The Chairman then said he wished to express the great pleasure it was to him to meet Mr. Forrest, his brother, and party, after their triumphant accomplishment of the daring and arduous undertaking of crossing from the Australian shores of the Indian Ocean to the very interior of South Australia. We at all times felt constrained to value and honour men who in any way contributed to the progress and welfare of mankind. We esteemed those men whose lives were devoted to the explorations of science, and whose discoveries were rendered serviceable to the comfort and advancement of the race; and what were the achievements of travellers but contributions to the advancement and welfare of the race--contributions in which were involved the most magnificent heroism in penetrating the regions which had hitherto been untrodden by the foot of the white man? They obtained their contributions to the advancement and welfare of men by the manifestation of high moral endurance, which enabled them to submit to privations and discomforts of the most trying character; while withal they showed dauntless courage in going forward and meeting dangers of every possible kind, even to the loss of life itself. He was disposed to rank the achievements of their guests with those of the foremost of travellers of whom we read. He had sat enchanted with the perusal of the travels of John Franklin in the Arctic Regions; and, by the way, John Franklin accompanied Captain Flinders in his expedition in the year 1800, which was sent out for the purpose of surveying the south coast of Australia. He had perused with intense interest the travels of Samuel Baker in the interior of Africa along the source of that wondrous Nile, as also those of Speke, Grant, Stanley, and that prince of men, the late Dr. Livingstone; and the name of their guest was entitled to rank along with such. (Cheers.) Let now our stockholders and men of capital take advantage of Mr. Forrest's explorations--let his well-earned honours be bestowed upon him--and let all representatives of intelligence and enterprise hail him. We who were here as Australians were proud of him and rejoiced over him, and would seek to send him back to his own home with our loud plaudits and our heartiest gratitude. The Vice-Chairman, in proposing The Health of Mr. John Forrest, the Leader of the Expedition, said he was sure they were all extremely glad to see Mr. Forrest and his party in their midst. When Mr. Forrest was amongst them before they all thought he was a fine, jolly young fellow, and thought none the less of him on that occasion. (Applause.) At any rate, he was stouter than when he appeared on his first visit. He thought the country would feel grateful to Mr. Forrest and his companions for the benefits which would result from their achievement. (Applause.)