62 AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 



were improved, though they were always fairly 

 developed. 



The investigation of the geology of all the places 

 visited was far more important, as reasoning here 

 comes into play. On first examining a new district 

 nothing can appear more hopeless than the chaos of 

 rocks ; but by recording the stratification and nature 

 of the rocks and fossils at many points, always reason- 

 ing and predicting what will be found elsewhere, light 

 soon begins to dawn on the district, and the structure 

 of the whole becomes more or less intelligible. I had 

 brought with me the first volume of Lyell's * Principles 

 of Geology/ which I studied attentively ; and the 

 book was of the highest service to me in many ways. 

 The very first place which I examined, namely 

 St. Jago in the Cape de Verde islands, showed me 

 clearly the wonderful superiority of Lyell's manner 

 of treating geology, compared with that of any other 

 author, whose works I had with me or ever afterwards 

 read. 



Another of my occupations was collecting animals 

 of all classes, briefly describing and roughly dissecting 

 many of the marine ones ; but from not being able to 

 draw, and from not having sufficient anatomical know- 

 ledge, a great pile of MS. which I made during the 

 voyage has proved almost useless. I thus lost much 

 time, with the exception of that spent in acquiring 

 some knowledge of the Crustaceans, as this was of 

 service when in after years I undertook a monograph 

 of the Cirripedia. 



During some part of the day I wrote my Journal 



