1 84 1 SURVEY EXPERIENCES 49 



ing by himself in the bed of a stream, and as he gave 

 vent to some strong expression when the obstinate 

 boulder refused to part with a splinter, the onlooker on 

 the other side of the hedge fled in terror to the neigh- 

 bouring village and reported that this strange man 

 who had come among them was stark mad, and should 

 not be left to go by himself. Sometimes the laugh 

 goes distinctly against the geologist, as in the case of 

 one of the staff who, poking about to see the rocks 

 exposed on the outskirts of a village in Cumberland, 

 was greeted by an old woman as the * sanitary 

 'spector.' He modestly disclaimed the honour, but 

 noticing that the place was very filthy, ventured to 

 hint that such an official would find something to do 

 there. And he thereupon began to enlarge on the 

 evils of accumulating filth, resulting, among other 

 things, in an unhealthy and stunted population. His 

 auditor heard him out, and then, calmly surveying him 

 from head to foot, remarked, ' Well, young man, all I 

 have to tell ye is that the men o' this place are a deal 

 bigger and stronger and handsomer nor you.' She 

 bore no malice, for she offered him a cup of tea, but 

 he was too cowed to face her any longer. 



When Andrew Ramsay entered upon this roving 

 Survey life in the spring of 1841, he was twenty-seven 

 years of age, active and athletic in body, with bound- 

 less enthusiasm for geology, and an ardent desire to 

 devote himself to practical geological work. Long 

 afterwards, looking back on this period of his life, he 

 used to tell how at first the change from a Glasgow 

 counting-house to daily occupation among the hills 

 and along the shores of South Wales seemed like 

 a dream. He could hardly realise for some time 

 that the pursuit, formerly followed only during brief 



