SCIENCE AND TRAVEL 199 



mother, daughter of Josiah Wedgwood, the Unita- 

 rian services. At Cambridge he graduated without 

 distinction at the beginning of 1831. It should be 

 said, however, that the traditional studies were par- 

 ticularly ill suited to his cast of mind, that he had 

 not been idle, and had developed particular diligence 

 in different branches of science, and above all as a 

 collector. 



He was six feet tall, fond of shooting and hunt- 

 ing, and able to ride seventy-five or eighty miles 

 without tiring. He had shown himself at college 

 fond of company, and a little extravagant. He was, 

 though a sportsman, extremely humane ; had a hor- 

 ror of inflicting pain, and such repugnance at the 

 thought of slavery that he quarreled violently with 

 Captain Fitzroy when the latter condoned the abom- 

 ination. Darwin was not, however, of a turbulent 

 disposition. Sir James Sulivan, who had accompa- 

 nied the expedition as second lieutenant, said many 

 years after : " I can confidently express my belief 

 that during the five years in the Beagle, he was 

 never known to be out of temper, or to say one un- 

 kind or hasty word of or to any one." 



Darwin's father was remarkable for his powers 

 of observation, while the grandfather, Erasmus Dar- 

 win, is well known for his tendency to speculation. 

 Charles Darwin possessed both these mental charac- 

 teristics in an eminent degree. One who has con- 

 versed with him reports that what impressed him 

 most in meeting the great naturalist was his clear 

 blue eyes, which seemed to possess almost telescopic 

 vision, and that the really remarkable thing about 

 Darwin was that he saw more than other people. At 



