lxxviii PEOCEEDIXGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [April 1914, 



construction Avithin ten years of a railway connecting Eastern Canada 

 •\\ ith British Columbia, then recently included in the Dominion. 

 The work, after the dissolution in 1873 of Sir Hugh Allan's 

 Company to which a charter had been granted, was taken over by 

 the Canadian Government ; but little was done until, in 1880, a 

 new contract was granted and a company formed by Donald Smith, 

 George Stephen (afterwards Lord Mount Stephen), and others. 

 In 1885, six }/ears before the contract time had expired, Donald 

 Smith drove the last spike ; but for some years the compan}' was on 

 the verge of bankruptcy, and it was only by desperate measures on 

 the part of Smith and his friends that it was nursed through a 

 period of adversity and developed into one of the great trans- 

 portation companies of the world. 



In 1896 Smith was appointed High Commissioner for Canada in 

 London, an office which he retained until his death. He was 

 raised to the peerage, under the title of Lord Strathcona and 

 Mount Eoyal, in 1897. 



During the Boer war, Lord Strathcona gave expression to the 

 patriotism which animated Canada, by equipping and landing in 

 South Africa, at his own expense, a regiment of mounted scouts. 

 The men had been connected with the North- Western Mounted 

 Police, and by their services during the war enhanced, if it were 

 possible to do so, the great reputation of that force. 



The great influence which Lord Strathcona was able to bring to 

 bear upon Canadian affairs, both by his position and by his wealth, 

 was exercised with sound judgment and untiring industry. His 

 private benefactions were on a princely scale, and in their bestowal 

 showed a discretion and kindliness of heart which endeared him 

 to all nationalities in the Dominion. 



He was the recipient of many University honours, and, in 1901, 

 was elected into the Royal Society of London. He had been a 

 Fellow of the Geological Society since 1885. 



He died on January 21st, 1914, having maintained his activities 

 up to the day when the last brief illness commenced. 



James McMurteie was born at Dalquharran in Ayrshire, and 

 there, under his father, commenced a connexion with coal-mining 

 which was to fill a large part of his life. After spending a few 

 years in Liverpool and Newcastle-on-Tyne in completing his 

 training, he became, in 1862, an Assistant to Mr. G. C. Greenwell 

 in the management of the Kadstock Collieries. Later on, he 



