SOLITUDES OF NATURE HIS SCHOOL 5 
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 con¬ 
templative, and at the same time extremely 
observant, sympathetic with every form of life, 
and readily responsive to the grandeur and the 
beauty of Hebridean scenery. 
There is no existing record of how he passed 
those years, but that “the foundations of his 
mind ” had then been laid, with promise of sub¬ 
sequent growth in the direction of its ultimate 
development, there can be no doubt. In a poem, 
found among his papers after his death, he writes : 
“ 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.” 
