10 Charles Darwin. 



credit himself with the results of his skill was often 

 the subject of practical jokes on the part of his 

 friends, and he relates the following : " One day, 

 when shooting at Woodhouse with Captain Owen, 

 the eldest son, and Major Hill, his cousin, after- 

 wards Lord Berwick, both of whom I liked very 

 much, I thought myself shamefully used, for every 

 time after I had fired, and thought that I had killed 

 a bird, one of the two acted as if loading his gun, and 

 cried out, ' You must not count that bird, for I fired 

 at the same time,' and the gamekeeper, perceiving 

 the joke, backed them up. After some hours they 

 told me the joke, but it was no joke to me, for I had 

 shot a large number of birds, but did not know how 

 many, and could not add them to my list, which I 

 used to do by making a knot in a piece of string 

 tied to a button-hole ; this my wicked friends had 

 perceived." 



As enthusiastic as he was, Darwin had some doubts 

 in his mind as to whether such excessive zeal was to 

 be commended, and we find he argued with himself 

 on the question, quieting his doubts at one time by 

 assuming and almost convincing himself that the 

 perfection to which he had attained was really an 

 evidence of high intelligence on his part. The fact 

 that he could find game when no one else could, and 

 manage the dogs with consummate skill, seemed to 

 his mind sufficient reason for pursuing the pastime. 



At Maer he met many distinguished people, and 

 in the home of the famous Wedgwood there was 

 an air of refinement and culture most valuable in 

 rounding and shaping the ideas of so thoughtful and 



