412 MURCHISON ON DICICS DEATH. CHAP. xxin. 



these pages are printing, I have to record the death of 

 this remarkable man. Eobert Dick was unquestionably 

 gifted with genius, and possessed of great original 

 strength of mind. That he had a strong poetic verve 

 was proved by his having purchased fine editions of the 

 works of Burns, Scott, Byron, and other poets, out of his 

 scanty earnings ; for he was a baker, ever much engaged 

 in hard manual labour. On one of my visits to Thurso, 

 when we were lamenting over the want of a map of 

 Caithness, he prepared for my instruction a model in 

 flour, which he manipulated into hills, valleys, and 

 watercourses, and thus brought into relief all the sur- 

 rounding country. He was as well acquainted with 

 every living British plant as he was with all the Caith- 

 ness fossils. Admiring, as I did, such energy and ability 

 in a modest working man, I rejoice to know that it has 

 been resolved to erect a monument to his memory at 

 Thurso." * 



On the day of his death, Mr. James Mill, chief 

 magistrate of Thurso, issued the following announce- 

 ment : " Mr. Eobert Dick died at his house here this 

 morning at half-past six o'clock. Through his vigorous 

 and energetic study of the Geology and Botany of 

 Caithness, he has been instrumental in developing the 

 natural history of our county, and in attracting the 

 attention of the Scientific World to its resources in no 

 ordinary degree ; and when we look back on his labours 

 in the field for the last thirty years, we feel that Robert 

 Dick merits from the people of Caithness a Public 



* Siluria. Fourth Edition, p. 269. 



