[Archibald Ross]. British civil engineer and colonial commissioner; born at sea, off the Cape of Good Hope, in March 1848. He is a son of Dr. Archibald Colquhoun of the East India Company. He received his education both in Scotland and on the Continent. He entered the India service as a civil engineer in the Public Works Department. While in India from 1871 to 1883, he was much interested in the connecting of British India with Siam and China. He made several exploring expeditions in the interest of that project. In 1883 he went to China as special correspondent of the London Times, and attracted attention by his letters and commercial suggestions. He again entered the India service in 1885, and until 1889 acted as deputy commissioner in Upper Burma. He was transferred to South Africa in 1889 and until 1891 took an active part in the colonization of Mashonaland, during his last year of residence there acting as chief magistrate of the colony. He was pensioned in 1893. Mr. Colquhoun has published valuable accounts of his travels in India, China and Africa. These descriptions are included in his books: Across Chrysee (1882); Among the Shans (1883); and Matabeleland, and Our Position in South Africa (1893).
