130 REMINISCENCES. 



he would not allow that Grasmere at all equalled his beloved' 

 Coniston." 



Besides these longer holidays, there were shorter visits to 

 various relatives to his brother-in-law's house, close to Leith 

 Hill, and to his son near Southampton. He always particularly 

 enjoyed rambling over rough open country, such as the 

 commons near Leith Hill and Southampton, the heath- 

 covered wastes of Ashdown Forest, or the delightful "Rough" 

 near the house of his friend Sir Thomas Farrer. He never 

 was quite idle even on these holidays, and found things to 

 observe. At Hartfield he watched Drosera catching insects,, 

 &c. ; at Torquay he observed the fertilisation of an orchid 

 (Spiranthes), and also made out the relations of the sexes in 

 Thyme. 



He was always rejoiced to get home after his holidays ; he 

 used greatly to enjoy the welcome he got from his dog Polly, 

 who would get wild with excitement, panting, squeaking, 

 rushing round the room, and jumping on and off the chairs ; 

 and he used to stoop down, pressing her face to his, letting 

 her lick him, and speaking to her with a peculiarly tender, 

 caressing voice. 



My father had the power of giving to these summer 

 holidays a charm which was strongly felt by all his family. 

 The pressure of his work at home kept him at the utmost 

 stretch of his powers of endurance, and when released from 

 it, he entered on a holiday with a youthfulness of enjoyment 

 that made his companionship delightful ; we felt that we saw 

 more of him in a week's holiday than in a month at home. 



Some of these absences from home, however, had a de- 

 pressing effect on him ; when he had been previously much 

 overworked it seemed as though the absence of the cus- 

 tomary strain allowed him to fall into a peculiar condition 

 of miserable health. 



Besides the holidays which I have mentioned, there were his- 



