DalVs Sketch. 211 



hollows characteristic of the English chalk country, 

 with beech woods here and there on the slopes. His 

 dwelling is one of the old square-built, red-brick 

 mansions of the last century, to which has been 

 added in more recent times a gable-fronted wing, 

 with another square-built wing and pillared portico 

 on the corresponding side. Shut in and almost hid- 

 den from the roadway by a high wall and belt of 

 trees, it offers ideal seclusion for a quiet student. 

 On the southern side the walled garden opens into a 

 secluded meadow bounded by a tract of underwood 

 through which there is a lovely view of the narrow 

 valley which descends toward Westerham. 



Here, and in the by-paths of adjacent woods and 

 meadows, Mr. Darwin was accustomed to take daily 

 exercise with a characteristic regularity. Up to ten 

 or twelve years ago, his tall figure, mounted on a 

 favorite old black horse, was a familiar object in the 

 country lanes. This animal fell and died suddenly 

 one day, after which it was noted that Mr. Darwin 

 rode no more. His invariable hours for walking, in 

 these later years, were seven in the morning, noon, 

 and four o'clock in the afternoon, usually accom- 

 panied by one or more of his sons ; one of whom, 

 Mr. Francis Darwin, has long been established as a 

 surgeon in the hamlet of Down. His habits were 

 extremely regular. He rose at six, took a cold 

 plunge bath (which was repeated in the evening), 

 breakfasted alone, and after his first morning walk 

 was usually in his library by 8 A.M. At nine he 

 would spend a little time in the dining-room opening 

 his mail, and in the evening would linger an hour or 



