CHAP. vm. EDWARD'S TRAPS. 145 



he did not go to bed until a very late hour. As he 

 was not able to afford both fire and light, he put 

 out the lamp when engaged upon anything that could 

 be done without it, and continued his labours by the 

 light of the fire. 



When forced to go to bed, he went at once, and 

 having slept at railway speed for an hour or an hour 

 and a half, he was up again and at work upon his 

 specimens. He felt as much refreshed, he said, by 

 his sound sleep, as if he had slept the whole night. 

 And yet, during his sleep, he must have had his mind 

 fixed upon his work, otherwise he could not have 

 wakened up at the precise time that he had pre- 

 viously appointed. Besides stuffing his own birds, 

 he also stuffed the birds which other people had 

 sent him, for which he was paid. 



One of the objects which he had in view in making 

 his " rounds" so frequently, was to examine the traps 

 he had set, in order to catch the beetles, grubs, and 

 insects, which he desired to collect. His traps were 

 set with every imaginable organic material, dead 

 birds, rats, rabbits, or hedgehogs; dead fish, crabs, 

 or seaweed. He placed them everywhere but on the 

 public roads, in fields and woods, both on the ground 

 and hung on trees ; in holes, in old dykes, in water, both 

 fresh and stagnant. Some of these traps were visited 

 daily, others once a week, whilst those set in water, 

 marshy places, and in woods, were only visited once 

 a month. He never passed any dead animal without 



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