CHAPTER V. 



THE APPOINTMENT TO THE 'BEAGLE.' 



[IN a letter addressed to Captain Fitz-Roy, before the Beagle 

 sailed, my father wrote, " What a glorious day the 4th of 

 November* will be to me my second life will then com- 

 mence, and it shall be as a birthday for the rest of my life." 



The circumstances which led to this second birth so much 

 more important than my father then imagined are connected 

 with his Cambridge life, but may be more appropriately told 

 in the present chapter. Foremost in the chain of circum- 

 stances which led to his appointment to the Beagle, was my 

 father's friendship with Professor Henslow. He wrote in a 

 pocket-book or diary, which contains a brief record of dates, &c., 

 throughout his life : 



" 1831. Christmas. Passed my examination for B.A. degree 

 and kept the two following terms. 



" During these months lived much with Professor Henslow, 

 often dining with him and walking with him ; became slightly 

 acquainted with several of the learned men in Cambridge, 

 which much quickened the zeal which dinner parties and 

 hunting had not destroyed. 



" In the spring paid Mr. Dawes a visit with Ramsay and 

 Kirby, and talked over an excursion to Tenerifife. In the 

 spring Henslow persuaded me to think of Geology, and intro- 

 duced me to Sedgwick. During Midsummer geologized a 

 little in Shropshire. 



The Beagle did not however make her final and successful start until 

 December 27. 



