CHAPTER XVIII. 



LION-HUNTERSFERNS AND MOSSES. 



AFTER Sir Eoderick Murchison had made his speech at 

 Leeds, Robert Dick's name was carried far and wide on 

 the wings of the press. He was spoken of as one of the 

 most extraordinary instances of the pursuit of knowledge 

 under difficulties. Even the Thurso people began to 

 look upon him in a different light. "They had long 

 regarded him as partially insane," said the editor of a 

 Wick newspaper. " But as time rolled on opinions 

 gradually changed. By and by it began to be whispered 

 that men of great influence were visiting the mad 

 Thurso baker; and when it was found that at the 

 meetings of the British Association he was named as 

 one of the highest authorities on certain scientific 

 questions, and that even Sir Roderick Murchison had 

 been sitting at his feet and receiving lessons from him, 

 the Thurso people took pride in naming the great 

 scientific baker of their town." 



The change of opinion was not, however, quite 

 unanimous. When the joking rhyme about " Hammers 

 an' chisels an' a' " was published in the Wick newspaper, 

 Dick wrote to Mr. Peach that " some people here view 

 the matter quite seriously. One says, ' Sir Roderick will 



