242 LIFE OF DARWIN 



tenth place on the list of those who did not go in for 

 honours. The disgust for geology with which the 

 Wernerian doctrines at Edinburgh had inspired him, 

 prevented him from becoming a pupil of Sedgwick. 

 It is curious to speculate on what might have been 

 his ultimate bent had he then come under the spell 

 of that eloquent, enthusiastic, and most lovable man. 

 Not improbably he would have become an ardent 

 geologist, dedicating more exclusively to that science 

 the genius and industry which he devoted to biology 

 and to natural history as a whole. 



Some of the incidents of his Cambridge life which 

 he records are full of interest in their bearing on his 

 future career. Foremost among them stands the friend- 

 ship which he formed with Professor Henslow, whose 

 lectures on botany he attended. He joined in the 

 class excursions, and found them delightful. But still 

 more profitable to him were the long and almost daily 

 walks which he enjoyed with his teacher during 

 the latter half of his time at Cambridge. Henslow's 

 wide range of acquirement, his modesty, unselfishness, 

 courtesy, gentleness and piety, fascinated Darwin and 

 exerted on him an influence which, more than anything 

 else, tended to shape his whole future life. The love of 

 travel, which had been kindled by his boyish reading, 

 now took a deeper hold of him as he read Humboldt's 

 Personal Narrative, and Herschel's Introduction to the 

 Study of Natural Philosophy. He determined to visit 

 Teneriffe, and even went so far as to inquire about 

 ships. But his desire was soon to be gratified in a 

 far other and more comprehensive voyage. At the 

 close of his college life he was fortunate enough, 



