Alfred Russel Wallace: Letters and Reminiscences, Vol. 1 | Page 8

the inherent tendencies of Darwin's nature drew him away from
theology to the study of geology, entomology and botany. The ensuing
four years at Cambridge were very happy ones. While fortunate in
being able to follow his various mental and scientific pursuits with the
freedom which a good social and financial position secured for him, he
found himself by a natural seriousness of manner, balanced by a
cheerful temperament and love of sport, the friend and companion of
men many years his seniors and holding positions of authority in the
world of science. Amongst these the name of Professor Henslow will
always take precedence. "This friendship," says Darwin, "influenced
my whole career more than any other." Henslow's extensive knowledge
of botany, geology, entomology, chemistry and mineralogy, added to
his sincere and attractive personality, well-balanced mind and excellent
judgment, formed a strong and effective bias in the direction Darwin
was destined to follow.

Apart, however, from the strong personal influence of Henslow,
Sedgwick and others with whom he came much in contact, two books
which he read at this time aroused his "burning zeal to add the most
humble contribution to the noble structure of Natural Science"; these
were Sir J. Herschel's "Introduction to the Study of Natural
Philosophy," and Humboldt's "Personal Narrative." Indeed, so
fascinated was he by the description given of Teneriffe in the latter that
he at once set about a plan whereby he might spend a holiday, with
Henslow, in that locality, a holiday which was, indeed, to form part of
his famous voyage.
By means of his explorations in the neighbourhood of Cambridge, and
one or two visits to North Wales, Darwin's experimental knowledge of
geology and allied sciences was considerably increased. In his zeal for
collecting beetles he employed a labourer to "scrape the moss off old
trees in winter, and place it in a bag, and likewise to collect the rubbish
at the bottom of the barges in which reeds were brought from the fens,
and thus ... got some very rare species."
During the summer vacation of 1831, at the personal request of
Henslow, he accompanied Professor Sedgwick on a geological tour in
North Wales. In order, no doubt, to give him some independent
experience, Sedgwick sent Darwin on a line parallel with his own,
telling him to bring back specimens of the rocks and to mark the
stratification on a map. In later years Darwin was amazed to find how
much both of them had failed to observe, "yet these phenomena were
so conspicuous that ... a house burnt down by fire could not tell its
story more plainly than did the valley of Cwm Idwal."
This tour was the introduction to a momentous change in his life. On
returning to Shrewsbury he found a letter awaiting him which
contained the offer of a voyage in H.M.S. Beagle. But owing to several
objections raised by Dr. Darwin, he wrote and declined the offer; and if
it had not been for the immediate intervention of his uncle, Mr. Josiah
Wedgwood (to whose house he went the following day to begin the
shooting season), who took quite a different view of the proposition,
the "Journal of Researches during the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle," by

Charles Darwin, would never have been written.
At length, however, after much preparation and many delays, the
Beagle sailed from Plymouth on December 27th, 1831, and five years
elapsed before Darwin set foot again on English soil. The period,
therefore, in Darwin's life which we find covered by his term at
Edinburgh and Cambridge, until at the age of 22 he found himself
suddenly launched on an entirely new experience full of adventure and
fresh association, was spent by Wallace in a somewhat similar manner
in so far as his outward objective in life was more or less distinct from
the pursuits which gradually dawned upon his horizon, though they
were followed as a "thing apart" and not as an ultimate end.
With Wallace's removal into Bedfordshire an entirely new life opened
up before him. His health, never very good, rapidly improved; both
brain and eye were trained to practical observations which proved
eminently valuable. His descriptions of the people with whom he came
in contact during these years of country life reveal the quiet toleration
of the faults and foibles of others, not devoid of the keen sense of
humour and justice which characterised his lifelong attitude towards his
fellow-men.
The many interests of his new life, together with the use of a pocket
sextant, prompted him to make various experiments for himself. The
only sources from which he could obtain helpful information, however,
were some cheap elementary books on mechanics and optics which he
procured from the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge;
these he studied and "puzzled over"