10 AUTOBIOGRAPHY. [ch. ii. 



sit for hours reading the historical plays of Shakespeare, 

 generally in an old window in the thick walls of the school. 

 I read also other poetry, such as Thomson's Seasons, and the 

 recently published poems of Byron and Scott. I mention 

 this because later in life I wholly lost, to my great regret, 

 all pleasure from poetry of any kind, including Shakespeare. 

 In connection with pleasure from poetry, I may add that in 

 1822 a vivid delight in scenery was first awakened in my 

 mind, during a riding tour on the borders of Wales, and this 

 has lasted longer than any other aesthetic pleasure. 



Early in my school-days, a boy had a copy of the Won- 

 ders of the World, which I often read, and disputed with 

 other boys about the veracity of some of the statements ; 

 and I believe that this book first gave me a wish to travel in 

 remote countries, which was ultimately fulfilled by the voy- 

 age of the Beagle. In the latter part of my school life I 

 became passionately fond of shooting ; I do not believe that 

 any one could have shown more zeal for the most holy 

 cause than I did for shooting birds. How well I remember 

 killing my first snipe, and my excitement was so great that 

 I had much difficulty in reloading my gun from the trem- 

 bling of my hands. This taste long continued, and I be- 

 came a very good shot. When at Cambridge I used to prac- 

 tice throwing up my gun to my shoulder before a looking 

 glass to see that I threw it up straight. Another and better 

 plan was to get a friend to wave about a lighted candle, and 

 then to fire at it with a cap on the nipple, and if the aim 

 was accurate the little puff of air would blow out the can- 

 dle. The explosion of the cap caused a sharp crack, and I 

 was told that the tutor of the college remarked, " What an 

 extraordinary thing it is, Mr. Darwin seems to spend hours 

 in cracking a horse-whip in his room, for I often hear the 

 crack when I pass under his windows." 



I had many friends amongst the schoolboys, whom I 

 loved dearly, and I think that my disposition was then very 

 affectionate. 



With respect to science, I continued collecting minerals 

 with much zeal, but quite unscientifically all that I cared 

 about was a new-named mineral, and I hardly attempted to 

 classify them. I must have observed insects with some little 

 care, for when ten years old (1819) I went for three weeks 

 to Plas Edwards on the sea-coast in Wales, I w r as very much 

 interested and surprised at seing a large black and scarlet 

 Hemipterous insect, many moths (Zygoena), and a Cicin- 



