Sir Samuel Mbttc JBafter 557 



Natural history was his chief study, and his methods 

 were characterised by a desire to " see into things," and 

 penetrate the mystery of everything that puzzled him. 

 One of the things which exercised his mind was the 

 rapidity with which plants grew as compared with 

 human beings. A dim theory on the subject took 

 shape in his brain, with the result that one morning 

 he dug a hole and buried his youngest sister up to 

 the neck, then patiently sat down to watch whether 

 the process of planting would promote her growth ! 

 The interesting experiment, however, was nipped in the 

 bud by the arrival of his mother on the scene. But 

 one can trace the germ of the explorer in the incident. 

 That he should also have experimented with gun- 

 powder and nearly blown himself and his brothers and 

 sisters to pieces was only to be expected from a lad 

 of his character. 



The physical strength which was so remarkable in his 

 manhood developed itself early. When he was but a 

 lad of seventeen he rescued a worthy but pursy citizen 

 at Gloucester Fair from the hands of ruffians who would 

 have maltreated and robbed him, and when the leader of 

 the gang, a notorious and powerful bully, challenged 

 him to fight, young Samuel hit him senseless with a 

 single well-planted blow. 



He was a born sportsman. Nature had given him 

 that " Nimrod " spirit which those who are not born 

 sportsmen cannot understand. Possibly it is a survival 

 of the old hunting instinct of savage forefathers who 

 had to depend for their livelihood on their woodcraft, 

 and regarded in that light may not be creditable to 



