SKETCH OF LIFE AND WORK 7 



eight years in Harris he must have learned much 

 which favoured the native bent of his mind towards 

 the study of nature. The sea, the rocks, and the 

 mountains in their ever -varying aspects, in summer 

 and in winter, in sunshine and in storm, with their 

 wild fowl in vast numbers, species succeeding species 

 in constant movement in their respective seasons 

 according to their habits and the necessities of their 

 nature, were all fitted to minister to the growth of 

 a mind which was naturally contemplative, and at the 

 same time extremely observant, sympathetic with every 

 form of life, and readily responsive to the grandeur and 

 the beauties of Hebridean scenery. 



There is no written existing record as to how he 

 passed those years, but that "the foundations of his 

 mind " had then been laid, with promise of subsequent 

 growth in the direction of its ultimate development, 

 there can be no doubt. In a poem by him, more 

 particularly referred to in a subsequent part of this 

 sketch, he says : 



" The solitudes of nature were my school, 



And in the moaning voice of streams and winds, 

 Without the aid of dull scholastic rule, 



I felt the tone which in the lone heart finds 

 Its echo." 



2. UNIVERSITY PERIOD IN ABERDEEN. 



The second period extends from the time of his 

 return to Aberdeen, first for further school education 



