1 844.] sir j. d. hooker's reminiscences. 27 



always left with the feeling that I had imparted nothing and 

 carried away more than I could stagger under. Latterly, as 

 his health became more seriously affected, I was for days and 

 weeks the only visitor, bringing my work with me and 

 enjoying his society as opportunity offered. It was an 

 established rule that he every day pumped me, as he called 

 it, for half an hour or so after breakfast in his study, when 

 he first brought out a heap of slips with questions botanical, 

 geographical, &c, for me to answer, and concluded by telling 

 me of the progress he had made in his own work, asking my 

 opinion on various points. I saw no more of him till about 

 noon, when I heard his mellow ringing voice calling my 

 name under my window this was to join him in his daily 

 forenoon walk round the sand- walk.* On joining him I 

 found him in a rough grey shooting-coat in summer, and 

 thick cape over his shoulders in winter, and a stout staff in 

 his hand ; away we trudged through the garden, where there 

 was always some experiment to visit, and on to the sand- 

 walk, round which a fixed number of turns were taken, during 

 which our conversation usually ran on foreign lands and seas, 

 old friends, old books, and things far off to both mind and 

 eye. 



" In the afternoon there was another such walk, after which 

 he again retired till dinner if well enough to join the family ; 

 if not, he generally managed to appear in the drawing-room, 

 where seated in his high chair, with his feet in enormous 

 carpet shoes, supported on a high stool he enjoyed the 

 music or conversation of his family," 



Here follows a series of letters illustrating the growth 

 of my father's views, and the nature of his work during this 

 period.] 



* See Vol. I. p. 115. 



