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desire which he so successfully realized in the Silurian region ; and it 

 seemed to be always present with him in every district to which by choice 

 or accident he might be led. He had a singularly quick eye for the 

 geological structure of a country, seizing often with striking accuracy, from 

 what to others seemed but slender evidence, the leading features of the 

 grouping of the rocks. 



No notice of his life and labours would be in any measure adequate if 

 it did not allude to the prominence with which during the last few years of 

 his life Sir Roderick's name was brought forward by the chivalrous devotion 

 with which he maintained the belief in the safety of Dr. Livingstone. Yet 

 this was only one of innumerable examples of his tenacious friendship and 

 active benevolence. As President of the Geographical Society (a Society 

 which is in a sense his own creation) he had many opportunities of be- 

 friending not only the cause of geography but the personal interests of 

 travellers ; and it gave him a genuine pleasure to make use of these oppor- 

 tunities. It will be long ere the recollection will pass away of his stately 

 courtesy of manner, suiting well that military bearing which dated from 

 the old school of Wellesley and Moore, or of the kindliness which made 

 him shrink from allowing even ingratitude to alienate his friendship. — A. G. 



Colonel William Henry Sykes was born in 1790. His father was 

 Samuel Sykes, Esq., descended from an old Yorkshire family, of which he 

 was the representative. At an early age Colonel Sykes entered the military 

 service of the East-India Company, and as a young officer of the Bombay 

 Army bore his part in the active military operations carried on in India in 

 the early years of the present century. He was present at the memorable 

 siege of Bhurtpore under Lord Lake. He served in the Deccan from IS 17 

 to 1820, and was in command of a regiment at the battles of Kirkee and 

 Poona, and took part in the capture of the Hill Forts. Throughout his 

 active military career he enjoyed the confidence of the distinguished com- 

 manders under whom he served, as well as the esteem and regard of his 

 brother officers. In 1824 he was appointed Statistical Reporter to the 

 Government of Bombay, and finally quitted India in 1831. In 1833 he 

 was promoted to the rank of Colonel ; but having returned to England he 

 thenceforward applied himself to the pursuits of civil life. The knowledge 

 he had acquired of Indian affairs, and the reliance placed on his intelligence 

 and integrity, led to his being twice elected on the Board of Directors of 

 the East- India Company; and when the vast dominion they had so long 

 administered was about to pass under the immediate government of the 

 Crown, the Company gave a further proof of their confidence in Colonel 

 Sykes by appointing him their Chairman at that important epoch. Mean- 

 while he was (1824) elected Lord Rector of the Marischall College of 

 Aberdeen, and three years afterwards was chosen to represent that city in 

 Parliament, and enjoyed the entire confidence of his constituents to 

 the end of his life. As a Member of the Legislature he was an advocate 



