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 Alexander Murray, F.G.S., F.R.S.C, C.M.G. 
 
 By BOBEET bell, B.ASc., M.D., LL.D. 
 
\ 
 
 National Library 
 of Canada 
 
 Bibliotheque nationale 
 du Canada 
 
*' Reprinted from the Canadian Record of Science, April, 1892." 
 
 Alexander Murray, F.G.S., F.R.S.C., C.M.G. 
 
 By Robert Bell, B.A.Sc, M.D., LUD. 
 
 The subject of this biographical sketch was assistant 
 provincial geologist of Canada (as it was before Confedera- 
 tion) from the commencement of the Geological Survey of 
 the united province in 1843 till 1864, and afterwards direc- 
 tor of the corresponding Survey of the island of New- 
 foundland from 1864 to 1883. Owing to his having divided 
 the period of his active life almost equally between the two 
 countries, it could not be expected that many persons 
 would know much of his career in both. Indeed, there are 
 but few at this da}'' who are familiar with his personal and 
 at the same time his scientific history in either of them. 
 Having had a long personal acquaintance with Mr. Murray, 
 and being conversant wilh his labors in both spheres, 1 
 have been asked to write a short account of his life. 
 
 His services to the topography and geology ot Canada 
 and Newfoundland were very important, and deserve to 
 be gratefully remembered. Although he was a well-known 
 figure in old Canada during the periol of his active 
 employment, so rapid are the changes in a country like 
 ours, and so quickly do the new comers occupy the places 
 of the pioneers, that the labors of Murray are already being 
 
y 
 
 78 Canadian Record of Science. 
 
 forgotten ; and, at most, only a vague impression remains of 
 what he actually accomplished even among those who have 
 most to do with similar work in these provinces at the 
 present time. 
 
 A brief sketch of the career of Alexander Murray, and a 
 succinct enumeration of his work which would help to 
 preserve to him the credit of his labors ere it is too late, 
 would, therefore, be not only a just tribute to his memory, 
 but a useful record for reference hereafter in regard to the 
 geography and geology of Canada and Newfoundland. For 
 these reasons I have been induced to respond to the above 
 mentioned request ; and in undertaking this duty I propose 
 in the personal part of the narrative to paint a true picture, 
 giving the shadows as well as the lights, so that the reader 
 may form a correct estimate of his character. 
 
 It was my good fortune to be tolerably well acquainted 
 with Mr. Murray's history both in Canada and Xewfound- 
 land — otherwise I would not have attempted the present 
 task. Not only was I ast^ociated with him for seven years 
 at the headquarters of the Geological Survey in Montreal, 
 but I accompanied him one year, as assistant, to his favorite 
 haunts among the Jluronian rocks of Lakes Superior and 
 Jluron, which, it is well known, he was the first to investi- 
 gate; and. as regards Newfoundland, I have had opportuni- 
 ties of going over his work in ditt'erent parts of the island 
 and afterwards of discussing its geology with him during 
 several weeks' residence at St. John's in the winter of 1868-G1>. 
 Where my own knowledge was lacking at any point, I have 
 obtained the requisite information through the kindness of 
 friends of his in both countries. Among those in Canada 
 I would mention Major Joseph Wilson of Sault Ste. Marie, 
 Mr. John Johnson and Mr. Scott Barlow of Ottawa, former 
 assistants ; and as to Newfoundland, his widow, now resi- 
 dent in Edinbuigh, Mr. Thomas C. Weston of Ottawa, Eev. 
 Moses Harvey of St. John's, and more particularly Mr. 
 James P. Howley, his assistant on the Island, to whom 
 further reference will be made. 
 
Alexander Murraij. 79 
 
 Mr. Murray was a friend of my late fiither, the Rev. 
 Andrew Bell, who had given much attention to the geology 
 of Upper Canada and had mapped the distribution of the 
 rocks in the lake peninsula, according to the divisions which 
 had been made by the geologists of the State of Xew York, 
 before the commencement of the government Geological 
 Survey of Canada. It was when on a visit to my father, in 
 1850, who was then living in Dundas, that V first saw Mr. 
 Murray. Although only a boy at that time, I had a dis- 
 tinct recollection of him as a bright, genial and pleasant 
 looking man. On this occasion my older brothers assisted 
 him to measure the strata in the cliffs around the head of 
 Lake Ontario, among which was the "Sydenham Road 
 Section," published in his report for that year and which 
 has been so often used for reference in regard to the rocks 
 of the surrounding country. During this visit, my father, 
 who was familiar with the country northward to Georgian 
 Bay, furnished Mr Mui-ray with information which enabled 
 him to lay out his time, in examining it, to the best advan- 
 tage — all of which he acknowledged in his report to the 
 government. I renewed Mr. Murray's acquaintance in 
 1857, when I joined the staff of the Geological Survey, and 
 have followed his labors to the close of his life. 
 
 When in St. .Tohn's in the winter of 1868-69, I was 
 requested by the government to give evidence as to the 
 value of Mr. Murray's survey of the island. This evidence 
 was published by the government, and was said to have 
 influenced the legislature in continuing the survey. 
 
 It was during 1868 that Mr. Murray was fortunate enough 
 to secure the cervices of Mr. James P. Howley, who con- 
 tinued to assist him with so much ability in the prosecution 
 of the survey until his retiremer»t in 1883, since which 
 time, with one interruption, Mr. Ilowley has carried on the 
 work alone up to the present year. 
 
 Beforo attempting lo trace Murray's career as a geolo- 
 gist, we shall notice briefly his family history up to 
 the time of his leaving for Newfoundland, and further on 
 give a similar ijotice of his domestic relations iq that 
 
80 Canadian Record of Science. 
 
 colony. Murray was remarkable for having, as it were, 
 duplicated his life-history, or to have enjoyed two separate 
 spans of life of about the same duration, in each of which 
 his career was very similar in neaily all respects. He 
 repeated in Newfoundland the same kind of preliminary 
 geological and topographical work he had done in Canada, 
 and having married and brought up a family in the latter 
 province, he became a widower, and, on going to New- 
 foundland, married again and reared a second family of 
 children. So completely separate were his two spheres 
 that one is apt to think of him as he would of two distinct 
 individuals, and his biography must necessarily branch into 
 two separate parts. 
 
 Murray was born at ])ollei'ie House. Crieff, in Perthshire, 
 Scotland, on the 2nd of June, 1810, and died in the same 
 town on the 16th of December. 1884, in his 75th year. Jlo 
 was the second son of Anthony Murray. Esq., of Dollci'ie 
 Houj?e, Anthony being the eldest, and William, who was 
 killed in the Indian mutiny in 1857, being the third son. 
 They belonged to the family of the Murrays of OchterLyre. 
 referred to by the poet Burns in his song -'Blithe was She,", 
 and were cousins of Sir Patrick Murray, the present pro- 
 prietor of the estate of his forefathers. 
 
 His first wife was Fanny Judkins, of Liveipool, a sifter 
 of the late Captain .ludkins, well known for many years as 
 the commodore of the Cunard line of steamships. By her 
 he had a son and two daughters. The son, Anthony 
 Hepburn, born in Scotland 30th October, 1840, adopted the 
 military profession, and has been an officer in India since 
 about 1857. He is still in that country, and is now a 
 colonel in the Horse Artillery. His eldest daughter, Mary 
 Helen, born at Woodstock, Upper Canada, 2nd October, 
 1838, married, about 1856, Mr. Frank Elwes, then of 
 Woodstock, and soon afterwards removed with her husband 
 to England. She has been a widow for some years, 
 and is still residing in England. The second daughter, 
 Helen, born at Woodstock 19th March, 1843, married, 
 in 1861, Bernard Fabricotti, proprietor of the Carraia 
 
Alexander Murray. 81 
 
 raarble quarries in Italy, but she and hei* husband lived 
 most of the time in London, where she died in 1H82. 
 
 Murray was educated at the Royal Naval College, Ports- 
 mouth, entered the navy in 1824 as midshipman, passed for 
 lieutenant in 1838, and retired in 1834. Although he did 
 not remain long in the service, the atmosphere of a man-of- 
 war of those days clung to him throughout life. lie was 
 fond of nautical terms and illustrations and the strong 
 language of naval officers of the olden time. On account 
 of these peculiarities, when he removed to the seafaring 
 colony of Newfoundland he was christened Captain Murray 
 by the people, and among them was always known by this 
 honorary title. 
 
 During his career as a naval officer he had an oppor- 
 tunity of seeing some active service, and was present in 
 the "Philomel" at Navarino on the 20th of October, 1827, 
 where he was wounded, and received a medal for the part 
 he took in that engagement. At the time of the rebellion 
 of 1837-38 in Upper Canada he volunteered his services to 
 the government and was on duty for a short period. 
 
 The salary attached to the position of assistant provincial 
 geologist does not appear to have been sufficient to secure 
 his services for the entire year, and Murray was allowed to 
 devote part of his time to agriculture. He purchased land 
 in the township of Blandford, not far from Woodstock, one 
 of the best districts in the upper province, and continued 
 to hold his farm all the time he was connected with the 
 Geological Survey of Canada. For the first few years he 
 kept the management of it in his own hands, his wife 
 looking after matters while he was absent on geological 
 field-work a part of each summer or at the office of the 
 Survey in Montreal a portion of each winter. He found, 
 however, that in his case '' gentleman farming " would not 
 pay, and so he rented this property and took a house in 
 Woodstock. Here his wife died in the winter of 1862-3 
 while her husband was temporarily residing at the head- 
 quartera of the Survey in Montreal, 
 
82 Canadian Becord of Siience. 
 
 Murray wiis a man of medium height, rather fair com- 
 plexione I, with blue eyes and flaxen beard. Jle wan well 
 built and had powerful muscles until he was overtaken by 
 a paralytic stroke previous to 1850, after which he refrained 
 from performing the feats of strength in which he had 
 formerly delighted. The portrait accompanying the present 
 sketch is from a photograph taken at Crieff in 1867. 
 
 He was noted as an ardent sportsman and lover of dogs, 
 guns aud fishing rods. But he confined himself to the 
 lines he could follow in a wild country, and neglected most 
 of the sports of civilized regions, such as horse-racing, 
 cricket, etc. But when Murray was a young man. before 
 public sentiment became so refined as it is at the present 
 day, he did not deny having a weakness for the " manly 
 art" and some other sports which are now tabooed in 
 ** society." 
 
 The animals he killed during his surveys and explorations 
 in the backwoods always formed a welcome addition to the 
 diet of salt pork, and often it constituted the only food 
 in camp. He was an excellent shot with both rifle and 
 gun, and many a bear and deer fell under his aim, to say 
 nothing of the multitudes of ducks, grouse, snipe, woodcock 
 and other wild fowl. lie had a great fondness for fly- 
 fishing, which he considered " the grandest sport in the 
 world," and he would go into raptures over the capture 
 of an extra big trout. 
 
 To show how confident he felt of his skill as a marksman 
 the following anecdote may be related: — On one occasion 
 when at the Sault Ste. Marie several land surveyors arrived 
 on their way into the back country where they were going 
 to run base lines and lay out townships. Murray had 
 explained to them the use of the Rochon micrometer 
 telescope, with which he measured most of his distances, 
 when one or two of the surveyors expressed a wish to see 
 a practical demonstration of the working of the instrument. 
 For this purpose they sent one of their voyageurs, a French- 
 man, to take Mr. Murray's disc-staff to the small island op- 
 posite Capt Wilson's house, where he was to hold it erect at 
 
Alexander Murray. 83 
 
 any spot Mr. Murray might indicate after he had hinded. 
 Murray told him that he was to move the start" to which- 
 ever wide he might wave his hat. '• C'est bien, Monsieur," 
 said the voyageur, as he pushed off in his canoe. The first 
 position he selected not suiting Mr. Murray, the latter took 
 off his hat and waved him the pre-arranged signal. The 
 man had evidently misunderstood, for while continuing to 
 hold the disc-staff in a provokingly neglige? style, he took 
 off his own hat and waved it most gracefully to the same 
 side. This made Murray furious, and he signalled wildly 
 with his hat to the other side. The man changed hands on 
 the staff and waved more elegantly than even on the cor- 
 responding side. Words failed Murray for the occasion, 
 and, gasping for breath, he handed the micrometer to some 
 one near him and ran for his rifle. The voyageur wore his 
 Sunday coat, a light alpaca. It was hanging open from 
 his shoulders and blown a little way out from his body. 
 With a steady hand Murray sent a bullet through the 
 fluttering coat-tails, which evidently gave the man a jerk at 
 the instant he heard the crack of the rifle, for he dropped 
 the start*, excUdming, " Mon Dieu, je suis tu^." 
 
 A cold bath every morning was regarded by Murray as 
 more essential than his prayers, and no matter how incle- 
 ment the weather might be, or how inconveniently his tent 
 might happen to be pitched for getting at the water, he 
 would never allow the cold, rain or wind, or such obstacles 
 as a marsh, a jam of driftwood or the tangled brush, to 
 prevent him reaching deep water and enjoying his *' dip." 
 Late in the autumn, after the snow had whitened the 
 ground and the ice was forming around the shores, he still 
 continued the practice with unabated rigor. Cleanliness 
 was a sort of hobby with him, and he had a very poor 
 opinion of anyone who did not "tub" with reasonable 
 regularity. When on an exploratory "traverse" in the 
 woods, if a river or a narrow lake lay across his course, he 
 would not hesitate to plunge in and swim to the other side 
 rather than lose time in making a raft, as most explorers 
 do under such circumstances. 
 
84 Canadian Record of Science. 
 
 His duties as an explorer in the forest regions soon 
 rendered him an expert bush-ranger and canoeman, while 
 his experience at sea had taught him to handle sail-boats 
 well. The freedom of the woods and waters of the west 
 had a great fascination for Murray, and I have often heard 
 him say how much he preferred life in the bush to that in 
 Canadian civilization. 
 
 Jle took little interest in the public aifairs of Canada, but 
 in British politics he was a most pi'onounced Tory. With- 
 out being a tuft-hunter, he had a great admiration for the 
 Scotch and English aristocracy, and attributed to their 
 influence, more than to anything else, the prestige which 
 the nation has won. not only in arms but in aii the arts and 
 sciences which flourish in Great Britain. 
 
 In matters of belief Mr. Murray was a Protestant, and 
 although not much known in " religious circles," he led a 
 straightforward life and had a cordial detestation of every 
 kind of cant and hypocrisy. Although very outspoken and 
 sometimes not over choice in the language he used in the 
 society of men, among women he was gentle, aflable and 
 delightfully polished in manner and conversation. He was 
 fond of children, kind to the poor, and in cases of sickness 
 or misfortune was considerate, generous and sympathetic. 
 
 Socially, Mr. Murray was always in great demand during 
 his sojourn both in Canada and Newfoundland, although he 
 was not very fond of 'Agoing out" in society. When he 
 and Sir William Logan were present in any social assembly 
 they always formed the centre of attraction and charmed 
 the company with their entertaining stories, jokes, or gene- 
 ral conversation, and occasionally by a song. These were 
 cheerful days in the Survey offices in Montreal. Every 
 now and then the pleasant voice of Logan or Murray might 
 be heard echoing through the rooms, and the dull, quiet 
 work over maps, rocks and fossils, was relieved by many a 
 hearty laugh. A visit to the museum was a treat to 
 strangers if they should be fortunate enough to be escorted 
 through it by either of these men. » 
 
Alexander Murray. 86 
 
 Murray's voice was seldom heard in public, yet he was a 
 good speaker when occasion required. His speech at the 
 Toronto banquet to Logan after his return, newly knighted, 
 from the Paris Exhibition of 1855, was the best of the 
 evening, and was regarded as a very fine effort On 15th 
 February, 1869, 1 had the pleasure of listening to his popular 
 lecture on " The Economic Value of a Geological Survey," 
 delivered in the Athen83um Hall in St. John's before a 
 large and intelligent audience, which included the governor 
 of the colonv and most of the members of both branches of 
 the legislature. The subject matter of itself, his method of 
 treating it and the delivery, were all excellent and called 
 forth a very hearty vote of thanks. 
 
 Usually good natured and genial, Murray was, neverthe- 
 less, quick-tempered, and in the heat of provocation some- 
 times said or did what he immediately after repented. 
 Many stories might be told in illustration of this trait in 
 his character, but two or three must suffice. 
 
 On one occasion, when sitting beside Sir William Logan 
 at a public dinner at the St. Lawrence Hall in Montreal, one 
 of the waiters gave him some impudence. In a moment 
 Murray was on his feet and knocked the man's head 
 against the wall behind him. In the morning Murray, 
 hearing that the waiter was about to take out a warrant 
 against him for assault, made haste to have him arrested 
 for using insulting language. Whereupon the man was 
 glad to compromise matters, and the affair dropped. 
 
 In 1860, on our return from a coasting voyage along the 
 south shore of Lake Superior, Mr. Murray and I were 
 camped at the head of the portage on the Canadian side of 
 the Sault Ste. Marie. One of our men, Pierre Pilon by 
 name, a well known character in these parts, became 
 somewhat the worse of liquor, and was seized with a desire 
 to have a letter written to his wife at Shi-ba-o-na-ning, of 
 whom he seldom thought when sober. Mr. Murray was 
 lying on his back in his little tent reading a book and 
 enjoying a much needed rest. Every little while Pilon 
 would put his head into the tent door and again request 
 
86 Canadian Record of Science. 
 
 him to write the letter, always forgetting he had already 
 done so more than once. Mr. Murray put him off, good- 
 naturedly at first, but with increasing wrath each time aqi 
 man nagged him, and also reminded him in more and more 
 forcible language that he was drunk. The last time he 
 thrust his head into the tent Murray's face " spoke volumes " 
 without his uttering a word. In an unguarded moment the 
 half-intoxicated Pilon changed the subject and remarked, 
 " Monsieur Muria, you look lak 'e dev, sair." Murray 
 threw down his book, sprang to his feet and seized the rifle 
 which always lay beside him. Pilon had only a moment to 
 run behind the large canoe-house near by. Before Murray's 
 temper could cool to a reflective stage he had made the 
 circuit of the building several times in pursuit of the 
 fugitive. Then, doubling back on him, there was a lively 
 game of hide-and-seek round the corners of the building. 
 Meantime the Indians and I, convulsed with laughter, 
 threw ourselves down behind the largest boulders we could 
 find lest the expected bullet might come our way. In a 
 few minutes, however, Mr. Murray walked quietly back to 
 his tent and the next morning discharged the offending 
 Pilon. 
 
 Mr. Murray having been the first to survey and map the 
 river now known as the Petewaw^, gave it this name 
 after an old Indian friend of his whose principal camping 
 place was at the mouth of the river, and who was well 
 known to all frequenters of old Foit William, which stood 
 on the opposite side of the Ottawa. 
 
 Mount Logan, in the Shick Shock range in Gaspe, was so 
 called at the suggestion of Mr. Murray, ano he also gave 
 the names they now bear to many of the geographical 
 features in the country north of Lake Huron, which he 
 was the first to lay down correctly on the map. He was 
 an excellent surveyor and astronomical observer, as well as 
 a neat and skillful draughtsman, as witnessed by the 
 numerous large and well executed maps of his in the 
 office of the Suivey. Most of his surveys were plotted 
 with his own hands, in the field. The numerous latitudes 
 
Alexander A *rray. 87 
 
 which he took have been found of great service in fixing 
 positions in many parts of old Canada and Newfoundland. 
 His surveys of Lake Nipissing and the various channels of 
 French River, made in several different years, were 
 found suflSciently accurate for the purpose of the Ottawa 
 Ship Canal Survey, and were adopted by the engineers of 
 that project — Shanly, Clark, Perry, Xorman and Galway — 
 who gave him credit for the use they had made of them. 
 
 In 1842 the Geological Survey of Canada was instituted 
 by the government, on a petition of the Natural 
 History Society of Montreal, made at the suggestion of the 
 late Eev. T)r. Mathieson. Mr. (afterwards) Sir W. E. 
 Logan was appointed provincial geologist, but owing to 
 unfulfilled business engagements in England he asked for 
 leave of absence and spent the winter of 1842-43 in the old 
 country. Here he appears to have first met with the 
 subject of oui- sketch in the beginning of 1843, and to have 
 engaged him as his assistant. Little is known of Murray's 
 early studies as a geologist, but even when a midshipman 
 he appears to have had a taste for the science, and had some 
 practical training under Sir Henry T. I)e la Beche, with 
 whom he served on the Geological Survey of Great Britain 
 during 1841 ; while his nautical education had already fitted 
 him to undertake topographical surveying. He arrived in 
 Canada in May, 1843, and immediately commenced opera- 
 tions in the western province, while Logan returned from 
 England, by Halifax, the same spring. On his arrival the 
 latter proceeded to the north-western part of Nova Scotia and 
 measured the celebrated section of the Carboniferous rocks 
 at the Joggins, near the head of the Bay of Fundy, which 
 is published in detail in the Eeport of Progress for 1843. 
 He then went to the eastern part of Gasp^ and examined 
 the coast in detail from Cape Rosier to Paspebiac. This 
 was tbe commencement of the Geological Survey, which 
 has since been extended to nearly all parts of the northern 
 half of the continent. 
 
 Murray wrote little for publication besides his official 
 reports to the governments of Canada and Newfoundland. 
 
88 Canadian Record of Science. 
 
 When the Koyal Society of Canada was founded by the 
 Marquis of Lome, it was made to include Newfoundland, 
 and Murray was appointed one of the original Fellows. In 
 1882 he contributed to its Transactions an interesting paper 
 on " The Glaciatiou of Newfoundland." He was elected a 
 Fellow of the Geological Society of London in 1870, and 
 in 1878 was created a C.M.G. through the recommendation 
 of Sir John Glover, then Governor of Newfoundland. 
 
 When Logan and Murray commenced the Geological 
 Survey of old Canada the greater part of the areas of both 
 provinces were uninhabited, unsurveyed and unknown. The 
 problem before them was to ascertain the general geological 
 structure and the geographical distribution of the rock- 
 formations, in spite of these difficulties. The region was so 
 vast that it required some courage for two men to under- 
 take this task. It was impossible for them to map out the 
 rocks without making their own topographical surveys 
 simultaneously with the geological ones. They could only 
 do this by following the rivers and lakes through the 
 forests and mapping them out as they went along. These 
 surveys have subsequently proved to be wonderfully accu- 
 rate, considering the difficulties under which our pioneers 
 had to labor, and ever since they were made they have 
 been found to be of the greatest service, even up to the 
 present time; and, as topographical surveys alone, they 
 have repaid many times over their small original cost. 
 
 But in addition to much of this kind of work, Murray 
 made regional geological surveys of a considerable area on 
 the north side of the North Channel of Lake Huron, of the 
 area south and west of a line from Kingston to Penotangui- 
 shene, including the lake peninsula of Upper Canada, and 
 of the country between the St. Lawrence and Ottawa 
 rivers, as far west as a line from Kingston to Bytown. 
 Besides assisiing Logan in exploring parts of the north 
 shore of Like Superior, Murray's own work on that lake 
 consisted of surveys of the Kaministiquia River, Dog Lake 
 and River, Michipicoten River and Batchawana Bay, and 
 also an examination of the south shore as far west as 
 
* Alexander Murray 89 
 
 L'Anse and Limestone Mountain, with a view to correlate 
 the rocks of the two sides. 
 
 His topographical and geological surveys in the country 
 directly north of Lake Huion embraced a greater or less 
 portion of the course of each of the following rivers : P^cho, 
 Garden, Thessalon. Mississagi. Serpent. Blind. Spanish, 
 Whitefish, Wahnapitte, Sturgeon and Maskinonge ; also 
 Lake Wahnapitae and numerous lakes connected with the 
 Thessalon, Mississagi, Blind and Maskinong^ Rivers. Be- 
 tween Georgian Bay and the Ottawa, he 6urve\ed mo>t of 
 the numeious channels of the Fiench River, the Sturgeon, 
 Meganatawan, Muskoka, Pelewawe, Bonnechere, south- 
 west branch of the Madawaska, and the head waters of the 
 Ottonabce Rivers and many lakes connected with them, 
 including Lake Nipis>ing 'and Muskoka Lake. In Lower 
 Canada he surveyed the Bonaventure, St. .John or Douglas- 
 town. Matane and Sle. Anne des Monts, and assisted Logan 
 (in 1844) to measure a traverse from the St, Lawrence to 
 Baie de Chaleur by way of the Chatte and Cascapedia 
 Rivers. During the season of 1849 he was again with 
 Logan in making a geological survey of the region between 
 the Chaudiere River and the Temiscouata Road. 
 
 The early finding of nickel ore on the north shore of 
 Lake Huron is worth referring to in connection with Mr. 
 Murray's work and the subsequent discoveries of this metal 
 in such abundance in the Sudbury District. In 1848 Murray 
 examined the Wallace Mine, near the mouth of Whitefish 
 River, where the initial discovery was made and which 
 had been opened the previous year. The ore \\hich he 
 brought to the laboratory of the Survey at that time was 
 found to contain 8'26 per cent, of nickel, " but as two fifths 
 of the specimen consisted of earthy materials which might 
 readily be separated by dressing, the quantity of nickel in 
 the pure ore which this would represent, would equal 
 nearly 14 per cent." The country locks of the Wallace 
 Mine belong to the same part of the Iluronian system as 
 those in the vicinity of Sudbury Junction, which lies on 
 their general strike to the north-eastward. 
 
90 Canadian Record of Science. 
 
 A preliminaiy geological reconnaisance of parts of New- 
 foundland was made by Prof. J. B. Jukes in 1839-40, and 
 his results were contained in his Physical Geography and 
 (jeology of Newfoundland, published in London in 1841. 
 In 1862 Mr. James Richardson made a geological examin- 
 ation of the northern peninsula of the island from 
 (Canada Bay on the east side to Bonne Bay on the west, in 
 connection with the Canadian Survey. I am indebted to 
 Mr. James P. Howley the present government geologist of 
 Newfoundland for the following notes on the origin of the reg- 
 ular Geological Survey which is still in operation. In 1862 
 or '63, Hon. James Rogerson, a member of the government, 
 when on a visit to New York, had a conversation with the 
 Hon. Mr. Archibald, the British consul general there, as to 
 the mineral resources of the colony, when the latter recom- 
 mended the institution of a geological t-urvey and gave Mr. 
 Rogerson a letter of introduction to Sir William Logan. 
 He afterwards met Sir William, who entered warmly into 
 the proposal and offered to send Mr. Murray to undertake 
 the work. Mr. Rogerson communicated with Hon. Mr. 
 (afterwards Sir) Hugh W. lloyles, attorney general and 
 premier of the island, who completed arrangements and 
 obtained a grant of money from the legislature for begin- 
 ning operations. The survey was under the honorary 
 general direction of Sir W. E. Logan. Mr. E. Billings, 
 palaeontologist and Dr. T. Steriy Hunt, chemist and mine- 
 ralogist of the Canadian Geological Surve}'- gave Mr. 
 Murray valuable assistance gratuitously from time to time. 
 
 Mr. Murray left Montreal on the 18th of May, 1864, with 
 Mr. H. H. Beckett, as assistant, in order to enter upon his 
 new duties. On his arrival at St. John's, he received more 
 detailed instructions from Attorney General Hoyles and 
 soon after commenced his field work, going first to the 
 north-eastern side of the island. The next two seasons 
 were devoted to the coast and interior of the western side. 
 In 1867 Murray went to Paris to place a collection of the 
 economic minerals of Newfoundland in the Universal Ex- 
 position which was being held there. An account pf the 
 
Alexander Murray, 91 
 
 mineral retrources of Newfoundland, addreijised toMr. W. C. 
 Sargcaunt of London, then Crown Agent for the colonies, 
 was published in the journal of the Society of Arts for 11th 
 October, 1867. Returning to Newfoundland in August, he 
 spent the remainder of the season examining Tilt Cove 
 Mine and the surrounding country. While jumping from 
 block to block in crossing a talus under one of the cliffs 
 near Cape St. George early in the summer of 1866, he 
 broke the tendon-Achilles of one of his legs, but in spite of 
 this serious accident he continued his field-work for the 
 remainder of the season, thereby preventing a satisfactory 
 healing afterwards and he became lame for the rest of his 
 life. 
 
 In 1868, y\.\'. James P. Ilowley was appointed assistant 
 geologist. Dming this and the next two years, the at- 
 tention of both Muriay and Ilowley was directed lo the 
 eastern part of the island. In April 1869, Murray came to 
 Montreal to visit Sir William Logan and on his return to 
 Newfoundland he examined the copper deposits of Bona- 
 vista Bay. surveyed Terra Nova River and made a preli- 
 minary examination of Bay P^ast River. 
 
 Surveys of the Exploits, the largest river in Newfound- 
 land and of Red Indian Lake were made by Murray in 
 1871. while Mr. Howley was examining the shores of Ex- 
 ploits and Gander Bays. Sir Wm. Logan visited Murray 
 in May of this year on his way from England to Montreal 
 and spent about three weeks with him at his home in St. 
 John's. Murray devoted most of the year 1872 to equipping 
 a small geological museum in St. John's and arranging his 
 specimens in it and also to preparing a general geological 
 map of the island which was i-educed by thelate Mr. Robert 
 Barlow to a scale of 25 miles to the inch. This map 
 was engraved by E. Stanford of London and issued in 
 1873. His field work this year was confined to the penin- 
 sula of Avalon and a portion of the shores of Trinity Bay. 
 
 The summer of 1873, was devoted to ascertaining the 
 extent and possible productiveness of the coal-field of Bay 
 St, George. In connection with this work, Murray traced 
 
92 Canadian Record of Science. 
 
 out the distribution of the Carboniferous rocks in that 
 region and also of the Silurian strata in the northern part 
 of the same district. In 1874, he surveyed Gander Eiver 
 and Lake, while Mr. liowley surveyed Por'.-a-Port Bay and 
 part of Bay St. Geoi'ge. His report accompanies that of 
 Mr. Murray, who speaks of it in the highest terms. Before 
 starting to the field this year, Mr. Murray paid a visit to 
 Sir William Logan in Montreal. In a characteristic letter to 
 Mi's. Muriay, dated 8th May, he says : " Here I am at my 
 old quarters and am charmed beyond expression to have to 
 tell you that my dear old friend is very much improved in 
 health and will, I fondly hope, be spared to us for a long 
 time to come. That he has considei'ably failed there can 
 be no manner of doubt, but the old stuff is strong in him 
 yet and what between a noble constitution and indomitable 
 pluck, I hope he may even last as long as old Bennett ! The 
 prospect of having me with him, I am told cheered him 
 very much ; and since my arrival ho has apparently so 
 much recovered as to be very much like what he ever was. 
 
 Yesterday we walked in together and wore busy all 
 
 day going over the museum, new offices and one thing and 
 
 another till time to return to dinner I find myself so 
 
 much made of here that I don't know how I shall get 
 
 tlirough all I have to do [ am getting, however, every 
 
 kind of assistance in the meantime and I am made to feel 
 while here at least, that I am one of themselves.'' 
 
 From this time till 1880, Mr. Murray continued to do 
 more or less field-work each season, except in 1875, when 
 he says his services were " required by the government for 
 special purposes not immediately connected with geological 
 investigations." Mr. Howley appears to have been in the 
 field ever}' season till 1883. In this year, owing to ill 
 health, Mr. Murray was retired upon full pay and Mr. 
 Howley was employed till ] 887, in making land survey's 
 for the government. Geological work was resumed in the 
 latter year and is still continued under Mr. Howley, who 
 is assisted by Mr. Bayly and Mr. Thorburu. 
 ' Mr. Murray's annual i-ej)orts, which were never ver^ 
 
Alexander Murray. 93 
 
 voluminous, were published year by year in St. John's, and 
 some of them were repr,'^»)d ih Montreal. When Mr. 
 Howley made reports on the work assigned to him these 
 were also published along with Mr. Muri'ay's. On Murray's 
 retirement from the direction of the Newfoundland Survey, 
 he went to live at his native town of Crieff in S- otiand. 
 He had previously revised his aimuul reports and in 1881, 
 he republished them at his own expense in one volume, 
 through Ei. Stanford of Charing Cross, London, along with 
 a lai-ge orographical map of N'ewfoundland(65 x 58 inches). 
 
 The space at our disposal will scarcely permit of even a 
 brief summary of the scientific results of the Geological 
 Survey of Newfoundland, which are clearly set forth in the 
 official reports. They include the blocking out of the dis- 
 tribution of the rock-formations over the whole island and 
 the tracing of them in more detail in certain areas where 
 they were of most interest either scientifically or econo- 
 mically, such as on the west coast from C^ape Ray to 
 Bonne Bay, on the south side of Notre-Dame Bay and 
 around some of the bays in the eastern part of the island. 
 The greater part of the interior has been shown to consist 
 of Laurentian and Huronian rocks. Cambrian strata fringe 
 all the great bays in the east and occupy a lai'-ge area 
 between Trinity and Bonavista Bays. Cambrian and Silu- 
 rian fo: mations are developed all along the west coast and 
 also at the head of White Bay on the north side, and small 
 patches of Devonian sandstones, etc., were identified 
 between Canada and Hare Bays north of White Bay. The 
 Carboniferous rocks with thin seams of coal around Bay 
 St. George and the north end of Grand Pond were carefully 
 mapped out. 
 
 The general strike of all the formations throughout the 
 island is north-easterly and south-westerly. The Upper 
 Laurentian with crystalline limestones and titaniferous 
 iron ones forms the western flank of the Long Range (of 
 mountains) lying eastward of Bay St. George. Elongated 
 areas of granites and greenstones occur among the crys- 
 talline rocks in various parts, all having the same general 
 
 2 
 
94 Canadian Record of Scietice. 
 
 run as the stratitied masses. Serpentines were found to be 
 largely developed in different regions, among which may 
 be mentioned the west coast from Port-a Port Bay north- 
 ward more than half the distance to the Strait of Belle Isle, 
 around Hare Bay near the northern extremity, Notre-Dame 
 Bay and the head waters of the main (Jander River. 
 
 The Cambrian and Lower Silurian formations are so 
 well displayed and so rich in fossils that Mr. Hovvley 
 thinks among them will be found the solution of certain 
 problems in the geology of eastern north America, lie 
 is of opinion that the serpentines form two distinct groups, 
 one belonging to the Cambrian or Silurian and the other 
 to the crystalline series. 
 
 Before any Cambrian fossils had been discovered in New- 
 foundland, Mr. Murray, was led to believe, from other con- 
 siderations, that certain rocks in the eastern part of the 
 island belonged to that system and after much .'-earch he 
 found a few at Bell Island and around Ti'inity Bay, which 
 were desciibed by Mr. Billings in his Palaeozoic Fossils, 
 Vol., II. Part I, and in the Canadian Naturalist, new series 
 Vol. VI, July, 1872. In the summer of 1874, Sir Wm. 
 Logan sent Mr. T. C. Weston, a lynx-eyed collector on the 
 Canadian survey, to find more fossils among these rocks. 
 He discovered them in abundance in the banks and on a 
 small island in Manuel's River and also at Bell Island and 
 Topsail Head, all in Conception Bay. These localities have 
 since been visited by Prof. C. D. Walcott and described in 
 his '• Correlation Papers-Cambrian," which constitutes 
 Bulletin 81 of the U. S. Geological Survey. 
 
 The original work that Mr. Murray performed in New- 
 foundland during the twenty years which he devoted to it 
 were of more service in making the island favourably 
 known to the outside world than anything which had pre- 
 viously occurred. The economic results of the Geological 
 Survey have been very important. Before it was com- 
 menced the interior of the island was unknown, even geo- 
 graphically, and the great value of its mineral, timber and 
 agricultural resources was unsuspected, The fisheries were 
 
Alexander Murray. 95 
 
 . supposed to bo the only source of wealth and the interests 
 of the mercantile class weio opposed to the development of 
 any others. At first Mr. Munay's reports, pointing out 
 the other riches of the island, were received with incredul- 
 ity, but after a time there was a reaction in the opposite 
 direction and a mania for minin*^ and prospcctirig set in. 
 Copper was successfully mined in largo quantities in several 
 places, but many speculative enterpiises failed, and blame 
 was unreasonably cast upon the Survey. The information 
 contained in Mr. Murray's reports in regard to the timber 
 led to the carrying on of lumb3ring operations in sev^eral 
 quarters. These reports also showed the existence of con- 
 siderable areas of cultivatable land around Bay St. George, 
 and in the vallej's of the Ilumber, Exploits and Gander 
 rivers and more serious attention has since been paid to the 
 agricultural capabilities of the colony. All this has given 
 the people new ideas and has led to great changes in the 
 positions of classes. The affairs of the colony are no longer 
 controlled entirely by the meichants, nor do the working 
 men depend so exclusively as formerly upon the fisheries. 
 Other industries are springing up and a railway is being 
 built across the island. 
 
 Before closing this brief sketch of the late Alexander 
 Murray, we must say a few words about his domestic life in 
 Newfoundland. After having been a widower for six years, 
 he married Miss Elizabeth Cummins on 28th January, 1868. 
 Five children were born of this marriage, namely, Mary 
 Isabella Logan, 24:th March, '69 ; Frances Augusta, 30th 
 December, 'YO ; William Edmond Logan, llth September, 
 '72 ; Alice Oliphant, 17th August, '74, and Alexander 
 Greene, 3rd January, '76. Sir Wm. Logan left £1,000 stg. 
 for the benefit of the eldest son who had been named after 
 him. Murray was greatly pained when he heard the news 
 of the death of his old chief and life-long friend to whom he 
 was much attached, and he wept like a child. 
 
 As before remarked^ he was created a C.M.G. in 1874. lie 
 acted as aide-de-camp to Sir John Glover, Sir Henry Maxse 
 and Sir Frederick Carter, respectively, while these gentle- 
 
9^ Canadian Record of Science, 
 
 men were (rovernore of Newfoundland. He was highly 
 respected by all members of the different governments under 
 which he served, and was most kindly supported by his 
 brother officials who reciprocated his obliging disposition 
 and good will. 
 
 Having, while in Canada, been thrown so much into con- 
 tact with the Aborigines, and knowing their character, he 
 became the great friend of the Indians of Newfoundland, 
 some of whom served him for as many as fourteen years. 
 They are said to speak of him yet as the best hearted man 
 that ever lived. His house was their home in St. John's, 
 and the photographs of Muriay and his family are to be 
 seen in all their wigwams, where they are highly piized. 
 
 While living in St. John's his manner was very un- 
 obtrusive and he appeared to care little for any society but 
 that of his wife and family. Latterly he became a member 
 of the Church of England and appears to have manifested a 
 simple Christian piety. Re enjoyed his full pay from the 
 Newfoundland (irovernment to the close of his life, but no 
 pension was granted to his family, who were left ill-provided 
 for, and would have fared badly but for the great and 
 continued generosity of Sir Patrick Keith Murray and 
 the present Laird of Dollarie, Mr. Anthony Murray, 
 mentioned in a previous part of this article. 
 
7// 
 
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 X