278 PRESIDENT OF GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY CHAP, ix 



scientific career. Thenceforward, while he continued 

 to take interest in all geological problems, and more 

 particularly in those which were engaging the attention 

 of his colleagues in the mapping of the Geological 

 Survey, it was the origin of scenery which had for 

 him the supreme attraction. The history of lakes, 

 river -basins and valleys, the influence of geological 

 structure on landscape, and the effects of that structure 

 and of its accompanying topographical contours upon 

 the people of the country these were the themes 

 which now engaged his thoughts, and on which he 

 loved to speak and write. 



The old elasticity of mind which in the past had 

 enabled him to get through so much mental as well 

 as bodily work still refused to return, and though in 

 congenial society he could once again be the liveliest 

 and brightest of a party, he was apt to suffer from such 

 weariness as made even the simplest duties irksome. 

 Writing to me on the 5th May 1863 from Dolaucothi, 

 whither he had gone for a little rest, he says : ' I had 

 begun to consider recovery doubtful, but I now think 

 " there's life in the old dog yet." All the while I could 

 eat, laugh, sing, fish, and walk a little (three or six 

 miles), but still I had misgivings. Oh the charm of 

 this country and its pleasant friends ! Since break- 

 fast I have been at a magistrates' meeting, seeing two 

 affiliation cases disposed of, and then engineering a 

 brook with the young ladies. This country is full of 

 drift, with scratched stones and erratics going up to 

 600, 800, or 1000 feet, maybe higher. But I have 

 seen no clear section of it, and do not know if it is 

 stratified. I considered it so long ago, but I would 

 like to confirm it.' 



The improvement in his condition was not main- 



