238 



The National Geographic Magazine 



with pride that it is administered with 

 consummate abihty and perfect honesty. 



Finally, we are in perfect peace, and 

 there is not a single cloud on our po- 

 litical horizon, and therefore it is the 

 time to form upon solid foundations our 

 army and military institutions, following 

 the old Roman maxim, as true today as 

 in the times of Caesar, ' ' In time of peace 

 prepare for war. ' ' 



The Mexican people have fought for 

 their independence against great odds, 

 with poor arms, without a cent, and hav- 

 ing scarcely the necessary food to main- 

 tain life, and have fought incessantly 

 till they have come out victorious. That 

 same people, well armed, with abundant 

 pecuniary resources, and guided by good 



scientific officers, are preparing for their 

 future and unknown invaders some little 

 surprises probably beyond the expecta- 

 tion of the attacking party. 



I have lived in your powerful and in- 

 teresting country for more than thirty- 

 seven years, receiving uninterrupted 

 proofs from the authorities and people of 

 esteem and consideration, and I avail 

 myself of this occasion to make manifest 

 my heartfelt thanks for so much kind- 

 ness. 



May your Republic be always pros- 

 perous, guided by the sublime maxims 

 of its immortal and virtuous founder, 

 who condensed all his wise advice to his 

 people in those five words of eternal 

 truth, "Justice is the best policy." 



SIR JOHN MURRAY 



SIR JOHN MURRAY has recently 

 returned from a six months' ex- 

 pedition to Christmas Island, a 

 tiny isle 200 miles south of Java, and 

 has thus added one more to his many 

 interesting explorations. Sir John was 

 born in Coburg, Ontario, Canada, on 

 March 3, 1841. He received his early 

 education at a public school in Tondon, 

 Ontario, and at the Victoria College, 

 Coburg, Ontario ; but when a youth he 

 removed to Scotland, where his educa- 

 tion was continued at the High School 

 of Stirling and at the University of 

 Edinburgh. 



In 1868 he took a voyage in an Arctic 

 whaler to Spitzbergen and other places 

 in the Arctic regions. In 1872 he w^as 

 appointed as naturalist on the civilian 

 scientific staff of the Challenger Expedi- 

 tion, and in that capacity accompanied 

 H. M. S. Challenger A\xx\VL<g her scientific 

 circumnavigating cruise from 1872 to 

 1876. On the return of the expedition 

 he became first assistant, under Sir C. 

 Wyville Thomson, on the commission 



appointed to prepare the scientific results 

 for publication, and in 1882, owing to 

 the failing health of Sir C. Wj^ville 

 Thomson, he was appointed editor of the 

 ' ' Challenger Reports. ' ' These ' ' Official 

 Reports on the Scientific Results of the 

 Voyage of H. M. S. Challenger'' filled 

 fifty large royal quarto volumes, and 

 were published at intervals as ready, the 

 first volume appearing in 1880 and the 

 final volumes in i§95. Besides editing 

 nearly the whole series. Sir John Murray 

 was joint- author of the " Narrative of 

 the Cruise ' ' and of the ' ' Report on the 

 Deep-Sea Deposits," and author of a 

 ' ' Summary of the Scientific Results, "in 

 two volumes. The British Government 

 has presented copies of these reports to 

 scientific institutions and learned socie- 

 ties in all quarters of the globe. 



In addition to superintending the 

 work of publishing the ' ' Challenger 

 Reports, ' ' he has during the past thirty 

 years published a large number of 

 papers on oceanographical, geograph- 

 ical, geological, and other subjects, 



