224 NATHANIEL SOUTHGATE SHALER 



carried on his studies as far as he was able; but becoming im- 

 patient of the inactivity of indoor life, he sought to occupy 

 himself in the country by clearing a large tract of land of its 

 timber. In order to get it into shape for the market he set up a 

 saw-mill, but he soon abandoned the enterprise as too costly 

 in time and money. In regard to this same tract of land his 

 father writes some years after: "The Benton farm is doing 

 well. You would hardly know the place where you acquired 

 your saw-mill experience ; the bottom is cleared and in grass. 

 I have about two hundred acres of good grazing about one 

 hundred sheep and a fine lot of early grade Cotswold lambs 

 feeding upon it." 



Then, further along, he became collector of internal revenue. 

 This work brought him into contact with all sorts of queer 

 people, and, in a superficial way, made him acquainted with 

 the material condition of the state, a knowledge which proved 

 of advantage when he became director of the Kentucky Geolo- 

 gical Survey. The work of "collector" at this time was hardly 

 less hazardous than military service, for in out-of-the-way 

 places the civil law was none too well respected, and the bearer 

 of gold was apt to be an object of altogether too vigilant atten- 

 tion. The only advantage of this service over the field was 

 his ability to regulate his movements with reference to his 

 health; otherwise the journeys were laborious, long horse- 

 back rides, early departures and late returns. Under this disci- 

 pline, whether or no, like Stevenson, he felt the need "to come 

 down off this feather bed of civilization, to put his feet upon 

 the floor of the globe strewn with cutting flints," he got the 

 experience. 



Although it had for some time been manifest that, owing to 

 its malarial influence, the climate of Kentucky, so far from being 

 health-giving, was in fact a serious menace, Mr. Shaler did not 

 revisit New England until the summer of '64. The following 

 letter was written immediately upon his return : 



