great satisfaction in announcing
that various astronomical observations made
by DR.. Livingstone had safely reached the
hands Of Sir Thomas lIaclear at the Cape.
Sir Thomas Macear, rs they probably knew,
was for many years Astronomer ROYAL at the
Cape, and had lately retired on account of
old age. 1t was he who had received all the
previous astronomical observations made by
DR.. Livingstone. His son, who was second
in command OF Her Maiesty's ship Chal-
lenser, had received from his father letter,
dated the 18th of September last, of which
he would read an abstract. 1t was as fol.
lows II have had q long letter from I.iy-
ingst0ne, and a long list of astronomical OBJ
seryatioEs, to be reduced for his geographical
positions OF interest. The reduction of these
will occupy three or four months" He had
also to announce that two most important
Australian expeditions were about to depart
Tor two stations OF the line of Telegraph, and
they had every hope that a large part Of
Western Australia would be explored.
The next topic to which he had to al!udc
was the departure of Her Majesty's ship
Challenger, and the mission with which she
was intrIsted. The Challenger was steam
ship-a large coryette-and had been fully
and carefully equipped by the Government,
at the instance mainly of the Royal Society.
The object of the voyage of the Challenger,
chiefly related to natural history, but it also
included the determination of currents, and
all that which he might call sub-oceanic ge-
ography. She took her departure, he be-
lieved, on Saturday last from Sheerness, be-
fore the occurrence of the storm which broke
over the Channel, and az they would be glad
to hear the last news concerning her, he
would call upon Admiral Richards, the Uy-
drographer of the Admiralty, who was ac-
qualnted with all the details of the expctii-
ton, to address them on the subject. Adj
miral Richards said the Challenger was a
vessel fitted out to make voyage Of dis
covery and scientific research. She had not
yet left England, but would do so in a day or
two, and would, before her return, make, as
was intended, voyage round the world. In
these days of rapid communication, the mere
TACT OF the voyage being round the world was
not much to speak Of, but this was something
more than common voyage. One great OBJ |
ject of the expedition was to investigate those |
mysterious regions which lie beneath the sur
face OF the sea. In that respect the voyage |
OF the Challenger would be different from any |
other that had ever been undertaken either !
By this or any other country. Twelve months /.
would possibly be occupied in investigation |,
IN the Atlantic ocean, and the ship would !
then, he believed, 90 down to that great ice |
barrier at the edge Of the Antarctic Cont !
nent, and endeayOr to abstract the secrets |
which lie hidden there. IL would aftcrward |
proceed to Australia and New Zealand, and
then to the Coral sea, and to regions he
scarcely remembered himself. Subsequently. |
the expedition would go to Japan, the North
Pacific Ocean, Northwest America, and the |
South Pacific. OF course they might reason
ably look for great results from the voyage, |
because, as he has said, it was like no other !
voyage which had been undertaken. II was |
a remarkable coincidence that it was lust 100 |
years since Capt. Cook set out on his memoir |
able voyage round the world. That was a |
great event Ia those days, but in these more /
enlightened times the fitting out and depart |
ure of the Challenger attracted very little at
tenti0n, indeed. Had it not been for the |
Times, the public would have known little or |
nothing of the matter. He hoped the Chal- |
lenger would return TO our shores in about |
three years. and he trusted the result Of the |
voyage would be such as to justify the ex-
pectations which had been raised respecting |
it. The expedition was one which reflected |
great credit on the Government and Oh all |
concerned in it. A paper by Mr. X. Craw- /
ford, in reference to the projected railway |
over the Andes from the Argentine Repub- |
lie, was then read. \ discussion followed |
and the meeting adjourned.
The Tin Monopoly q, The !
Remedy