126 PROFESSORSHIP OF GEOLOGY CHAP, iv 



property of the country, and not of the individuals who 

 made them. Some of the staff, however, angrily 

 resented any restraint of their liberty in this respect ; 

 and there seemed at one time the possibility of a serious 

 rupture on the subject. In the angry correspondence 

 which took place between one of the malcontents and 

 Sir Henry, it was asserted that by the course which 

 had been followed Ramsay had been prevented from 

 taking the position as a geologist to which the amount 

 and quality of his work entitled him. This was a 

 charge which gave special pain to Ramsay himself 

 when he heard of it. 'This is too bad,' he wrote in 

 his diary ; ' for though by reading more papers I 

 might have stood higher at the Geological Society, 

 yet, all in all, Sir H. has been my best friend in every 

 way, private and public.' 



The mutiny had been in progress during the 

 autumn, but as soon as Ramsay got back to London 

 his tact and sound common sense succeeded in not 

 only keeping the peace, but in effecting an arrange- 

 ment which, while it preserved the due discipline of 

 the service, provided for the officers of the Survey 

 the possibility of making known their observations in 

 anticipation of the subsequent publication of an official 

 account of them. He wrote to Aveline : ' I have 

 achieved a great point, and got permission for the 

 Survey to read papers at the Geological Society, on 

 the approval of the Director-General, when submitted 

 to him by me. I wish, therefore, you would think 

 over some of the particulars of your present trappy 

 country, as I wish much, if you have no objections, 

 to associate you with myself in a joint paper on the 

 Stretton, Bishop's Castle, Kington, and Builth land. 

 It must not deal with details, but be general, and yet 



