BOYHOOD. ^j 



riding tour on the borders of Wales, and this has lasted longer 

 than any other aesthetic pleasure. 



Early in my school days a boy had a copy of the * Won- 

 ders of the World,' which I often read, and disputed with 

 other boys about the veracity of some of the statements ; and 

 I believe that this book first gave me a wish to travel in re- 

 mote countries, which was ultimately fulfilled by the voyage 

 of the Beagle. In the latter part of my school life I became 

 passionately fond of shooting ; I do not believe that any one 

 could have shown more zeal for the most holy cause than I 

 did for shooting birds. How well I remember killing my first 

 snipe, and my excitement was so great that I had much diffi- 

 culty in reloading my gun from the trembling of my hands. 

 This taste long continued, and I became a very good shot. 

 When at Cambridge I used to practise throwing up my gun 

 to my shoulder before a looking-glass to see that I threw it up 

 straight. Another and better plan was to get a friend to wave 

 about a lighted candle, and then to fire at it with a cap on 

 the nipple, and if the aim was accurate the little puff of air 

 would blow out the candle. The explosion of the cap caused 

 a sharp crack, and I was told that the tutor of the college re- 

 marked, "What an extraordinary thing it is, Mr. Darwin 

 seems to spend hours in cracking a horse-whip in his room, 

 for I often hear the crack when I pass under his windows." 



I had many friends amongst the schoolboys, whom I loved 

 dearly, and I think that my disposition was then very affec- 

 tionate. 



With respect to science, I continued collecting minerals 

 with much zeal, but quite unscientifically all that I cared 

 about was a new-named mineral, and I hardly attempted to 

 classify them. I must have observed insects with some little 

 care, for when ten years old (1819) I went for three weeks to 

 Plas Edwards on the sea-coast in Wales, I was very much in- 

 terested and surprised at seeing a large black and scarlet 

 Hemipterous insect, many moths (Zygaena), and a Cicindela 

 which are not found in Shropshire. I almost made up my 

 mind to begin collecting all the insects which I could find 



