BOYISH OCCUPATIONS. 5 



for his sisters' dolls, was no bad tailor, and 

 could make a miniature barrel that was per- 

 fectly water-tight. He remembered these 

 trivial facts as a valuable part of his inci- 

 dental education. He said he owed much of 

 his dexterity in manipulation to the training 

 of eye and hand gained in these childish 

 plays. 



Though fond of quiet, in-door occupation, 

 he was an active, daring boy. One winter 

 day when about seven years of age, he was 

 skating with his little brother Auguste, two 

 years younger than himself, and a number of 

 other boys, near the shore of the lake. They 

 were talking of a great fair held that day at 

 the town of Morat, on the opposite side of the 

 lake, to which M. Agassiz had gone in the 

 morning, not crossing upon the ice, however, 

 but driving around the shore. The temp- 

 tation was too strong for Louis, and he pro- 

 posed to Auguste that they should skate 

 across, join their father at the fair, and come 

 home with him in the afternoon. They start- 

 ed accordingly. The other boys remained on 

 their skating ground till twelve o'clock, the 

 usual dinner hour, when they returned to the 

 village. Mme. Agassiz was watching for her 

 boys, thinking them rather late, and on in- 



