Ixxxviii Proceedings. 
At the sight of his first Kingfisher, how charmed he was. He 
says :-—‘ What a beautiful bird, what a sparkling gem of Nature, 
resplendent in plumage and gorgeous in colour, from the bright 
turquoise-blue to the deepest green and darker shades of copper 
and gold! I was greatly taken with its extraordinary beauty, 
and much excited by seeing it dive into the stream. I thought 
it would drown itself, and that its feathers would eventually 
become so clogged with water that it would not be able to fly. 
Had this happened, which of course it did not, my intention was 
to have plunged into the rescue, when, as a matter of course, I 
would have claimed the prize as my reward.” How feeling and 
how boylike! 
After two years his father apprenticed his elder brother to a 
baker, and Tom to a shoemaker. Tom’s life during his appren- 
ticeship was an unhappy one. He in his spare time collected 
butterflies, eggs, &c., and, if at any time his master came across 
any of Tom’s collection, he threw them away. His master being 
a drunkard, and having no sympathy with Tom’s ambition, he 
even went so far as to cruelly ill-use the lad. Tom at last ran 
away; he was anxious to go to sea, but he could not obtain his 
parents’ consent ; so he made a determined tramp to reach the 
Kettle, which is about one hundred miles from Aberdeen, to find 
his uncle. The reception he met on arriving there did not at all 
meet his expectations. The boy soon found he was not welcome, 
and felt anxious to return home. 
In 1831 Edward enlisted in the Aberdeenshire Militia. His 
Natural History enthusiasm led him into a most awkward and 
dangerous position, for he was one day, whilst drilling, led to 
follow a brown fritillary butterfly that at the time was passing. 
This naturally was a great breach of discipline, and had not 
some lady friends of the captain, who were present, interceded, 
he would doubtless have been severely punished. 
At the age of twenty-three years he married, and took up his 
quarters at Banff. He had a happy home, and a good wife, who 
was in no way .opposed to his Natural History work, but who 
rather encouraged him, and he determined to make a collection. 
Now, to his sorrow, did he feel the loss of a sound education ; 
he possessed no works on Natural History, and was consequently 
severely handicapped. He made regular nocturnal excursions 
with his gun, bottles, and botanical book, and was taken by his 
neighbours to be mad. For about fifteen years Edward con- 
tinued these nocturnal excursions, covering a large area of 
ground. During the long winter nights he made cases, and 
arranged his objects. 
After four years he had collected some nine hundred insects, 
and, on visiting his collection one day, he found his cases were 
all empty. His wife, on seeing the empty cases, asked him what 
