﻿163 
  Letters, 
  Extracts, 
  Notices, 
  6f<:. 
  

  

  Moas 
  (Dinornithidse) 
  at 
  the 
  Zoological 
  Society's 
  Meeting 
  on 
  

   February 
  1 
  Itli, 
  

  

  Obituary. 
  Harry 
  Berkeley 
  James 
  and 
  Robert 
  W. 
  

   Shufeldt. 
  — 
  Harry 
  Berkeley 
  James 
  was 
  born 
  on 
  the 
  9th 
  of 
  

   March, 
  181-6, 
  at 
  Walsall, 
  Staffordshire, 
  in 
  the 
  house 
  of 
  his 
  

   father 
  Mr. 
  Frank 
  James, 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  place, 
  and 
  was 
  educated 
  

   at 
  Sj)ringhi]l 
  School, 
  Southampton. 
  In 
  1867 
  he 
  went 
  out 
  

   to 
  South 
  America 
  as 
  clerk 
  in 
  the 
  house 
  of 
  Messrs. 
  Gunston 
  

   and 
  Edmundson, 
  of 
  Valparaiso. 
  After 
  four 
  years^ 
  work 
  at 
  

   Valparaiso 
  he 
  entered 
  the 
  mercantile 
  house 
  of 
  Messrs. 
  

   Anthony 
  Gibbs 
  and 
  Co., 
  and 
  was 
  appointed 
  manager 
  of 
  one 
  of 
  

   their 
  large 
  nitrate 
  establishments, 
  called 
  La 
  Limeha, 
  near 
  

   Iquique, 
  then 
  in 
  Peru, 
  but 
  since 
  annexed 
  to 
  Chili. 
  After 
  

   four 
  years' 
  residence 
  in 
  this 
  establishment, 
  which 
  is 
  situated 
  

   on 
  the 
  high 
  ground 
  of 
  the 
  interior, 
  about 
  thirty 
  miles 
  inland, 
  

   he 
  resigned 
  his 
  post 
  and 
  went 
  into 
  business 
  as 
  a 
  merchant 
  

   at 
  the 
  port 
  of 
  Iquique. 
  On 
  May 
  9tli, 
  1877, 
  tlie 
  frightful 
  

   earthquake, 
  which 
  ruined 
  a 
  great 
  part 
  of 
  that 
  town, 
  took 
  

   place. 
  This 
  was 
  accompanied, 
  as 
  is 
  usual 
  in 
  such 
  cases, 
  by 
  a 
  

   huge 
  seismic 
  wave, 
  which 
  completed 
  the 
  destruction 
  com- 
  

   menced 
  by 
  the 
  earthquake. 
  James 
  was 
  as 
  nearly 
  as 
  possible 
  

   drowned 
  by 
  the 
  cataclysm 
  ; 
  he 
  was 
  immersed 
  waist-high 
  in 
  

   water, 
  and 
  narrowly 
  escaped 
  by 
  running 
  up 
  to 
  some 
  higher 
  

   land. 
  His 
  house 
  at 
  Iquique 
  and 
  all 
  its 
  contents 
  were 
  carried 
  

   into 
  the 
  sea, 
  and 
  he 
  lost 
  everything 
  he 
  possessed 
  there 
  

   except 
  the 
  clothes 
  that 
  he 
  was 
  wearing. 
  The 
  site 
  of 
  the 
  

   house 
  was 
  so 
  completely 
  cleared 
  that 
  after 
  the 
  flood 
  was 
  over 
  

   it 
  could 
  not 
  be 
  distinguished 
  from 
  the 
  rest 
  of 
  the 
  beach. 
  

  

  In 
  1878 
  James 
  made 
  a 
  journey 
  into 
  the 
  interior 
  of 
  Peru, 
  

   starting 
  from 
  liima 
  by 
  the 
  Oro^a 
  railwa}-, 
  and 
  penetrated 
  on 
  

   mule-back, 
  by 
  a 
  rough 
  and 
  dangerous 
  route, 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  Chan- 
  

   chamayo. 
  During 
  this 
  excursion, 
  besides 
  making 
  general 
  

   observations 
  on 
  the 
  natural 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  country, 
  he 
  col- 
  

   lected 
  a 
  large 
  series 
  of 
  Lepidoptera, 
  to 
  which 
  group 
  he 
  at 
  

   that 
  time 
  paid 
  special 
  attention. 
  In 
  April 
  1879 
  war 
  was 
  

   declared 
  between 
  Peru 
  and 
  Chili, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  following 
  

   October, 
  business 
  being 
  at 
  a 
  standstill, 
  James 
  left 
  Iquique 
  

  

  