252 REMOVES TO WICK. CHAP. xvi. 



and old, took to the sea. As he used to visit them 

 five or six times a day, the parents grew so familiar 

 that they would swim round and touch his hand, 

 though on the appearance of a stranger they would 

 angrily dash at any stick or incautious finger that 

 was brought near them. The same habit of close and 

 cultivated observation was shown by his study of the 

 maternal instincts of the female lobster in its native 

 haunts."* 



Mr. Peach's next removal was to Wick, the greatest 

 fishing town in the North, Though an ardent lover of 

 nature, he never neglected his duty. He was as accurate 

 and quick-sighted in business as in science. He was alike 

 shrewd, wise, and observant in both. He was the model of 

 a Comptroller of Customs, as he was of a true coEector 

 and naturalist. His removal to Wick was a promotion. 

 His salary was advanced to 150 a year, though his 

 duties were to a certain extent enlarged. Part of his 

 work consisted in travelling round the coast of Caithness 

 in search of wrecks, and reporting them to the Board of 

 Trade. This led him to travel to the rocky points of 

 the coast, where the wrecks principally occurred ; and 

 he made good use of his spare time by hammering the 

 rocks in search of fossils, and more particularly the fossil 

 plants with which the dark flagstones of the district 

 abounded. 



His removal to Wick occurred in 1853. One of the 

 first things that he did was to travel across the county 



* Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Session 1874-5, p 

 511. 



