lxxxiv PROCEEDINGS OF THE 
patrons and promoters of science, there are few who can themselves 
be justly placed on its rolls. But it was not so with the late King 
of Portugal, who was distinguished not only for the enlightened 
and discriminating encouragement he afforded to science in all its 
branches, but was also himself no mean proficient in many of them. 
He was born in Lisbon on the 16th of September, 1837, the eldest 
son of Donna Maria II., on whose death he ascended the throne, in 
his seventeenth year, on the 15th of November, 1853. In May 1858 
he married the Princess Stephanie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, but 
had the misfortune to lose his consort in the following year. The 
uncertain and often unfortunate cireumstances, domestic or political, 
by which his early years were saddened, the unhappy loss of his 
young wife, and the misfortunes from epidemic disease and political 
commotions with which his short reign was afflicted and disturbed, 
all contributed to give his character a tinge of melancholy and sad- 
ness ; although at the same time the trials through which he passed 
served to bring out into stronger.relief, the amiable, kind, and con- 
siderate disposition with which he was naturally endowed. On 
ascending the throne, one of the first tasks he undertook was to 
make himself acquainted with his country and his people, and with 
this view he was yearly in the habit of journeying into the various 
provinces of the kingdom, in one of which expeditions he may be 
said to have fallen a victim to this self-imposed duty, being attacked, 
soon after his return from the province of Alemtejo, by a fever which 
carried him off on the 11th of November, 1861,—two of his brothers, 
Don Fernando and Don Joao, being also struck down by the same 
malady. 
Don Pedro had received a careful and liberal education, and of 
course, from his exalted position, enjoyed unusual opportunities for 
the acquirement of knowledge. But it was mainly to his own 
talents, zeal, and industry, after he had reached man’s estate, that 
he was indebted for the vast amount of accurate knowledge he was 
generally acknowledged to possess. 
From an early age he exhibited a strong inclination for the study 
of natural history, in which he was also much encouraged by his’ 
father, Don Fernando, himself distinguished as an artist and man 
of science. While still Crown Prince, he founded a Museum of 
Natural History in the Palace of Necessidades, and in all his travels, 
both at home and abroad, he lost no opportunity of adding to the 
stores of his Museum, or of his extensive Library of Natural History. 
He was also much attached to the society and correspondence of men 
