214 SIR WILLIAM EAMSAY 



of their adventures in that distant region, and to his 

 account have been added extracts from two letters sent 

 home by Ramsay containing humourous and charac- 

 teristic sketches of their fellow-travellers and of the 

 journey outwards. 



WEDDING TRIP, 1881 



His family used to say that all Ramsay's trips abroad 

 were arranged with a view to visiting new laboratories 

 and old friends, and that scenery, places of historical 

 interest and art treasures might or might not be thrown 

 in if time permitted. The wedding trip was no exception 

 to this rule. The fact that a new laboratory was shortly 

 to be built at Bristol made the inspection of laboratories 

 specially interesting and important. The original plan 

 was to spend August abroad and return to Clifton early 

 in September to house-hunt, buy furniture, and get the 

 laboratory in trim for the next term's work. The 

 question of the principalship was to have been settled 

 at a special meeting of council on August 1 Oth, but there 

 was so small an attendance that the committee of 

 recommendation which had fixed on Ramsay would 

 themselves have formed the majority, and the matter 

 was again postponed till the end of September, just 

 before the beginning of term. As this would influence 

 the choice of a house, it was useless to start house- 

 hunting, and Ramsay felt it was better to stay away 

 so as not to seem to influence the decision of the 

 council. As regards the preparations for the term's 



