DARWIN. 33 



favour to give us something to eat. ' Anything you choose, 

 sir,' was his usual answer. For the few first times, vainly 

 I thanked Providence for having guided us to so good a 

 man. The conversation proceeding, the case universally 

 became deplorable. ' Any fish can you do us the favour 

 of giving?' 'Oh, no, sir!' 'Any soup?' 'No, sir!' 'Any 

 bread?' 'Oh, no, sir!' 'Any dried meat?' 'Oh, no, sir!' 

 If we were lucky, by waiting a couple of hours, we ob- 

 tained fowls, rice, and farinha. It not unfrequently 

 happened that we were obliged to kill, with stones, the 

 poultry for our own supper. When, thoroughly exhausted 

 by fatigue and hunger, we timorously hinted that we 

 should be glad of our meal, the pompous and (though 

 true) most unsatisfactory answer was, ' It will be ready 

 when it is ready!' If we had dared to remonstrate any 

 further, we should have been told to proceed on our 

 journey, as being too impertinent. The hosts are most 

 ungracious and disagreeable in their manners ', their 

 houses and their persons are often filthily dirty; the 

 want of the accommodation of forks, knives, and spoons 

 is common ; and I am sure no cottage or hovel in England 

 could be found in a state so utterly destitute of every 

 comfort." 



When we add to these discomforts on land the 

 fact that the young traveller was a constant sufferer 

 from sea-sickness and nausea, which became chronic, 

 it becomes more surprising that he should not have with- 

 drawn early from his adventurous course. But his energy 

 and resolution were equal to any drafts upon them, 

 and the delights of the study of nature outweighed all 

 physical discomforts. Admiral J. Lort Stokes in a letter 

 3 



