QUEENSLAND GEOGRAPHICAL JOURNAL (NEW SERIES). INCLUDING THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF AUSTRALASIA, QUEENSLAND. J. P. THOMSON, HON.F.R.S.G.S., ETC., ETC., Honorary Editor. The Authors of Papers are alone responsible for the opinions expressed therein. VOL. XV. PUBLISHED AT BRISBANE BY THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF AUSTRALASIA, QUEENSLAND NOTE.-All communications should be addressed to the Hon. Secretary, at the Rooms of the Society, 102 Elizabeth-street, Brisbane. Geographical Society of Australasia, QUEENSLAND. Patron: HIS EXCELLENCY THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD LAMINGTON, G.C.M.G., ETC. President: THE RIGHT HON. SIR HUGH M. NELSON, K.C.M.G., D.C.L., ETC. CONTENTS, PAGE. THE ISLANDS AND INHABITANTS OF TORRES STRAIT; BY THE HON. JOHN DOUGLAS, C.M.G., F.R.G.S., ETC. MITIGATION OF FLOODS IN THE BRISBANE RIVER; BY THE HON. A. C. ROUND FUJI TO THE ICE CAVES; BY D. S. THISTLETHWAYTE, C.F. THE WALLOONGGURRA CEREMONY; BY R. H. MATHEWS, L.S., ETC. ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS; BY THE RIGHT HON. SIR HUGH M. NELSON, K.C.M.G., APPENDIX TO ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS--LIEUT. OXLEY'S JOURNAL 75 . 101 Every person desirous of bequeathing to the Society any money is requested to make use of the following FORM OF BEQUEST. I give and bequeath to the Honorary Treasurer for the time being, of the ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF AUSTRALASIA, QUEENSLAND, the sum of... for the benefit of the said Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, Queensland, to be expended as the Council of the said Society may deem expedient for the promotion of Geographical Science or the purpose of exploration in Australasia. NOTE.-The Geographical Journal is published monthly by the Royal Geographical Society, London; price, 1s. 6d. per copy to members of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, Queensland. The prices of Supplementary Papers and other publications of the former Society may be obtained on application. The Scottish Geographical Magazine is published monthly by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society; price, ls. per copy to members of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, Queensland. N.B.-All Donations presented to the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, Queensland, are acknowledged by letter and in the JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. NOTE.-All Communications should be addressed to the Hon. Secretary, at the Rooms of the Society, 102 Elizabeth-street, Brisbane, Queensland. By His Excellency the Right Hon. LORD LAMINGTON, G.C.M.G., etc., etc. I made my first acquaintance with Siam and the Siamese at Bangkok, the capital, where the cordiality shown me by the king and his ministers was an agreeable introduction to my journey in the interior. After a fortnight's stay I started on my way up-country. On arrival at Chieng Mai, the capital of the Laos country, after a three weeks' journey by boat up the Me Ping River, which Mr. Holt Hallett has so admirably surveyed, I was just in time to accompany Mr. Archer, our Consul at Chieng Mai, on his way to Muang Tuen in the Shan States, where he was to take charge of an expedition coming from Burma, appointed to inquire into and survey the frontiers between the Shan States and Siam. I had only a few days in which to find transport and to make arrangements. Stores I had brought with me from Bangkok. My pack-animals were mules owned by Hös or Panthays; these are Chinamen who were driven out of Yunnan for rebellion some few years ago, and have for the most part settled in Burma, carrying on trade in the dry season by caravan. I was fortunate enough to find a party having only ten mules, a sufficient number for my requirements; twenty-five mules being the least number they usually venture to travel with. A Siamese commissioner had to be appointed, and the authorities had some difficulty in doing this, as it is not a favourite post. The pay drawn is very small, and if all the proceedings are not carried out to the satisfaction of the Government, the consequences are probably unpleasant. After divers delays, we started on Dec. 10, 1890, making only a short march the first day. The first two days we travelled through level * Read at a Meeting of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, Queensland, September 27, 1899. We are indebted to the Royal Geo. Soc., London, for the use of the blocks of Lord Lamington's route maps. [ED.] |