422 DICK'S MODESTY AND SHYNESS. CHAP. xxiv. 



am a quiet creature," lie said to Hugh Miller, " and do 

 not like to see myself in print at all." When Sir Eoderick 

 Murchison made the eulogistic speech about him at 

 Leeds, he said, " That speech has got me into a great 

 deal of trouble." And when Mr. Peach went to the 

 British Association at Aberdeen, Dick said to him, 

 " Pray, do not mention me ; if anybody asks about me, 

 say that I am well ; I want to be let alone." " His 

 unassuming modesty," said Sir George Sinclair, " was as 

 conspicuous as the wonderful amount of his knowledge." 



It would be hard to imagine a more devoted lover of 

 science, or a more ardent and unselfish seeker-out of 

 knowledge for its own sake. His success in this respect 

 lay in his earnestness, his enthusiasm, and his persistent 

 perseverance. Though a solitary man, the ardour and 

 purity of his devotion to science saved the health of his 

 moral and mental nature, and enabled him to live to the 

 end of his days, cheerful, happy, and human -hearted. 

 His pursuits elevated his nature, and bore him up 

 against the petty annoyances of the world. 



The amount of voluntary labour which Dick imposed 

 upon himself, in pursuit of his favourite sciences, is 

 something incredible. Every nook and cranny of the 

 county was familiar to him. The bleak bluff rocks of 

 Dunnet Head were as familiar to him as the shores of 

 Thurso Bay. The hills of Morven and Scaraben were 

 his playgrounds. In summer time, and even in winter, 

 he wandered far and near, always alone. He walked by 

 night to Freswick and Dunbeath in search of the boulder 

 clay and its marine shells. He wandered up Strath 



