Ch. II.] LONDON. 31 



On March 7th, 1837, 1 took lodgings in Great Marlborough 

 Street in London, and remained there for nearly two years, 

 until I was married. During these two years I finished my 

 Journal, read several papers before the Geological Society, 

 began preparing the MS. for my Geological Observations, and 

 arranged for the publication of the Zoology of the Voyage of 

 the Beagle. In July I opened my first note-book for facts 

 in relation to the Origin of Species, about which I had long 

 reflected, and never ceased working for the next twenty years. 



During these two years I also went a little into society, and 

 acted as one of the honorary secretaries of the Geological 

 Society. I saw a great deal of Lyell. One of his chief 

 characteristics was his sympathy with the work of others, 

 and I was as much astonished as delighted at the interest 

 which he showed when, on my return to England, I explained 

 to him my views on coral reefs. This encouraged me greatly, 

 and his advice and example had much influence on me. 

 During this time I saw also a good deal of Kobert Brown ; 

 I used often to call and sit with him during his breakfast 

 on Sunday mornings, and he poured forth a rich treasure 

 of curious observations and acute remarks, but they almost 

 always related to minute points, and he never with me 

 discussed large or general questions in science. 



During these two years I took several short excursions as a 

 relaxation, and one longer one to the parallel roads of Glen 

 Roy, an account of which was published in the Philosophical 

 Transactions.* This paper was a great failure, and I am 

 ashamed of it. Having been deeply impressed with what I 

 had seen of the elevation of the land in South America, I 

 attributed the parallel lines to the action of the sea ; but I had 

 to give up this view when Agassiz propounded his glacier-lake 

 theory. Because no other explanation was possible under our 

 then state of knowledge, I argued in favour of sea-action ; and 

 my error has been a good lesson to me never to trust in science 

 to the principle of exclusion. 



As I was not able to work all day at science, I read a good 

 deal during these two years on various subjects, including some 

 metaphysical books ; but I was not well fitted for such studies. 

 About this time I took much delight in Wordsworth's and 

 Coleridge's poetry ; and can boast that I read the Excursion 

 twice through. Formerly Milton's Paradise Lost had been 

 my chief favourite, and in my excursions during the vovage of 

 the Beagle, when I could take only a single volume, I always 

 chose Milton. v 



* 1839, pp. 39-82. 



