196 Transactions of the [Sess. 



without loss of time. After eluding him in cover for nearly half an hour, 

 being hard pressed I took down a hedgerow. Here he got a distant sight of 

 me ; but it was not sufficiently distinct for him to know for a certainty that 

 I was the fugitive. I luckily succeeded in reaching the outbuildings which 

 abutted on the college. I had just time to enter the postern gate of a pig- 

 sty, when, most opportunely, I found old Joe Bowreu bringing straw into the 

 sty. He was more attached to me than to any other boy, for I had known 

 him when I was at school in the north, and had made him a present of a very 

 fine terrier. ' I've just saved myself, Joe,' said I ; ' cover me up with litter.' 

 He had barely complied with my request when in bounced the prefect. 

 ' Have you seen Charles Waterton ? ' said he, qiiite out of breath. My trusty 

 guardian answered, in a tone of voice which would have deceived any one, 

 ' Sir, I have not spoken a word to Charles Waterton these three days, to the 

 best of my knowledge. ' Upon this the prefect went his way, and when he had 

 disappeared I stole out of my cover strongly perfumed." 



After leaving college Waterton spent some time on the Continent, 

 and it was when sailing from an English port that the following 

 incident occurred, which speaks well for Waterton as a generous- 

 hearted man, and capable of using his good sense with promptitude 

 on an emergency. A Scotch brig, bound for Vigo, was sailing fi-om 

 the same port at the same time as the vessel containing Waterton, 

 and he learned from one of the sailors that the mate of the brig 

 was in a conspiracy to murder the captain and run away with the 

 vessel. Waterton questioned the sailor very minutely, and satisfied 

 himself that the captain of the brig was in imminent danger ; and 

 he determined, if possible, to thwart the rascal's design. So he 

 committed the sailor's statement to writing, and enclosed it in a 

 bottle, then hailed the captain of the brig soon after leaving the 

 port, and threw the bottle on the quarter-deck. The captain took 

 it below, and soon returned on deck and made a very low bow to 

 express his gratitude for the timely warning. 



Waterton made four voyages to America, and afterwards wrote 

 the ' Wanderings ' — a very interesting work to naturalists, and 

 which brought him into much public notice. He greatly delighted 

 in observing the habits of birds, and other animals new to him, in 

 the primeval forests of Demerara. He afterwards wrote an auto- 

 biography, extending over a large portion of his long life, and 

 subsequently his ' Essays on Natural History.' These essays 

 are to a student of nature most attractive reading, for Waterton 

 had opportunities of carrying out his observations which few 

 possess. 



Walton Hall, near Wakefield, his ancestral home, is situated on 

 an island in a picturesque lake, the access to the house being by a 

 drawbridge. All animals, with one notable exception, were strictly 

 protected ; and from the windows, with the aid of a telescope, he 

 could notice the habits of the wild-fowl on the lake, and the various 

 other creatures under his protection, — and the result of these ob- 

 servations form the subjects of the Essays. Waterton's descriptions 



