It was a time of much political excitement in
France, the eve of the famous Plebiscite, and the importance of
Garnier's work was not then recognised by his countrymen. Yule saw its
value, and on arrival in London went straight to Sir Roderick Murchison,
laid the facts before him, and suggested that no other traveller of the
year had so good a claim to one of the two gold medals of the R.G.S. as
this French naval Lieutenant. Sir Roderick was propitious, and accordingly
in May the Patron's medal was assigned to Garnier, who was touchingly
grateful to Yule; whilst the French Minister of Marine marked his
appreciation of Yule's good offices by presenting him with the magnificent
volumes commemorating the expedition.[60]
Yule was in Paris in 1871, immediately after the suppression of the
Commune, and his letters gave interesting accounts of the extraordinary
state of affairs then prevailing. In August, he served as President of the
Geographical Section of the British Association at its Edinburgh meeting.
On his return to Palermo, he devoted himself specially to the geography of
the Oxus region, and the result appeared next year in his introduction and
notes to Wood's Journey. Soon after his return to Palermo, he became
greatly interested in the plans, about which he was consulted, of an
English church, the gift to the English community of two of its oldest
members, Messrs Ingham and Whitaker.
