CHAPTER II. 



THE GROWTH OF THE 'ORIGIN OF SPECIES. 

 LETTERS, 1843-1856. 



[THE history of my father's life is told more completely in 

 his correspondence with Sir J. D. Hooker than in any other 

 series of letters ; and this is especially true of the history 

 of the growth of the 'Origin of Species.' This, therefore, 

 seems an appropriate place for the following notes, which 

 Sir Joseph Hooker has kindly given me. They give, more- 

 over, an interesting picture of his early friendship with my 

 father : 



"My first meeting with Mr. Darwin was in 1839, in 

 Trafalgar Square. I was walking with an officer who 

 had been his shipmate for a short time in the Beagle seven 

 years before, but who had not, I believe, since met him. 

 I was introduced ; the interview was of course brief, and the 

 memory of him that I carried away and still retain was that 

 of a rather tall and rather broad-shouldered man, with 

 a slight stoop, an agreeable and animated expression when 

 talking, beetle brows, and a hollow but mellow voice; and 

 that his greeting of his old acquaintance was sailor-like 

 that is, delightfully frank and cordial. I observed him well, 

 for I was already aware of his attainments and labours, derived 

 from having read various proof-sheets of his then unpublished 

 1 Journal.' These had been submitted to Mr. (afterwards Sir 

 Charles) .Lyell by Mr. Darwin, and by him sent to his father, 

 Ch. Lyell, Esq., of Kinnordy, who (being a very old friend of 

 my father, and taking a kind interest in my projected career 

 as a naturalist) had allowed me to peruse them. At this time 



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