X)l MEMOIR. 



—though there he had never " sapped/' as he regretfully wrote soon 

 tifter to one of the masters — and did not intend to take a degree in 

 honours, not much reading was necessary, and with Wolley's tastes 

 it is not surprising that most of his time while at the University was 

 passed out of doors, and especially in the fens and woods of Cam- 

 bridgeshire and Huntingdonshire, the former of which, from their 

 as yet only partially-drained condition, afforded a rich field for the 

 researches of a naturalist. He also gave up boating as a diversion, 

 partly, he said, because he did not feel strong enough for it, and only 

 practised it as a means of making his numerous excursions. Ento- 

 mology was still first in his affections, and the results of his own 

 birds'-nesting were of comparatively slight importance, for he had 

 yet to learn by experience the dishonesty of egg-dealers, so that he 

 was again and again content wdtli specimens, often worthless, which 

 were brought to him, instead of seeking them himself, and must thus 

 have missed many an opportunity which could never recur. All that 

 can be said in extenuation is that, among the collectors of those days, 

 he was one of the first to see the need of taking eggs with his own 

 hands, or of obtaining them direct from trustworthy sources, and of 

 rigorously rejecting specimens on the genuineness of which he could 

 not depend. INIoreover the restrictions imposed by College rules, at 

 that time very strictly enforced, served not a little to impede his 

 movements. It was impossible to be in the Fens either very early 

 in the morning or late in the evening, the best times for work, as 

 every birds'-nester knows. 



So soon as his first long vacation, that of ]843, began, he was off 

 to Whittlesey and its still nndrained mere, staying at Sawtry (§ 289), 

 us here the j^W^ o^ ^^^ Large Copper Butterfly [Lyccena dispar), 

 obtained from Wood Walton Fen, could be bought at fourpence the 

 dozen, while in the not very distant Monk's Wood entomological 

 treasures, at thot time far more highly thought of, were easily to be 

 had. It was in the course of this excursion that he put up for the 

 night in the Red Cow Inn at Ramsey Hern (§431), being charged 

 sixpence for his lodging ; but it must be owned that the accommo- 

 dation was not luxurious, for, as he told Rowley, the grass was 

 growing through the floor under the table, and he arrived soon after 

 at the house of his friend's father at St. Neot's, with his face peeled 



