58 RAMBLES OF A NATURALIST. 



fallen to my lot. When ascendins^ to the origin of 

 all these harmonies, I found that the Eternal PoAver 

 was the source from whence this admirable order 

 sprang ; when through marvel to marvel my thoughts 

 rose from creation to the Creator, it was from the 

 very depths of my soul that I adored Him in His 

 works, and united with GeofFroy de Saint-Hilaire * 

 in the cry of " Glory be to G od ! " 



And now perhaps you may understand how it was 

 that I could so easily forget myself in the midst of 

 my occupations. Indeed it often happened that I 

 did not seek my hammock- bed until my fingers were 

 so stiffened with cold that I was unable to handle 

 my instruments with the necessary precision. The 

 Blainville fishermen, whose huts faced my window, 

 were often surprised to find at three o'clock in the 

 morning, that my lamp, whose light they had watched 

 before they went to rest, was still burning. I believe 

 this fact has left a more permanent impression than 

 any of the other circumstances connected with my 

 stay on the island. The good people thought that I 

 lived without sleep, and occasionally gave expression, 

 with the utmost naivete, to their extreme surprise. 



It may perhaps excite astonishment to hear of cold 

 and dampness, considering that I was at Chausey 

 during the months of July and August. But this 

 surprise will vanish, if we call to mind the character 

 of the summer of 1841 even at Paris; and that I 

 was in the midst of the sea at three leas^ues' distance 



* [A biographical sketch of Geoffroy de Saiut-Hilaire is given 

 in the Appendix, Note VIII.] 



