The Days of a Man 1873 



commotion, and in the morning Agassiz was dis- 

 tinctly stern. At breakfast he rose and said that 

 six young men (whose names he gave) would leave 

 by the steamer at ten o'clock. Various appeals 

 were now made: "the women didn't mind it" 

 "it was only a student prank and had no signifi- 

 cance." But he remained firm. We were there for 

 serious purpose, he said; it was not the place or 

 time for "pranks." 



First The third day I was one of those chosen for the 



dredging fi rs t dredging trip, on which we secured many 

 creatures from sea bottom, quite new to us. At the 

 same time we learned something of the discomfort 

 possible in an unballasted schooner anchored to a 

 dredge in the open ocean ; but with longer experience 

 I managed to master the situation. Among inter- 

 esting later trips on the Sprite, we visited the island 

 of No Man's Land, far out at sea and inhabited by 

 a few fishermen whose outlook was wholly different 

 from ours. 



So the summer went on through a succession of 

 thf . . jy us mornings, beautiful days, and calm nights, 

 optimist w j t j i t j ie jy[ aster a i wa y S present, always ready to 



help and encourage, and the contagious enthusiasm 

 which surrounded him like an atmosphere never 

 lacking. A born optimist/ his strength lay largely 

 in a realization of the value of the present moment. 

 He was a living illustration of Thoreau's aphorism 

 that "there is no hope for you unless the bit of sod 

 under your feet is the sweetest in this world in 

 any world." 



C 1123 



