29 i Obituary. 



pointing out the wonders of his small demesne. Then we 

 were conducted to the high plateau of the Oberland, with a 

 sea-horizon in every direction, and again the marvellous 

 story of bird-life was repeated ; almost every yard o£ the land, 

 and each ledge, nook, and corner of the precipitous coast- 

 line, seemed linked with the memory of some far-travelled 

 rarity. 



In appearance Gatke was a man of fine carriage, very 

 upright, and considerably over six feet in height. He had a 

 finely-formed head, and none could know him without being 

 struck with his noble presence. His cast of features reminded 

 us of the portraits of ' Christopher North.^ Notwithstanding 

 his knowledge and experience, he was a man of great modesty, 

 and never decried or undervalued the labours of his brother- 

 workers. In one of his letters, speaking of migration, he 

 says : " We may in time learn something of the How and 

 When ; but as for the Why, that must ever remain an 

 unsolved problem, till you and I launch out to the unknown 

 shore, or manage to learn the language of the birds, and be 

 told in their own tongue.^' At the time of his death Gatke 

 was corresponding and honorary member of several scientific 

 societies in England, Europe, and America, His collections 

 remain on the island, and have now become the property of 

 the German Government. Giitke has made Heligoland 

 classic ground, and, so long as ornithology has an existence, 

 the old storm-beaten crag will be associated with his name, 

 rather than remembered as the island-fortress ceded by 

 England to Germany. 



In looking through Gatke's letters we were struck with 

 the following passage, which seems now as applicable to 

 himself as it was to the great naturalist to whom it referred : — 

 " And Darwin has gone to rest too ; not many who have left 

 so broad a mark behind as he, and fully deserved by so long a 

 life of such earnest toil in so grand a vineyard." — J. C. 



Charles E. Bendire, Major in the Army of the United 

 States, died at Jacksonville, Florida, on the 4tli of February 

 last. A relative of Weyprecht and Payer, the discoverers of 



