Daily Habits. 133 



to half-past nine the most productive of the day. 

 When the mail arrived, usually about ten o'clock, 

 the letters were read to him, sometimes as he lay 

 stretched upon the sofa, and often an unfinished 

 novel was taken up and perused a rest which he 

 particularly enjoyed. After this diversion he would 

 retire to his study again, refreshed and ready for 

 work. At mid-day he usually went out for a stroll, 

 either to see some friend in connection with his 

 work or to the green-house where some of his ex- 

 periments were being conducted. A favourite spot 

 was the " Sand-walk," a path about a group of 

 trees of his own planting. It was his custom to 

 walk around this and kick aside a piece of flint from 

 a heap at every turn, thus recording the distance 

 covered. In his walks he almost always had an object. 

 On one occasion he was seen standing like a statue 

 for some time, fixed and immovable. He had 

 stopped to watch a family of squirrels, the young of 

 which urged by intense curiosity left the tree, and not- 

 withstanding the chirping protests of their mother, 

 ran up his legs and back. Early in the afternoon he 

 generally attended to his correspondence, then rested 

 upon the sofa smoking a cigarette, a habit which he 

 contracted in South America among the Gauchos. 

 He was also addicted to snuff-taking, which he dep- 

 recated and in a mild way endeavoured to keep in 

 check. He once attempted to break up the habit, 

 and resolved not to indulge in it at home, which one 

 of his friends, a clergyman, called " a most satisfac- 

 tory arrangement," as the latter kept a box in his 

 study and Darwin often strolled in that direction. 



