MURCHISON. 287 



Tired of the army, and possessing a great amount 

 of energy and physical power, Murchison longed 

 for a profession, and at one time seriously con- 

 templated entering the Church. But money was 

 scarce, and he went with his wife to live economi- 

 cally in Italy. This was an epoch in his life, and 

 he went by way of Paris, and there he heard Cuvier 

 lecture. At Geneva he met De Candolle, and as 

 his wife had relatives at Vevay, they spent some 

 time there, and Murchison began taking walking 

 tours. On one occasion he walked four hundred 

 and thirty-two miles over mountain ground, in 

 fourteen days, finishing with a last day's walk 

 of thirty-seven miles. In another excursion to 

 Mont Blanc he walked one hundred and twenty 

 miles in three days. This was characteristic of 

 the man. But it was not simple exercise that he 

 took, for his retentive memory and eye for land- 

 scape were occupied ; and such walks always pro- 

 duced good results in after years. 



Arrived at Rome they went into lodgings, and 

 Murchison became a confirmed visitor of galleries, 

 museums, and churches. Then Mrs. Murchison fell 

 ill, and they went, on her recovery, to Naples, 

 where, of course, Vesuvius was seen, but oddly 

 enough, his written impressions of the scene do 

 not tell of any geological tastes. Two years glided 

 away, and they founded his intellectual life, and 

 impressed him that it was better than gaiety. 

 When returned to England, Murchison sold his 

 Scotch estate and went to live in a most out of the 



