veying vessel, he had ample opportunities for observing and
collecting; and, above all, the absence of the distractions from quiet
meditation, afforded by a long sea-voyage, proved in his case
invaluable. Very diligently did he work, accumulating a vast mass of
notes, with catalogues of the specimens he sent home from time to time
to Henslow. He had received no careful biological training, and Huxley
considered that the voluminous notes he made on zoological subjects were
almost useless[100]. Very different was the case, however, with his
geological notes. He had learned to use the blowpipe, and simple
microscope, as well as his hammer and clinometer; and the notes which he
made concerning his specimens, before packing them up for Cambridge,
were at the same time full, accurate and suggestive.

Darwin has recorded in his autobiography the wonderful effect produced
on his mind by the reading of the first volume of Lyell's
_Principles_--an effect very different from that anticipated by
Henslow[101]. From that moment he became the most enthusiastic of
geologists, and never fails in his letters to insist on his preference
for geology over all other branches of science. Again and again we find
him recording observations that he thinks will 'interest Mr Lyell' and
he says in another letter:--

'I am become a zealous disciple of Mr Lyell's views, as known in
his admirable book. Geologising in South America, I am tempted
to carry parts to a greater extent even than he does[102].'

Before reaching home after his voyage, the duration of which was
fortunately extended from two to five years, he had sent home letters
asking to be elected a fellow of the Geological Society; and,
immediately on his arrival, he gave up his zoological specimens to
others and devoted his main energies for ten years to the working up of
his geological notes and specimens.

It may seem strange that the grandson of Erasmus Darwin should in early
life have felt little or no interest in the question of the 'Origin of
Species,' but such was certainly the case. He tells us in his
autobiography that he had read his grandfather's _Zoonomia_ in his
youth, without its producing any effect on him, and when at Edinburgh he
says he heard his friend Robert Grant (afterwards Professor of Zoology
in University College, London) as they were walking together 'burst
forth in high admiration of Lamarck and his views on Evolution'--yet
Darwin adds 'I listened