CHAPTER XL 



THE GROWTH OF THE ' ORIGIN OF SPECIES.* 

 LETTERS, 1 843-1 856. 



[The history cf my father's life is told more completely 

 in his correspondence with Sir J. D. Hooker than in any other 

 series of letters ; and this is especially true of the history of 

 the growth of the ' Origin of Species.' This, therefore, seems 

 an appropriate place for the following notes, which Sir Joseph 

 Hooker has kindly given me. They give, moreover, an in- 

 teresting picture of his early friendship with my father : — 



^' My first meeting with Mr. Darwin was in 1839, in Tra- 

 falgar Square. I was walking with an officer who had been 

 his shipmate for a short time in the Beagle seven years be- 

 fore, but who had not, I believe, since m.et him. I was intro- 

 duced ; the interview was of course brief, and the memory of 

 him that I carried away and still retain was that of a rather 

 tall and rather broad-shouldered man, with a slight stoop, 

 an agreeable and animated expression when talking, beetle 

 brows, and a hollow but mellow voice ; and that his greeting 

 of his old acquaintance was sailor-like — that is, delightfully 

 frank and cordial. I observed him well, for I was already 

 aware of his attainments and labours, derived from having 

 read various proof-sheets of his then unpublished 'Journal.' 

 These had been submitted to Mr. (afterwards Sir Charles) 

 Lyell by Mr. Darwin, and by him sent to his father, Ch. Lyell, 

 Esq,, of Kinnordy, who (being a very old friend of my father, 

 and taking a kind interest in my projected career as a natu- 



