76 FOUNDERS OF OCEANOGRAPHY 



A few years later, after Sir Wyville Thomson's death 

 in 1882, Murray had supreme control of both the collections 

 and the editing of the reports ; and of the " Office," by that 

 time moved to more commodious quarters at 32 Queen 

 Street, which was the scene of his labours for many years, and 

 where I for a time held the post of *' Assistant-Naturalist," 

 and saw Murray practically every day. 



When I first knew John Murray, although he was an older 

 man, we were really in one respect fellow-students, as we 

 attended together Professor Archibald Geikie's course on 

 geology. One very pleasant and not the least instructive 

 part of the course at that time was the series of geological 

 walks personally conducted by the professor, not merely 

 Saturday walks in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, but also 

 longer expeditions of a week or ten days at the end of the 

 session, to localities of special geological interest farther 

 afield, such as the Highlands or the Island of Arran. I well 

 remember one such long excursion to the Grampian and the 

 Cairngorm Mountains and Speyside, when we had, as some- 

 what senior members of the party — in addition to Professor 

 Geikie — Dr. Benjamin Peach and Dr. John Home of the 

 Geological Survey, Dr. Aitken of the University Chemical 

 Department, Joseph Thomson the African explorer, and John 

 Murray of the " Challenger." The rest of us were ordinary 

 students of science, and all will realize how we enjoyed and 

 profited by the conversation of these senior men, how we 

 dogged their steps and hung upon their every word. All 

 who ever met John Murray will readily understand that 

 in the frequent discussions that took place between these 

 geologists and chemists, he always took a leading and forcible 

 part — he was nothing if not original in his views and vigorous 

 in his language. 



The reader need not think that all this had nothing to do 

 with oceanography. It was very much otherwise. These 

 were all Edinburgh men deeply interested in the " Challenger" 

 results. On the long tramps there were hot discussions, 



