1884-85-] Edinburgh Naturalists' Field Club. 195 



in the glass, I can see at once that my face is anytliing but comely : con- 

 tinual exposure to the sun and to the rains of the tropics has furrowed it in 

 places, and given it a tint which neither Rowland's Kalydor nor all the 

 cosmetics of Belinda's toilet would ever be able to remove. My hair, which 

 I wear very short, was once of a shade betwixt brown and black : it has now 

 the appearance as though it had passed the night exposed to a November hoar- 

 frost. I cannot boast of any great strength of arm, but my legs, by much 

 walking and fre(|ueutly ascending trees, have acquii'ed vast muscular power ; 

 so that on taking a view of me from top to toe, you would say that the upper 

 part of Tithonus was placed on the lower part of Ajax ; or, to speak zoolog- 

 ically, were I exhibited at a horse-fair, some learned jockey woiild exclaim, 

 ' He is half Rosinante and half Bucephalus ! ' By giving this description of 

 myself, it will prevent all chance in future of the nondescript's portrait in the 

 ' Wanderings ' being taken for my own," 



This latter remark requires some explanation. Waterton had 

 often severely criticised the very defective manner in which the 

 skins of animals are stuffed for our national museums ; and to show 

 that a skin may be so prepared as to resemble almost anything, he 

 stuffed a monkey's or some other skin so that it bore some faint 

 resemblance to a human being, and this " nondescript," as he 

 terms it, was figured in the ' Wanderings,' and a worthy Yorkshire 

 baronet, on taking up the book and showing the frontispiece to his 

 friends, said, " Dear me, what a very extraordinary-looking man 

 Mr Waterton must be ! " Waterton and all his family for genera- 

 tions were strong adherents of the Romish Church, and after a few 

 years at a preparatory school near Durham, he went to the Jesuit 

 college at Stonyhurst, and always looked back upon the time he 

 spent there with a feeling of great respect and veneration for the 

 Fathers of the Church who were his preceptors. He tells us that 

 at college he soon became noted for his knowledge of the habits 

 and instincts of animals, and was by common consent considered 

 rat-catcher, fox-taker, and foumart-killer to the establishment. He 

 says : — 



"Moreover, I fulfilled the duties of organ-blower and football-maker with 

 entire satisfaction to the public. I was now at the height of my ambition. I 

 followed up my calling with great success. The vermin disappeared by the 

 dozen ; the books were moderately well thumbed ; and, according to my 

 notion of things, all went on perfectly right. The day I left the Jesuit 

 college was one of heartfelt sorrow to me." 



^Cj^ 



At Stonyhurst there are boundaries marked out for the students 

 which they are not allowed to pass, and just outside the boundary 

 was a very extensive labyrinth of Yew and Holly trees. This place 

 was a great attraction to Waterton, as it was a chosen place for 

 animated nature. He says : — 



' ' Birds, in particular, used to frequent the spacious enclosure, and many 

 a time have I hunted there the Foumart and Squirrel. I once took a cut 

 through it to a neighbouring wood, where I knew of a Can-ion-crow's nest. 

 The prefect missed me, and judging I had gone into the labyrinth, gave chase 



