CHAP. vi. STUDIES NATURAL HISTORY. 



89 



knew nothing about Malthus on Population. He 

 merely followed his natural instincts. What kept 

 him, would keep another also. It turned out, how- 

 ever, that he married wisely. His marriage settled 

 him for life. He no longer thought of emigrating 

 to America. Then his marriage gave him a happy 

 home. His wife was bright and cheerful, and was 

 always ready to welcome him from his wanderings. 

 They were very poor, it is true ; but mutual affec- 

 tion makes up for much. Perhaps they occasionally 

 felt the bitterness of poverty ; for Edward's earnings 

 did not yet amount to more than about 9s. 6d. a week. 



Another result of Edward's marriage was, that it 

 enabled him to carry on his self-education in Natural 

 History. While he lived in lodgings, he had few 

 opportunities for collecting objects. It is true, he 

 explored the country in the neighbourhood of Banff. 

 He wandered along the sands towards Whitehills, 

 and explored the rocky cliffs between Macduff and 

 Gamrie. He learnt the geography of the inland 

 country and of the sea-coast. He knew the habitats 

 of various birds and animals. Some of the former he 

 procured and stuffed ; for by this time he had acquired 

 the art of preserving birds as well as insects. But 

 while he lived in lodgings he had no room for stuffed 

 birds or preserved moths and butterflies. It was only 

 when he got a home of his own that he began to 

 make a collection of these objects. 



It was a great disadvantage to him that his edu- 



