84 Mary Somerville. 



materials in the notes he brought home, many of which 

 we still possess. Without being very deeply learned 

 on any one special subject, he was generally well- 

 informed, and very intelligent. He was an excellent 

 classical scholar, and could repeat long passages from 

 Horace and other authors. He had a lively interest in 

 all branches of natural history, was a good botanist and 

 mineralogist, and could take note of all the strange 

 animals, plants, or minerals he saw in his adventurous 

 journies in the countries, now colonized, but then the 

 hunting-grounds of Caffres and other uncivilised tribes. 

 He was the first white man who penetrated so far into 

 the country, and it was not without great risk. Indeed, 

 on one occasion he was sentenced to death by a C afire 

 chief, and only saved by the interposition of the chief's 

 mother. 



My father's style in writing English was singularly 

 pure and correct, and he was very fastidious on this 

 topic a severe critic, whether in correcting the chil- 

 dren's lessons or in reading over the last proof sheets of 

 my mother's works previous to their publication. These 

 qualities would have fitted him very well to write the 

 history of his travels, but he disliked the trouble of it, 

 and, never having the slightest ambition on his own 

 account, he let the time for publication slip by. Others 

 travelled over the country he first explored, and the 

 novelty was at an end. He was far happier in helping 

 my mother in various ways, searching the libraries for 

 the books she required, indefatigably copying and re- 

 copying her manuscripts, to save her time. No trouble 

 seemed too great which he bestowed upon her ; it was a 

 labour of love. My father was most kindhearted, and 

 I have often heard my mother say how many persons he 



