join the expedition in H. M. S. Beagle, Professor Henslow recommended me, as one who knew very little, but who, he thought, would work. I was strongly attached to natural history, and this attachment I owed, in large part, to him. During the five years' voyage, he regularly corresponded with me and guided my efforts; he received, opened, and took care of all the specimens sent home in many large boxes; but I firmly believe that, during these five years, it never once crossed his mind that he was acting towards me with unusual and generous kindness. During the years when I associated so much with Professor Henslow, I never once saw his temper even ruffled. He never took an ill-natured view of anyone's character, though very far from blind to the foibles of others. It always struck me that his mind could not be even touched by any paltry feeling of vanity, envy, or jealousy. With all this equability of temper and remarkable benevolence, there was no insipidity of character. A man must have been blind not to have perceived that beneath this placid exterior there was a vigorous and determined will. When principle came into play, no power on earth could have turned him one hair's breadth. In intellect, as far as I could judge, accurate powers of observation, sound sense, and cautious judgment seemed predominant. Nothing seemed to give him so much enjoyment as drawing conclusions from minute observations. But his admirable memoir on the geology of Anglesey shows his capacity for extended observations and broad views. Reflecting over his character with gratitude and reverence, his moral attributes rise, as they should do in the highest character, in pre-eminence over his intellect.

Darwin was as apt to learn the lesson of modesty and sincerity, kindliness and magnanimity, as anything that Professor Henslow could teach him, and with perfect truth we can now apply to the admiring and grateful pupil the words which he wrote of his friend and teacher at Cambridge.

Mr. Darwin spent between three and four years at Cambridge, where he met with Sedgwick, Airy, Ramsay, and other men of science; and it was in 1831 that he accepted the offer mentioned above, to accompany Captain Fitzroy in H. M. S. Beagle, which was commissioned to complete the survey of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, begun by Captain King, to survey the shores of Chile, Peru, and some

be

islands of the Pacific, and to carry a chain of chronometrical measurements round the world. We have given Mr. Darwin's account of how he came to join the expedition. Captain Fitzroy, in his description of the voyage, published in 1839, says that, at his suggestion, the hydrographer of the Admiralty, Captain Beaufort, consented to the appointment "of some scientific person" to collect useful information during the voyage, and" wrote to Professor Peacock of Cambridge, who consulted with a friend, Professor Henslow, and he named Mr. Charles Darwin, grandson of the poet, as a young man of promising ability, extremely fond of geology, and indeed all branches of natural history. In consequence, an offer was made to Mr. Darwin to my guest on board, which he accepted conditionally; permission was obtained for his embarkation, and an order given by the Admiralty that he should be borne on the ship's books for provisions. The conditions asked by Mr. Darwin were, that he should be at liberty to leave the Beagle and retire from the expedition when he thought proper, and that he should pay a fair share of the expenses of my table."1 Captain Fitzroy, in proposing the appointment of a scientific man, and Professor Henslow, in fixing upon Darwin for the post, did good service to the world, for, during the voyage of the Beagle seeds were sown in Darwin's fertile mind which bore fruit in his greatest works, and indeed in nearly all the work of his life. He told us long afterwards how the facts learnt in South America, after being pondered for many years, led to the publication of the Origin of Species in 1859.

When on board H. M. S. Beagle, as naturalist, I was much struck with certain facts in the distribution of the organic beings inhabiting South America, and in the geological relations of the present to the past inhabitants of that continent. These facts seemed to throw some light on the origin of species that mystery of mysteries, as it has been called by one

1 A Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of H. M. S. Adventure and Beagle, Vol. II., pp. 18, 19.

of our greatest philosophers. On my return home it occurred to me, in 1837, that something might perhaps be made out on this question by patiently accumulating and reflecting on all sorts of facts which could possibly have any bearing on it. After five years' work I allowed myself to speculate on the subject, and drew up some short notes; these I enlarged in 1844 into a sketch of the conclusions which then seemed to me probable; from that period to the present day I have steadily pursued the same object.1

From these words we learn a good deal of Darwin s method of work; his patience, his industry, his conscientiousness. It was more than twenty years before he allowed himself to give to the world the results of the studies which he resolved upon in 1837; and even then it was by the persuasion of friends that he published what he calls "this abstract" of his researches and conclusions.

The memorable voyage of the Beagle, which will always be associated with the dawn of a new scientific epoch, began on the 27th of December, 1831, and lasted for nearly five years, ending on the 2nd of October, 1836. Mr. Darwin has told the story of his adventures and experiences in the Journal of Researches, a book which is now familiarly known as "A Naturalist's Voyage Round the World." It was published in 1839, the first of a succession of works which for forty years surprised and charmed the scientific world; and before the second edition appeared in 1845 the book had been translated into German, the Germans having thus early shown their appreciation of Mr. Darwin's genius. It is impossible to give even an

1 Introduction to the Origin of Species, 1859.

2 In 1839 Mr. Colburn published an account of the Voyages of the Beagle and the Adventure (which had previously been engaged on a similar survey), in two volumes, by Captain King and Captain Fitzroy ; and, as a third volume, but complete in itself and sold separately, "Journal of Researches into the Geology and Natural History of the Various Countries visited by H, M. S. Beagle, under the command of Captain Fitzroy, R.N., from 1832 to 1836. By Charles Darwin, Esq., M.A., F.R.S., Secretary to the Geological Society." A second edition of the Journal of Researches appeared in 1845.

outline of the voyage, but, for the purpose of this paper, which is to produce something like a picture of the man, and not a scientific estimate of his work, nothing can be better than a liberal use of the Journal of Researches, where he marshals facts with the same masterly hand that compels our admiration in his maturer writings, while we come across one passage after another showing his great powers of mind, and his noble and kindly nature.

Soon after Mr. Darwin arrived at Rio de Janeiro he accepted the invitation of an Englishman to visit his estate, a hundred miles from the capital. If we could give the complete account of this expedition, it would exemplify in a striking way Mr. Darwin's remarkable habits of observation, the sympathy with his fellowcreatures, however lowly they might be, and the delight in nature, which characterize the whole book.

As it was growing dark (he says, of the evening of the first day) we passed under one of the massive, bare, and steep hills of granite, which are so common in this country. This spot is notorious from having been, for a long time, the residence of some run-away slaves, who, by cultivating a little ground near the top, contrived to eke out a subsistence. At length they were discovered, and a party of soldiers being sent, the whole were seized with the exception of one old woman, who, sooner than again be led into slavery, dashed herself to pieces from the summit of the mountain. In a Roman matron this would have been called the noble love of freedom; in a poor negress it is mere brutal obstinacy. We continued riding for some hours. For the few last miles the road was intricate, and it passed through a desert waste of marshes and lagoons. The scene by the dimmed light of the moon was most desolate. A few fireflies flittered by us; and the solitary snipe, as it rose, uttered its plaintive cry. The distant and sullen roar of the sea scarcely broke the stillness of the night.

The journey was not without its hardships, though they were willingly borne for the sake of the fresh experience and knowledge which it brought. At the vênda (or inn), the travellers would ask the senhor to do them the favour of giving them something to eat. Anything you choose, sir,' was his usual answer.

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For the first few times, vainly I thanked providence for having guided us to so good a man. The conversation proceeding, the case universally became deplorable. Any fish can you do us the favour of giving ?-‘Oh ! no, Sir. Any soup? No, Sir.'- Any bread ?— 'Oh no, Sir.'-' Any dried meat? Oh, no, Sir.' If we were lucky, by waiting a couple of hours we obtained fowls, rice, and farinha." The hosts were ungracious and disagreeable in their manners; the houses filthy; in many places, forks, knives, and spoons, were unknown. At the end of the third day, the troubles of the adventurers assumed a different shape. They reached the house of a friend, where the dishes were many, and every guest was expected to eat of each; and Mr. Darwin describes how, one day, having nicely calculated, as he thought, so that nothing should go away untasted, to his utter dismay "a roast turkey and a pig appeared in all their substantial reality. But the life here was pleasant and even fascinating in its patriarchal simplicity, "as long as the idea of slavery could be banished;" and on this estate the slaves seemed to be happy enough. "One morning I walked out an hour before daylight to admire the solemn stillness of the scene; at last the silence was broken by the morning hymn, raised on high by the whole body of the blacks; and in this manner their daily work is generally begun."

On the estate where he stopped next Mr. Darwin "was very nearly being an eye-witness to one of those atrocious acts which can only take place in a slave country." The owner, though a man of more than average humanity and kind feeling, was about to sell all the women and children away from the men, and was only prevented by self-interest. In connection

with this incident, Mr. Darwin "mentions one very trifling anecdote which at the time struck him more forcibly than any story of cruelty." He was crossing a ferry with an uncommonly stupid negro. "In endeavouring to make him understand, I talked loud, and made

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