Obituary Notices. 
lv 
In the Encyclopaedia Britannica his articles on “Sir John Mande- 
ville ” and on “Prester John” are exhaustive, and good examples of 
his style of work, and the paper on “Lhasa” is also valuable.* 
He was singularly happy in the composition of monumental and 
other inscriptions; and, in a very different line, in his poetical effu- 
sions, sometimes grave, but others highly humorous, and occasionally 
in good Scotch. He had begun shortly before his death to collect 
his fugitive pieces, with sketches and photographs illustrating them, 
and it is to be hoped some instalment of these may see the light 
before long. 
The humorous verses, and the inscriptions referred to, recall two 
marked features in his character; a deep seriousness, with occasional 
despondency, and for antidote a keen and delightful humour, never 
far from the surface in his conversation or his writings. And he 
appreciated humour in others, so long as it was free from cynicism 
or unkindliness ; this revolted him, for he had great delicacy of 
feeling, and a warm and tender heart, with a ready sympathy for 
real sorrow, though small patience for the unreal or conventional. 
If he was vehement in assertion, and scathing in denunciation of 
all that to him seemed mean, or false, or unjust, this came mainly 
from the old Scottish sense of the seriousness of life, and of the 
importance, in all things, of being on the side of truth and right. 
For personally his simplicity and humility were alike marked and 
touching, though his presence had all the personal dignity of one 
who knew he had long and steadily followed a lofty ideal. He 
had a large capacity for friendship, and in his rooms the walls, and 
even the doors, were covered with the portraits of his principal 
friends, as also with a very interesting and complete collection he 
had made of portraits of the Governors-General and Commanders- 
in-Chief of India. 
It was only a few months before his death that he resigned his 
place on the Indian Council, which the kindness and considera- 
tion of his colleagues had enabled him to retain far longer than he 
could otherwise have done. Here his services had long been 
valued, not only for the extent of his knowledge, and his clearness 
of perception, but from the spirit and tone in which he was wont to 
* For a fuller list of his contributions to literature, see the Scottish Geographical 
Magazine for February 1890. 
