6 THE LIFE OF SIR JOSEPH BANKS 



evening ; flowers covered the sides of the path. He felt 

 delighted with the natural beauties around him, and 

 exclaimed, " How beautiful ! would it not be far more 

 reasonable to make me learn the nature of these plants 

 than the Greek and Latin I am confined to ? " His next 

 reflection was that he must do his duty, obey his father's 

 commands, and reconcile himself to the learning of the 

 school. But this did not hinder him from the study of 

 Botany; and having no better instructor he paid some 

 women who were employed in gathering plants for the 

 druggists, for such information as they could give him. 

 Returning home for the holidays, he was inexpressibly 

 delighted to find in his mother's dressing-room an old 

 copy of Gerarde's Herbal, having the names and figures 

 of those plants with which he had formed an imperfect 

 acquaintance, and he carried it with him back to school. 

 There he continued his collection of plants, and he also 

 made one of butterflies and other insects. 



After leaving school, young Banks was entered at 

 Christ Church, Oxford. Meanwhile, early in the year 1761, 

 Mr. William Banks died, leaving Joseph and a sister to 

 the care of his widow. For the present Mrs. Banks left 

 Revesby for London, and took up her residence at Chelsea 

 with her children. She had learned that there were 

 peculiar advantages here. It was healthy, and it was 

 cheerful ; and they could live in the proximity of numer- 

 ous gardens. Her house was a Queen Anne mansion, 

 situated in Paradise Walk, near the famous Apothecaries' 

 Garden. She was determined to gratify her boy's bent 

 for Botany and Natural History. 



These were the palmy days of Chelsea. It had its own 

 society. The houses of the aristocracy, with fine gardens, 

 were numerous ; and they abounded with companies of 

 well-cultured people. The Thames is wider here than at 

 any other point above London Bridge, and in those days, 

 if we may trust all the pleasant memories that have been 



