Early Years 



angler, as soon as he heard that he could kill the worms 

 with salt and water he never afterwards " spitted a living 

 worm, though at the expense, probably, of some loss of 

 success ! '' 



Nothing thwarted young Darwin's intense joy and 

 interest in collecting minerals and insects, and in watch- 

 ing and making notes upon the habits of birds. In 

 addition to this wholesome outdoor hobby, the tedium of 

 school lessons was relieved for him by reading Shake- 

 speare, Byron and Scott — also a copy of '' Wonders of the 

 World " which belonged to one of the boys, and to which 

 he always attributed his first desire to travel in remote 

 countries, little thinking how his dreams would be ful- 

 filled. 



Whilst Charles Darwin occupied himself with outdoor 

 sport and collecting, with a very moderate amount of 

 reading thrown in at intervals, Wallace, on the contrary, 

 devoured all the books he could get; and fortunately for 

 him, his father having been appointed Librarian to the 

 Hertford Town Library, Alfred had access to all the 

 books that appealed to his mental appetite; and these, 

 especially the historical novels, supplemented the lack of 

 interesting history lessons at school, besides giving him an 

 insight into many kinds of literature suited to his varied 

 tastes and temperament. In addition, however, to the 

 hours spent in reading, he and his brother John found end- 

 less delight in turning the loft of an outhouse adjoining 

 their yard into a sort of mechanical factory. Here they 

 contrived, by saving up all their pence (the only pocket- 

 money that came to them), to make crackers and other 

 simple fireworks, and to turn old keys into toy cannon, 

 besides making a large variety of articles for practical 

 domestic purposes. Thus he cultivated the gift of resource- 

 fulness and self-reliance on which he had so often to depend 



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