Sir John Murray. 



xm 



expedition in two large volumes. As he records, " The direction of the whole 

 of the work connected with the publication of the scientific results passed 

 unexpectedly into my hands, and I have done my best under the circumstances 

 to place on permanent record a trustworthy account of the labours of this 

 famous expedition. It has been my earnest endeavour to complete the 

 publication in a manner worthy of the naval position and the scientific 

 reputation of this great Empire. Notwithstanding troubles, personal sacrifices 

 and regrets necessarily connected with the work, it has been a pleasure and 

 an honour to have taken part in the explorations and researches which mark 

 the greatest advance of the knowledge of our planet since the celebrated 

 geographical discoveries of the 15th and 16th centuries." 



He was never tired of exploring the sea, and in 1880 and 1882 he took 

 part in two expeditions to explore the Faroe Channel in H.M.S. " Knight 

 Errant " and H.M.S. " Triton." He established marine laboratories first of 

 all at Granton on the Firth of Forth, and later on the Clyde at Millport, 

 Cumbrae. Between 1883 and 1894 he was continuously exploring the West 

 coast of Scotland in his small steam yacht " Medusa," which was specially 

 fitted for carrying on oceanographical investigations, and in these he was 

 assisted by Mr. J. T. Cunningham, Dr. H. K. Mill, and many naturalists. 



He never spared himself, and when he was approaching his 70th birthday 

 he embarked on the " Michael Sars," a steamer no bigger than an ordinary 

 fishing tra wler, with a gross tonnage of 226 and with but 300 h.p. engines, 

 to cross the Atlantic on a scientific expedition, the profoundly important 

 results of which he published in collaboration with Dr. Johan Hjort in the 

 well known book, ' The Depths of the Ocean.' He was very capable of 

 getting on terms with the sailor men, and had a thorough knowledge of the 

 sailor's mode of life and the sailor's point of view, and, it may perhaps be 

 mentioned, of the sailor's vocabulary. Although he became 73 a few days 

 before the tragedy, he seemed, and was, in fact, a much younger man, "good 

 for at least another 10 years," as a leading physician, who knew him well, 

 remarked to me some weeks ago. 



He took a great interest in the project for establishing a meteorological 

 observatory on the top of Ben Nevis. He was Secretary of the Committee 

 which raised the necessary funds, and largely through his efforts £5000 was 

 soon collected. He was one of the Directors of the Observatory until, 

 unfortunately, it was closed a few years ago. For several years he was a 

 scientific member of the Scottish Fishery Board, and he represented the 

 British Government at the International Fisheries and Hydrographic 

 Conference in Stockholm in 1899, and he was President of the Geographical 

 Section of the British Association in 1899. The same year he delivered the 

 Lowell Lectures at Boston, U.S.A., and again in 1911 he delivered a second 

 course of Lectures at the Lowell Institute. For many years he ungrudgingly 

 gave his services as one of the Secretaries and Member of the Council and 

 Vice-President of the Boyal Society of Edinburgh, and the societies with 

 which he was actively connected are almost as numerous as the honours 



