General account of the Atoll of Funafuti. I. General account
Abstract
The Local Committee of the "Funafuti Coral Reef Boring Expedition, of the Royal Society" (London), in charge of Prof. Sollas, LL.D., F.R.S., having suggested to the Trustees of the Australian Museum that one of their Officers should be deputed to accompany the Expedition, Mr. Charles Hedley was selected for the purpose.
Mr. Hedley left Sydney in H.M.S. Penguin, under the command of Capt. Mervyn Field, R.N., on May 1st, arriving at Funafuti on May 21st. He remained on the island for two and a half months, leaving in the same vessel. On the return voyage to Fiji, the Island of Nukulailai was touched at, where scientific investigations were renewed for two days. Mr. Hedley finally reached Sydney on August 22nd.
During his stay on Funafuti, Mr. Hedley succeeded in amassing an interesting collection, particularly of Invertebrate and Ethnological objects, together with much valuable scientific information. The collections are now in process of description by the Scientific Staff of the Museum, and the results are being published in the order in which the study of the various groups is completed. A brief account of the results of the boring operations at Funafuti, extracted from Prof. Sollas' letters, will be found in Nature of 24th Sept., 1896, p. 517.
Sydney, 21st December, 1896.
R. Etheridge, Junr.,
