' ■ , 
 
 
Cornell Hntoeraitg ffithrarg 
 
 3tt;ara, New fork 
 
 BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE 
 
 SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND 
 
 THE GIFT OF 
 
 HENRY W. SAGE 
 
 1891 
 
QL 31 .W3 r 3 e H68 n, 18 S 6 , 9' "*""* 
 
 Cha ii'i?ifiinnln mli!l?, n . : his home j habi 's, and 
 
 3 1924 024 760 427 
 
The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924024760427 
 
OHAELES WATERTON: 
 
 HIS 
 
 HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 
 
 REMINISCENCES OP AN INTIMATE AND MOST OONTIDINQ PERSONAL 
 ASSOCIATION FOB NEARLY THIRTY YEARS. 
 
 RICHARD HOBSON, M.D., Cantab., 
 
 LEEDS. 
 
 SECOND EDITION 
 CONTAINING A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OP ADDITIONAL MATTER. 
 
 WITH SIXTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 ENGRAVED FROM PHOTOGRAPHS OBTAINED WITHIN THE GROUNDS AT WALTON HALL. 
 BY SAMUEL SMITH AND THE LATE W. LYNDON SMITH, ESQRS. 
 
 "MULTIS ILLE BONIS FLEBILIS OCCIDIT, 
 NULLI FLEBILIOB QUAM" MIHI. 
 
 ' He died lamented by many good men, 
 By none more lamented than" by me. 
 
 LONDON" : 
 
 WHITTAK.ER & Co. ; SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, & Co. 
 
 LEEDS: H. W. WALKErJ'aND JOHN SMITH. 
 
 MDCCCLXVII. 
 
 ! IfcUAKY 
 3>o 
 
§zVxtutxart t 
 
 TO SIE WILLIAM JAEDINE, BAET., 
 
 L.L.D., F.R.S.L. &E., F.L.S. 
 of applegirth, dumfriesshire; 
 
 Member of the Physical Society of Edinburgh 
 Botanical Society of Edinburgh ; 
 Meteorological Society of Scotland ; 
 Society of Antiquaries of Scotland ; Microscopical Society 
 of Edinburgh ; 
 Anthropological Society of, London ; 
 Berwickshire Naturalists' Club; — 
 Honorary Member of the Natural History Society of 
 Northumberland, Durham, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne ; 
 Tyneside Naturalists' Club ; 
 Cotswold Club ; 
 South African Institution, Cape of Good Hope ; — 
 Member of the American Philosophical Society of Phila- 
 delphia ; 
 Ornithological Society of Germany ; 
 President of the Dumfriesshire Natural History and 
 Antiquarian Society, etc., etc. 
 
IV DEDICATION. 
 
 Ml" DEAR SIR WILLIAM, 
 
 IN HAVING PERMISSION TO DEDICATE THE FOLLOWING 
 PAGES TO ONE SO HIGHLY ESTEEMED BY OUR LATE MUTUAL FRIEND, 
 IS MOST GRATIFYING TO ME, AND, I AM THOROUGHLY CONVINCED, 
 WOULD HAVE BEEN EQUALLY SO, DURING LIFE, TO HIM WHOSE 
 DEATH WE DEEPLY MOURN, AND WHOSE LEISURE HOURS WERE 
 ARDENTLY AND UNCEASINGLY DEVOTED TO THAT PARTICULAR 
 BRANCH OF SCIENCE WHICH YOUR LABOURS HAVE SO COPIOUSLY 
 ENRICHED. 
 
 I AM, MY DEAR SIR WILLIAM, 
 
 YOURS FAITHFULLY, 
 
 BICHABD HOBSON. 
 
 . . . "OMNE VOVEMUS 
 HOC TIM; NE TANTO VAREAT MIRI NOMINE CHARTA." 
 
 "All this I dedicate to thee ; that this my book may not be deprived 
 of a name so great as thine." 
 
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 
 
 The readers of the following pages may, in all probability, 
 enquire why I have taken upon myself to issue to the 
 public this little Volume. 
 
 In anticipation of such very natural and reasonable 
 interrogatories, in the present instance, I am determined to 
 clear the decks and take time by the forelock, by stating 
 that my replies, which are simple, shall be now expressed, 
 and, I trust, that they will be generally satisfactory. 
 
 The late Mr. Waterton's tastes in the science of natural 
 history, and the more especially, in consequence of his 
 ardent and enthusiastic partiality for ornithological pur- 
 suits, were so similar and naturally so closely interwoven 
 with my own, — they so agreeably harmonised, particularly 
 in the ornithological department of this system, and were 
 always worked out in such mutually familiar confidence 
 for upwards of a quarter of a centuiy, — that no surviving 
 friend ever possessed similarly favourable opportunities 
 which I so long and so absolutely monopolised, for 
 
VI PEBFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 
 
 acquiring an intimate and a positively detailed knowledge 
 of the Squire's every-day habits, of witnessing his 
 marvellous manipulating faculty, and of ascertaining his 
 general and unreserved sentiments, particularly on all 
 subjects associated with any branch of practical natural 
 history. 
 
 Another reason, and one which I am delighted and 
 proud to entertain and express, is my absolute .love for 
 the Memory of the man who was so warmly, so faithfully 
 attached, and so abiding a friend. 
 
 It also gives me infinite pleasure to enumerate a third 
 and very important reason, viz., that the chief part of 
 what I have written had the careful and generous sanction 
 of Mr. Waterton himself, as to its accuracy in dates 
 and in facts. 
 
 I can easily conceive, that the purely English reader 
 may complain, and probably not without some apparent 
 reason, that the following pages are loaded with too 
 great a profusion of Latin quotations, but this was one 
 of the Squire's habitual peculiarities, and therefore, not 
 to have introduced .them, would have been incompatible 
 with the profession on my part, that I would endeavour 
 to faithfully delineate the true character of the man. 
 
 Mr. Waterton's Latin quotations were so frequently 
 
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. Vli 
 
 mingled — so naturally and happily interspersed in his 
 ordinary conversations with me, and apparently, with 
 such an ease and freedom of expression, that I had, 
 very repeatedly, extreme difficulty in remembering even 
 a moiety of them. 
 
 I respectfully crave the kind indulgence of those who 
 may peruse the following pages, and who may have cal- 
 culated upon a more elaborate production, that they would 
 deal gently with their Author, whose limbs were stretched 
 on a bed of severe sickness, and whose life was in imminent 
 danger at the very moment when the melancholy and 
 ever-to-be-lamented accident occurred to his old friend, 
 which so speedily cut short his earthly career, — termina- 
 ting a life full of years, and distinguished as justly, as 
 it had been profusely adorned to its close, by the highest 
 esteem and veneration of all who had the good fortune 
 to enjoy his friendship. 
 
 Independently of sickness, as an irresistible preven- 
 tive to the final accomplishment of my anxious wishes, 
 I deeply regret that unavoidable delay in the comple- 
 tion of the Illustrations, and other unforeseen circum- 
 stances, have unfortunately occurred to interfere with 
 and materially delay the publication of this sketch of 
 "the Home, Habits, and Handiwork" of the far-famed 
 
V1U PREFACE TO THE FIEST EDITION. 
 
 subject of this Memoir. I can now, however, with some 
 degree of certainty, and with a vast amount of pleasure 
 truly quote the poet : — 
 
 " Inveni portum, Spes et Fortuna valete; 
 Sat im hisutin, htdite nunc alios." 
 
 "1 've reached the harbour, hope, and chance, adie'i ! 
 You 've played with me, now play with others too." 
 
 EICHAED HOBSON. 
 
 LEEDS, August, 1866. 
 
PEEFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 The Author having been called upon* for so early a 
 re-publication of this work, its original purchasers 
 are entitled to explanation why this second issue 
 should contain so much additional matter and yet be 
 issued at less cost than the first. 
 
 On a careful re-perusal, however, he was mortified to 
 discover the omission of many temporarily forgotten 
 incidents familiarly exhibiting the genuine character- 
 istics of " the old Squire " which were apparently 
 worthy of record. 
 
 When apprised of the demand for another Edition, 
 retrospective occurrences were reconnoitred, which showed 
 that in justice to the living as well as in admiration 
 of the memory of the dead, many endearing amenities 
 and: essentially characteristic eventualities claimed a 
 merited insertion in its pages, the admission of which 
 he trusts, will exculpate him from the charge of any 
 less worthy motive, the sundry preparations for a 
 
X PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 first edition being always much more costly than any 
 re-production, even with additional matter. 
 
 The Author tenders his cordial thanks for the 
 frankly expressed approbation of the volume already 
 before the public, not only by those with whom he 
 is personally acquainted, but by many distinguished 
 individuals, on whose friendship, or even acquaintance, 
 he has no claim. 
 
 LEEDS, January, 1867. 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTKATIONS. 
 
 1. View of Walton Hall, in the distance, — of the Ancient Ruin,— and 
 
 of the Cast Iron Bridge . . . To face the Title Page. 
 
 2. Boulby's Sun Dial 9 
 
 3. Front View of Mansion on the Island, surrounded by the Lake , 18 
 
 4. The Cast Iron Bridge Approach to the House . . . .23 
 
 5. The Stable Department, covered with magnificent Vines . . 29 
 
 6. " John Bull and the National Debt " . . . .30 
 
 7. "The Grotto" 34 
 
 8. Lofty Yew Fence encircling the Nesting Tower,— also, the Bridge, 
 
 and Fisherman's Hut . . . . . • .59 
 
 9. Escape and Re-Capture of one of the Rattle Snakes . . .69 
 
 10. The Sepulchral Resting-Place of the Late Mr. Waterton . . 92 
 
 11. The Poacher entrapped by the Squire into the Lock-up . . 128 
 
 12. South-West View of the House, and of the Sailing Boat on the Lake. 184 
 
 13. Mr. Waterton mounted on the Cayman, when living . . . 189 
 
 14. The distant Mansion and the Ruin,— the Little Island and the 
 
 Lombardy Poplar ....•■• 220 
 
 15. Mr. Waterton and the Author Photographed beneath the Lombardy 
 
 Poplar 259 
 
 16. The "Nondescript" . . . • • • .265 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Dedication .... 
 Preface to the First Edition 
 Preface to the Second Edition. 
 List of Illustations 
 Natural History in the Museum 
 
 Page. 
 
 CHAPTEE L— Page 1. 
 
 Opportunities presented for gathering Information . . .1 
 
 Pleasure realised in the Friendship of Mr. Waterton . . .1 
 
 Mr. Waterton an eminent Naturalist . . . . .2 
 
 Scenery around Walton Hall, near Wakefield, the Eesidenoe of the late 
 
 Mr. Waterton ........ 2 
 
 Home Scenery, often overlooked for that which is more distant . . 2 
 
 Mr. Waterton's Sources of Amusement and Enjoyment . . .3 
 
 Mental and Physical Characteristics create a Diversity in the Choice of 
 
 Amusements ........ 3 
 
 Perverted Judgment as regards the Destruction of Birds . . 4 
 
 Ill-judged destruction not unfrequently indulged in the Prosecution of 
 
 Field Sports ........ 5 
 
 Mr. Waterton, a signal Exception to this Reproach . . .5 
 
 Date of his Death ........ 5 
 
 The Squire's Passion for Natural History Pursuits . . .5 
 
 Shooting and Fishing all but prohibited in the Park during more than 
 
 half of every year . ...... 6 
 
 Mr. Waterton a keen Sportsman in Youth, and also a staunch Preserver 
 
 of Foxes ........ 6, 7 
 
 Incident of a Fox within the Park . . . . . 7, 8 
 
 Situation of Walton Hall, and Characteristics of the scenery surrounding it 8 
 Its proximity to Sandal Castle significant for its containing the Duke of 
 
 York and his forces, conquered by those of the Queen in 1460 . . S 
 
 The Sun-Dial near the Mansion, the Work of George Boulby, a self- 
 taught artist ....... 9 
 
 Peculiarities of its Construction . . . . . .10 
 
 Mr. Waterton's Generosity, in the Purchase of the Sun-Dial . . 10 
 
 The Boat-Houses and their Arrangements . . . . -11 
 
XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 Sycamores on the Island on which the House stands, resorted to by Pea- 
 Fowl, &c, for roosting . . . • . . . .11 
 Interesting Ruin near the Cast Iron Bridge . . . .11 
 Ancient Doors of this Ruin, originally the only Pass to the Island' . 11 
 Cromwell's Attack upon this Entrance . . . .12 
 Traditional Legend that Cromwell was repulsed, having been vigorously 
 
 opposed by the then Mrs. Waterton, in the absence of her husband 12, 13 
 Some Incidents arising out of Cromwell's Attack, and recent corroborative 
 
 circumstantial evidence . . . . . . .18 
 
 Brass-Plate on Ancient Doors of the Ruin, recording Cromwell's Attack . 13 
 Destruction, by Cromwell, of the Draw-Bridge . . . .13 
 
 Pete given to Mrs. Waterton for her intrepid conduct . . .13 
 
 Stone Cross on Gable End of the Ruin, at the foot of which a wild duck 
 
 twice incubated . . . . . . . .14 
 
 The Yew-Fence surrounding the Ruin . . . . .14 
 
 Stone and Mortar Tower prepared specially for certain of the Feathered 
 
 Tribes . . . . . . . . .14 
 
 Ingenious Means for protecting the Birds from Cats and Vermin . 15 
 
 Rumpless fowl and his jet-black mate, also rumpless . . .15 
 
 The Oil-Gland in Birds . . . . . . .15 
 
 Ornithological Anatomy . . . . . . .15 
 
 Objeots of Curiosity within the Old Ruin . . . . .16 
 
 The Squire's Rat- Trap and its construction . . .16, 17 
 
 The Constituents of the Poison Powder used by Mr. Waterton for the 
 
 1 lestruction of Rats . . . . . . .17 
 
 Swivel Cannon used in resisting Cromwell . . . . .17 
 
 Snug Provision in the Ruin for Mr. Waterton's favourite Cat . . 17 
 
 Walton Hall itself surrounded by Water . . . . .18 
 
 Ample Supply of fine Crystal Water from a Spring . . .18 
 
 Deer kept on the Island during the lifetime of the late Mr. Waterton's 
 
 father ....... .18 
 
 Reason for the Destruction of the Deer . . . . .18 
 
 Description of the Front Entrance of Walton Hall . . .18 
 
 Two singularly-constructed Rappers affixed to the Folding Doors of the 
 
 Front Entrance . . .... .19 
 
 Singular Representation of the Night-Mare in the Vestibule . 19 20 
 
 Mr. Waterton's Crest and Motto . . . . . .20 
 
 Meaning of the Motto difficult to deoipher ;— Suggestion of the Meaning". 20 
 The Island surrounded by a Stone and Mortar Wall . . ,21 
 
 Description of the Arrangements of the House . . .22 
 
 Staircase and its Walls beautified by Paintings and Objects of Natural 
 
 History ....... 22 
 
 Old Swivel Bridge, leading from the Park to the Island, superseded by 
 
 the existing light Iron Bridge .... 23 
 
 The Lombardy Poplar whioh was struok by Lightning . . .23 
 
CONTENTS. , XV 
 
 Providential Protection to Seven Fisheimen from the suggestion of Mr. 
 
 Waterton . . . . . . , 23 24 
 
 The Lombardy Poplar an Object of special interest to the Squire . 24 
 
 Special immunity in the female sex from death by lightning . 24, 25 
 
 Underground Waste-Sluice for regulating the Mow of Water from the 
 
 Lake . . . . , . , .25 
 
 The Waste Water from the Lake made contributory to Observations in 
 
 Natural History, and especially of the water rat. . . 25 
 
 Beautiful Grotto in the more distant Pleasure-Grounds . . .26 
 
 Trap Reservoir to intercept the Fish carried down by a Flooding of the 
 
 Lake ......... 26 
 
 Place of Shelter for the Keeper . . . . . .26 
 
 Mr. Waterton's Concessions to and true Sympathy with the Poor 26, 27 
 Fisherman's Hut, — the ancient "Frumenty Stone" forming its Roof . 27 
 Further Evidence of the Squire's Solicitude for the Comfort of Persons 
 
 visitiug the House and Grounds . . . . . .28 
 
 The smaller and the larger Pheasantry . . . . .28 
 
 Care taken for the Protection and Preservation of the Pheasants . . 28 
 
 Stable Department ornamented by splendid Vines . . .29 
 
 Unique Combination, near the Stable Department, designated "John 
 "Bull and the National Debt" . . . . . .29 
 
 CHAPTER II.— Page 30. 
 
 Removal of the ancient Corn Mill, the Origin of " John Bull and the 
 National Debt," which furnishes a remarkable Illustration of the Powers 
 of Nature under peculiar circumstances . . . . .30 
 
 Knotty Questions as to the Future of "John Bull and the National Debt." 31 
 The Mill-Stone raised nearly a foot from the earth . . .31 
 
 Death of the Parent Stem and future Growth of a Radical Shoot . . 32 
 
 Another " Lusus Naturae," viz., the Union of the Spruce Fir and the Elm 32 
 This unnatural Union an Illustration of what Mr. Waterton designated 
 
 the Absurdity of ' ' the Union of Church and State " . . .32 
 
 The Author suspects that the Squire had a fore knowledge of the trees 
 suicidal termination when he trained them . . . .32 
 
 Artificial Bird Nesting Boxes . . . . . .33 
 
 Ancient Saxon Stone Cross, and its mis-appropriation before it became the 
 property of Mr. Waterton . . . . . .34 
 
 Magnificent Clump of Spruce Fir, a, specially attractive Nesting Retreat 
 for many Birds . . . . . . . .34 
 
 " The Grotto," a favourite place of Observation for the Habits of Birds . 32 
 Description of "The Grotto" . . . . . .35 
 
 " The Grotto " a fascinating Retreat of Pic-Nic Parties . . .35 
 
36 
 37 
 37 
 37 
 
 xvi CONTENTS. 
 
 Easy Terms ou which Access to the Grounds at Walton Hall was granted . 36 
 Cheerful Homage tendered to Mr. Waterton by the visiting Parties by 
 
 singing the " Fine Old English Gentleman " . 3' 
 
 Dancing and Music allowed in the Grounds 
 Orderly Behaviour of "Visitors 
 Visits of the more aristocratic Parties 
 Soothing Influence of the Scenery around "The Grotto" 
 The Squire details to the Author portions of his South American 
 
 adventures . . . . • • ■ .37 
 
 Visit of the Lunatics from Wakefield Asylum . . . 40 
 
 An Ox-Bye Titmouse builds her Nest in the Trunk of a Tree prepared for 
 
 Owls, but declines occupying it in future years because a Squirrel 
 
 had used it . ..... 40 
 
 Temples, &c, erected by the Squire and Jack Ogden, the keeper. . 41 
 
 Why Ogden had been installed Keeper . . . . .41 
 
 Death and description of Jack Ogden . . . . .42 
 
 Ogden's knowledge of the battle of Wakefield Green • . .42 
 
 Mr. Salvin's report of Mr. George Walker's recognition of the late Admiral 
 
 lord Clifford at Chatsworth . . . . . 43, 44 
 
 The Cross, near the Lower Temple, believed to be the first exposed to 
 
 public view, in England, since the Reformation . . .44 
 
 The number of visits paid by the Blue titmice upon feeding their young 
 
 recounted by Mr. Wier . . . . . . .44 
 
 Mr. Waterton's Interest in "the Juveniles " . . . .44 
 
 Trunks of Decayed Trees converted into Nesting Retreats . . 45 
 
 Three separate Nests in one Cavity . . . . .46 
 
 Birds of different Species, in an unreclaimed state, not generally disposed 
 
 to quarrel, — nor the Savage Races of Animals of the same Species 46, 47 
 Unusual Progeny of a Water Hen . . . . . .47 
 
 Water Hens particular Favourites of Mr. Waterton . . .47 
 
 Persistency of the Water Hen in the Maintenance of the Place for her 
 
 Nest ' . . .47 
 
 " Addled Egg " in all the Nests of the Brown Owl . . .48 
 
 Mr. Waterton's Opinion on the Accusation against the Carrion Crow of 
 
 sucking the Eggs of other Birds, with Evidence somewhat mitigating 
 
 the Charge . . . , . . . .48 
 
 The Heronry, opposite the Drawing-Room Windows, on the southern side 
 
 of the Lake . . . . . . . 49, 50 
 
 A Position, congenial to the Wants of the Herons, preserved for them . 50 
 A young heron a great delicacy on the table , . . .51 
 
 Herons speedy in the act of nidification . . . . .51 
 
 Means "used by Mr. Waterton for Observation -of the Habits of the 
 
 Heron . . . . . . . . 50, 51 
 
 Herons appoint a Sentinal to guard their Young during their absence 
 
 from the Heronry . . . . . . . .51 
 
 A Heron " Spikes " a Magpie • • . . . .51 
 
CONTENTS. XVU 
 
 Heron's Nests on the Ground in the Island of Islay. . . .52 
 
 The Keeper gathers up his Damaged Young Herons after a Storm . 52 
 Long Flights of the Heron . . . . . . .53 
 
 Wanton Destruction of the Heron in its Wanderings . . .53 
 
 Destructive Influence of the Soap and Vitriol Works established in the 
 
 neighbourhood of Walton Hall . . . . . 53, 54 
 
 Mr. Waterton, having tried peaceable means, obtained an Injunction, to 
 
 prohibit the Continuance of these Works . . . .54 
 
 Supposed destructive character of " The Scolytus " . . .55 
 
 Mr. Waterton enters into Controversy on this subject, in Opposition to 
 
 the generally-received opinion . . . . 55, 56 
 
 The Squire's Experiments, to sustain his Opinion in respect to " The 
 
 Scolytus " . . . . . . . . .56 
 
 His Conviction respecting "The Scolytus," successfully vindicated . 57 
 
 Mr. Waterton, when very young, planted Trees for the future . . 57 
 
 The Hall a really commodious and convenient Family Residence . 57, 58 
 
 Further Description of the Mansion . . . . .58 
 
 Objects of Interest seen from the Front Windows of the Hall ; the Four 
 
 Sycamores, the Flaged Pathway, the Euin ; the Stone Cross ; Nesting 
 
 Tower for the Starling, Jackdaw, and White Owl ; splendid Hollies a 
 
 Retreat for the smaller British Birds ; the Yew Tree Grove, which 
 
 forms the larger Pheasantry, the Fisherman's Hut, the Lombardy 
 
 Poplar, the smaller Pheasantry, the Fruit Trees, the Rookery, &c. 58, 59 
 Opportunities, on the Island, realised iu the Spring, for instructive 
 
 Ornithological Observations . . . . . .59 
 
 Enchanting Surroundings of the southern Front . . . .60 
 
 Echo close to the Lake . . . . . . .60 
 
 Beautiful Prospect from the Windows of the Drawing Room . . 61 
 
 The Author attaches White Feathers to the Tail of a Swallow to test the 
 
 Ornithological Knowledge of a Gentleman . . ' .61, 62, 63, 
 
 Promiscuous Charity alluded to, which leads to singular encounters with 
 
 a Lady Beggar . . . . . . . 63, 64 
 
 The Friends of the Celebrated Blondin apply to the Squire for an 
 
 Exhibition in the Park . . . . . . 64, 65 
 
 Exhibitions, of every kind, always at variance with the Squire's Tastes 
 
 and Feelings . . . . . . • .65 
 
 Calm Serenity of the Mansion and Park . . . . 65, 66 
 
 Marvellous Suppleness of Limb and Elasticity of Muscle enjoyed by Mr. 
 
 Waterton, even when above eighty years of age . . . .66 
 
 His fearless Courage; — His Riding the Cayman in South America 66, 67 
 Mr. Waterton engaged in a, more daring Exploit, at Leeds, with Rattle- 
 
 Assembly of Medical Gentlemen to witness the Experiments with Rattle- 
 Snakes ........ 69 
 
 Some days previously, at Wakefield, the Squire undertook to re-arrange 
 these Rattle-Snakes ■ . . . . ■ • .69 
 
XVU1 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Bangers attendant on the Leeds Experiments with the Rattle-Snakes . 70 
 Fearless Risks undertaken by Mr. Waterton in connection with the Leeds 
 
 daring Snake Adventures . . . . ... 
 
 The Leeds Experiments with the Rattle-Snakes successfully carried out 
 Near Escape of one of the Rattle-Snakes, and extreme Terror of most of 
 
 the Party ........ 
 
 Wonderful Self-Possession of Mr. Waterton whilst prosecuting these 
 
 Experiments ........ 
 
 His Opinion, that Snakes attack only when provoked 
 
 Discriminating Courage of the Squire with an Orang-Outang from Borneo, 
 
 ir. the Zoological Gardens, London 
 This Opportunity turned to account for Natural History Purposes 74, 75 
 
 These various hazardous Adventures attest the cool Courage of Mr. 
 
 Waterton ........ 
 
 The Ape Searching the Squire's head reminds him of a Cambridge 
 
 anecdote ......... 
 
 Mr. Waterton recounts a conversation with » Man representing himself 
 
 Skilled in Egg Gathering at Filey ..... 
 
 The Squire records an Anecdote connected with his old Farm Bailiff 
 Quotation from a description of Walton Hall, by Sir James Stuart 
 
 Menteth, Bart. . . . . . . . .77 
 
 71 
 71 
 
 72 
 
 72 
 72 
 
 73 
 
 75 
 
 75 
 
 76 
 76 
 
 CHAPTER III.— Page 80. 
 
 Further Description of the Grounds at Walton Hall 
 
 The Rookery .... 
 
 The Nostel Priory Rookery . 
 
 Singular Habits of the Rook . 
 
 Almost friendless Position of this Bird 
 
 Arrest of Judgment in Support of the Rook 
 
 Accusations against the Rook 
 
 Pleadings on its Behalf 
 
 Balance of Testimony in Favour of the Rook 
 
 Insensibility of Farmers to its Value 
 
 The Farmers and Woodland Proprietors really benefited by the Rook 
 
 Extract from a Publication by Sir J. S. Menteth, Bart. . 86 87 88 89 
 
 President of the Gateshead Club, on the Essex Sparrow Club . . 90 
 
 Place of Interment of the Great-Grandfather of Mr. Waterton 
 
 The Dog-Kennel ....... 
 
 Unnatural Position for the Nest of a Pea-Fowl, twenty-four feet from 
 the Ground ....... 
 
 Farm- Yard and Dove-Cote . . . . . 91 9 > 
 
 Remarkable Willow, from the Stump of which have sprung Twelve Stems 
 designated by Mr. Waterton "'The Twelve Apostles," and one detri- 
 mentally influenced by a Storm being named "Judas " . .92 
 
 90 
 
 91 
 
 91 
 
CONTENTS. xix 
 
 Capricious Freak of a Duck, by building her Nest in an Oak Tree, twelve 
 
 feet from the ground . . . . . . .93 
 
 Mausoleum, near this Oak Tree, constructed by Mr. Waterton for the 
 
 Reception of his Remains . . . . . .93 
 
 The Squire and the Author always hovered on the Lake to admire the two 
 
 Patriarchal Oaks . . . . . . . .93 
 
 The Squire's attachment to the place of his Nativity, and memory of his 
 
 Ancestors . . . . . . . . .94 
 
 Mr. Waterton claimed a place of Sepulture in the Grounds of his Fore- 
 fathers ....... .94 
 
 The presence of the Solitary Heron consistent with the Wonderful 
 
 Scenery ... . . . . . . .94 
 
 Allusion to the Erection of a Tomb in future near the Sepulchre . .94 
 
 The Lake fruitful in Fish of fine quality . . . .95 
 
 Securing of Pike by the Bow and Arrow a favourite Amusement of the 
 
 Squire . . . . . . . . . ,95 
 
 Detrimental Influence to Natural History, by removing from the Lalte a 
 
 principal part of the Weeds . . . . . .95 
 
 Singular Position of a Coot's Nest . . . . . .96 
 
 Diligence of the Coots in the Preparation of their Nests, and interesting 
 
 Habits of the Male and Female Birds . . . . .97 
 
 Habits and Peculiarities of the Land and Water Fowl could always be 
 
 easily examined . . . . . . . .98 
 
 Parental Kindness and persevering Attention of the various Birds.. . 98 
 
 An Assemblage of Herons an instructive sight . . . .99 
 
 The majestic Figure and singularly striking Peculiarities of the Heron . 99 
 The Telescope, in the Drawing Room, specially constructed for easy and 
 
 convenient Observation of the Birds ..... 100 
 
 Mr. Waterton unrivalled as a Field Ornithologist . . . 100, 101 
 
 Mr. Waterton represented as a second Apollo . . . 101, 102 
 
 The Squire's description to the Author of » deceitful party from 
 
 Leeds 102, 103, 104, 105 
 
 CHAPTER IV.— Page 106. 
 
 Dubious Opinions of Authors as to the gregariousness of the Carrion- 
 
 Crow 106,107 
 
 Doubtful Gregariousness of the Carrion-Crow affirmatively determined a 
 
 Walton Hall by Mr. Waterton 107, 108 
 
 A Pro and Con argument as to whether the Carrion-Crow covers her Eggs 
 on leaving her nest ...... 108, 109 
 
 Monogamy of a Common Goose . . . . . 109 
 
 The Nightingale an annual Visitor to the Park .... 109 
 
 Validity of Protection among the Feathered Tribes . . 109, 110 
 
XX CONTENTS. 
 
 General Concurrence and Harmony of Nature around Walton Hall 
 
 favourable to the Pursuits of Mr. Watertou .... 110 
 
 Visitors of all EankSj "warned off" those portions of the Lake, &o., sot 
 
 apart for Natural History Pursuits, during six months of tie year . 110 
 Memoranda of Birds which have been occasional Visitors to the Grounds, 
 
 &c, of Walton Hall 111,112 
 
 Immense Number and Variety of Water Fowl seen on the Lake when 
 
 covered with Ice in Winter . . . . .112 
 
 Complete Quietude and relying Confidence of the Birds . . . 113 
 
 Their probable Cause for Preference of this Resort .... 113 
 Attachment of Birds to particular Places . _ . . . . 114 
 
 Singular Accident to the Nest of a Pair of Coots, proving strong Attach- 
 ment to Localities, however limited ..... 114 
 Faithfulness of the Male Bird, corroborated by Colonel Montague and 
 
 Mr. Selby . ' 115 
 
 Eigid Protection of the several Feathered Tribes by the Squire . . 116 
 
 Prolificness of the White and Brown Owl .... 116, 117 
 The most Eminent Agriculturists in this century admit that Farmers 
 derive great benefit from the White Owl ; attested by Mr. Hepburn, in 
 East Lothian, also by Mr. Eennie of Phantassie and Sir John 
 
 Sinclair 117, 118 
 
 Canada Geese . . • . . . , , H9 
 
 Pinioning of the Canada Goose, and proper Time for the Operation . 120 
 
 Cunning of the Canada Goose . .... 120 
 
 Means of increasing the Fecundity of the Canada Goose . . 120, 121 
 
 Instinct of the Cuckoo in depositing her Eggs .... 121 
 
 Experiments in Hatching Eggsj disregarding Instinct . . .121 
 
 The Squire's nice discrimination of the Songs of various birds . 121, 122 
 Mr. Waterton "fairly floored" by Mr. Salvin's clever Imitation of 
 
 a Kg 122 
 
 A Letter from Mr. Salvin to the Author narrating two Aiieodotes relative 
 to Mr. Waterton ... ... 122, 123, 124, 125 
 
 Mr. Waterton's Antipathy to the Rat ..... 125 
 
 Tarring the Eat, and giving him Liberty .... 125, 126 
 
 Another Mode of " scaring away " Eats . 126 
 
 Anovel "Lock-up" ...... 126 
 
 Capture of a Poacher in the " Look-up," . . . 127 128 
 
 Self -Destruction threatened by the Poaoher, and his apparent Penitence .' 128 
 Mr. Watorton, at one time, a strict Preserver of the Game on his 
 Estate .... too 
 
 Costliness of the rigorous Preservation of Game . . . [129 
 
 The frequent dangerous Encountors between Watchers and Poachers, a 
 principle reason why the Squire became loss strict in the Preservation' of 
 Game ■ • • ■ • • . . .129 
 
 No Superabundance of Game now in the Park . . . 129130 
 
 Mr. Waterton's favourite Cat, " Whitty," of late the ohief Poaoher .' 130 
 
CONTENTS. xx i 
 
 Peculiarity and striking Contrast in the Crowing of the Game and 
 Pheasant Cooks ..... 130 
 
 A Singular Pheasant-shooting adventure ..... 131 
 
 Unjust Accusation against the Squire, as to the wanton Destruction of » 
 Foxes 131, 132 ' 
 
 Intended "Lark" of a Party of Officers from some neighbouring 
 
 Barracks 
 
 . 132 
 
 Their Ignorance of the Art of Painting . . . . .132 
 
 Their Rudeness ......... 133 
 
 Amusing Rebuke, by Mr. Waterton . . . . .134 
 
 How the Squire administered Censure to the Officers, who, in ignorance of 
 
 his presence, continued to roundly abuse him . . . 134 135 
 
 Mr. Waterton makes himself known to the Officers, before parting . 135 
 
 Hospitality and Kind-heartedness of the Squire .... 135 
 Evidence of this in the Experience of the Author . . . 135, 136 
 
 Extracts from Mr. Waterton's Correspondence with the Author 136, 137, 138 
 The Squire and the Author study the Habits and various instinctive acts 
 
 of the Birds and their Feeding in the Grotto . . 138, 139, 140 
 
 Mr. Waterton's then, Intention as to his final Resting-Place within the 
 
 Grounds of Walton Hall ...... 140, 141 
 
 His Epitaph, written by himself, and given to the Author . . . 141 
 
 The Life of Mr. Waterton one of incessant Activity . . . 141 
 
 Improvements at Walton Hall during his Life . . . 141, 142 
 
 Wonderful Physical Capability of the Squire, with Instances witnessed by 
 
 the Author . . 142, 143 
 
 Mr. Waterton consults the Author relative to the Swelling of his Ankles 
 
 and indulges in Anecdotes on the occasion . . . 143, 144 
 
 His Fondness for Boating, and Freedom from Mishaps when enjoying this 
 
 Means of Health . . . . . . . .144 
 
 CHAPTER V.— Page 146. 
 
 The Squire rarely or never accepted a gift, but his fondness for Surgery 
 
 ipduoed him under peculiar circumstances to break the rule . 146, 147 
 Abstemiousness of Mr. Waterton, and great Delight he had in 
 Labour ......... 147 
 
 A strict Observer of the Discipline of his Church .... 148 
 
 His Predisposition, in early life, to Pulmonary Disease . . . 148 
 
 Mr. Waterton practised Venesection personally, especially when a 
 Wanderer in South America, having been instructed in the Art by a 
 professional Proficient, the late Dr. Marshall .... 148 
 
 In the practice of Venesection the Squire excelled .... 149 
 
 Mr. Waterton cautioned as to the Dangerous bungling of Operative 
 Practice in Surgery ....... 150 
 
XXU CONTENTS.- 
 
 His jocular Retort .....•■• 150 
 
 Venesection a great Relief to Mr. Waterton .... 151 
 
 The Squire remonstrated with by the Author against too frequently 
 
 " Tapping the Claret " . . . . . • -151 
 
 Humorous Reply of the Squire . . • ■ • 151 
 
 His Defence of the Rigour he imposed upon himself when Pasting . 152 
 
 Mr. Waterton a Total Abstainer from Alcoholic Drinks . . . 153 
 
 The " early to rest, and early to rise " plan practised by the Squire . 154 
 
 Early Hours of the Morning devoted to Taxidermy and other Natural 
 . History Manipulations ..... 154 
 
 Mr. Waterton, for many years, denied himself the Comfort of Sleeping on 
 
 a Bed . 154 
 
 Testimony by Milton, and also by Ovid, to the beneficial effects of Sleep . 155 
 Mr. Waterton careful of the Comfort of others, and most liberal in his 
 Private and other Charities ...... 155 
 
 The Squire thrice in Danger of Death, from Disease . . . 155 
 
 Mr. Waterton's Politics " Conservative," although opposed to the Union 
 of Church and State ....... 156 
 
 The Squire's passionate Attachment to the Medical Profession, and ex- 
 cessive Admiration of the Priesthood of bis own Church, more especially 
 » of the Jesuits ........ 157 
 
 Letter to the Author, extolling the Jesuits ..... 158 
 
 Mr. Waterton alludes to their being no poor rates before the Reformation. 158 
 When Religious Observances were concerned, no recommendation of 
 Priest nor of Doctor, even when ill, could induce Mr. Waterton to 
 refrain from practising them nor tempt him to go to Bed . . 159 
 
 The Squire's Determination to Fast frequently in excess of the require- 
 ments of his Church ....... 159 
 
 Severity of Mr. Waterton's Pasting during Lent .... 160 
 
 Playful Manner in which he was accustomed to adjust with himself the 
 matter of Fasting ........ 161 
 
 Even in Old Age, Mr. Waterton would not, though advised, indulge in 
 more liberal Diet ........ 162 
 
 Peculiarity of his Apparel . . . . . . .363 
 
 The Squire's Indifference to Fashion. ..... 163 
 
 Amusing Incident, arising out of his Indifference to Fashion and from the 
 
 peculiarity of his Apparel, the Squire not being known at the time . 163 
 Confusion of the Buyer of Wood, on Mr. Waterton afterward becoming 
 known to him ........ 164 
 
 Mr. Waterton's severe Taste in Matters of Natural History . . 165 
 
 Extraordinary "Lusus Naturse" at the Foot of the Grand Staircase at 
 Walton Hall ........ 165 
 
 Horns usually Weapons of Defence for Cattle .... 166 
 
 Additional particulars of this "Lusus Naturse" noticed . . . 166 
 
 Explanatory Allusions to Ruminating Animals by the Author 167, 168, 169 
 Sponge found in the Lake at Walton Hall ..... 169 
 
 Improvements in the Lake by a Water-Sluice at its Base . . . 170 
 
CONTENTS. XXU1 
 
 Depth and Form of the Lake at Walton Hall . . . .170 
 
 The Seclusion of various parts of the Lake, ^tempting to every species of 
 
 Water-Fowl ........ 170 
 
 Enjoyments of the Water-Fowl . . . . . .171 
 
 Important Lesson to be learnt from the Water Fowl in the Protection 
 
 and Defence of their Young, &c. ...... 171 
 
 Dredging of the Lake in 1857 ;— Curiosities revealed . . .172 
 
 Great Value of the Mud, in Cultivation, obtained from the Lake . . 172 
 
 Fertility of the Kitchen Garden at Walton Hall . . . .172 
 
 Bee-Hives in the Kitchen Garden ..... 173 
 
 Nesting Places for Sand-Martins, which, although for many years 
 
 had frequented the Grounds of Walton Hall, recently deserted them . 173 
 This Freak of the Sand-Martins a proof of an Understanding among 
 
 themselves . . . . . . , . . 173 
 
 Objects almost innumerable in the Park, on the Lake, on the Island, and 
 
 in " The Grotto," not described, but worthy of Notice . . .174 
 
 Mr. Waterton's Memory remarkably retentive .... 175 
 
 An Allusion to a stench from a, dead herring near the Grotto, induces 
 
 the Squire to relate an incident regarding dead letters . . 175 
 
 CHAPTER VI.— Page 176. 
 
 Mr. Waterton advises a lady in consequence of a scanty supply offish 
 in the lake, to hang her keeper and flog her watcher weekly, intro- 
 ducing a nursery anecdote . . . . ... 176 
 
 The disapproval of understrappers in general, and in one special instance . 176 
 The numerous Good Deeds of Mr. Waterton attest his truly estimable 
 character ......... 177 
 
 The Squire's successful Mode of Preserving his Natural History Speci- 
 mens . . . . . ~. .177, 178 
 
 His Mode of applying Internal Manipulation for securing the life-like 
 Form and Attitude of his Specimens . ... . . 179 
 
 Advantages secured by this Method in modelling either Bird or Animal 
 
 179, 180 
 Internal Modelling requires daily attention ..... 181 
 
 Objection to this Method- by Taxidermists generally . . . 181 
 
 Unheard-of Perseverance and Labour of Mr. Waterton . . . 181 
 
 His cheerful Readiness to aid the Amateur in the "bird-stuffing line," 182, 183 
 Arrangement for the Exclusion of Strangers and unknown persons from 
 
 Walton Hall 188 
 
 Walton Hall » convenient Family House, but with at least one dis- 
 advantage ......... 184 
 
 Large Fires, even in Summer, necessary for the Squire's peculiar Con- 
 stitution ......... 185 
 
xxiv CONTENTS. 
 
 Letter from Sir James Stuart Menteth, Bart., to the Author, descriptive 
 
 of Walton Hall and the Squire .... 186, 187, 188 
 
 Varied Knowledge necessary in describing the magnificent Contents of 
 
 Walton Hall 18 ^ 
 
 Exquisite Specimens of Natural History in the Grand Staircase . . 189 
 
 This marvellous Collection of Subjects of Natural History the sole work of 
 
 Mr. Waterton's own hands. . . • • 189, 190 
 
 Attention directed to the extreme Peculiarity of some of the Specimens . 190 
 The Squire's Detestation of an Assumption of Knowledge . . -191 
 
 A singular Work of Art in the Extension Staircase, representing " John 
 
 Bull and the National Debt " . - - , • • • I 92 
 
 Mr. Waterton's Inventive Genius noticed . ... 193 
 
 The Squire attempts to Navigate the atmosphere . . 193, 194 
 
 An experimental Aerial Trip nearly proved fatal .... 195 
 Mr. Waterton became afterward convinced that he was " out of his 
 
 element" in attempting an " atmospheric trip " .... 195 
 
 Mr. Waterton's allusions to the dishonourable reviews of " The Wander- 
 ings " on their first issue ...... 196, 197 
 
 The Squire explains to Mr. Harrison how unjustly he had been treated . 197 
 " The Wanderings " gradually emancipated itself .... 198 
 
 The Squires explanation of there being no danger in riding the Cayman . 199 
 A similarly unjust review by the. Editor of the Zoologist, of " Charles 
 
 Waterton, his Home, Habits, and Handiwork " . . . 199, 200 
 
 His Knowledge of Practical Farming limited .... 200 
 
 Mr. Waterton's erroneous notions as to drainage . . . 201, 202 
 
 The Squire's opinion relative to the Mole benefiting the farmer in some 
 
 respects corroborated ...... 202, 203 
 
 Mr. Waterton's Liberality to the Poor of his neighbourhood, regardless of 
 
 their religious or political opinions : 204 
 
 Novel Arrangement with a Shoemaker at Wakefield for supplying Shoes. 205 
 Singular Instance of attempted Deception discovered . . . 206 
 
 Reputed Medicinal Virtues of the Misletoe in the Cure of Epilepsy . 206 
 
 Objection to its supposed curable properties .... 207 
 
 The Squire's inventive power in the representation of supposed extinct 
 
 animals ......... 208 
 
 CHAPTER VII.— Page 209. 
 
 Mr. Waterton a keen Supporter of " The Infallible Church " . . 209 
 
 Grotesque Representation of the more prominent Reformers of the Church 209 
 Unbenign Mode in which this was displayed by a taxidermic preparation. 210 
 Well-grounded Suspicion of another Application of this Specimen of 
 Taxidermy, viz., in allusion to religious tenets promulgated in the 16th 
 century . . . . . . . . .210 
 
CONTENTS. XXV 
 
 Any statement of Mr. Waterton ' apparently touching on profanity was 
 
 always simply jocose ....... 210 
 
 Watts disapproves of ludicrous terms on sacred subjects . . . 211 
 
 Credulity of the Squire the natural out-growth of his ardent attachment 
 
 to the Romish Church ...... 211, 212 
 
 Mr. Waterton's playful levity and natural warmth of heart . . 212 
 
 The Squire filled the Author's Pockets and Carriage-box frequently with 
 
 Nuts, &c, &c. ........ 212 
 
 Mr. "Waterton faces the Snow-storm without his Hat, and throws his 
 
 Slippers over his head when approaching his 80th year . . 218 
 
 The Squire an Abstainer from all Stimuli .... 213 
 
 Mr. Waterton not always discreet in the use of Animal Food, when "the 
 
 Padlock was removed from bis Grinders " by the Pope . . 213, 214 
 
 When well, the Squire enjoyed excellent spirits, but if intentionally 
 
 annoyed was frigidly taciturn ..... 214, 215 
 A Countryman wished to be a Paying Pupil, and mistook the Squire's 
 
 terms . . . ■ . . . . 215, 216 
 
 His great delight was in Beautifying his Park, and Trimming his splendid 
 
 Fences 216, 217 
 
 Surgical care necessary, under which a ludicrous incident occurred . 217 
 
 Letter from Mr. Waterton describing a Fall from a Ladder 217, 218, 219 
 
 Explanation why the Squire was able to make his Elbows meet . . 220 
 
 Ornithological Incubation carefully noted by means of the Telescope, with 
 
 Illustrative instances of the Affectionate Solicitude of the various Birds 
 
 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226 
 Absurd opinion respecting the Heron during Incubation set at rest by the 
 
 use of the Telescope ...... 226, 227 
 
 Mr. Waterton's skill in Horses, probably from ceasing "to ride to hounds," 
 
 very equivocal, though a daring Horseman . . . 227, 228 
 
 The Habits of some " Fast " Young Men a reason why his father induced 
 
 him tu give up Hunting ...... 228, 229 
 
 Further evidence of the Squire's want of Knowledge of Horses . 229, 230 
 Mr. Waterton's love of the Stable ...... 230 
 
 The Squire parsimonious of Oats to his own Horses, but liberal to 
 
 the Author's. .....•■• 230 
 
 Impertinence of a conceited young Coxcomb, and the Squire's rebuke 
 
 231, 232, 233 
 Burns quoted in favour of the Author's theory of Feeding . • 234 
 
 A Proposed Jumping Contest Withdrawn . 235 
 
 A supposed clever and ingenious fraud having been successful in some 
 
 quarters, was attempted upon Mr. Waterton . . 236, 237, 238 
 
 Results of the Interview with the Squire .... 238, 239 
 Mr. Waterton's severe animadversion, by quotation upon professing 
 
 Naturalists, in their being gulled into purchases of the fraud . . 240 
 
XXVI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII.— Page 241. 
 
 Mr. Waterten, on board ship, exohang-es his Beech-wood Pillow for the 
 outward Soles of his strong Shoes ..... 241 
 
 The Squire's reply to the Author, on being asked if ho gratified his sides 
 alternately, when resting on the hard boards during the nisrht . . 241 
 
 The Portrait of Mr. Tobias Hobson, (a great beuofaotor to tho town of 
 Cambridge,) presented to the author of this Momoir . . -41. 242 
 
 Lathi verses on Tobias Hobson, by the oelebrated Latinist. Vincent Bourne, 
 and translated by Mr. Waterton . . . '-42, 243 
 
 Addison's description, in the Speotator, of tho origin of tho phrase, 
 " Hobson's ohoioe," 248, 214 
 
 Description of Mr. Hobson and tho horse on whioh ho is mounted in tho 
 Portrait 245 
 
 Mr. Waterton's peculiar style of Dress on extraordinary oooasions 245, 246 
 
 His disregard and even contempt of Stylo in Dress . . 24t>, 247 
 
 The Squire's kindness of heart, the primary motive power to inoline him 
 to suoh disregard of dress, and to inoline him to yield to popular appro- 
 bation ......... 247 
 
 Cowper's exouse for the admission of flattery . . . .247 
 
 The Squire reckless of personal danger, but an advocate for the preser- 
 vation of health by increased temperature and vontilation . . 24S 
 
 Singular hatch of a domestdo duok in 1857, in tho neighbourhood of 
 Bingley 24S, 249 
 
 One of tho brood seoured by the late Mr. Ainlcy . . . 248, 249 
 
 The Squire spending a day with tho Author when the exceptional Mallard 
 was delivered at his house, proposed that it should bo sont to Walton 
 Hall 249 
 
 Mr. Waterton greatly attached to this bin!, whioh, on reaching Walton 
 Hall was named, " Doctor Hobson " ' . . . . 249 
 
 Ludicrous oiroumstauco associated with tho death of this Mallard, 
 in 1860 ....... . 250 
 
 This bird beautifully preservad and presontod to tho Author by Mr. 
 Waterton ......... 250 
 
 Description of the character of mal-formation of one of this brood . 251 
 
 Description of the Mallard now in tho Author's possession . . 251 
 
 A further illustration of Mr. Waterton's oontempt of dress, whioh 
 occurred at the houso of the Author .... 252. 253 
 
 Mr. Waterton's kindness of heart, manifested by his oaro for tho living 
 oreatures about tho Mansion and Farm buildings . . . 253 
 
 The Squire's numerous appointment of Cats and his attention to thorn, 
 and his opinion as regards thoir being fod . . . 251,255 
 
 The Author triod to puzzle the Squire, but failed .... 255 
 
 The Squire left the care of his Pointers to his confidential Keeper . 265 
 
CONTENTS. XXV11 
 
 His solioitude as to the future of his vast and varied handiwork, and indul- 
 gence of a hope that the work of his hands would endure, bring tears 
 to relieve his grief ...... 255, 256 
 
 Mr. Waterton's wonderful control of his feelings . . 257, 258 
 
 The Squire's great anxiety for his present and future reputation . . 258 
 
 His unconquerable dislike of being the subject of an Artist, but by a 
 
 manoeuvre he is brought within range of the Camera. . 258, 259, 260 
 
 After this device succeeded, various Subjects were photographed. 260, 261 
 Contentions afloat as to the Squire's intention in modelling the Non- 
 descript ....... 261, 262 
 
 Mr. Waterton entertained an idea that Hydrophobia would succumb to 
 
 Woorali poison, and went to Nottingham to experiment . 262, 26<* 
 
 The eminent and distinguished Surgeon, Mr. Higginbottom, check- 
 mated by " the old Squire " . . . . . .263 
 
 A Letter from the Squire to his friend, the Surgeon, at Nottingham . 263 
 Anecdote, arising out of the Squire conversing with strangers, at a 
 German watering-place ....... 264 
 
 The first appearance of " The Wanderings " . . . . 264 
 
 Suspicions of a diabolical character entertained then against the Squire 
 relative to the "Nondescript" ..... 265, 266 
 
 These sapient accusers of the Squire soon had the reward of being 
 
 laughed at . . . , 267 
 
 The Squire had studied Lavater ...... 267 
 
 A Letter from Mr. Waterton, giving directions for Pic-nic parties ; 
 the jilted, and being jilted by lovers, and' various other matters 
 
 26S, 269, 270 
 
 CHAPTER IX.— Page 271. 
 
 Letter from the Squire at Aix-la-Chapelle . . . 271, 272, 273 
 
 Mr. Waterton praises Aix-la-Chapelle- its splendid walks-its ruins- 
 its Cathedral, and its Exhibition of the Belies and .Remains of 
 Charlemagne, and its Monasteries . . . 273, 274, 275 
 
 The Squire's expatiation on the famous Salette, and is surprised at the 
 
 Author's bigotry in not agreeing with him . . .275, 276 
 
 Mr. Waterton quietly submitted to tho Author's declining to unite 
 
 with him in writing an Essay on Bleeding ' . • 276, 2^7 
 
 Mr. Waterton always experienced great benefit from being bled 277, 27S 
 Two strangers annoyed tho Squire, but afterward apologised in a vciy 
 
 singular way . . . • • • ■ * lc ' "' 
 
 The Squire's abhorrence of Smoking . . • 280, 281, 2S2 
 
 Letter from the Squire relative to the "Detonating Festival" . 2S2, 283 
 
 Mr. Waterton's opinion relative to the Ultimate Confiscation of Property 
 
 from a Roman CathoUo to a Protestant . . 284, 2S5, 28 J, 287 
 
xxviii CONTENTS. 
 
 Allusion to Mr. Waterton's affectionate veneration for his Parents, the 
 
 opinions entertained by them always guiding him, although contrary 
 
 to his own judgment . 287, 288, 289 
 
 Allusion to the boasted improvement in the recent and present training 
 
 discipline of Youth . 289 
 
 Anecdote of the Bishop of Bristol, consequent on a want of proper 
 
 respect to Superiors ....••• 
 
 Self-conceit and over-estimation of Youth in the present age . . 290 
 
 The present generation wanting in deferential rospeot to Age and to 
 
 Parents .....■••■ 291 
 Present system of Training-discipline in Youth induoes poverty of 
 
 intellect and consequent premature Death . . ■ 291, -.>-. 
 
 Mr. Waterton extremely punotual in Pecuniary matters . . 292 
 
 The Squire's mismanagement of Money manifested in uselessly hoarding 
 
 it for a Special purpose .....«■ -9o 
 Mr. Waterton's singular arrangement with Masons to build a Wall round 
 
 his Park • 293, 294 
 
 The Squire's pleasure expressed in having become a second Alexander 
 
 Selkirk . 294 
 
 A severe reproof given by the Squire to a professing Friend . . 295 
 
 Mr. Waterton prefers paying his workmen in solid Gold to flimsy Paper, 
 
 expressing his reasons ....... 296 
 
 Mr. Waterton quoted an amusing incident from " Hone " . • 296 
 
 The Squire alludes to the orafty and cunning Leeds Merchants, by 
 
 comparison ........ 397 
 
 Mr. Waterton admits having been twice victimised . . 297, 298 
 
 The Squire's distinction of Criminality incurred between the upper ranks 
 
 and the poor ........ 298 
 
 Mr. Waterton contributes £100, a portion of the profits of "The 
 
 Wanderings," to the poor (although Protestants,) in his own 
 
 District . ... . . . . 298, 299 
 
 CHAPTER X.— Page 300. 
 
 A Letter from the Squire indicating his Political opinions, his wish to 
 show the Author his Bahia toads, and the Reformers of the Church, 
 executed by himself ...... 300, 301 
 
 The Author's pleasure and gratitude expressed, consequent on a pro- 
 fessional visit to the Squire, at Stonyhurst . . 301, 802 
 
 The Squire's pleasure expressed in having introduced the Author to the 
 Jesuits ......... 302 
 
 Mr. Waterton's facetious Letter in consequence of a Proclamation of a 
 General Fast ........ 803 
 
 The Author's anxiety to introduoe as few of the Squire's Letters as 
 possible into this volume, with his reasons why he can not avoid 
 doing so occasionally ....... 304 
 
CONTENTS. XXix 
 
 Mr. Waterton's Youthful propensities, as well as his Musoular power 
 
 and activity, wonderful at his age .... 304 305 
 
 Mr. Waterton and Captain Jones asoended the Cross at St. Peter's, 
 and got on to the Guardian Angel's head at the Castle of Saint 
 
 Angelo 305 
 
 The Squire admitted and regretted playing a practical Joke attended 
 
 with danger 305, 306 
 
 The Squire familiar with the habits of Beasts and Fowls . . 306 
 
 Mr. Waterton's anxiety and determination to hand these habits down 
 to future generations correctly ..... 306 307 
 
 The Telescope invaluable in ascertaining the habits of Birds . . 308 
 
 Season and Instinct considered, and instances of each given . 308, 309, 310 
 No uncertainty of the law existing with Birds and Animals . . 311 
 
 The Squire, in a late period of life, corrected by means of the Tele- 
 scope, many early acquired errors .... 312 
 
 Sanguine temperaments frequently perpetuate errors constructed care- 
 lessly and at random ...... 312, 313 
 
 The man who writes a book on Natural History ought to have a 
 thoroughly practical knowledge of its science .... 313 
 
 It is not allowable in Natural History to take shelter under Generalities, 
 Nature says, Yes or no, It is or is not ! .... 314 
 
 A knowledge of Natural History is not gained without great labour . 314 
 All wrinkles of knowledge gained should be jotted down then . . 315 
 
 The Squire rested on three simple and elementary objects . . 315 
 
 The Squire disapproved of the Domestication or Training of Wild 
 Animals ...... 316, 317, 318, 319 
 
 Seasons assigned why Walton Hall is not furnished with abundance 
 of Game ........ 320, 321 
 
 Mr. Waterton distressed because his Bahia toad was called an " Ugly 
 
 Brute!" 322 
 
 The Squiro expatiated on the Beauties of the Toad . . . 328 
 
 Mr. Waterton had formerly immured Toads, with and without food, to 
 ascertain the loss of weight ...... 324 
 
 CHAPTER XI.— Page 325. 
 
 A hope that the Jesuits would have combined to give a Biography of 
 the "old Squire" 325 
 
 The Author had no chance to do so from his not knowing him for the 
 first 50 years of his life . . . . . . . 326 
 
 The Squire frequently imposed upon in his Charities . . 326. 
 
 Mr. Waterton was willing to assist his Enemies . . . .327 
 
 The Squire never concealed anything from the Author . . . 328 
 
 The Squire had moral courage never to allow an Error to pass uncon- 
 tradicted .....•••• 329 
 
 Mr. Waterton had great pleasure in exhibiting his handiwork . 329, 330 
 
XXX CONTENTS. 
 
 The Squire was somewhat impatient on any expression of disapprobation 
 of his Taxidermio art ..... 330, 331 
 
 The Author has been anxious not to introduce anything that the Squire 
 would have disapproved ..... • 331 
 
 The Author of course expects diversity of opinion as to the book. 331, 332 
 To write a Memoir of such a Subject has been an agreeable work 332 
 
 Latterly the Squire cared little who knew his peculiarities . .. 333 
 
 A Letter of Invitation, &c. ...... 333, 334 
 
 The Author believes that Mr. Waterton considered his Reformation case 
 his crack performance ........ 335 
 
 Mr. Waterton anxious to feed the hungry and clothe the naked of all 
 Denominations ....... 335 
 
 In Taxidermy there were occasionally repulsive operations, but he was 
 amply repaid by the result ...... 335 
 
 The origin of his Museum may be stated to have been in 1812, in 
 
 Demerara and Essequibo in search of Woorali poison . . 336 
 
 The gorgeous colours captivated the Squire .... 337 
 
 Interesting information from Rev. T. Dixon 337, 338, 339, 340, 341, 342, 343 
 Information here afforded which the Author, r did not feel himself at 
 liberty to furnish in the first edition ..... 343 
 
 The Squire delighted with the increase of his Museum, assimilating it to 
 the growth of the Twig onward to the Tree .... 346 
 
 The Squire always anxious to improve the Taxidermic art . 344, 346 
 
 The Squire was anxious not only to please the present but future 
 generations . . . . . . . , . 340 
 
 As Mr. Waterton's physical powers failed, honied words prevailed . 346 
 
 The disposal of his property by Will stated at the end of this volume . 347 
 Great lamentation that the Museum should have ceased to be associated 
 
 with the name of its Founder, and its original site . . 347, 348 
 
 The Squire's friends saw him gradually drooping for some time . 349 
 
 It is difficult to realize the ultimate fate of the Museum . . . 352 
 
 The Author's reasons for the introduction of two additional Letters from 
 
 Mr. Waterton ..... . 353 
 
 The first Letter alluding to some Roman Catholics supporting a Protes- 
 tant Church Rate — his opinion of the Puseyites with a hard but well- 
 deserved hit, for a frequently observed vulgarity . . 353, 354 
 Mr. Waterton's second Letter showing his ardent attachment to the 
 Priests . . . . . . . . 355, 356 
 
 The Author's allusion to the facts and opinions stated in this volume 356, 357 
 His gratitude for and his agreeable recollection of sunny days gone by . 358 
 The Author's regret in not being, by his own description, able to do 
 justice to the various Paintings ..... 360 
 
 Catalogue of Paintings at Walton Hall • 361 
 
 Mr. Waterton's prefatory Remarks in allusion to these Paintings, how, 
 where, and when purchased ...... 363 
 
 Extract of a Letter from his friend, Mr. Ord, describing Eight Paintings 
 presented by him to Mr. Waterton ..... 365 
 
 Catalogue of the Paintings at Walton Hall until 1865 . . .367 
 
NATURAL IIISTORY IN THE MUSEUM. 
 
 Every Quadruped, Insect, Bird, and Eeptile has been 
 prepared and mounted by my own hand. I have col- 
 lected them at intervals, in Guiana, in Brazil, in the West 
 Indies, in the United States of North America, in Italy, 
 and in England, from the year 1812, to the present time, 
 1855. 
 
 The specimens have all been done upon an entirely 
 novel principle, discovered by myself, so that their original 
 features have been perfectly restored, — the full brilliancy 
 of their plumage retained, — and every part of them 
 secured from the effect of damp, and from the 
 depredation of the moth. 
 
 Eeader, you are referred to the " Essays " and the 
 "Wanderings," placed here to assist those who visit 
 this Museum. They contain nothing but the absolute 
 truth, although, on their first appearance before the 
 Public, much disbelief and sarcasm caused me to regret 
 that I had ever sent them to the Press. 
 
 Poor Captain Stedman, who in days long gone by, 
 headed the Maroon war in the wilds of Surinam, met 
 
XXX11 NATURAL HISTORY IN THE MUSEUM. 
 
 with no better a reception when he gave his Adventures 
 to the world. But later times have done justice to his 
 memory. I take my leave of you, in the lines which that 
 brave and enterprising Scotchman penned for his own 
 grave-stone : — 
 
 " This, Stedman leaves to you, 
 As you would be done by — do. 
 The rest — memento mori, 
 So ends poor Stedman's story*" 
 
 Charles Waterton. 
 
 Walton Hall, April 5tlt, 1855. 
 
CHARLES WATERTON 
 
 ETC., ETC. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 The materials collected in this little Volume, which are 
 designed to afford a brief Memoir of a highly esteemed 
 and recently departed friend, have been chiefly furnished 
 by a very frequent, an intimate, and a most confiding 
 personal association with the deceased for nearly thirty 
 years. 
 
 BecoHections, of a man whom we have, venerated for his 
 excellence — of kindnesses lavishly bestowed upon us — of 
 frequent and agreeable intercommunion with a spirit 
 having kindred tendencies to our own, are intellectual 
 enjoyments occasionally anticipated but rarely realised. 
 Reality, however, now and then supersedes the shadow. 
 Under such circumstances, that man, who has been so 
 fortunate as to mingle with and to enjoy the friendship of 
 the late Me. "Wateeton, would be callous indeed if he 
 could not dwell on the remembrance of this privilege with 
 unalloyed satisfaction. A feeling of such a character has 
 
 B 
 
2 CHAKLES WATEKTON: — 
 
 long existed -within me, which prompted me to put my 
 thoughts, in an occasional leisure hour, on paper, in order 
 that they who have known Mr. Waterton merely by name, 
 or only as a naturalist of wide-spread fame, may not, in 
 future, be altogether unacquainted with, at least, a few of 
 the many excellencies of this truly remarkable man, nor 
 entirely ignorant of the peculiarities and very interesting 
 scenery which surrounded Walton Hall during the 
 period of his life and residence there. "Ea sub oculis 
 positanegligimus;proximorum incuriosi longinqua sedamur." 
 " Those things which are placed under our eyes we over- 
 look ; indifferent as to what is near us, we long for that 
 which is distant." 
 
 "'Tis distance lends enchantment to the view.'' 
 
 It is an acknowledged fact, that the man who travels 
 abroad overlooks the beauties of his own country, and this 
 is a remarkable proof of what I have stated as regards 
 Walton Hall. I have frequently heard men of travel say, 
 when in the grounds, on their return from the staircase 
 and the grotto, and a tite a tite with the hospitable master 
 of the mansion, that they had no conception of the exis- 
 tence of so much that was really fascinating in their own 
 neighbourhood. " We have," they would say, " often 
 travelled hundreds of miles, and have been weeks from 
 home, not having experienced half the gratification 
 during the whole of that period, which we have here 
 realised in a single day, and then, there is the Squire 
 himself, the sight of whom we would not have missed on 
 any consideration. What a kind creature he is, how 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOKK. 3 
 
 quaintly, and yet how well he expresses himself, and how 
 anxious he has been that we should thoroughly enjoy 
 ourselves, and what is still more important, how capable 
 he is of carrying those wishes into execution." 
 
 Experience convinces us that much mental gratification 
 may be derived from an endless variety of rational 
 and entertaining sources, which are abundantly and 
 legitimately within our reach, and may be indulged in 
 according to individual taste. 
 
 "Tell me, Trebatius, are not all mankind 
 To different pleasures, different whims, inclined ? 
 Milonius dances whilst Ins head grows light, 
 And the dim lamp shines double to his sight ; 
 The twin-bom brothers in their sports divide, — 
 Pollux loves boxing, Castor joys to ride." 
 
 My good friend, Mr. Waterton, judiciously selected his 
 amusements from, and limited his desires, chiefly, to the 
 more immediately surrounding and interesting objects of 
 natural history for the attainment of happiness, — and in 
 this he was successful, whilst he was also contributing to 
 the gratification of thousands of others. 
 
 e-"- 
 
 A love of change seems to have been a primary element 
 in the human heart ; and if the variety be well chosen, it 
 has, in all ages, been acknowledged to have afforded in- 
 calculable mental enjoyment as well as the most permanent 
 satisfaction. Horace, who was no mean judge of human 
 nature, very truly observes, — 
 
 "Denlque non omiies eadem mirantur amantque." 
 
4 CHAELES WATERTON: — 
 
 "All men do not admire and love the same things." The 
 angler frames and encourages laws in order to multiply the 
 finny tribe — the fox-hunter cares for the vulpine race — the 
 knight of the trigger revels in the game battue — the 
 manorial owner of his countless heathery acres, mountainous 
 ranges, and wild ravines, delights to maintain and multiply 
 the cervine herd, whilst the master of the leash preserves 
 and fosters the timid hare. 
 
 " Mutual vouchers for their fame they stand, 
 And play the game into each other's hand." 
 
 In this land of acknowledged protection of interests — 
 in this age of affirmed civilised humanity and ostentatiously 
 boasted freedom from barbarism, — where are the benevo- 
 lent, to attempt to shield the feathered tribe from ruthless 
 destruction ? It cannot be denied that very many birds, 
 which, in consonance with ordinarily established rules, we 
 may fairly claim as indigenous to our soil or to our climate, 
 have, within the last half century, almost entirely dis- 
 appeared, whilst not a few species have literally become 
 extinct. Wilful and wanton destruction prevails, not only 
 among the lawless multitude, but also, to a disgraceful 
 extent, among others, whose adult years, whose education, 
 and whose position in life, leave them not the plea of 
 youth nor of ignorance to justify, nor even to extenuate 
 their inhumanity. In fact, we are continually meeting 
 with this species of wholesale and indiscriminate cruelty, 
 S publicly chronicled as if praiseworthy acts. For instance, 
 it was recently stated in a provincial newspaper, that Mr. 
 was so fortunate as to shoot the male of some very 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 5 
 
 rare bird, but was exceedingly annoyed that he had been 
 so peculiarly unfortunate as to be unable to kill the female, 
 and, that "this grievous disappointment was the more 
 especially mortifying," he observed, " as they were, very 
 probably, the only pair of this species within the United 
 Kingdom." Now we have here an assumed gentleman ; 
 committing one very flagrant and unpardonable act, and, 
 even after time for reflection, very much regretting that he 
 had not the power, nor the opportunity, to perpetrate a 
 second act, even more inhuman and more reproachful than 
 the first. Fortunately, however, in the West Eiding of 
 Yorkshire, there has been, at least, one solitary and noble 
 exception to this unrestrained barbarity ; — and witness the 
 result, nay, I may add, the happy and positively beneficial 
 result, which I shall now endeavour to briefly recount. 
 
 " Mors ultima linea rerum,.'' " Death, the closing limit 
 of human affairs," has very recently numbered (May 
 27th, 1865,) with the dust of his ancestors, the Squire of 
 Walton Hall. " Pallida mors cequo pulsat pede pawperum 
 tahernas, rcgumquo turns." "Pale death, with impartial 
 foot, knocks at the cottages of the poor and at- the palaces 
 of kings." 
 
 This esteemed, . talented, and humane, but avowedly 
 eccentric man, was passionately devoted to natural history 
 pursuits. He, " none but himself could be his parallel," 
 was not a closet but a field and telescopic ornithologist, 
 and invariably distinguished as such, in every sense of 
 the word. He would never, excepting in specially 
 necessary instances, permit a gun to be fired within the 
 
6 CHARLES WATEKTON: — 
 
 / precincts of his park, which is extensive, its circum- 
 ferential walls measuring three miles. The ground, within 
 these walls, has an agreeably undulating surface, is well 
 wooded, and is enlivened by a splendid sheet of water. 
 No boat, under any circumstances, was, during the life 
 of the subject of this Memoir, ever allowed on the lake 
 from September to May, nor were any fishermen permitted 
 to prosecute even their passive vocations for this length- 
 ened period; consequently, all land and water-fowl had 
 a perfectly unmolested and secluded retreat for upwards 
 of six successive months. It was a singular coincidence 
 that the boat, containing the dead body of the naturalist, 
 should be the first that could legitimately claim permission 
 ' to be navigated across the lake, agreeably to the rules 
 enacted by the Squire himself, during life. Thus, the 
 dead appeared to be obedient to the laws previously laid 
 down by the same body when living. 
 
 This benevolent privilege — that is, a combination of 
 privacy, protection and freedom from annoyance — was 
 extended also, to every animal within the park, with 
 the exception of what Mr. Waterton designated the 
 "Hanoverian" rat. Even the fox, although at enmity 
 with many of the Squire's prime favourites, was always 
 secure, as regards life, within this domain. This, however, 
 is not surprising, as Mr. Waterton was. himself a keen 
 sportsman in the heyday of youth, having, for a consider- 
 able period, been a daring rider with the late Lord 
 Darlington's fox-hounds. This early association with his 
 equals in the hunting-field, innoculated the Squire with 
 those elements constituting an open, a manly,, and a 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 7 
 
 gentlemanly bearing, as well as a generous ■warmth of 
 heart, and I may truly add, that this benignity of character 
 was so firmly and perennially established, that it increased 
 ■with his years. Mr. Waterton was always a staunch 
 preserver of foxes, notwithstanding what an arch enemy 
 may have stated to the contrary; and he rigorously 
 maintained the same conservative feeling to the close of a 
 long life. 
 
 There were many seductive inducements within the 
 park, which, doubtless, the keen scenting properties of the 
 fox enabled him to discover. Notwithstanding that the 
 surrounding wall of this domain is ordinarily an insur- 
 mountable obstacle to the wily fox, yet, on one occasion, a 
 gate having been carelessly left leaning against the outside 
 of the park wall, sly reynard was able, in using this gate as 
 a ladder, to gratify his curiosity by venturing an intrusion 
 to the interior of the park. The cunning culprit, however, 
 was speedily detected by the Squire himself, who was 
 delighted to have an opportunity to set his uninvited 
 visitor at liberty, so that when released, and left to his 
 own crafty resources, he might, a,t some future period, not 
 only gratify his neighbours in scarlet, but be himself 
 equally pleased that reynard should have a fair chance 
 to save his brush "in the open," either by his game 
 defiance of danger, or by some ruse or finesse, with which 
 he is so plentifully supplied by instinct. 
 
 To the uninitiated, as to the topography of this district, 
 I may state, as regards the locality of Walton Hall, that 
 the residence of the late Mr. Waterton is about three miles 
 south of Wakefield, and a mile and a half distant from the 
 
8 CHAKLES WATERTON: — 
 
 Oakenshaw Station on the Midland line of Kail-way, and 
 the same distance from the ruins of Sandal Castle, 
 memorable for the great battle on Wakefield Green, 
 fought on the 31st December, 1460, between the Queen's 
 army and the forces of the Duke of York, who, in conse- 
 quence of the taunts and menaces of the Queen, was 
 tempted to imprudently come out of his castle, in which he 
 was perfectly secure, to meet the Queen's army, four times 
 superior in number to his own. 
 
 It was here where Lord Clifford cut off the head from 
 the dead body of the Duke of York, on the battle-field, and 
 having, in contempt, put a paper crown upon it, presented 
 it, on the point of his lance, to the Queen, who directed 
 him to place it on the walls surrounding York. 
 
 It was at this eventful time that this noble lord so dis- 
 graced himself by plunging his dagger into the breast of 
 the youthful Earl of Eutland, second son of the then Duke 
 of York, in his anxious flight from the field of battle, to 
 endeavour to save his life, being but a stripling of twelve 
 years of age. 
 
 Sandal Castle was built in the reign of Edward II., and 
 was afterward the property of the Duke of York. 
 
 "Where York himself, before his castle gate, 
 Mangled with wounds, on his own earth, lay dead ; 
 Upon whose body Clifford down him sate, 
 Stabbing the oorpse, and cutting off the head, 
 Crowned it with paper, and to wrealce his teene,* 
 Presents it so to his victorious Queene." 
 
 The mansion is situated on an island, surrounded by a 
 
 • Anger. 
 

 ! 'I*|S '' ''i :'' 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 9 
 
 beautiful and extensive sheet of water. The lake is some- 
 what on the western side of the park, having a circum- 
 scribed stone and mortar wall, with an elevation varying 
 from nine to sixteen feet. This property is in the town- 
 ship of "Walton, and in the parish of Sandal Magna. The 
 late Mr. Waterton was lord of the manor. Within the hall 
 there is a neat but plain chapel, which was, up to the death 
 of the old Squire, served by the Eoman Catholic priests 
 from St. Anne's in Leeds. The chief part of the estate 
 abounds in iron-stone, coal, terra cotta clay, and an 
 abundance of excellent stone for building purposes. The 
 land is generally good, with a fair proportion of various 
 kinds of timber upon it, of luxuriant growth. 
 
 On the southern side of the mansion, on a slightly 
 elevated mound, stands a most complete and very beautiful 
 sun-dial, deserving of careful observation, inasmuch as it 
 reflects great credit on the sculptor, the late George Boulby, 
 who was a common mason at the contiguous and rural 
 village of Crofton, in 1813. As a work of art, and, 
 especially when it was well known to have been executed 
 by a totally uneducated man — by a common mason, not 
 only devoid of inculcated literary attainments, but by one 
 having had no guiding artistic instruction — by a man 
 having to earn, "by the sweat of his brow," the few shil- 
 lings sufficient to enable him to secure some of the works 
 of the philosopher of Athens— by one having to entirely 
 depend on self counsel so as to elevate him in his financial 
 and social position. I venture to say, considering all these 
 formidable disadvantages and impediments, that this speci- 
 men of sculpture is a wonderful development of innate 
 
10 CHABLES WATEKTON: — 
 
 talent, and must be admired and applauded, for generations 
 in futurity, as a relic of the excellence of the scientific 
 execution of the common stone mason. 
 
 This dial is composed of twenty equilateral triangles, 
 which are so disposed as to form a similar number of 
 individual dials, ten of which, whenever the sun shines 
 out, and whatever may be its altitude in the heavens, are 
 always in use, and ever faithful time-keepers. On these 
 separate dials are engraven, severally, the names of cities 
 in all parts of the globe, which are placed in accordance 
 with their different degrees of longitude, by which arrange- 
 ment, the solar time, at each of the cities recorded on the 
 different dials, can be simultaneously ascertained. Boulby 
 was truly a self-taught sculptor. " Abnormis sapiens," 
 " wise without instruction." In early life he saved a 
 little money, with which he purchased some of Plato's 
 works, and was so struck with Plato's observation, that 
 every solid contained twenty equilateral triangles, that 
 he hewed out a globular stone, and reduced that very 
 stone to the dial here described. On one occasion Mr. "Water- 
 ton, having to pass Boulby's house, on returning home 
 from the hunting-field, accidentally saw this dial in the 
 stonemason's yard, for which Boulby asked a mere trifle. 
 The Squire, delighted with the execution and the ingenuity 
 of this simple-minded man, generously presented Boulby 
 with twenty guineas by way of purchase, when the in- 
 genuous and unaffected mason was infinitely more delighted 
 to have the honour of his own artistic skill exhibited at 
 Walton Hall, under the patronage of the Squire, than 
 with the douceur which the sculptor erroneously con- 
 sidered far beyond its value. 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 11 
 
 Very near the sun-dial, is a subterraneous passage 
 leading to two boat-houses, -which are entirely concealed 
 under part of the island on which the house stands. 
 They are capacious, with well-arched roofs lined with 
 zinc plate, thus affording complete protection to the 
 boats in every variety of weather. Within these houses 
 most convenient arrangements are made for slinging the 
 boats to the roof, when required to be kept dry, or to 
 be painted. They are easy of access by a commodious 
 flight of steps leading down to the edge of the lake, 
 where there is a jetty causeway, by the aid of which 
 ladies can enter the boats without difficulty. 
 
 Four large sycamores, on the island, effectually 
 screen the mansion from the bitter north-west blast, 
 and have, from time immemorial, afforded most admirable 
 roosting branches, especially for pea-fowl, (delicacies 
 which I have occasionally enjoyed on the dinner table 
 at Walton Hall,) whilst ' the decayed trunk of a fifth 
 sycamore, for many previous years tenanted by a pair 
 of saucy jackdaws, always maturing their offspring in 
 perfect safety, has recently paid the last debt of nature. 
 
 On the northern side of the island, close to the 
 cast iron bridge entrance and at its southern extremity, 
 is a ruin, covered to a considerable extent with ivy, 
 the northern gable end of which has its foundation on 
 rock in the lake. This ruin was, in times far distant, 
 the principal, and, indeed, the only pass to the' island, 
 by a swivel bridge. In its gable still hang the veritable 
 ancient doors, ornamented by their original, antique and 
 
12 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 huge hinges, bolts, knocker, and other appendages of a 
 former age. These doors", upwards of two hundred years 
 ago, stood the test of Cromwell's fire-arms, and were 
 found sufficiently strong to resist the besieging influence 
 of that daring Puritan. 
 
 There is a traditional legend at Walton Hall, stating, 
 that Oliver Cromwell was signally repulsed in attempt- 
 ing to cross a portion of the lake in order to sack the 
 mansion, the present ruin, which is close to the bridge 
 then forming a part of the entrance fpproach to the 
 old family residence— that he and his party were in 
 possession of fire-arms which they freely used, but 
 apparently of so small a calibre, and at so great a 
 distance from the house, in consequence of the interven- 
 ing water, that neither the mansion nor the surrounding 
 premises suffered any serious damage — that Cromwell 
 was vigorously and efficiently opposed by Mrs. "Waterton, 
 in the absence of her husband— that the Lady and her 
 whole household acted with great heroism, inasmuch 
 as they gallantly mounted, and as valiantly fired a 
 swivel cannon ball across the water upon Cromwell's 
 party, and thus by this shot, broke the leg of one of 
 his confederates, who was said to have been standing 
 by a tree at the side of the carriage road, and that 
 in consequence of this occurrence, together with the 
 fear that the investing party might gain a landing 
 on the island and discover the cannon, Mrs. "Waterton 
 directed it to be plunged into the lake for concealment. 
 
 This oral communication, handed down from one 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 13 
 
 generation to another, seems, recently, to have been 
 singularly and forcibly confirmed by circumstantial 
 evidence of a strongly corroborative character. The nature 
 of the evidence is this, that a swivel cannon was actually 
 found in the lake when dredged in 1857, and that it 
 was discovered precisely where it is reasonable to 
 suppose the besieged party would place it for conceal- 
 ment; and also, that a ball, since that date, has been 
 dug up, embedded in the earth, at the very spot where 
 the man's leg was said to have been broken. What 
 renders this supposition still more conclusive is, that the 
 ball which was found in the earth at the exact place where 
 the man was said to have been shot, accurately corres- 
 ponds with the calibre of the reclaimed swivel cannon. 
 
 In the outer surface of the ancient doors, which are 
 fixed in the gable end of the ruin, on the northern side 
 of the island, bullets, which were shot by Cromwell's 
 party across the narrow portion of the lake, still remain, 
 around one of which a brass plate is fixed, with an in- 
 scription engraven upon it, recording this signal event. 
 Cromwell then destroyed the wooden draw-bridge and 
 took away the carriage and draught horses, and in con- 
 sequence of being deprived of her horses, Mrs. Waterton, 
 at a fete subsequently given to her for her intrepid 
 conduct, had a yoke of six oxen harnessed to the family 
 carriage. 
 
 On the top of the ancient gable the foundation of 
 which juts into the lake, is erected a stone cross, at the 
 base of which, and at an elevation of twenty-four feet 
 
14 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 above the level of the Jake, a wild duck, on two occa- 
 sions, nested and hatched her young. These periods of 
 incubation frequently spoken of to me by Mr. Waterloo, 
 had, evidently been, from his mode of reference and 
 relation, watched by him with much interest, added to 
 which was his great amazement by the safe descent into 
 the lake of such young and tiny creatures from an 
 elevation of twenty-four feet. 
 
 This ruin is enclosed on the south by a freely- 
 grown 3 r ew fence, so that the birds, within this barrier, 
 may consider themselves thoroughly concealed, and, 
 always free from disturbance, which peaceful and retired 
 condition is doubly necessary during the period of 
 building, incubation, and nurturing their offspring. For 
 the encouragement and protection of the starring and 
 the jackdaw specially, there is erected, within the yew 
 fence, a thirteen feet high stone and mortar-built tower, 
 pierced with about sixty nesting berths. To each berth 
 there is an aperture of about five inches square. A few, 
 near the top of the nesting portion of this tower, are 
 somewhat larger and are intentionally set apart for the 
 jackdaw and the white owl. The remaining number, 
 in the lower portion, are each supplied, at the entrance, 
 with a square loose stone, having one of its inferior 
 angles cut away, so that the starling can enter the 
 berths, whilst the jackdaw and the owl, being larger 
 birds, can not gain admission, so as to annoy their 
 less powerful neighbours, which molestation jack's natural 
 tendency to mischievous propensities, would lead him to 
 adopt. But when Mr. "Waterton desired to examine the 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AXD HANDIWORK. 15 
 
 eggs or the young, or to have the interior of the berths 
 cleansed, this could always be done by the removal of 
 the loose stone. At the base of the nesting portion of 
 the tower, a projecting stone flange encircles the lower 
 tier, so that cats and all vermin by their being unable 
 to surmount the flange, may be prevented reaching 
 the birds or their offspring. 
 
 This decayed edifice has also afforded, for many 
 years, a safe and immolested retreat, and comfortable 
 roosting-berths, for a beautiful rumpless fowl and his 
 jet-black mate, as rumpless as himself, which were 
 stationed on the island for the purpose of proving and 
 victoriously confirming the accuracy of the Squire's 
 opinion, written and publicly expressed on a disputed 
 question, relative to the utility, inutility or application, 
 if any, of the oil-gland in birds. 
 
 To those readers who may not be versed in orni- 
 thological anatomy or physiology, I should explain, 
 that the oil-gland in birds is situated at the extreme 
 end of the back, above and anterior to the tail; and 
 has acquired that name because it secretes a semi- 
 unctuous fluid. It had been hitherto univeisally -main- 
 tained, with great pertinacity by ornithologists, that this 
 secretion was an essential requisite as an application to 
 be used by the bird itself to its own feathers, in order 
 to beautify it by giving a shining lustre to its plumage, 
 as well as an oily surface to the feathers, for the pur- 
 pose of resisting the penetrating properties of water 
 during wet weather, to which birds are so frequently ex- 
 posed. Mr. Waterton always contended, and established 
 
16 CHAELES WATEKTON: — 
 
 the accuracy of his war of words by the birds themselves, 
 viz., that the "rumpless fowl," which had neither tail 
 nor oil-gland, had, notwithstanding, plumage as beautiful 
 and as capable of resisting water as those birds which 
 are furnished with both tail and oil-gland ; but the Squire 
 never professed to have discovered, in a physiological 
 signification, the definite use of this organ. All that 
 he asserted was, that this gland was not originally 
 designed for the purpose hitherto erroneously supposed. 
 Inasmuch, however, as the oil-gland only exists in con- 
 junction with the tail, assuredly it may be reasonably 
 inferred, that it is in some way connected with the 
 maintenance, the support, or the growth of the tail. 
 
 The old ruin is fertile in objects of curiosity. Withia 
 the fence, and on the ground, there is a poison trap for 
 rats, singularly simple and effective, and one of its 
 cardinal virtues is that it destroys only what you desire 
 should be destroyed. This trap is constructed from a 
 circular and somewhat obtusely formed conical flag- 
 stone; and its under surface, or base, is hollowed out 
 from the centre of the internal roof of the stone, to 
 ■within two or three inches of its circumference. At, and 
 from its external conical apex, a hole is drilled in a 
 perpendicular direction, downward, through the stone, 
 large enough for the admission of a poisonous powder, 
 which act is all that the " setting" of this trap requires. 
 Prom the outer margin and at the base of , the extreme 
 circumferential line, a hole is drilled horizontally through 
 its parietes, large enough for the admission of a rat to 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND' HANDIWORK. 17 
 
 pass to the hollowed-out central portion of the stone, 
 by which the " Hanoverian" has free ingress and egress 
 to and from the poison, which, being in dry powder, 
 cannot be dragged away and exposed to the risk of its 
 being taken by any domestic animals, poultry, or game. 
 This stone should be about two feet diameter at the 
 base, and so heavy, as to prevent its being accidentally 
 moved, and thus unintentionally expose the poison 
 beyond the range of the " Hanoverian." The enticing and 
 fatal powder used by the Squire, was a mixture of 
 brown sugar, oatmeal, and arsenic. It is of essential 
 importance that this combination should be well triturated 
 in a mortar, so that not an atom of the arsenic be left 
 uncombined with the other two tempting ingredients, 
 otherwise there will be very little chance of capturing 
 the crafty "Hanoverian." 
 
 Within the boundary of this yew fence enclosure, is 
 located the swivel-cannon to which I have already alluded, 
 as well as the identical ball which, it is presumed, disabled 
 one of Cromwell's party. 
 
 Here, also, attached to the wall, and adjoining the 
 ancient doors in the ruin, in a retired corner, the Squire 
 always had a snug little box, comfortably prepared within 
 for his favourite cat, wherein to find shelter during 
 winter, or in which to snooze when in idle mood or 
 when desirous of retiring from the scorching heat of 
 summer, or, when threatened with an apoplectic seizure 
 from plethora, the consequence of profuse feeding and 
 superfluous attentions bestowed by Mr. Waterton. 
 
18 CHAELES WATERTON: — 
 
 Inasmuch as the island, on which the house stands, 
 is closely surrounded by a sheet of water, it seems 
 reasonable to suppose that this residence would be 
 damp, but, this very natural supposition is not verified, 
 indeed, the island itself is remarkably dry, and a spacious 
 stone path-way affords an ample and excellent foot-path 
 from the front door to the cast-iron bridge. Of course, the 
 lake itself affords an inexhaustible supply of soft water 
 for all culinary and cleansing purposes within a few 
 feet of the kitchens and the laundry, which is an incal- 
 culable convenience and benefit in a variety of ways, as 
 well as an immense advantage in an economical point of 
 view. 
 
 The surface of the island is rich in verdure, and the 
 mansion is supplied with an abundance of fine water, 
 from a crystal spring at a little distance in the park, 
 by ingenious artificial means, the water being conveyed 
 under the lake to the house. 
 
 During the life of the late Mr. Waterton's father, he, 
 for many years, kept a few deer on the island, provid- 
 ing them with such additional food as they needed beyond 
 the scanty supply of grass which they were able to 
 pick up within their limited boundary. One of these, 
 however, became savage, and of course, terrified the whole 
 household; — consequently, they were one, and all, discarded. 
 
 The front entrance to the hall is a somewhat eccen- 
 tric one, consisting of folding doors within a plain but 
 well-designed portico, supported by four stone pillars, 
 specimens of the stone obtained from a quarry on the 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 19 
 
 estate. Each door, in its upper panel, has a circularly 
 raised wreath in its centre, originally designed to con- 
 tain Mr. Waterton's crest, but which is yet blank. The 
 family crest is an otter, with a fish in its mouth, the 
 motto being — 
 
 "Better kinde fremd than fremd kinde." 
 
 On each of the lower panels is the Maltese cross, and 
 a little above the centre of each folding door is a knocker. 
 These two rappers are ludicrously strange-looking ap- 
 pendages. They are cast, in the similitude of human 
 faces of a very extraordinary character, from bell metal, 
 so as to yield an agreeably harmonious and powerful 
 tone when used; one face representing mirth, and the 
 other misery. The former is immoveably fixed to the 
 door, so that when you have wound up your feelings 
 to give a smart rap-tap-tap, according to the fashion of 
 the day, and are suddenly and unexpectedly disappointed 
 by not being able to raise the knocker you have laid 
 hold of, this face seems to grin with intense delight 
 at your failure ; and when youthen, somewhat confused, 
 resort to the other face, to rap on its forehead, this 
 rapper appears to scowl upon you as if suffering intense 
 agony from the blows you have just given it. This 
 humorous conception, so admirably executed, was 
 modelled by the united ingenuity of Mr. Waterton and 
 the late Captain Jones. " Trahit sua quemque voluntas." 
 "Each man is led by his own tastes." "Within, and 
 above this door, that is, in the vestibule, is a singularly- 
 conceived, and inimitably-modelled, representation of 
 
20 CHAKLES WATERTON: — 
 
 the nightmare, which is also the production of the same 
 amateur artists. This horrid incubus has a human face, 
 grinning and displaying an exact appearance of the 
 frightfully formidable tusks of the wild boar— the hands 
 of a man — satanic horns — elephant's ears — bat's wings 
 — one cloven foot, the other that of an eagle widely 
 expanding its terrific-looking tallons, and the tail of a 
 serpent, with the following very appropriate, and 
 significantly communicative, motto, — 
 
 . . . . " Assidetis proacordiis 
 Pavore sothjios auferam." 
 
 " Sitting on the region of the heart I take away sleep 
 by fear." 
 
 1 have just previously alluded to Mr. Waterton's. 
 crest and motto, in a casual way, the meaning of which 
 appears to be somewhat dubious, never, so far as I know, 
 having been literally deciphered. If I am correct in 
 this supposition, it would, perhaps, not be deemed pre- 
 sumption to endeavour to suggest a probable, or, at all 
 events, a possible signification of this motto, in the 
 hope of stimulating some one, better able, to more cor- 
 rectly unravel the mystery. 
 
 "Better kinde fremd than fremd kinde." 
 "Better friendly strangers than deceitful friends.'' 
 or,— 
 "Better among strangers than estranged kin." 
 
 That is, it is better to deal, or associate, with persons, 
 between whom and you, there is no natural relation- 
 ship, but who may, notwithstanding, be friendly disposed, 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOEK. 21 
 
 than to depend upon kindred who have already shown 
 apathy, hostility, or neglect. The Saxon words cynne 
 and fremd are susceptible of the applications I have 
 here given them. Probably these, and similar words, 
 may have been more familiarly used in Shakespeare's 
 time, and have suggested the smoother, but scarcely 
 more intelligible phrase, put into the mouth of 
 Hamlet, — 
 
 "A little more than tin, but less than kind." 
 
 Inasmuch as the otter and the fish inhabit the same 
 element, nay, the same stream, there seems to be a sort 
 of natural expectation of friendship between the two, 
 and on this ground, the fish having discovered the 
 destructive and devouring tendencies of his supposed 
 jidus achates, may well say — 
 
 "Better friendly strangers than deceitful friends." 
 
 Cicero did not hesitate to affirm, " Prccstat amicitia pro- 
 pinquitati." "Friendship is better than relationship." 
 
 The island is circumscribed with a supporting and 
 protecting division between the water and the soil, by 
 means of a very strong stone and mortar wall, the 
 passive power of which is still further increased by 
 numerous and substantial abutments, — all this mag- 
 nificent masonry having been designed and completed 
 by the Squire. This wall is not in the slightest 
 degree offensive to the eye, from the mansion, nor 
 from any part of the island, as a dead or gloomy 
 
22 CHARLES wateeton: — 
 
 object, because the grassy surface of the island has an 
 elevation of upwards of six feet above the level of the 
 lake, so that, from the windows, even on the ground- 
 floor, you look down on the lake. 
 
 At the northern entrance of the mansion, there is a 
 spacious hall, on the left of which vestibule, is a large 
 oblong dining-room, having three windows to the north 
 and two to the east, and, communicating with which is 
 a door into the hall, another into the drawing-room, 
 and a third into the passage leading to the kitchens. 
 The drawing-room is large and well proportioned, with 
 three windows to the east and a triple bay plate-glass 
 window to the south, all commanding a fine view of 
 the lake as well as of its surrounding and undulating 
 park. The breakfast-room is small, and has a northern 
 aspect. The remaining part of the ground-floor is 
 occupied by the grand staircase, with its small ante- 
 room at its base, the housekeeper's room, store-rooms, 
 servants' hall, and lofty and well ventilated kitchens. 
 The walls of the staircase are largely supplied with 
 paintings, whilst the centre-part of the staircase itself, 
 from the highest to the lowest portions, is filled with 
 a vast variety of subjects in natural history. It is 
 very spacious and well lighted, and also beautifully 
 arranged for the display of its contents. It ascends 
 to the third story, terminating in a room of consider- 
 able extent, with a northern aspect. The first and 
 second tiers are lighted by an immensely long window, 
 on the southern side of the house. In this unique, 
 measureless, and charmingly lofty space, objects of deep 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 23 
 
 interest crowd on the eye at every step, and can be 
 well seen in every part of it. 
 
 The original approach, by the old swivel-bridge, to 
 the island, from the park, has been superseded by Mr. 
 Waterton having thrown a fixed and substantial, yet 
 light-looking cast-iron bridge over a narrow portion 
 of the lake, which is probably about thirty yards 
 in length, and affords a most convenient communi- 
 cation from the park to the mansion, whilst it forms 
 an ornamental object in the scenery. 
 
 About a hundred yards from the bridge, and on the 
 banks of the lake, stands a Lombardy poplar of con- 
 siderable notoriety, inasmuch as it has been twice struck 
 by lightning, and in connection with which, a sin- 
 gularly providential circumstance occurred. On the 
 evening of the 10th of August, in the year 1842, on 
 the Squire's return home from my .house, during an 
 awful thunderstorm, he observed, on his arrival, seven 
 fishermen taking shelter under this poplar. His presence 
 of mind, which rarely forsook him, '' omnium horarum 
 homo" "a man ready at all hours," prompted him, at 
 once, to direct these poor fellows to instantly leave so 
 dangerous a position. 
 
 " Intontiere poli el crebris micat ignibus cetlier." 
 
 "The heavens thunder, and the sky flashes with vivid 
 lightnings." No sooner had the fishermen obeyed Mr. 
 Waterton's call, than the tree itself was nearly rent in 
 
24 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 twain by a flash of lightning. Its lacerated condition, 
 however, under the constant and skilful care of the 
 naturalist, has been wonderfully restored, although still 
 exhibiting the extreme severity of the electric visitation 
 it had sustained. 
 
 This tree was planted in 1756, by the late Mr. 
 Waterton's father, being a gift to him by a friend at 
 Burgh-Wallis, and, when a mere twig, was brought 
 thence, by him, in his pocket; which circumstance, in 
 addition to its being associated with the providential 
 occurrence to which I have already alluded, always 
 furnished a powerful and attractive interest for special 
 protection to this eventful poplar, which was nursed 
 by the Squire with the tenderest care for many years ; 
 indeed, it may be said to have been long held in a 
 sort of reverential esteem. In addition, as this indi- 
 vidual tree has twice suffered in a similar way, from 
 the same cause, the idea very naturally suggests itself, 
 that its peculiar position, as regards locality, or its 
 pointed and spire-like apex, may have attracted the 
 electric fluid, and thus have acted favourably, as a con- 
 ductor, and, consequently, proved a fortunate means of 
 hitherto rendering the house scathless. 
 
 There appears to be a singularly comparative immu- 
 nity worthy of record in the female sex from this 
 character of death, which is stated by M. Boudin, to 
 the Academy of Sciences in France. For instance, from 
 1854 to 1863, out of 800 individuals killed in this 
 manner, 243 only belonged to 'the female sex, i.e. 267 
 per cent. 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 25 
 
 In several instances lightning struck groups, consist- 
 ing of males and females, when, the latter were always 
 more or less spared. 
 
 In 1853, 15 out of 34 persons, killed in the fields, 
 were, at the time, under the shelter of trees, and from 
 1841 to 1853, out of 107 individuals struck by light- 
 ning, 21 were in the same position. 
 
 If we estimate at 25 per cent, the proportion of 
 victims injured beneath trees, we find that out of 6,714 
 persons killed or wounded in this manner from 1835 
 to 1863, 1,678 might have have escaped, had they 
 avoided the neighbourhood of trees during storms, and 
 yet how invariably do people, either from ignorance, 
 thoughtlessness, or from being regardless of known 
 danger, rush into the very position affording them the 
 least possible immunity, or the least chance of escape 
 from peril. 
 
 Within a few yards of this poplar, the lake has its 
 artificial under-ground waste-sluice, by which, simple 
 but efficient means are arranged to adjust the precise 
 quantity of water required to flow from the lake, so as 
 to preserve its surface always at a certain previously 
 determined height. This concealed sluice, at a little 
 distance from the lake, issues out a visible stream, 
 affording all that could be desired for Mr. Waterton's 
 observations in natural history, and especially so in 
 one particular department, as it furnished an admirable 
 opportunity, to cultivate a more minute and really 
 practical knowledge of the mysterious habits of our 
 
26 CHARLES WATEKTON: — 
 
 little beaver, the water-rat. The water-rat, unlike the 
 " Hanoverians," was a special favourite with Mr. Water- 
 ton, and years gone by, he generally secured them in 
 this stream for natural history purposes by his bow 
 and arrow, but, great dexterity, precision of eye, and 
 eagle-winged rapidity were necessary to achieve the 
 fatal issue, as, the velocity of this rat, by its nimble- 
 footed bound from land to water, reduces this act of 
 destruction of life to a flying shot. The stream then 
 passes forward to some more distant pleasure-grounds, 
 through one of the loveliest grottoes, probably, in Eng- 
 land, and, at length, after being crossed by two or 
 three naturally formed stone bridges, and having its 
 banks gracefully fringed by groups as well as by 
 isolated rare and beautiful ferns, it flows through a 
 large and well-secured trap reservoir, formed, in order 
 to intercept, and safely retain, any fish that might 
 escape from the lake during a flood, beyond which 
 reservoir, the stream makes the best of its way into 
 the Calder. 
 
 Here, close to the fish-trap reservoir, is built a sub- 
 stantial hovel, in which the keeper may shelter, during 
 the night, whilst attending to the protection of his 
 pheasants and other game, or whilst watching the fish 
 reservoir during a flood, when the water occasionally 
 rushes from the lake in a torrent, bringing numbers of 
 fish in the stream to be caught in this trap. 
 
 As a lasting proof of the considerate kindness and 
 care manifest for the poor, who were permitted to fish 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 27 
 
 in the lake for their own pannier, and often, poor 
 creatures, for their own immediate dinners, the Squire 
 erected a circular and substantial hovel, in which they 
 could eat their "bit of bread," or obtain shelter from 
 the occasional pitiless storm. This fisherman's hut is 
 encircled, excepting a small space by which to enter 
 on the south, by a finely-grown yew fence; and its 
 roof is formed of an immense flag-stone, supported by 
 three stone pillars, whilst, upon the roof, stands the 
 ancient " frumenty stone," the letters and figures, " T. 
 K. W., 1679," being engraven on its anterior surface, 
 these initials indicating Thomas and Katherine Water- 
 ton. Within the cavity of this stone, at the date 
 described, many a load of wheat has, doubtless, been 
 triturated by hand, in order to furnish "frumenty," 
 which at that period, as now, was so much prized, and 
 so generally used, at the season of Christmas. 
 
 Mr. Waterton had very great pleasure in putting in 
 requisition the stone with its original inscription for 
 two reasons, the former, because he had so great a 
 reverence for his ancestors that he was always 
 delighted to pay a tribute of respect to their memory — 
 the latter, because he entertained a decided preference 
 for antique reminiscences, and for ancient over modern 
 usages. In addition, it was an object of considerable 
 interest by affording a practical opportunity of comparing 
 the former laborious, slow, and imperfect method of pul- 
 verising wheat with the present easy, speedy and perfect 
 one. 
 
28 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 Ever mindful of the comfort of others, the Squire, 
 many years before his death, permanently fixed an 
 easy and refreshing arm chair in this hut, in which 
 the exhausted and half-starved fisherman might rest 
 his wearied limbs ; or, in which the naturalist visitor 
 to the mansion might, whilst surveying the lake and 
 the land scenery at his leisure, unobservedly watch, 
 the wild and unrestrained habits of the various land 
 and water-fowl, and thus, without any trouble and 
 without the least physical exertion, pick up a variety 
 of that character of information which would be both 
 pleasing and instructive to him, and which it was so 
 difficult to obtain elsewhere, and especially in so 
 luxurious a position. 
 
 At a trifling distance from the fisherman's hut, in 
 a south-easterly direction, there is a small pheasantry, 
 its central portion being a clump of yew trees, on 
 thoroughly dry ground, which have had their lateral 
 and inferior branches lopped off, whilst the whole 
 mass is surrounded by an impenetrable holly fence. 
 
 About a hundred yards from this little snuggery, 
 there is another and much larger pheasantry, but of a 
 similar description, its central portion also consisting 
 of fir and yew trees, which form a complete and 
 very extensive awning, and, consequently, an admirable 
 retreat for the pheasants, as well as a secure hiding- 
 protection and a perfectly shaded and concealed 
 place for their food, from the pigeons and rooks, 
 which sustenence had to be supplied to them, during 
 
THE STABLE DEPARTMENT, AT WALTON HALL, COVERED WITH 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 29 
 
 the severe winter months, not only for supporting life, 
 but as an inducement to permanently remain within 
 the park and not expose themselves to be appropriated 
 by poachers. 
 
 On returning from the larger pheasantry, towards 
 the well-built and well-arranged stable department, the 
 front of which is ^ornamented by two splendid vines, 
 yielding excellent fruit during a fine season, — also, 
 close to a small oblong sheet of water, filled with all 
 sorts of fish, and ,< gracefully decorated on its surface 
 by the widely-expanded leaves of the water-lily, 
 through which pond a nice under-ground current 
 flows into the woods and pleasure-grounds below, you 
 pass "John Bull and the National Debt," a singularly 
 unique combination, and well worthy of a very minute 
 examination. 
 
 " Dicam insigne recem acUiuc 
 Iiidlctum ore alio.'' 
 
 "I shall record a remarkable event, which is new, as 
 yet, and untold by the lips of another." 
 
 This "lusus naturce," or, what I may describe as 
 a very extraordinary phenomenon, is interesting, not 
 merely because there is not, in all human probability, 
 a known similar instance, but because it is itself a 
 marvellous example of nature's power in accommoda- 
 ting herself to circumstances, notwithstanding their 
 extreme deviation from her ordinary course. 
 
CHAPTEE II. 
 
 Many years ago, this property, like many other private 
 rseidences, had, at that time, its own corn-mill; but, 
 when this inconvenient necessity no longer existed, the 
 then unserviceable building, with all its useless appli- 
 ances, doubtless shared the common fate of such cum- 
 bersome structures. 
 
 It would appear, that in disposing of these materials, 
 worthless at that period, a mill-stone had been removed, 
 with a view of putting it out of the way, into what had 
 evidently been an old orchard. The diameter of this 
 circular mill-stone measures five and a half feet, whilst 
 its depth averages seven inches throughout, and its 
 central hole has a diameter of eleven inches. Appa- 
 rently, by mere accident, some bird, or probably a squirrel, 
 had dropped the fruit of the filbert tree through this hole 
 on to the earth, as, in the year 1812, the seedling of a 
 future filbert tree was seen rising up through the hole. In 
 subsequent years, as its trunk gradually ascended through 
 this central opening, annually increasing in diameter, its 
 power to raise, at some future period, this ponderous mass 
 of stone from the earth, was speculated upon by many 
 parties, totally disinterested, excepting by a laudable 
 curiosity. The contemplated future power of this sap- 
 ling was frequently expatiated upon by the naturalist 
 himself, whilst examining it with his friends, when three 
 knotty questions, involving the future, were usually dis- 
 
•JOHN BULL AND THE NATIONAL DEBT," j\ LUSUS NATURJE IN THE 
 GROUNDS AT WALTON HALL. 
 
CHARLES WATERTON, ETC.: — 31 
 
 cussed with great earnestness ; and not unfrequently, nay, 
 generally, the friendly disputants ultimately arrived at as 
 many varying conclusions. 
 
 The first question was, Would this filbert tree con- 
 tinue at all to eke out its existence, when so tightly 
 encircled by the unyielding stone ? The second was, 
 Would the tree, if it did survive, ever be able, during 
 its upward growth, to raise so enormous a weight, in any 
 appreciable degree, from the earth ? The third, and 
 probably the most doubtful one, was, Would the mill- 
 stone be able to resist the continual expansion of the 
 trunk of the tree, without itself being rent asunder ? 
 
 Two of these questions, so natural to ask yet then so 
 difficult of solution, have been now unequivocally set at 
 rest. The tree not only continued to live for many years, 
 but it soon became evident that its upward growth gradually 
 and perpendicularly elevated the monstrous mill-stone 
 along with it. This had been an anxious and an eventful 
 period for the Squire, but the result was exceedingly 
 gratifying, by his previously expressed anticipations being 
 progressively realised during his life. 
 
 In 1863, the aerial position of the mill-stone, assuming 
 a somewhat crinoline form, was found, by careful measure- 
 ment, to be nearly a foot from the ground, and appeared, 
 evidently, a very unwieldly incumbrance to hang round 
 the trunk of the filbert tree. This fortuitous occurrence, 
 and destructive position, as well as the singularly unique 
 altitude for a mill-stone to occupy, coupled with what 
 must eventually be the result of the fatal grasp of this 
 ponderous, hard, and inelastic mass of dead matter, 
 
32 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 induced, Mr. Waterton to name this extraordinary com- 
 bination, " John Bull and the National Debt." We 
 can not, for a moment, doubt, that this accidental and 
 unnatural union was, for a long period, a great discourage- 
 ment to the healthy growth of vegetation, simply from its 
 grasping embrace. Nor can we doubt that the weight of 
 the stone has been a most disastrous drag round the neck 
 of the filbert-tree, whatever eight hundred millions sterling 
 may have been around the neck of our nation. 
 
 In November, 1864, Mr. Waterton writes, — " The mill- 
 stone tree has undergone an odd transmutation. The parent 
 stem has died ; but, perceiving a radical shoot trying hard 
 to work its way outside of the stone, I cut away the parent 
 stem, and bended the shoot back again to the centre. It 
 grows well, and will inherit its father's situation shortly, 
 and become John Bull the 2nd." 
 
 On our way to the grotto, you pass another union at 
 variance with the harmonious laws of nature, viz., two 
 trees, the spruce fir and the elm, which were, originally, 
 planted side by side, but which, by the Squire's own 
 hand, had been annually twisted round each other, and 
 have, consequently, in some parts, grown one into the 
 other. Horace had warned future ages in reference to 
 an atempt to reconcile things which are adverse to the 
 established course of events. 
 
 " Pergte pugncmtia secum 
 Frontibus adversis compoiiere." 
 
 " You are trying to reconcile things which are opposite in 
 their nature." 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOKK. 33 
 
 The process of training, in this instance, in order to endea- 
 vour to force by artificial means, an unnatural union, has 
 resulted, as must have been anticipated, in a miserably 
 stunted growth of both trees, and therefore, this manifest 
 failure of any beneficial conjunction of interests, was by Mr. 
 Waterton, always facetiously pointed out as an apt illustra- 
 tion of what he deemed the absurdity of the union of 
 "church and state;" hence, this sobriquet was given to 
 the union of these trees. 
 
 . . " ^~on utplacidis coeantimmitia, nan ut 
 Serpentes airbus geminentur, tigiibus agni." 
 
 . . . " Nature, and the common laws of sense, 
 
 Forbid to reconcile antipathies ; 
 
 Or make a snake engender with a dove, 
 
 And hungry tigers court the tender lamb." 
 
 I have a suspicion that the Squire .well knew what 
 would be the suicidal termination of this union, and 
 that it was originally designed and carried out in 
 order to support his favourite crotchet of a thorough 
 disapprobation of the union of Church and State, as we 
 seldom passed it, on our way to the grotto, without 
 his slily making some jocosely caustic observation in 
 derision, or indicating his ostracism by a jeering ex- 
 pression of countenance, as if to draw my attention to 
 the absurdity of the junction, or, of the "two rolled 
 into one." 
 
 Passing along an avenue in the wood, where, in 
 trunks of trees, artificial nesting boxes were prepared 
 in hidden recesses, for the brown and the barn-owl; 
 and where the relics of wooden imitation-pheasants are 
 
 D 
 
34 CHAELES WATEETON: — 
 
 perched here and there on the surrounding' trees, so as 
 to delude and mislead the poachers in clays gone by, 
 you come rather suddenly to a termination of this 
 avenue, where the road bifucrates. " Hie locus est, 
 partes ubi se via findit in ambas." "This is the spot 
 where the road divides into two parts ;" one path slighty 
 diverging to the left, towards the fish-trap reservoir, whilst 
 the other, turning at right angles, leads to the lovely and 
 charming grotto. 
 
 Here, at this junction of the roads, you come to an 
 ancient stone cross, meriting observation. This curious 
 remnant of Saxon art was, some time ago, accidentally 
 discovered in the neighbouring town of "Wakefield, 
 where it had, from time immemorial, been in constant 
 use, having formed an humble door step, in one of the 
 ancient houses in that town once called " merry Wake- 
 field." No one appeared to be able to afford any 
 information how this cross came to be put to such 
 ignoble use. After many applications, possession was 
 at length obtained of this beautiful specimen of the 
 old Saxon crosses, now so extremely rare in England. 
 
 Directly in front of the junction just named, you have 
 an immediate view of a most magnificent clump of the 
 spruce-fir, a specially favourite nesting retreat for the 
 ring-dove, the brown owl, the kestrel, the jackdaw, the 
 magpie, and the jay, as well as for a host of the ordi- 
 nary British birds, which flock to this sequestered place 
 for shelter and to secure a safe retreat from man. These 
 firs, which are of remarkably fine growth, are pruned to 
 the height of. seven or eight feet from the ground, con- 
 sequently, they form an unbroken canopy above, affording 
 
'THE GROTTO," IN THE GROUNDS AT WALTON HALL. 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 35 
 
 a most fascinating and delightfully refreshing promenade 
 in summer, and, in winter, a complete protection, by- 
 warding off the chilling blast from every point of the 
 compass. 
 
 In description, we have now arrived in the immediate 
 neighbourhood of "the grotto," a little earthly paradise, 
 where the Squire and I, sitting in front of the larger tem- 
 ple, have beguiled many an hoivr in natural history pursuits, 
 for upwards of five and twenty years, ever charmed by 
 the varied music of the feathered tribe, in addition to 
 our being deeply interested in silently watching the 
 diversified habits and distinguishing peculiarities of the 
 numerous birds in view, when nesting or maturing their 
 offspring, or when temporarily sojourning here. 
 
 The grotto is embosomed in wood, to the extent, 
 and at the precise distance from its centre, to enhance, 
 in the greatest possible degree, its many charms. It is 
 a flower-garden excavation hewn out of solid rock. In 
 its base, it is graced by a small temple, having an 
 obtusely formed conical roof, supported on stone pillars, 
 and covered with ivy. In its centre, is a table, which 
 is surrounded by benches for the accommodation of 
 visitors to these grounds. On the rocky summit of the 
 grotto, and on its brink, stands a large and circular tem- 
 ple, its roof being lofty and spherical, and supported by 
 eight stone pillars. When pic-nic parties assembled here, 
 which they did from a distance of many many miles, they 
 usually availed themselves, if the weather should be un- 
 favourable, of the larger temple for dinner, and for dancing. 
 
36 CHARLES WATEKTON: — 
 
 In these pleasure-grounds, such gatherings of friends, 
 forming large parties, were numerous and frequent in 
 the spring, summer, and autumnal months, as every 
 arrangement had been considerately made to meet the 
 'wants, and to afford the necessary comforts for pic-nic 
 parties. 
 
 During the life of the late Mr. Waterton, any party, 
 having a card of admission for a special day, always had 
 the park reserved for themselves during that day, which 
 afforded an agreeable privacy and a greater scope for 
 positive enjoyment. Occasionally, these pic-nic parties 
 numbered several hundreds, and were accompanied by 
 very excellent bands of music, when frequently, dancing 
 was the order of the day, either on the turf, — under the 
 canopy of the spruce-fir grove, — in the base of the 
 grotto, — or in the larger temple, which is about one-third 
 of a mile from the hall. On such occasions, if the late 
 Mr. Waterton appeared, even at a distance, during these 
 happy, rural, and festive gaieties, the Squire was always 
 greeted by the bands playing, and the whole multitude 
 joining in chorus, " The fine Old English Gentleman ; " 
 having selected the portions peculiarly applicable to the 
 high-spirited and generous-hearted " old Squire :" — 
 
 " I'll sing you a good old song that was made by a good old pate, 
 Of a fine old English Gentleman, who had an old estate ; 
 And who kept up his old mansion at a bountiful old rate, 
 With a good old porter to relieve the old poor at his gate, 
 Like a fine old English Gentlomtin, one of the olden time. 
 His custom was when Christmas came, to bid his friends repair 
 To his old Hall, where feast and ball for them he did prepare ; 
 And though the rich he entertained, he ne'er forgot the poor. 
 Nor was the houseless wanderer e'er driven from the door 
 Of this good old English Gentleman, one of the olden time." 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOKK. 37 
 
 There was ever a manifest warmth of feeling, and a 
 genuine energy of voice displayed, which afforded an abun- 
 dant proof of gratitude for the generous reception they had 
 met with. Although these gatherings were sometimes 
 apparently unwieldy in number, yet seldom or never was 
 the slightest damage sustained in any part of the park, 
 or any impropriety of conduct indulged in. On taking 
 their final departure, they usually congregated at the cast- 
 iron bridge, in front of the Hall, and played and sang 
 " God save the Queen," as their last grateful offering, 
 with a heartiness and enthusiasm, that would have ani- 
 mated the heart of a stoic. 
 
 More private, and more aristocratic symposia were, 
 now and then, concentrated in the park at "Walton Hall, 
 to have a day of thorough and unrestrained enjoyment, 
 "who rarely bade adieu without showering down number- 
 less blessings on the venerable octogenarian, for his own 
 sake, associated with ardently expressed wishes, that the 
 good old man might live many years, enjoy life, and 
 generously afford them future pleasures. Ovid has truly 
 beautifully, and most appropriately, embodied all their 
 wishes, in two lines : — 
 
 " Dl tihi dent amws ! a U nam ccetera surtm, 
 Sint modo virtuti tempora longa tu<z." 
 
 " May the Gods grant thee length 'of years ! "all other 
 blessings from thyself thou wilt derive, let only time be 
 granted for thy virtues." 
 
 On the brink of the precipice, hewn out of rock, 
 
38 CHAELES WATEETON: — 
 
 and forming the posterior portion of the grotto, in front 
 of the larger temple, and in a southern aspect, sat the 
 Squire on sunny days, ever minutely perfecting his 
 knowledge in natural history. The naturalist would be 
 here seated for a lengthened period, even without his hat, 
 under a scorching sun, looking down upon the smaller 
 temple — on a shaded site — upon the stream, which glides 
 silently along from the lake, to the fish-trap reservoir — 
 upon an artificial nesting tower, for the starling and 
 jackdaw specially, — and upon the splendid grove of the 
 spruce-fir, tenanted by a vast variety of the feathered 
 songsters, all pursuing their own instinctively individual 
 vocations and habits, peculiarly allotted to them by 
 nature's unerring laws. This scenery has really a sooth- 
 ing influence, which must be experienced in order to be 
 thoroughly appreciated. 
 
 Hundreds of times in this enchanting alcove, fascina- 
 ting the naturalist by a happy combination of nature 
 and of art, have I shared my old friend's enjoyment. 
 With extreme pleasure have I heard him, in an un- 
 affected enthusiasm, recount and dilate upon his daring 
 ornithological adventures in the vast and interminable 
 forests of that unparalleled country South America. 
 Riveted to the rock on which we have rested, have I in- 
 tently listened to the autobiographical description of his 
 solitary exploring career, primarily conceived and con- 
 templated in admiration of the feathered tribes, originally 
 cultivated in his father's grounds, subsequently nursed 
 into a fundamentally growing and increasing attach- 
 ment, and, at length, ripening into an unflinching deter- 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 39 
 
 urination, on the part of the naturalist, to be able to 
 say, in these dark, dreary, and boundless forests " Veni 
 mdi vid." 
 
 The Squire, seeing that his numerous incidents 
 of travel were deeply interesting to me, would fondly 
 dwell upon many and various expedients and 
 manoeuvres resorted to in order to gain possession of 
 those birds which were rare and difficult to approach. 
 He would recount the peculiar and apt character of 
 arrangements in detail necessary to be devised by himself 
 and adjusted with the natives in order to secure what was 
 required by his ingenious and decoying contrivances, so 
 that he might be able to obtain the shy, the cunning, 
 and the seldom seen birds. All these designs evidently 
 emanated from a master-mind, and from a proficiency 
 in that special craft or vocation, into which the naturalist 
 had launched his bark, and to which, he was so 
 ardently attached. He would describe the character- 
 istic flight of the minutest humming birds, mere atoms 
 of creation — the dust-shot destruction of one of these 
 beautiful particles of vitality by a single pellet, which 
 was the very perfection of shooting for future preserva- 
 tion of the bird. 
 
 Mr. "Waterton's innate, or, as it were, indigenous 
 knowledge of, and influence over uncivilized man, 
 enabled him to gain the confidence of the natives to 
 a surprising extent, so that they served him with 
 greater courage, with more zeal, ingenuity and fidelity, 
 than English servants would have done. 
 
 I could gather from the Squire, that if a frown was 
 
40 CHARLES WATEKTON: — 
 
 needed to intimidate, it was evident that lie was in 
 immediate possession of one. On the other hand, if 
 a smile was an essential requisite at the moment, 
 his countenance was instantly clothed with a gracious 
 and an alluring one. His great object, therefore, was 
 never to allow a native to see that he doubted. If 
 the Squire doubted, tliey hesitated, and he was no longer 
 supreme. Mr. Waterton speedily discovered this trait 
 in their character, which put him in possession of an 
 influence rendering him capable of surely accomplishing 
 all he required, without which power, his exploring 
 excursion would have been a fruitless one. 
 
 Even the hundred lunatics, from the Wakefield 
 Asylum, who were wont to be kindly permitted by 
 Mr. Waterton to have their harmless and frolicsome 
 merriment — their dancing, and their dinner, within 
 the grotto — were always greatly delighted, and even 
 tranquillised, so as to temporarily forget their pitiable 
 and frequently unhappy condition, and one and 'all to 
 declare the grotto to be an elysium. 
 
 Above, and behind the larger temple, in the wood, 
 is an artificially prepared trunk of an ash-tree, set apart 
 for the owl, a very favourite bird with the Squire ; and, 
 in a portion of this trunk, which was decayed, there 
 was a cavity, in which an ox-eye titmouse yearly 
 nested, hatched, and matured her young, ' for a long 
 period. Mr. Waterton attached a door hung on hinges, 
 to exactly' fit the opening in the trunk, having a hole 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 41 
 
 in its inferior portion, for the admission and escape of 
 the titmouse, when the door itself was closed. The 
 Squire seldom omitted visiting his little favourite daily, 
 and was in the habit of opening the door, and gently 
 and delicately drawing his hand over the back of the 
 bird, to give her a convincing proof that he was her 
 friend, — a little confidential intercourse between the 
 two, which I have, with great pleasure frequently 
 witnessed. On one occasion, after the titmouse had 
 raised her offspring to maturity, and for that season, 
 had deserted her habitation, a squirrel, irnfortunately, 
 selected this tempting excavation for its nest ; and 
 although, early the following spring, every relic of the 
 lining of the squirrel's nest was carefully removed, yet, 
 from that period, no bird ever ventured within the 
 cavity, in order to restore it to its original use. 
 
 The temples at the grotto — the excavated rock which 
 forms it — the tea-room — the owl and the jackdaw- 
 tower, and the keeper's hovel at the fish-trap reservoir 
 were all fabricated by Jack Ogden the keeper, and his 
 master. Jack was originally a mason and an excellent 
 workman, as well as, naturally, a very clever fellow. 
 Early in life he was strongly tainted with poaching 
 propensities, which accomplishment being whispered 
 into the ear of the Squire, Jack was speedily installed 
 "keeper for Mr. Waterton," a post of honour and 
 eminence, of which Ogden was always proud, which 
 he never disgraced, and, the duties of which he dis- 
 charged most faithfully. He was passionately attached 
 
42 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 to his master, and the balance of approbation between 
 Jack and his master, was always so equally poised, 
 that the Squire was ever ready to cry quits. Ogden 
 was gifted with brains to invariably discriminate his 
 master's wants, whilst they were of a character that 
 enabled him to fulfil all reasonable ones, and the Squire 
 was never known to ask an unreasonable one. Mr. 
 Waterton was wont to say that Jack Ogden was the 
 very perfection of the man he needed in the South 
 American forests. Poor Jack died a little before his 
 master, deeply regretted by him as well ' as by many of 
 this faithful keeper's friends, during his reign at 
 Walton Hall. Jack was a crack shot, ' and clever in 
 breaking either pointer or retriever, and was well up 
 in all the ' little generally hidden mysteries of the 
 accomplished keeper. He could use the casting, net 
 very adroitly on the lake, or from its margin, and could 
 handle the oar and steer his boat like an old sailor. 
 
 It is somewhat singular that Ogden had scraped together 
 a certain amount of knowledge relative to the Battle of 
 Wakefield Green, and the troops assembled at Sandal 
 Castle, coupled with the cruelty of Lord Clifford in mur- 
 dering the youthful Duke of Rutland. The name of Clif- 
 ford, again incidentally introduced, suggests the propriety 
 of alluding to a very singular and interesting circumstance 
 recorded in the following letter to my friend, Mr. Salvin, 
 who stands so distinguished in the art of hawking, a 
 pastime in such high favour to the end of the Saxon era. 
 
 It happens that I had the pleasure of being intimately 
 acquainted with the late Mr. George Walker, and can, 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 43 
 
 therefore, thoroughly corroborate Mr. Salvin's impressions 
 that our friend's unerring perceptivity might be emphatically 
 depended upon. 
 
 REMARKABLE RECOGNITION. 
 
 "About the time Dr. Whitaker wrote the history of 
 Craven (a district in Yorkshire), he and some of his 
 antiquarian friends opened several ancient graves at 
 Bolton Abbey and other places. At Skipton they 
 peeped into the tomb of Admiral Lord Clifford, and as 
 I have been told, a curious circumstance connected 
 with it, from one present on the occasion, viz., the late 
 Mr. George Walker, of Killingbeck Hall, near Leeds, 
 I think it worthy of record. Mr. W. told me tbat they 
 found the Earl, who had been embalmed, quite perfect 
 and dressed in the costume of the day, in high crowned 
 hat, plume and frill, &c, but no sooner was he exposed 
 to the air than the remains began to shake like a 
 jelly, and in a few seconds all gave way, and this 
 extraordinary sight (bringing one back to the days of 
 Elizabeth), collapsed into dust. Mr. W. who was a 
 person of great observation, and who was a naturalist, a 
 sportsman, and an amateur artist, was very fond, at 
 this period, of making pedestrian tours through the 
 country, and he informed me, that the day after his 
 curious introduction to the Earl, he visited Chats- 
 woTth, and, whilst looking through the pictures, he had 
 the pleasure of putting the housekeeper right, for she 
 had got her story wrong about the portraits, and pointed 
 out one which she said was this identical Admiral 
 
44 CHAELES WATEETON: — 
 
 Lord Clifford. Upon this, he said, 'I must correct you; 
 (here pointing to another picture) this is the Admiral, 
 for I saw him only yesterday, and if necessary, I 
 could swear to him.'" — F. H. Salvin. 
 
 Near the smaller and lower temple, and on the brink 
 of a precipice above it, there stands, in a prominent 
 position, a cross, said by the Squire to be the first 
 that was erected and exposed to public view in Eng- 
 land after the Eeformation. 
 
 Ever anxious to gratify all, and more especially the 
 juveniles, Mr. "Waterton kindly erected, on the border 
 of the spruce-fir grove, a chair-swing, of truly noble 
 dimensions and of extensive sweep, in which many a 
 buxom country girl has joyously received the swinging 
 attentions of her devoted swain, in this secluded little 
 valley. 
 
 The Squire frequently alluded to his old favourite 
 the "Ox-eye," as if grieving for the loss of a valued friend, 
 telling me how many visits he had known the parents 
 pay to their young in one hour during the subsistency 
 of their numerous brood within the tree. Mr. Wieber 
 has stated, that "at half-past three o'clock in the 
 morning in July," he " carefully watched the blue titmice 
 feed their young, six in number. From 3.30 to 4.0, 
 they fed them twelve times — from 4.0 to 5.0, twenty- 
 five times — from 5.0 to 6.0, forty times — which was 
 astonishing as, during the whole of this hour, they 
 flew to a plantation at a distance of more than one 
 hundred and fifty yards from their nest. From 6.0 to 
 7.0, they fed .them twenty-nine times. During a part 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. • 45 
 
 of this hour they fed every minute. From 7.0 to 8.0, 
 they fed them twenty times. During this hour, it rained 
 heavily. From 8.0 to 9.0, they fed them thirty-six times, 
 and from 9.0 to 10.0, forty-six times. During a part of 
 this hottr, they fed them twelve times in five minutes. 
 From 10.0 to 11.0, they fed them thirty-seven times, 
 from 11.0 to 12.0, thirty-nine times, from 12.0 to 1.0, 
 twenty-four times. From 1.0 to 2.0, they fed them 
 twenty-three times, from 2.0 to 3.0, thirty-four times, 
 from 3.0 to 4.0, eighteen times, from 4.0 to 5.0, twenty- 
 nine times, from 5.0 to 6.0, twenty-five times, from 6.0 
 to 7.0, twenty times, and from 7.0 to 8.30, twenty-five 
 times. They now stopped, after having been almost 
 incessantly engaged for nearly seventeen hours in their 
 labours of love, and after having fed their young four 
 hundred and seventy-five times." The Squire was always 
 delighted to carry out experiments of this nature himself, 
 whilst time, opportunities, inclination, and suitable loca- 
 tions were at his command. 
 
 Passing from the grotto to the northern side of the 
 lake, you find here and there, en route, in the wood, 
 several trunks of trees, about fifteen feet high, fixed 
 in an upright position. These trunks, being decayed, 
 are hollow, and, for that very reason, were selected for 
 the purpose for which Mr. Waterton intended them. 
 The decay having rendered the cavities within the stems 
 pervious to rain, they were protected on their summit 
 by an artificial roof so that the hollow portions might 
 
46 * CHAELES WATERTON: — 
 
 be kept perfectly dry. Holes were purposely pierced in 
 the stems, leading to the cavities, in order to afford 
 a free entrance for birds to occupy them for the 
 purpose of nesting and hatching, and to provide for 
 them a secure retreat from vermin. 
 
 In the month of May, 1862, the Squire pointed 
 out to me three birds' nests within one cavity, viz., 
 the nest of a jackdaw, with five eggs — that of a 
 barn-owl, with three young ones, very near to which, 
 (the owl's resort,) were several dead mice and a half- 
 grown rat, — and, eighteen inches above the nest of 
 the owl, in a little recess, was a redstart's nest, con- 
 taining six eggs. The barn-owl and the jackdaw 
 must have passed in and out at the same hole, and 
 therefore, in all probability, were on neighbourly 
 terms. The redstart might have entered and returned 
 by a small hole a little higher up, and then have 
 descended to its nest ; but at all events, it inhabited 
 the same cavity, all three birds dwelling under the 
 same roof, and, in fact, in one room ; we must also 
 remember that this was a voluntary act on the part 
 of each of these birds. 
 
 " I shall not ask Jean Jacques Rousseau 
 If birds confabulate or no ; 
 'T is clear that they were always able 
 To hold discourse — at least in fable." 
 
 In an unreclaimed state, birds, although of dif- 
 ferent species, are not generally disposed to quarrel 
 with each other; neither do the savage race of ani- 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 47 
 
 mals, of the same species, object to associate with 
 one another. Juvenal tells us " the ferocious tiger agrees 
 with his fellow, and the bear consorts with the bear." 
 
 . . . . " Tigris agit rabida aim tigride pacein 
 Perpetuam, sosvis inter se conveiiit ursis." 
 
 On the same day, in a tuft of rushes, just within 
 the water and on the edge of the lake, we carefully 
 examined a water-hen's nest, into which, when the 
 old bird had left it, we could see very distinctly. It 
 contained nine eggs and four very recently hatched 
 young ones, a larger number of eggs, by four than. 
 Mr. Waterton had ever before known. Water-hens 
 were great pets with the Squire, daily during winter 
 coming upon the lawn in front of the mansion, to 
 be fed by him from the windows. They are singular 
 birds, as regards their apparent pertness, and the very 
 extraordinary rapidity of their physical movements, 
 especially as to the precipitant or jerking motion of 
 the tail ; and are not less ' remarkable for their pertina- 
 cious and adherent constancy of attachment to their 
 nest and its contents, when once they have fairly com- 
 menced incubation. 
 
 I will narrate one out of many instances, which 
 have occurred at Walton Hall. In the year 1825, 
 when a willow was being stubbed by the workmen, 
 on the "little island" in the centre of the lake, they 
 found during their labour, the nest of a water-hen 
 containing seven eggs. They moved the naked nest, 
 with its eggs, a distance of three yards, and there 
 
48 CHARLES WATEKTON: — 
 
 left it on the bare earth. Notwithstanding this rude 
 interference, the old bird, so soon as the workmen 
 had gone away, gathered together the dried and dead 
 grass, which had been previously used as a founda- 
 tion for her original nest, and at once instinctively 
 commenced her new labours, by tidily arranging, and prop- 
 ping up with this debris, the shattered remains of her 
 former domicile ; she then again took possession of her 
 nest, and hatched her seven chicks in due time. 
 
 We afterwards discovered, in an artificially prepared 
 trunk of an old ash-tree, the nest of a brown owl, in 
 which was one addled egg, the young owls having flown. 
 Mr. Waterton remarked that it was singular, but in all 
 the brown owls' nests that he had examined, he had 
 never found more than three eggs, and, that in every 
 instance, one out of this number was addled. 
 
 Whilst stating the Squire's observations about the 
 eggs of the brown owl, I am reminded of his 
 opinion as to the carrion-crow sucking the eggs of 
 other birds. He did not deny that the carrion-crow 
 would suck eggs, and also devour the young of birds 
 recently hatched, but he much doubted their being so 
 frequently destructive as they were represented to be, 
 otherwise, he thought he should have seen signs of 
 such instances, occasionally, in the park, considering 
 the many opportunities afforded him, and he had not 
 seen a single case sufficient to convict the carrion- 
 crow, whilst he had repeatedly seen instances where 
 the accused had not availed itself of opportunities 
 which had occurred. 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOEK. 49 
 
 For instance, in 1852, a pair of water-hens built 
 their scanty nest at the head of the lake, by merely 
 placing, in various directions, one twig upon another 
 on the surface of the water, but only to such an 
 amount, and extent, that it would float sufficiently 
 to sustain the female and her eggs, without there 
 being any solid^ foundation whatever under the nest. 
 Its watery site was in a very secluded spot, being in a 
 sort of little bay, and scarcely under the influence of 
 even a more than ordinary breeze, whilst it was made 
 still less so, from its immediate proximity to an abun- 
 dance of luxuriant rushes at the edge of the lake. 
 In this openly exposed nest, without the least attempt 
 at concealment by its builders, and directly under the 
 nest of a pair of carrion-crows, in an alder-tree, the 
 water-hens hatched their eggs, and reared their young, 
 without any apparent molestation from the carrion- 
 crows. Now, during the lenghtened period of incu- 
 bation, when the water-hen would, of course, fre- 
 quently leave her nest in quest of food, the carrion- 
 crows must have had many opportunities afforded 
 them to. slily pilfer an egg from the water-hen's nest, 
 or, subsequently, to lay hold of so delicate a morsel 
 as a newly hatched chick, yet no such cruelty was 
 perpetrated, clearly proving that the destruction of 
 eggs or chicks is not an every-day criminal act with 
 this "bird of prey." 
 
 On the southern side of the lake, and in front of 
 the drawing-room windows of the Hall, is an extensive 
 
 "E 
 
50 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 and carefully protected heronry; a rare and valuable 
 acquisition to the grounds of a naturalist in ihe 
 present destructive age. This heronry afforded the 
 Squire an ample opportunity of becoming familiar with 
 the habits of a bird, about which, it> is now next to an 
 impossibility to gain reliable information. An open 
 swamp is preserved, in its native boggy condition, 
 between the heronry and the house, in order to tempt 
 the herons to spend a portion of their time in it, so 
 that they themselves, should constitute, not merely 
 additional ornaments to the scenery, but highly interesting 
 objects, in a scientific paint of view. In this favourite 
 swamp, the herons could be seen, in perfection, through 
 the telescope, from the drawing-room windows, by 
 which means the Squire became intimately acquainted 
 with all their little peculiarities, an immensely in- 
 structive, and a most interesting advantage, and one 
 which few, if, indeed, any other naturalist possesses. 
 Their habits were not merely seen and narrowly 
 watched collectively, but individually, and not only 
 when engaged in the marshy ground, to which they 
 appeared to give a preference, but also when they 
 retired to the dry banks to rest and to plume them- 
 selves, — which cleansing and embellishing operation 
 was minutely attended to every day. 
 
 Here was a pre-eminent opportunity to occasionally 
 watch the herons, when in search of their finny as well 
 as of their amphibious prey along the shallow and rushy 
 margin of the lake, also to scrutinize the mode of carrying 
 out nidification in all its rude simplicity of architecture; 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 51 
 
 to investigate the special character of materials forming 
 their nest, and to ascertain the precise kind of food supplied 
 to their young. 
 
 It is acknowledged that the young heron is a great 
 delicacy on the table, if killed at a proper time, and 
 cooked by a connoisseur in the Art. They should never be 
 killed for the table until they have had, for the longest 
 possible time, the benefit of the moonlight nights to gather 
 flesh by fishing, and when killed, the bird should be 
 enclosed in an earthenware jar, and buried underground 
 for several days, by which means their brown colour 
 becomes white, and the fishy flavour vanishes. 
 
 Herons are remarkably speedy in the act of nidifieation, 
 generally constructing their nests in two days, and it was 
 no uncommon thing to find in the same nest, eggs, the 
 young just hatched, and some nearly full-fledged young 
 ones. During these periods, there would always be one 
 of the old herons prominently posted in the heronry on 
 the watch, to ward off the carrion-crows and magpies 
 from attacking the young herons; and, when in defence 
 of the offspring, whether her own, or those of another, 
 she would daringly and indeed irresistibly, give battle to 
 the intruder in protection of the helpless progeny over 
 which she had been appointed sentinel. 
 
 Her onslaught on the interloper was made more terrific 
 by a fiendish screech added to a descent so fierce and 
 furious, that her enemy generally retreated in rapid flight 
 so as to seldom suffer even a scratch ; but, on one occasion, 
 the keeper was witness to a heron spiking a retreating 
 magpie through its back, when her sharp pointed bill 
 
52 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 became temporarily so firmly transfixed in the back of 
 the magpie, that in this entangled condition they descended 
 several yards before they became separated, when . the 
 magpie fell headlong into the swamp near the heronry, 
 and was drawing its last breath when the keeper reached 
 it. Herons, in their early stage of life, are extremely 
 clumsy and awkward, without, of course, any knowledge 
 of balancing properties, when the branch containing their 
 nests is under the influence of a high wind, and are, there- 
 fore, frequently tossed out of their shallow and unprotected 
 tenements, and, consequently, now and then, die from 
 sheer starvation, as well as from the violence of a fall 
 from so elevated a position. In the Island of May, 
 herons build on the ground, and, consequently, escape 
 the dangers of the shallow nest. 
 
 When such disasters did occur at Walton Hall, it was 
 Jack Ogden's duty to gather up the fragments, in the 
 form of the benumbed and the maimed, in order to re- 
 place them in their own special berths, if sufficient vitality 
 remained to give Jack a reasonable hope of resuscitation. 
 After a stormy night, the Squire was on the look out 
 for Jack with the halt and the maimed, or, at all events, 
 to receive a report of their number and the intensity of 
 any unfortunate catastrophies that might have occurred 
 during the boisterous night, when grief or joy betrayed 
 his mental impressions, in accordance with his faithfid 
 keeper's announcement. 
 
 It is worthy of remark that, some years ago, the heronry 
 was in the wood, on the northern side of the lake. It, 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 53 
 
 however, became desirable to cut down a few trees, in 
 order to benefit the growth of the remaining ones in 
 this part of the wood, which was quietly and carefully 
 accomplished, and, of course, not in the nesting season; 
 yet, from this time, the herons commenced to change 
 their quarters, and all apparently agreed to occupy the 
 southern, the opposite side of the lake, where every 
 possible care was bestowed upon them, so long as they 
 remained within the walls of the park ; but, unfortunately, 
 herons take long, I believe, extraordinarily long flights, 
 generally during the evening, in search of variety of food, 
 and in the morning on their return home, are, conse- 
 quently, much exposed to the merciless public, who spare 
 no pains to destroy these interesting and harmless birds. 
 It is not, however, in their long flight, that they are shot, 
 as they fly too high to b.e killed by shot. They usually 
 suffer by being surprised in their fishing streams, where 
 they are suddenly pounced upon whilst fishing little 
 shaded rivulets. Their commencing ascent, from the 
 stream into the air, when disturbed, is so slow, that 
 they seldom escape, even, an indifferent shot. They are, 
 in general, shot, not because they are required for the 
 purpose of being "setup" as specimens in the science of 
 ornithology, nor because they are wanted for the table, 
 nor because the bird is suspected of doing injury in any 
 way, but simply, that he who kills may boast that he has 
 shot a heron. 
 
 This heronry at one time, in consequence of its 
 position, and also of its trifling distance from a most 
 destructive influence (soap and vitriol-works), barely 
 
54 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 escaped annihilation. If it had been -where it formerly 
 was, viz., on the opposite side of the park, the trees 
 forming the heronry must have succumbed to the 
 abominable effluvia arising from these works, unless 
 an injunction had been obtained : — the odour from 
 which (the soap and vitriol-works), was disagreeably 
 offensive, as well as very detrimental to both animal 
 and vegetable life. Some of the Squire's finest trees 
 were literally destroyed, and many hundreds very seri- 
 ously injured. Mr. Waterton being anxious, if possible, 
 to avoid law, took Terence for his guide, who contends 
 that " it becomes a wise man to try every thing that 
 can be done by words, before he has recourse to arms." 
 " Omnia priics verbis experiri, quam armis, sapientem 
 decet." Eeasoning and persuasive measures were there- 
 fore, adopted on the part of the late Mr. Waterton, to 
 induce the owner of the soap and vitriol-works to abate 
 the nuisance ; but these friendly warnings failing to pro- 
 duce the desired effect, the Squire was most reluctantly 
 compelled in self-defence, to resort to a court of justice 
 for the protection of his property, -when he was awarded 
 eleven hundred pounds for the injury sustained, as well 
 as an injunction to prohibit the continuance of the 
 works. But no victory is to be obtained without 
 some inconvenience. " Patitur qui vincit." " He suffers 
 who conquers." For a considerable period, many of the 
 spruce and silver-firs, in the neighbourhood of the grotto, 
 had the greatest difficulty to struggle through the shat- 
 tered condition to which they were reduced, whilst a 
 few of the highly ornamental ones fairly yielded to 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 55 
 
 the baneful influence of this deadly poison. " Hceret 
 lateri lethalis arundo." " The fatal shaft remains 
 fixed in her side." 
 
 Soon after the termination of this law-suit, "a hue 
 and cry" was universally raised and most perseveringly 
 indulged in, relative to the supposed destruction of a 
 number of splendid trees by the Scolytus in some of 
 the southern counties, when owners of well-wooded 
 parks and pleasure-grounds, all over the country, were 
 in fear and trembling, lest their ornamental scenery 
 should be subjected to similar depredations by this 
 beetle. Mr. Waterton, who, unfortunately for himself, 
 had already had woeful experience, by the destruction of 
 the trees, in consequence of the miserable plight to 
 which many of his own were reduced, from the poison- 
 ous emanations arising from the neighbouring vitriol- 
 works, could authoritatively assert, — " sErumnabilis ex- 
 perientia me docuit." "Sorrowful experience has taught 
 me." Fortified by a practical knowledge, the Squire 
 "took the bull by the horns," and at once boldly dis- 
 puted the opinion which was then promulgated, insist- 
 ing that the Scolytus was not the destroying agent of 
 a single healthy tree, but that this beetle, in his boring 
 propensities, merely took advantage of the morbid, or, I 
 might safely say, the moribund condition already exist- 
 ing in trees, in which he was erroneously declared to 
 have committed such primary ravages. Of course, closet 
 naturalists, having once fairly committed themselves, by 
 publicly arraigning the Scolytus as the destroying agent, 
 
56 CHAELES WATEETON: — 
 
 maintained their assertion with great earnestness, and 
 ■warmly vindicated their opinion with apparently unlimited 
 confidence, although devoid of an atom of practical in- 
 formation on which to fight their battle ; and for a time, 
 but for a brief period only, the more the accuracy of 
 their judgment was questioned, ("happy in their error," 
 "f dices errore suo," or, as Gray has it, " where ignorance 
 is bliss, 't is folly to be wise,") the more staunchly, 
 nay, the more pertinaciously did they adhere to and 
 vainly endeavour to support their previous pompously 
 proclaimed edict. 
 
 In addition to information gleaned from careful 
 observation antecedently made in his own park, Mr. 
 Waterton perfected his knowledge, on this subject by 
 a series of practical experiments, so as to unravel, with 
 certainty, the mysteries enveloped in the wholesale 
 accusation against this poor beetle, by immediately sub- 
 jecting some of his supernumerary trees to circular 
 " barking," or, what I should call, debarking the trunks 
 near their roots, so as to reduce these then healthy 
 trees to a moribund condition, in order to prove that 
 a perfectly healthy tree was not the material in which 
 the Scolytus would bore and deposit its eggs for a 
 future change. So soon as the Squire succeeded in 
 reducing healthy trees to a morbid and moribund state, 
 then, and not until then, were the trees seductive, nay, 
 even acceptable boring-ground for the Scolytus. I was 
 witness to numerous experiments in the course of this 
 interesting investigation, and still possess specimens 
 corroborating the opinion which Mr. Waterton had 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOKK. 57 
 
 previously entertained, and which he as energetically 
 and successfully vindicated in a newspaper discussion. 
 There was always something on the very face of this 
 ungenerous accusation against the Scolytus, when first 
 promulgated, that appeared to really carry its own con- 
 demnation along with it, as we rarely, in the lower 
 grades of animal life, see any living creature destroy, 
 unless some future beneficial result should be obtained 
 in order to counterbalance in some way or other, this 
 destruction. If it were otherwise, it would appear to 
 be flagrantly inconsistent with the harmonious order 
 of nature in creation. 
 
 At one time, Mr. Waterton might, without much 
 exaggeration, have fairly enough quoted Cicero : — 
 "Arbores serit diligens agricola, quarum aspiciet nun- 
 quam ipse baccam." " The industrious husbandman plants 
 trees, of which he himself will never see a berry." The 
 Squire, from an early age, took an infinity of pains 
 with his trees, whether isolated or in groups,, all of 
 which have been planted with so much taste and 
 sound judgment, that they really are very decorative 
 to the hall, which, itself, can boast of little or no stone 
 ornamentation in an architectural point of view. 
 
 The external appearance of the house is not calcu- 
 lated to influence in its favour, but its singular position 
 being closely surrounded by deep water instigates a sort 
 of recommendation on its behalf. 
 
 The Grecian mansion is, without doubt, a truly sub- 
 stantial structure, and a really good and convenient 
 
58 CHARLES WATEKTON: — 
 
 family-residence. The Squire might have justly said 
 ■with Cicero, "that by many appliances and elegancies, 
 he had rendered his house more commodious and con- 
 venient.'' " Mwltis commoditatibus et elegantiis, suas 
 cedes commodiores aptioresque fecit." 
 
 The mansion has three entrances, viz., a northern, a 
 southern, and a western one. The first is the receiving 
 entrance — the second is a more private one — whilst the 
 third, the western entrance, is for the domestics. The 
 front windows command a view of the four sycamores, 
 and the flagged -path-way from the entrance-door to 
 the cast-iron bridge ; on the east of which is the ruin ( 
 encompassed by a beautiful yew fence. The gable of 
 this ruin covered with ivy, has its foundation in 
 the lake, and upon it is a stone cross, recently sub- 
 stituted for a wooden one. This gable with its ancient 
 door, forms the northern portion of the ruin. 
 
 Within the lofty yew fence stands the nesting 
 tower for the starling, jackdaw, and white owl, which 
 I have already described, on the top of which is an 
 ornamental finish, in the form of a globular stone. 
 
 Between the cast-iron bridge, which is a pleasing 
 object from the windows, and~ the ruin, is an entrance 
 to the latter, which is not visible from the house. The 
 clump of treed immediately beyond the bridge, and in 
 a northerly direction, consists of a large number of 
 splendid hollies, which afford a protecting and 
 secluded retreat for our smaller British birds during 
 an inclement winter. 
 
 At a little distance beyond, and on the left of the 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 59 
 
 ruin, is seen from the house, across the narrow portion 
 of the lake, the very dense and compact yew tree 
 grove, which forms the larger pheasantry. 
 
 On the right of the ruin, and on the opposite side 
 of the lake, is the fisherman's hut, the noted Lombardy 
 poplar, and the smaller pheasantry. Between the bridge 
 and the carriage road leading to the stables, and sur- 
 rounding the magnificent clump of hollies, there are 
 a few ornamental and isolated fruit-trees. 
 
 On the left of the bridge is the rookery ; and in the 
 distance is seen a considerable extent of grass-land, with 
 here arid there detached oaks. The grass-land gradually 
 ascends from the lake, is hounded by wood on both 
 sides, and in its further prospect in front, by the 
 horizon. This varied view is mellowed down by 
 including an interesting portion of the lake, and much 
 enhanced in beauty when seen from one of the two 
 windows in the extension-staircase, inasmuch as many 
 of the smaller objects then become conspicuous, and 
 the visible extent of water is also very materially 
 increased. 
 
 In the spring of the year, this scenery is made yet 
 more interesting and attractive to all, as well as 
 specially instructive to the ornithologist. He is then 
 able to accurately ascertain the mode of feeding, and 
 the character of food provided by the old birds for 
 their offspring, and now and then, he is favoured 
 with a sight .of the parent owl silently and softly 
 gliding into the ruin, firmly clutching a mouse, or a 
 half-naked young rat, as a dainty delicacy for her 
 little favourites. 
 
60 CHAELES WATERTON: — 
 
 The southern, and more private entrance to the 
 house, is graced, at a distance of about twenty yards, 
 by Boulby's beauttful sun-dial on the island — a lasting 
 trophy of the unlettered genius : beyond which you have 
 an expansive and beautiful view of the lower and 
 western portion of the lake, its extreme boundary 
 being clothed with rushes, the favourite resort of the 
 water-hens and coots. From the edge of the water, 
 the eye is delighted by an extensive tract of undulating 
 pasture-land, rising to a considerable elevation above 
 the lake, and studded with a profusion of plain and 
 ornamental forest-trees, with the heronry and its 
 neighbouring swamp in the fore-ground. 
 
 Close to the lake, and on its southern side, nearly 
 opposite the heronry, the voice, when loudly spoken, 
 resounds. " Reparahilis adsonat echo." " Eepeating echo 
 resounds." This is the only relic left by Echo, the 
 daughter of Aer and Tellus. 
 
 I cannot here refrain from introducing Ovid's beauti- 
 ful description of Echo, who, he observes, has neither 
 learned to hold her tongue after another has spoken, 
 nor to speak first herself. 
 
 . . . " Quw nee reticere loqutnti, 
 
 Nee prior ipsa loqui didicit." . . . 
 
 ' She, who in other's words her silence breaks, 
 Nor speaks herself but when another speaks. 
 Echo was then a maid, of speeoh bereft, 
 Of wonted speech, for though her voice was left, 
 Juno a curse did on her tongue impose, 
 To sport with every sentence in the olose." 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOEK. 61 
 
 The dining and drawing-room windows, numbering 
 five and four, occupy the northern, southern, and 
 eastern sides of the mansion, from all of which you 
 have an excellent view of the greater portion of the 
 lake, in the centre of which is the " little island." The 
 lake extends, longitudinally, a considerable distance in 
 an easterly direction from the mansion; its proximate 
 portion having pasture-land banks, whilst its more remote 
 one is on both sides densely wooded to its very brink, 
 terminating in pools and swamps, which are admirably 
 adapted for the encouragement of herons and all kinds 
 of water-fowl. 
 
 In the midst of all his earthly cares, the Squire was 
 always prepared to support and enjoy a little joke, if 
 unassociated with any really mischievous intention, and 
 the more especially, if even in the remotest degree, con- 
 nected with natural history. Now, it happened on one 
 occasion, at Walton Hall, in the absence of Mr. Waterton 
 for a few minutes, that a swallow darted through the open 
 window, passing so closely to me that I laid hold of the 
 bird during its flight. At the moment, it occurred to 
 me that an artificial " lusus naturae" might be concocted, 
 from which some pleasantry might be derived, and, there- 
 fore, having procured two white feathers, each about five 
 inches long I tied, by a waxed thread, one to each fork of 
 the tail, and forthwith gave the timid little creature its 
 wished for liberty. No sooner was this trifling deception 
 accomplished than Mr. Waterton and an intimate friend 
 of ours made their appearance; of course, totally uncon- 
 
62 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 soious that I had been perpetrating any treachery. To 
 my great delight, the Squire proposed a stroll to the 
 Cast-iron Bridge, to admire the rapid flight of the 
 swallows, then skimming the unruffled surface of the 
 lake, and, taking their sundry superficial dips in the water 
 whilst feeding on the wing. 
 
 " . . . . Flumina libant, 
 Summa leves." 
 
 " They lightly skim the surface of the rivers." 
 
 No sooner was our destination gained, than the hawk- 
 eyed naturalist immediately detected the phenomenon 
 performing its accustomed gyrations, apparently, not in 
 the slightest degree impeded by its caudal supplement. 
 A knowing look, aside, from the Squire, conveyed an 
 intimation to me, that he was not to be bamboozled, and 
 had not been so, but, in order to carry out the joke, he 
 would remain perfectly silent as to the discovery to be 
 made. The singular appearance of the bird, however, 
 was so palpable that our friend, in an ecstacy of delight, 
 cried out, " Oh, Mr. Waterton, there is a foreign swallow, 
 did you ever see one in this country before." "Cer- 
 tainly not," replied the Squire, with the greatest appa- 
 rent gravity, " I never saw a swallow with its tail so 
 attired." "Then," rejoined our friend, in great earnest- 
 ness, — " I first discovered the bird, and, consequently, 
 it is my privilege to introduce it to the British fauna." 
 At subsequent periods, Mr. Waterton, when in a jocular 
 mood, which was frequently the case, would, with a' 
 solemn aspect of countenance, ask our old friend, if he 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 63 
 
 had recently added any ornithological discovery to the 
 British fauna. But being up to the best way of getting 
 out of a scrape of this nature, he would reply, " No, 
 nor shall I care to look out for any, as the one I did 
 make yet remains unacknowledged by the authorities of 
 the present age.'' 
 
 In conversation with the Squire one day as to his 
 indulging to a fault in promiscuous charity, I adduced 
 as an instance, in support of my assertion, an incident 
 which had occurred that day, saying, that I had been 
 accosted at the entrance lodge by a woman soliciting 
 alms, who had a profusion of flowers in her bonnet, 
 and on my assigning this inconsistency as a reason for 
 refusing her request, she replied with an air of dignity, 
 " There is, sir, no necessity for an apology. Your appear- 
 ance warranted me in the expectation of a silver penny, 
 but my checkered life has taught me to submit to 
 miscalculations of this character, and never to impli- 
 citly rely on outward appearances, good morning, sir." 
 Mr. "Waterton laughed so heartily, and with such a 
 knowing look, that I thought there was something more 
 than met the eye to be revealed; and, therefore, invited 
 an explanation, every syllable of which so amused me 
 that I have no difficulty in repeating word for word 
 his explanation of what had occurred with himself and 
 the self same lady beggar. 
 
 The Squire observed, "I should have been strictly 
 taciturn on this chapter of incidents, as a joke against 
 myself, but, as we have been pretty equally dealt with 
 
64 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 by this identical damsel, it would be cowardly in me, 
 after your frank avowal, to attempt to conceal my equally 
 anomalous rencontre. Meeting me on the Wakefield 
 road, this gaudily bedecked butterfly checked my on- 
 ward career, by really a graceful courtesy, accompanied 
 by a rather simpering entreaty for alms. You know my 
 aversion to finery, even where prevailing usage sanctions 
 such folly, but this exhibition, under such circumstances, 
 was beyond all endurance, therefore, with some warmth, 
 and I dare say, a countenance expressive of my inward 
 feeling, I said, ' How dare you, bedizened about your head 
 with such trash, assume your present position, that of a 
 mendicant ? ' 
 
 " The impertinent hussey immediately cut me short, by, 
 ' Oh, my dear sir, pray don't get into a passion. You 
 appear to have totally mistaken my request, I did not 
 ask your advice, nor yet to preach me a sermon. Self- 
 preservation is the first law of nature. How am I to 
 live without food ? and how is food to be obtained without 
 money ?' 
 
 " The ' weaker vessel ' did not give me time to ' turn 
 the tables,' but rotating on a high-heeled shoe, she grace- 
 fully ejaculated, 'Adieu!' and with superciliously con- 
 temptuous affectation finally disappeared." 
 
 In the year 1861, or 1862, an application to Mr. 
 "Waterton was made to permit the celebrated Blondin 
 to exhibit his marvellously daring powers, on a rope 
 extended across a portion of the lake in the park, but, 
 of course, pecuniary temptations had no influence, in 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOKK. 65 
 
 such a quarter, for the purpose proposed. On the other 
 hand, if the proposition had been, that the profits 
 arising from such a display should be given to the 
 poor,- I am not at all sure that the Squire would have 
 been able to resist so very seductive an inducement, 
 notwithstanding the almost irreparable injury that would 
 have been perpetrated, by numerous, motley, probably 
 mischievous, and certainly ungovernable sight-seers. 
 Undoubtedly, the lake is admirably calculated for such 
 an exhibition, the chief part of the surrounding grounds 
 being of so amphitheatrical a configuration, that many 
 thousand spectators, without any inconvenience, could 
 have easily witnessed such a display, whilst the island 
 and the mansion would certainly have commanded 
 as complete a view of the lake as could have been 
 desired. 
 
 Exhibitions of every description were always at vari- 
 ance with the natural taste and feelings of the Squire, 
 otherwise the adaptation of the park for such displays 
 is unrivalled in every point of view. In addition to 
 the very high wall surrounding these grounds, a portion 
 of their boundary is moated by the Leeds and Barnsley 
 Canal. Indeed, the park is entered by a narrow bridge 
 crossing this canal, which entrance is guarded by two 
 lodges, having a central gate-way common to both. 
 
 On passing over this viaduct, and entering within the 
 gate, you are forcibly struck with the calm serenity 
 and seclusion that instantaneously meet the eye in every 
 direction. 
 
 F 
 
66 CHAELES waterton: — 
 
 Four lines from Virgil admirably describe this very- 
 entrance : — 
 
 " Hie seaira guies, et nescia fallere vita, 
 Dives opiim, variarwn ; hie latis otia fundis y 
 Speluncce, vivique lacus j hie frigida Tempe, 
 Mugitusque honm, vwllesque sub arbore somni." 
 
 "Here is quiet free from care, and life ignorant of 
 guile, rich in varied opulence ; here are peaceful 
 retreats in ample fields, grottoes, and refreshing lakes; 
 here are cool valleys, and the lowing kine, and soft 
 slumbers beneath the tree." 
 
 Beautifully formed forest-trees attract your attention, 
 and few within this domain, however lofty or difficult 
 to swarm, but have, at some period or other, been 
 scaled by the Squire, in his bird-nesting propensities, 
 whose remarkable suppleness of limb, and elasticity 
 ^of muscle, I have often seen marvellously and most 
 amazingly displayed, in his eighty-first year, by a 
 variety of physical contortions. When Mr. Waterton 
 was seventy-seven years of age; I was witness to his 
 scratching the back part of his head with the big 
 toe of his right foot. He knew no fear; and in 
 daring enterprise, or in what is vulgarly termed, 
 "pluck," my friend signally excelled in comparison 
 with the amount usually allotted to man. 
 
 When the "South American Wanderings" made 
 its appearance, his mounting the cayman, as stated 
 in that volume, was disbelieved by many ; but this 
 denial of belief arose from two mistaken causes, 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOEK. 67 
 
 which are, I think, easy of explanation. The former 
 misconception proceeded from a want of knowledge of 
 the man, whose powers, activity, courage, and deter- 
 mination, were not sufficiently known, and had not, 
 even by his intimate friends, been duly appreciated; 
 the latter mistake arose from a want of coolly reflect- 
 ing on the utterly powerless condition of the cayman, 
 when mounted. When I say utterly powerless, I must 
 explain that an immense hook, baited with raw flesh, 
 and securely affixed to the end of a strong rope, had 
 been swallowed by the cayman, and that the pecu- 
 liarly barbed construction of this hook prevented the 
 possibility of its being returned through the mouth — 
 that several natives along with Mr. Waterton's own. 
 black servant, had command of the rope, by which 
 they had drawn this saurian reptile from his natural 
 element on to dry ground, where, of course he was 
 neither at home nor at ease. Now, if a man perform 
 the more difficult, and the more dangerous of two 
 feats, we should give him credit for being able to 
 accomplish the less difficult, and the one attended with 
 less danger. The Squire, in reference to some doubts 
 publicly expressed, as to his having ever mounted the 
 cayman at all, observed to a friend, in my presence 
 "Previously to the publication of 'The Wanderings,' it 
 was at one time my intention to place on the first 
 page of the work a quotation from Ovid; but I now 
 rejoice that I did not do so, as it might have prevented 
 those ungenerous remarks, which have evidently 
 
68 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 been disgorged from a malevolently bilious stomach, 
 and consequently highly gratifying to those illiberal 
 sceptics at my expense. The quotation is : — 
 
 ' Facta canam; sed erunt qui mefacxisse loquantur.' 
 
 ' I shall sing of facts, but there -will be some to say 
 that I have invented fiction.'" 
 
 Our friend remarked, " Probably these critics have 
 never seen .either you or a cayman." " Of course not," 
 rejoined the Squire, "They condemn that which they do 
 not understand," " damnant quod non intelligunt." Let 
 this, then, be the basis on which to form an opinion, 
 and be the ground-work of our decision, as to the 
 credibility of a feat so much questioned at the time 
 of its publication. 
 
 I will now describe a far more daring exploit, per- 
 formed by the Squire at my house, than his mounting 
 the- then powerless and terrified cayman. The heroic 
 act to which I allude was witnessed by many of my 
 professional brethren, as well as by myself. 
 
 A few years ago, a Yankee appeared in Leeds, 
 with eight and twenty rattle-snakes, in a very large 
 flat case, divided into four equally "sized and separate 
 compartments, with a hinged plate-glass lid to fit each 
 division, so that they could be opened ana* closed 
 singly, and at pleasure in a moment. Having been 
 previously supplied by Mr. AVaterton with the Woo- 
 rali poison, which he had personally obtained in the 
 year 1812 from the Macoushi Indians who prepared 
 
W> h 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 69 
 
 it, and having for some time desired to experiment 
 ■with it as to its efficacy by comparison with the poi- 
 son of the rattle-snake, an excellent opportunity was 
 now afforded. I therefore engaged the American to 
 bring his venomous treasures to my house, and invited 
 about forty medical men to be present, whilst care- 
 fully testing, on animal life, the effect of the bite of 
 the rattle-snake, comparatively with the effect of the 
 insertion of the Woorali posion, by an incised punc- 
 ture for its introduction within the cuticle. A rare 
 opportunity then presented itself, and a great number 
 of the faculty assembled to witness and bear testimony 
 to the result of those extremely interesting experi- 
 ments on rabbits, pigeons, and Guinea pigs. 
 
 The room, in which to conduct our operative experi- 
 ments, was large and extremely well lighted from 
 the roof, a character and position of light admirably 
 adapted for the purpose specially required. Of course 
 the South American Wanderer was present, as the 
 hero of the day, and in his genial element every inch 
 of him. The Yankee - owner of the rattle-snakes, 
 also formed one of our number, but he turned out to 
 be a perfectly useless member of our party, openly 
 declaring that he would have nothing whatever to do, 
 "personally," with his venomous friends, and I will 
 do him the justice to say that he strictly adhered to 
 the honest declaration he had made. Indeed, several 
 days previously, he had at "Wakefield, entreated Mr. 
 Waterton to make some change for him in the arrange- 
 ment of his rattle-snakes, into different compartments, 
 
70 CHAELES WATERTON: — 
 
 which the Squire, greatly to Jonathan's horror and 
 amazement, but much to his gratification, speedily and 
 safely effected; but no amount of persuasion, nor of 
 pecuniary bribe nor reward, could induce the Yankee 
 to render the least assistance to the Squire in remo- 
 ving the rattle-snakes to other compartments. 
 
 At the meeting at my house, we soon discovered 
 that in supposing we should have no difficulty in 
 carrying out our experiments, we had "reckoned 
 without our host," as, at the very outset, we found 
 we had to encounter danger never previously dreamt 
 of, and that it would require infinitely more than 
 an ordinary amount of nerve and of a knowledge 
 of snakes than any of us medical men possessed, 
 to overcome the then apparently insurmountable 
 stumbling-block. In truth, no man dared to hold the 
 rabbit nor the pigeon, within the case, to be bitten 
 by a rattle-snake, much less dare any one venture to 
 touch the snakes. We vainly looked at each other for 
 some solution of our hitherto unforeseen perplexity, 
 that is, to bring the biter and the to-be-bitten into 
 close proximity. Silence prevailed, and we were in 
 a " stand still " position when Mr. Waterton observed, 
 — " Gentlemen, if you, who surround the case, will 
 be quite silent and absolutely motionless, I have no 
 doubt about easily accomplishing all that you require." 
 Instantaneously there was breathless silence, when the 
 Squire, on my raising the lid of one of the com- 
 partments, in the. coolest manner possible, fearlessly 
 but gently introduced his naked hand within the 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 71 
 
 case, keeping his eye intently fixed on the snake 
 he intended to secure, and in this unprotected state, 
 and with the utmost composure, he gently, and yet 
 firmly grasped the venomous monster by the neck 
 immediately behind the head, and deliberately removed 
 him from his neighbours, which were loudly hissing 
 and springing the rattle all around his hand. The lid 
 being again closed, Mr. Waterton held the rattle-snake 
 in his hand, whilst it bit the pigeon, the rabbit, or 
 the Guinea pig, and then, on the lid being gently 
 re-opened, he dexterously replaced the snake among 
 his congeners. This dangerous game was repeatedly 
 played in the various compartments, but with scru- 
 pulous circumspection, on the part of Mr. Waterton 
 and myself, and without any mishap, until on one 
 occasion, whilst the Squire was withdrawing his hand 
 from the case, after having replaced the snake, which 
 had just bitten a rabbit — most unexpectedly, and to 
 the dismay and extreme terror of not a few, a large 
 and fierce looking rattle-snake angrily raised himself 
 into nearly an erect position, and, as quick as light- 
 ning, suddenly and rapidly darted forward, projecting 
 the upper half of his body over the edge of the case, 
 before the lid could by any possibility be closed. So 
 instantaneous was this hasty rush, that a moment's 
 earlier closing of the lid, would have caught and 
 retained the Squire's hand within the case, among the 
 snakes. I, having the guardianship of the lid, pre- 
 vented the complete escape of the snake, by instantly, 
 and rapidly, but gently closing the lid upon the half- 
 
72 CHAKLES WATERTON: — 
 
 protruding body of the snake, pressing upon it just 
 sufficiently to prevent its escape, or, indeed, its fur- 
 ther progress, until Mr. "Waterton, who was as com- 
 posed as if nothing particular had occurred, promptly 
 laid hold of this enraged reptile, by deliberately 
 grasping him round the neck, and quietly replacing 
 him in his former quarters 
 
 . . . . " Fortissimus ille est 
 
 Qui promptly metuenda pati, si cominus iiistent." 
 
 "He is the bravest who is prepared to encounter 
 danger on the instant." 
 
 I may add that this last scene did not diffuse 
 any genial influence over our scientific party, as the 
 tumult among the faculty, in apprehension of a veno- 
 mous assault, was so extreme, that in the sudden 
 determination to beat a hasty retreat at every hazard, 
 nearly all fled from their supposed perilous position, 
 and several not only rushed down stairs, but even 
 into the street without their hats. During the whole 
 of these dangerously operative experiments, when the 
 unprotected hand was within the case, in the midst 
 of the deadly poisonous reptiles, the Squire was as 
 much at home as if he had been leisurely selecting 
 the sweetest bon-bon, instead of the most vigorous 
 rattle-snake. 
 
 Mr. Waterton insisted that all snakes attack only 
 when provoked, and that in this instance, there was 
 no provocation given by him, until the rattle-snake 
 was positively within his grasp, and completely within 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 73 
 
 his power, having a firm hold round its neck, and 
 so close to the head, that it was utterly impossible 
 for it to turn or twist its head in any direction what- 
 ever, and that it consequently was totally unable to 
 inflict any wound on him, however anxious to do so, 
 or however enraged it might be. He added, that so 
 long as his fortitude did not desert him, and he was 
 still able to maintain an unwavering determination to 
 keep up his grasp, he was safe. But, on the con- 
 trary, if his courage had failed him, or if any unfore- 
 seen accident had occurred to liberate the snake, every 
 man present must have taken care of himself, and 
 even in that case, he saw no reason to be very uneasy, 
 as self-preservation appeared to be a prevailing, and, 
 indeed, a predominant feeling, among the majority of 
 the faculty who were present. 
 
 Now, the man who dared to put his unprotected 
 hand amongst a host of the most venomous snakes 
 in existence, would not be likely to have refused a 
 mount on a defenceless cayman, dragged by seven 
 men, by means of a rope with a barbed hook at its 
 extremity, and firmly fixed within the stomach of the 
 animal. This mechanically restrained condition of the 
 alligator, it must be admitted, rendered it totally inca- 
 pable, in a physical point of view, to give battle to 
 any creature on earth. 
 
 I may, whilst defending the Squire's fortitude 
 and vindicating his veracity, mention another mar- 
 vellous instance of cool courage. I allude to an 
 
74 CHARGES watekton: — 
 
 occurrence in the Zoological Gardens, in London, in 
 the year 1861, when, after much entreaty on the 
 part of .Mr. Waterton, he was permitted by the then 
 curator, Mr. Mitchell, now deceased, to pay his per- 
 sonal respects to a large orang-outang, from Borneo, 
 which was reputed to be very savage. Indeed, the 
 keepers, one and all declared that "he would worry 
 the Squire, and make short work of it," if he should 
 enter his den, especially as he was just then in a 
 horrid temper, having been recently teased by some 
 mischievous boys. The late Mr. Mitchell, even at 
 last, yielded to Mr. "Waterton's urgent request, with 
 great reluctance. Nothing daunted by all this badi- 
 nage of the keepers, the Squire, to the very great 
 horror of the numerous spectators, entered the pali- 
 saded enclosure with a light heart. The meeting of 
 these two celebrities was clearly a case of "love at 
 first sight," as the strangers embraced each other 
 most affectionately; nay they positively hugged each 
 other, and in their apparently uncontrollable joy, they 
 kissed one another many times, to the great amuse- 
 ment of the numerous spectators. 
 
 Mr "Waterton, who has written specially on the 
 monkey tribe, had long been anxious to minutely 
 inspect the palm of its hand during life, and was 
 also wishful to examine the teeth of his newly-acquired 
 friend, both of which investigations were graciously 
 conceded to the Squire without a murmur, his fingers 
 being freely admitted within its jaws. These little 
 ceremonies having been accomplished on the part of 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 75 
 
 Mr. Waterton, his apeship claimed a similiar privilege, 
 which was courteously granted. The ape, true to its 
 natural inclinations, with great familiarity and evident 
 satisfaction at once set to work in good earnest, after 
 his own instinctive order, and having most carefully 
 scrutinised every portion of Mr. Waterton's face, by 
 pawing, as well as by the closest occular inspection, 
 coolly commenced, to the infinite entertainment of the 
 surrounding spectators, a careful and even critical 
 examination of, or, probably I ought to say, an elaborate 
 search, on the Squire's head. 
 
 These hazardous snake and monkey - adventures, 
 just related, put in competition with the feat of 
 mounting the cayman, when in its then powerless 
 condition, must convince every reasonable person, that 
 the latter act, (although we admit it to have been a some- 
 what bold achievement,) really sinks into insignficance, 
 when compared with Mr. Waterton's daring and intrepid 
 exploits with the'rattle-snakes and the oran-outang. . 
 
 When Mr Waterton was chaffed about the " search " 
 made by the ape, he observed, that reminded him of an 
 anecdote told by a Cantab who, one day, seeing a raga- 
 muffin-looking boy scratching his head at the door of a 
 gentleman's house where he was begging, and, thinking 
 to pass a joke upon him, said, " So Jack, you are picking 
 them out, are you?" "Nah, sir," retorted the urchin, 
 "I taks 'em as they comes." 
 
 The Squire was always delighted to hear a little of any 
 countryman's unaffected provincialism, and especially, if 
 
76 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 of a rather pungent and pithy character, and "whilst," 
 as he observed, "vagabondising at Scarbro'," he medi- 
 tated a visit to Filey in search of sea-birds' eggs. He 
 was, therefore, on the look-out for a man on whom he 
 could thoroughly depend, to accompany him and assist 
 in his egg-gathering expedition, so that they might 
 descend the precipitous rocks alternately. 
 
 The Squire accidentally met a man, who professed, as 
 he himself stated, to be "skilled in that line." Mr. 
 Waterton, therefore, asked him if he thought Tom-so- 
 and-so would answer his purpose, when, after a little 
 consideration, the reply was, "Now, Mr. Watterton, I's a 
 man as niver says nout as is bad a nobody, but I will 
 say this, that chap as you name, is the biggest thief as 
 iver God created." "Then," rejoined the Squire, "he won't 
 do for me." "No, no," responded this knowing and 
 benevolent subdivision of humanity, " he'll do for nobody 
 nor for no place but the devil and the bottomless pit." 
 
 My old friend was wont to tell this anecdote with great 
 pleasure, and frequently wound up by saying, " This tale 
 reminds me of my old farm bailiff, who some time ago 
 was complaining to me of the improper conduct of the 
 stable-boy. On my hoping that he was not guilty of 
 using improper language, ' Yes, d — n him,' he replied, 
 ' that's wars't on it, he swears like a fighting cock, and 
 that, you know, Squire, is very unseemly in any boy' 
 ' Yes,' rejoined Mr. Waterton, ' but you forget "William, 
 that what is unseemly in the b.oy is doubly so in you at 
 your age.' " 
 
 In consideration of what I have stated, as to Mr. 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 77 
 
 Waterton's daring exploits, and his progress, I am 
 tempted to quote the words of Sir Jas. Stuart Menteth, 
 Bart. :- — " Among the most choice of the variety of this 
 collection, none are more interesting than the birds," 
 observed the Baronet, — 
 
 " Their plumage neither dashing shower, 
 Nor blasts that shake the dripping bower, 
 Shall drench again or decompose ; 
 But screen'd from every storm that blows, 
 It boasts a splendour ever new — 
 Safe with" .... 
 
 The amiable wanderer, who, often at the hazard of his 
 life, and suffering dangers by land and water, while 
 exploring the wilds of South America, got them together. 
 
 It would be idle to attempt a description of these 
 treasures. That delightful book, (the Wanderings,) which, 
 like White's Natural History of Selbourne, is in almost 
 every hand, has already rendered the reader familiar 
 with them all ; and it has also acquainted us with 
 many a hairbreadth escape of its author, that one ignor- 
 ant of the daring resolute character of Mr. Waterton 
 almost hesitates to believe : but those who have known 
 him from his early youth to manhood can bear testi- 
 mony to the strict veracity that has ever characterised 
 him, and can recount not a few of his dangerous feats 
 of prowess and of daring. Few, at his time of life, are 
 his equals in climbing a rope or a tree : this activity of 
 body and steadiness of nerve give him infinite advantage 
 over most of our modern naturalists in examining the nests 
 of many birds, placed in almost inaccessible situations, 
 
78 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 and in thereby ascertaining important facts relative to 
 their habits and character. 
 
 During the present summer, no less than eleven 
 times this dauntless naturalist was let down the frightful 
 beetling precipice of Flamborough Head, whence 
 
 " The fishermen, that walk upon the beach, 
 Appear like mice ; and yon tall anchoring bark, 
 Dimish'd to the cock ; her cock, a bouy 
 Almost too email for sight ; " 
 
 in order that he might collect the eggs of the guillemot, 
 the puffin, and the cormorant, and likewise examine 
 their mode of hatching and other habits. 
 
 On leaving the house, and its island, and its old ivied 
 tower, we next enter upon the park. This piece of 
 ground embraces almost 300 acres, surrounded by a high 
 wall to keep out the poacher and other intruder. As no 
 gun is ever fired within its precincts, that 
 
 . . . " Clamour of rooks, daws, and kites, 
 The explosion of the levelled tube excites," 
 
 is never heard, nor any dog suffered to disturb its peace, 
 it may easily be supposed it will be the favourite resort 
 of many kind of birds. Abounding in extensive woods 
 and groves, and an ample space of water, every fowl 
 can suit its own taste for a sheltering-place, for a haunt 
 to build its nest, and rear its little brood ; all those 
 birds which elsewhere suffer from the gamekeeper's 
 ruthless gun and trap, and from those whom the bird- 
 stuffer employs to take them prisoners, receive pro- 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOKK. 79 
 
 tection within the walls of Walton Park. The owl 
 is an especial favourite. Besides our slumbering two 
 friends, whom we left within the old ivied tower in 
 the island, eleven pairs of others occupy holes in trees, 
 and other comfortable dormitories, purposely contrived 
 and fitted up for their dwelling-places. It is not a little 
 curious to observe, that, if these "wanderers" of the 
 night be offered an unmolested habitation, a pair are 
 not long in finding it out, and taking possesion of it. Mr. 
 Waterton, from his careful and accurate examination 
 of the habits of the owl, has clearly exculpated it from 
 the false charges and foul calumnies, aspersing its spot- 
 less reputation, of being the destroyer of young pigeons 
 and their eggs. The same friendly turn he has done 
 for the starling. Both these birds often are indwellers 
 of the pigeon-cote, not from a preference of it to any 
 other harbour, but because the destroying hand of man 
 has left them scarce another spot to retire to, and to 
 breed up their young. It is the rat who kills the 
 pigeons. 
 
CHAPTEE III. 
 
 On resuming the further description of the grounds 
 at Walton Hall, together with its attached objects 
 of interest, the rookery claims special attention; and 
 more especially so, because it engaged much of the 
 Squire's very careful observation, in endeavouring to 
 minutely ascertain the habits of the rook. These birds 
 abound here, for the whole year, at some period of 
 every successive twenty-four hours. They roost at 
 the rookery at Walton Hall only during the period of 
 building, of incubation, and of maturing their young. 
 So soon as the young ones are ready to leave the 
 trees which contain their nests, they, together with 
 the old birds, enjoy their nocturnal repose in the 
 surrounding woods until the second week in October, 
 when both young and old finally leave the woods 
 for JSTostel Priory, the residence of Mr. Winn, situated 
 between Wakefield and Pontefract. 
 
 At this ancient, beautiful, and extensive place, 
 there is an avenue, surpassing all others in this part 
 of the country, its length being upwards of a mile, 
 and formed of magnificent trees. In this avenue, the 
 rooks henceforward roost in congregated thousands 
 upon thousands, there passing their nights until the 
 12th of March, at which time they, that is, the 
 Walton Hall portion return, and again assemble there, 
 for the sole purpose of incubation, after a roosting 
 
CHAELBS WATERTON, ETC.: — 81 
 
 absence of about nine months. During their roost- 
 ing period at Nostel Priory, they invariably call at 
 Walton Hall every evening on their return to the 
 priory. Punctuality is a marked feature in all their 
 movements, and consequently, their evening-call may 
 be calculated upon to a very few minutes each suc- 
 cessive day; in proof of which, I have frequently 
 seen Mr. Waterton standing with watch in hand, and 
 heard him say, "the rooks will be here in two or 
 three minutes, or at all events, in not more than 
 five ; " and it was a rare occurrence that the Squire 
 had to complain of a want of punctuality on the 
 part of the rook. 
 
 The poor rook has few friends, but many foes. 
 Now this bird is either injurious or he is beneficial 
 to the interests of man, as there is no third party 
 willing to sanction his neutrality. If he be injurious, 
 it would appear that he is so to the farmer only, as 
 no other interest complains. Let us endeavour, if we 
 possibly can without prejudice, to carefully examine 
 into the murmuring and discontented representations, 
 or probably, misrepresentations of the farmer, ascer- 
 taining how far his multitudinous accusations against 
 the poor rook are correct, and, as far as we are able 
 with our present knowledge of the rook and its habits, 
 determine how the debtor and creditor account really 
 stands between the farmer and the rook, and how it 
 might appear by a little forethought, a little care, and 
 the expenditure of a very little money. 
 
 G 
 
82 CHAHLES WATERTON: — 
 
 A portion of the seed which the farmer sows, is 
 doubtless pilfered by the wily rook— the farmer stoutly 
 contends that his yonng turnips are occasionally 
 destroyed — that his potatoes are now and then, in 
 a trifling degree, purloined by means of the rook 
 boring into the ridges with his pointed and 
 powerful bill; and, in addition, the farmer declares 
 that large patches of his grass-land are destroyed and 
 laid waste by the rook pulling up tuft after tuft of 
 his grass, and leaving them on the surface of the 
 ground, a manifest evidence he asserts, of their mis- 
 chievous propensities, and of the serious amount of 
 damage sustained by their mortifying, depredations. 
 Here we have four distinct, plausible accusations, osten- 
 atiously paraded. I at once freely admit, that whatever 
 amount of grain the rooks steal from recently sown land, 
 is abstractedly, a positive loss to the farmer; and if 
 this robbery, during seed-time, be of such extent as 
 to lessen in any appreciable degree, the amount of 
 yield on reaping the crop in harvest, which is at all 
 times very questionable, I also admit that this must 
 be deemed an absolute loss. 
 
 If these losses complained of by the farmer actually 
 exist, there being no remedy within reasonable reach, 
 the farmer is fully justified in his accusation against 
 the rook ; but if preventive means are easily available and 
 are not resorted to by the farmer, the aspect of his com- 
 plaint is changed, and I contend, that if by a little 
 forethought and at a trifling cost he has an attainable 
 remedy, he is himself culpable if he do not put it into 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOKK. 83 
 
 execution — that he deserves no commiseration, but, 
 on the contrary, merits a severe censure which is not 
 generally awarded to him. Two or three boys hired 
 at a very trifling cost during " seed-time," in order 
 to what is termed "tent" the recently sown ground, 
 would unequivocally prevent any loss of seed, 
 and, consequently, any diminution of yield in the crop; 
 hence, two of the farmer's assumed losses might easily 
 be avoided. But another simple, efficacious, and cheap 
 mode may be adopted, really with wonderful advantage, 
 which is by boiling equal parts by measure, of train 
 oil, turpentine, and bruised gunpowder, and by dipping 
 pieces of rag in this mixture when hot, and fixing them 
 on sticks stuck into the ground in different parts of 
 the field, say four or five to the acre. 
 
 The next accusation brought against the rook is 
 its wholesale destruction of the young turnip-crop. 
 This would be a grievous one if correct, but it is 
 not so. Even if correct, the, same remedy which 
 would effectually preserve the cereal crops during 
 "seed-time" viz., "tenting," would protect the turnip. 
 But I contend that the rook never pulls up a single 
 healthy turnip-plant, unless by accident, or unless 
 it be so closely adhering to a dead or dying one, 
 that the living and the. dead are inseparable. The 
 turnip-plant is no food for the rook. He has no 
 relish for plants of any kind. It is the worm at 
 the root of the plant which he is in quest of. 
 That he pulls up sickly and decayed plants I readily 
 admit; and that he can detect a morbid condition 
 
84 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 of any plant, at whose root the wire-worm rests, long 
 before the farmer can, I am thoroughly convinced. 
 The rook in this instance, seeks not to destroy the 
 farmer's property but to gratify his own appetite, 
 in doing which, he in reality destroys the farmer's 
 enemy. Then, as to the miserable imputation of 
 " cribbing " a few potatoes, the theft is generally so 
 trifling in amount, and so rare in occurrence, that it 
 really would be a waste of time to further allude to it. 
 
 Lastly, the prevailing opinion among ignorant farmers, 
 that rooks destroy grass, is , a totally unfounded charge. 
 " Audi alteram partem." " Hear the other side.'' The 
 rook never wilfully destroys a single blade of grass, but 
 he readily and gladly distinguishes the dead or even 
 sickly tufts, and hesitates not a moment to draw them, 
 in order that he may obtain his delicate and favourite 
 morsel, the wire-worm at their roots. 
 
 It is evident that the farmer has but a trifling bill 
 against the rook for .damages sustained, and it is 
 equally manifest that if a balance should be struck, 
 John Bull would have an infinitely larger sum to pay 
 to the rook for his sedulous labours in the destruction 
 of the wire-worm, than any trifling amount he might be 
 fairly entitled to as cost of " tenting," for the protection 
 of his crops against the rook. 
 
 It is surprisingly strange that so many of the farmers 
 of the present far-seeing age, should be so callously 
 insensible as regards the benefit they derive from this bird. 
 They are lynx-eyed to its supposed destructive propen- 
 sities, but perversely, nay, spitefully blind to its meritori- 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 85 
 
 ous ones. If the rook deprive the farmers of pence, I am 
 thoroughly satisfied that he rewards them with pounds, 
 but it seems next to an impossibility to convince the 
 agriculturalists of this as a reality. If they could, how- 
 ever, be persuaded to fairly take both sides of this 
 question into their cool and deliberate consideration, 
 laying aside all prejudice and preconceived impressions, 
 and be determined to ascertain the truth, and honestly 
 keep a debtor and creditor account of the estimated 
 damage and profit, their countenances would be brighter, 
 their crops heavier, and their pockets fuller. The farmers, 
 along with the extensive woodland proprietors, would be 
 speedily and thoroughly convinced, that where the wire- 
 worm and the caterpillar abound, there will be the rooks. 
 " TTbi mel, ibi apes." "Where the honey is, there will 
 the bees be." 
 
 Were it not, indeed, for these birds, which daily 
 scour the country by thousands upon thousands, the 
 devouring coleopterous insects to which I have alluded, 
 would injure the oaks at all ages, to a much greater 
 extent than they do at present. Would that I could 
 prevail upon the farmer and the woodman, before 
 coming to any positive decision, not to blindly yield 
 their judgment to an opinion without due examination 
 of the facts necessary to be known. The result of 
 such an examination would be the happy means of 
 defending the poor rook, by exposing the ignorance of 
 those who so erroneously advocate its extermination. 
 
 Since publishing the first edition of this volume, I 
 
86 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 have been much pleased by some remarks in a pamphlet 
 written by Sir James Stuart Menteth, Bart., which exactly 
 coincide with my views. I am also delighted to have had 
 permission from so eminent an authority to make any 
 quotations therefrom that I may wish. Sir James says 
 in his publication, " Farmers versus Eooks " : — 
 
 " No bird has a nicer discernment of the approach of 
 Spring than the rook. As soon as the snow-drop 
 peeps its head above ground, and long before the 
 violet and primrose appear, the building operations of 
 the rookery have commenced. These operations of 
 nesting begin often in February, when the season is 
 mild. 
 
 " Notwithstanding the prejudice of farmers against rooks, 
 arising from a belief that they feed exclusively upon grain 
 and root crops, and consequently are detrimental to their 
 fields, there can be no doubt that the services which 
 they perform are infinitely greater than any injury which 
 they occasion. The rook is to be considered as a bird 
 that feeds upon insects rather than upon grain. It pre- 
 fers at all times various lands of worms, grubs, slugs, 
 caterpillars, and other insect food, to roots or , grain, or 
 any other vegetable production. It will be found that it 
 is only in moments of necessity that it preys on grain 
 or roots. Occasionally in the latter part of Spring, when 
 the dryness of the ground prevents the rook from digging 
 for worms, grubs, and caterpillars, it may take a little of 
 our sown grain and potatoes. But to show how reluc- 
 tantly rooks take to grain and root food, when within 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 87 
 
 reach of the sea coast, at those seasons of the year when 
 the earth is bound up by long-continued dry weather, 
 flocks of them frequent the beach ; and they may be 
 observed feeding upon the sea wilks and other marine 
 animals. The rook, therefore, resorts to a grain diet with 
 reluctance, and abandons it as soon as rain has mois- 
 tened the earth, and rendered it pervious to its bill. 
 Though it has to supply its clamorous offspring with 
 food, we are certain that it never feeds them with either 
 root or grain food, but always with insects, worms, grubs, 
 slugs, or caterpillars. Were the contents of the stomachs 
 of these birds, after they have been killed, to be oftener 
 examined than they are, it would be found that they are 
 filled with insects, and not with grain. When the labours 
 of the husbandman in Spring are going on, it cannot 
 have escaped the notice of the most inattentive observer, 
 that the track of the plough is followed by flocks of 
 rooks, greedily picking up the worms, grubs, maggots, 
 slugs, and caterpillars, from the newly turned furrow. 
 Thus, these birds ensure to the farmer a harvest from 
 the seed he has sown, by removing myriads of noxious 
 insects from his fields; and to be convinced of this, 
 we have only to enumerate a few of these most destruc- 
 tive insects, all of which are the favourite food of the 
 rook. 
 
 "Among those insects that occasion most mischief to 
 the husbandman's crops are — the turnip fly, or tenthredo ; 
 the cockchafer beetle, meloloniha vulgaris, both in the grub 
 and winged state ; the long legged crane-fly, tipula oleraccea; 
 the wire-worm beetle, elater segetis ; the slug, Umax agrestis. 
 
88 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 " As soon as the turnip plants have thrown out three 
 or four rough leaves, the caterpillar of a Saw Fly, 
 tcnthredo, begins to attack them. These caterpillars have 
 been known, (as in 1783) to have destroyed many thousand 
 acres of this root. The rooks, jackdaws, and magpies, 
 seek after these caterpillars with such avidity, that 
 those farmers, whose good sense has led them not to 
 destroy, but rather to encourage these useful birds, need 
 not fear any great damage from this insect. 
 
 "No insect is more destructive to the hopes of the 
 farmer than the grub of the Cockchafer Beetle, melo- 
 lontJm vulgaris, which is known under a variety of 
 names in different districts, as the brown tree-beetle, 
 the May-bug, the brown clock, &c. The eggs of this 
 insect are white, and laid in the ground, where they 
 soon appear as a soft whitish grub wtth a red head, 
 and about an inch and a half long. In this state it 
 continues about four years, during which time it commits 
 most destructive ravages on the roots not only of grass 
 but of all other plants and young trees. After this grub 
 has lived its due time under the turf, it issues forth 
 in its winged state from the ground, and commences 
 to devour the leaves of all kinds of trees, but more 
 particularly those of the oak. And it is to prey upon 
 these winged beetles that the young rooks and their 
 parents assemble in such large flocks in June and July 
 in our oak woods. Those fields also, which are infested 
 by this grub, attract these birds, with several com- 
 panions, such as the jay, the magpie, and the jackdaw, 
 to feed upon it. For nearly three months in the Spring, 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOKK. 89 
 
 almost the sole employment of the rooks and the 
 
 above-named birds, is to search for insects of this sort ; 
 
 and the destruction they cause among them is beyond 
 all calculation. 
 
 "The grub of a small beetle, called the Wire-worm, 
 (elater segetis) derives its name from its slender form 
 and uncommon hardness. It lives in the grub state 
 nearly five years. During which time it devours the 
 roots of -wheat, rye, oats, and every variety of grass, 
 which it attacks indiscriminately, and causes yearly 
 a great loss of produce. It abounds chiefly in newly 
 broken-up land, and is particularly destructive in gardens 
 recently converted from pasture land. The wireworm 
 is a favourite food of the rooks, and of the birds of the 
 crow family." 
 
 How w singular that farmers are so short-sighted as not 
 to readily take hold of such valid and substantial argu- 
 ments and information, for their advantage, expressed in 
 such lucid and convincing language that he who runs 
 may read. Mr. Waterton not only agreed to the fullest 
 extent with the opinions expressed by Sir J. S. Menteth, 
 but strenuously advocated the protection and preservation 
 of the sparrow. Of course, in the present destructive 
 age, it would be untenable ground on which to say a 
 word in favour of the sparrow. 
 
 Inasmuch, however, as every question has two sides, 
 it is but fair to hear both, especially on such subtle 
 points as these disputed ones connected with the 
 
90 CHARLES waterton: — 
 
 rook and the sparrow, and more particularly so, because 
 the injury sustained is direct, visible, and immediate, 
 -whereas the benefit derived is indirect, and frequently- 
 remote. 
 
 I have already given my own reasons relative to the 
 rook, but will state those in favour of the sparrow, by 
 quoting the President of the Naturalist-Pield-Club, at a 
 meeting of the Gateshead Club. The President observed 
 " That he had been calculating the number of caterpillars 
 which the 6,000 sparrows killed by a member of the 
 sparrow club in Essex, and for which he had actually 
 received a prize of ten shillings, would have eaten. The 
 amount was 6,307,000,000. Whilst the clodhoppers of 
 Essex are killing sparrows by the thousands, the Aus- 
 tralian colonists are importing them at a considerable 
 expense from England to act the part of protectors of 
 their crops, and thereby of promoters of the comforts of 
 the people." 
 
 On the south side of the rookery, and close to, or 
 within a little circular clump of trees, where stone for 
 building-purposes has been, at some former period, 
 excavated, and about fifty or sixty yards from the lake, 
 was interred the great-grandfather of the " South Amer- 
 ican Wanderer." This was stated to me as a fact by 
 the Squire himself, but whether it has been recorded 
 in writing, or has simply passed by oral tradition from 
 father to son, I know not. 
 
 * 
 
 On the western side of the rookery, and at a short 
 distance from the well-arranged dog-kennel, stands a 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOHK. 91 
 
 Scotch fir closely embraced by a profusion of ivy, 
 which in 1860 contained in a cleft branch, the nest 
 of a pea-hen, at an elevation of twenty-four feet from 
 the ground. This was an unnatural position for a pea- 
 fowl to occupy, and it seldom happens that any thing 
 ultimately thrives, when diverted from nature's usual 
 course. At any rate the poor bird, notwithstanding her 
 lofty pretensions, cut a sorry figure in this instancej 
 hatching only two young ones, and even these were pre- 
 maturely cut off, by their unlucky descent from the nest. 
 Whether, on reflection, she imagined that her efforts had 
 been rendered abortive in consequence of this foolish and 
 fanciful freak, I know not, — she, however, acted more 
 humbly and wisely afterwards, and was more successful 
 in her future incubations. In a letter from Mr. Water- 
 ton at the time the pea-hen was entertaining her aspiring 
 notions, he observes, — "In a jackdaw's nest, half way 
 up a Scoth fir well clothed with ivy, the pea-hen is 
 sitting on three eggs, and the male bird often ascends 
 to her nest and sits by her for company." 
 
 Within fifty yards of this tree, is a large and excellently 
 arranged farm-yard, in the centre of which is erected 
 a noble dove-cote, very lofty and having a cross on its 
 summit. This cote is capacious within; admirably 
 ventilated, and agreeably aired by a stove in a room 
 underneath it. It is so fitted up, that any particular 
 pigeon-hole can be examined without difficulty, and, 
 what is most important to the owner, this cote is 
 now really thief-proof, which cannot be said of any 
 other in the neighbourhood. 
 
92 CHARLES WATEETON: — 
 
 Within a short distance of the western extremity 
 of the lake, in a position concealed from the hall, in 
 consequence of a sudden and acutely angular turn of the 
 water, there is a creek leading into the wood on the 
 eastern side of this portion of the lake. A boat can 
 easily ply up this narrow channel, under a small 
 obtusely arched bridge. 
 
 At the extreme end of this creek a fine old 
 willow was cut down in 1812, and from its stump 
 have sprung twelve separate stems, each of which 
 has now grown to a considerable height and circum- 
 ference. One of these has been, for a long period, 
 in a disabled condition, having been very detrimentally 
 influenced by a severe storm, but has been by the 
 Squire ingeniously repaired to a considerable extent, 
 by hoops and iron bolts. These twelve willows were 
 designated by Mr. Waterton, the "Twelve Apostles," 
 the disabled one being always called Judas ; which, 
 although so restored as to live, nevertheless, has, when 
 under the influence of a boisterous day, a mournful 
 and .groaning creak, as if in misery because of its 
 previously mutilated state. 
 
 In their ancient stateliness, and within a few yards 
 of the creek, stand two veteran oaks on the very 
 brink of the lake; in a cleft branch of one of which, 
 twelve feet from the ground, a wild duck nested and 
 hatched her young in the year 1832. She was peculiarly 
 fortunate in landing her whole brood safely on the 
 grassy surface. So capricious a freak on her part 
 was the more singular, because, as if in very defiance 
 

 ^■bi 
 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOKK. 93 
 
 of nature's more prudent suggestions, there was a vast 
 abundance of the choicest nesting-ground in the im- 
 mediate neighbourhood of the very tree she selected. 
 At this spot has recently been erected a Mausoleum 
 for the remains of the late Mr. Waterton, which were 
 there interred on Saturday, June 3rd, 1865, the very 
 day on which he completed his eighty-third year. 
 Time was, when Mr. Waterton and I in his little 
 sailing craft, slowly drifting along the margin of the 
 upper portion of the lake, rarely passed the two Oaks 
 forming the boundary-line of that limited recess now 
 revered from its being the final depository of the ashes 
 of the dead, without indulging in admiration of those 
 partriarchal looking trees, and hovering opposite that 
 spot which, singularly enough, is now the resting place 
 of the " wearied bones " of the good old man. 
 
 There was even then a somewhat sombre, yet a 
 pleasing and really soothing solemnity in the sceneiy 
 around and in close proximity with the manifestly 
 time-honoured antiquity and pre-adamite character of 
 those two Oaks, but now, a survey of the spot which 
 contains what the Squire during life, designated the 
 dreary tomb, could not fail to bring to mind Milton's 
 epitaph on Shakespeare 
 
 " Thou so sepulchred, in such dost lie. 
 That Kings for such a tomb would wish to die." 
 
 The absolute and unequivocal attachment which Mr. 
 Waterton entertained up to the close of life, for the 
 location of his nativity, for the habitation of his 
 
94 CHARLES WATEKTON: — 
 
 ancestors, for the abode of a parent whose memory he 
 venerated, nay, idolised, impregnated him with such a 
 simple-minded affection for that limited space of earthly 
 tenure on which the legitimate and rational pleasures 
 of life had been enjoyed, that he could never endure 
 the idea that his bones, even after death, should be 
 separated and dispersed from the spot where innumer- 
 able mercies and the duration of life itself had been so 
 lavishly granted to him. 
 
 The Squire always encouraged, by strongly expressed 
 feelings, the conviction that his bones had a special 
 claim of sepulture by birth-right within the grounds 
 of his forefathers. 
 
 The solitary heron, by its presence in the foreground, 
 seems to consistently add its mite of mourning to the 
 melancholy yet tranquillizing scenery, whilst the tout- 
 cnsemble^ of the aspect so harmonises with impressions 
 of regret for the loss of our friend, that the partially 
 healed wound is again torn asunder, and we deplore 
 afresh the deprivation of one which no human power 
 cau replace. 
 
 " His friends and people, to his fut'ire praise, 
 A marble tomb and pyramid shall raise, 
 And lasting honour to his ashes give. 
 His fame ('tis all the dead can have) shall live.' - 
 
 This part of the lake being narrow, is conveniently 
 under the influence of the net, Avhen immense draughts 
 of pike, carp, tench, perch, roach, dace, and gudgeon, 
 are brought to land. The pike taken here, have the 
 reputation of being very superior in flavour. Eels, -which 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 95 
 
 are caught without difficulty by bait, are certainly ex- 
 cellent, and are now and then large. Securing a pike 
 by his bow and arrow, was at one time, a favourite 
 amusement with the Squire on " a fish day," when fre- 
 quently at the last moment, the lake had to yield a 
 portion of its finny contents, as a scanty provision for 
 the approaching dinner. Latterly, however, since the 
 principal part of the weeds has been dragged out, the 
 water is seldom sufficiently transparent for this really 
 amusing mode of warfare. 
 
 Eecently, the absence of any material quantity of 
 weed in the water has unquestionably had its detri- 
 mental influence, as regards natural history pursuits, 
 inasmuch as the coots, being in a great measure de- 
 prived of their choicest food, do not now assemble and 
 breed in such numbers as they formerly did. As the 
 time of nesting, incubation, and maturing their young, 
 is the most interesting, as well as the most instructive 
 to the ornithologist, it is desirable to render these periods 
 as agreeable and as tempting as possible to the birds 
 themselves, in order to incite and to induce them to 
 select the park as their breeding ground, where they 
 would be in a position to delight all, and furnish 
 genuine and practical information, to those who would 
 take the trouble to diligently look out for it, in order 
 to acquire a thorough knowledge of natural history, 
 as, "without perspiration and labour, no work is per- 
 fected." 
 
 " Ahsqne sudore et labore nullum opus perfectum est." 
 
 In the year 1860, a pair of coots built their nest 
 
96 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 on the extreme end of a branch of a large willow, 
 closely overhanging the water, on the northern side of 
 the lake. This branch, extending three or four yards 
 on to the lake, and being of considerable magnitude, 
 had the appearance of being entirely independent of the 
 neighbouring bank. Notwithstanding its inherent power, 
 yet, from its great length, its leverage, and the pliant 
 nature of the willow, its apicial extremity Mas easily 
 under the influence of the wind, or of the rising and 
 falling waves underneath it ; or even of the additional 
 weight of the male bird, when the nest was completed, 
 and when he now and then called to pay his respects to 
 his mate whilst discharging her solitary duty. During 
 the original formation of their temporary domicile, as the 
 birds added weight to the branch by furnishing more and 
 more materials upon its very extremity in order to perfect 
 the nest, the branch of course gradually descended, until its 
 exterior base actually rested on the surface of the water, 
 so that when there was a tolerably perceptible ripple' 
 on the lake, the supernatant nest and its contents 
 were continually rising and falling in unison with the 
 motion of the waves. 
 
 This pleasing object, for such it really was to the 
 naturalist, was within a very trifling distance of the 
 mansion, so that the powerful telescope in the drawing- 
 room, when put in requisition, at all times revealed any 
 peculiarities or interesting habits, of this species of 
 bird. You were enabled, through this trustworthy 
 medium, to judge of the absolute amount of labour 
 performed by each bird, whilst constructing their simple 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 97 
 
 and temporary fabrication. You could be convinced 
 by ocular and unmistakeable evidence, that the male, 
 as a general rule, sought for and procured the building 
 materials that "were required, and that he managed 
 this portion of the labour allotted to him with 
 great energy and with unceasing industry; and that 
 the female, with equal anxiety and ability, attended 
 as diligently to her special department, viz., the con- 
 struction of the edifice. The male bird would frequently 
 show his expertness in obtaining materials for building 
 purposes, by diving to the bottom of the lake for twigs 
 which kad fallen from the over-hanging willow in 
 which the nest was built, and also to select from the 
 same source, the smaller, more pliable, and more 
 fibrous roots, as a softer and less pervious investing finish, 
 with which to line the interior of the nest ; and, having 
 brought them up to the surface of the water, evidently 
 delighted with the possession of his booty, he lost not 
 a moment in conveying them to his lady-love. You 
 could frequently see quick and repeated declinations 
 of the head, which appeared to be consultations between 
 the two relative to the mode of construction of their 
 nest, or which might be congratulations as the work 
 progressed in having accomplished certain portions, 
 when great harmony and satisfaction invariably appeared 
 to prevail. If the lady had finally fixed within the nest 
 the last twig furnished by the male previously to his 
 return with another, she, apparently spurning an idle life, 
 instantly set off herself, in search of additional building- 
 stores. You could witness the affectionate gallantry 
 
 H 
 
98 CHAELES WATERTON: — 
 
 and sedulous attentions of the male bird, in rendering 
 to his better half the services of temporary incubation; 
 a domestic and usually a feminine duty, but one which he 
 evidently did not consider derogatory nor humiliating 
 to perform, whilst his dearly beloved washed, fed, and 
 plumed herself, Indeed, you could always, from the 
 drawing-room windows at "Walton Hall, examine minutely 
 and quite at your leisure, all the land and water-fowl 
 within view. You could carefully scrutinise their form, 
 their colour, their plumage, the colour of their legs, the 
 accurate form and precise colour of their mandibles, and 
 not unfrequently, even the colour of the iris* of the 
 eye ; also, their mode of walking, swimming, and 
 resting. You could distinctly ascertain the various 
 kinds of food on which they lived and fed their young, 
 and thus become thoroughly acquainted with the habits 
 of each species. It was tndy delightful to see the 
 peaceful harmony that prevailed, notwithstanding the 
 numerous varieties now and then congregated in so 
 small a space. You could see the herons, water-hens, 
 coots, Egyptian and Canada geese, carrion-crows, magpies, 
 ring-doves, (occasionally on their nests,) wild" duck, teal, 
 and widgeon at one glance. You could, with infinite 
 satisfaction, be convinced of the care they bestowed on 
 their eggs, and also of their parental kindness and 
 persevering attention, as regarded the management and 
 anxious protection of their young. 
 
 Having alluded to the construction of the coot's nest, 
 I may add, that long before her first brood are able 
 to take care of themselves, they are taken charge of 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 99 
 
 by the male bird, who provides for them while the 
 female incubates a second brood. 
 
 Very frequently you could be gratified by seeing, 
 in all their beauty and extreme richness of plumage, 
 au assemblage of from twenty to thirty herons at the 
 same moment, and in the limited space of a few 
 yards on the banks of the lake, all quietly and 
 confidentially enjoying their calm and undisturbed 
 repose after a laborious night's fishing, and probably, 
 a M'ind opposing their flight on returning to their usual 
 quarters. An assemblage of from twenty to thirty 
 herons, -whether regarded as a group or as isolated 
 objects, form a rare as well as a most interesting and 
 instructive picture to the ornithologist, when leisurely 
 and carefully examined through the medium of the 
 telescope. 
 
 The figure of the heron in outline, is very peculiar. 
 His walk is slow, graceful and stately, whilst his 
 physical position and attitude, when free from fear 
 and entirely at rest, is extremely singular and even 
 fantastic. Each heron " standing on one leg," " stans pede 
 in uno," under his accurately balanced centre of gravity, 
 remains, sometimes for hours in succession, as motionless 
 as death, on his long, erect, and jointless-looking leg; 
 its fellow together with its foot, being concealed within 
 his abdominal feathers, whilst his head is gracefully buried 
 under one of his wings. Occasionally, instead of one leg 
 and foot being hidden by the abdominal feathers, the 
 bird stretches the entire limb in a direct line backward 
 and horizontally. 
 
100 CHARLES WATER-TON: — 
 
 The telescope in use at Walton Hall, was a large and 
 a very excellent one. Tins admirable acquisition to the 
 drawing-room was mounted on a light and moveable table 
 or stand, which smoothly glided on castors. You could, 
 with perfect ease, even whilst in conversation with a 
 friend and enjoying your arm-chair, change its direction 
 in* a single moment, in order to examine objects on any 
 part of the lake or landscape, within view. 
 
 A finished field-ornithologist is generally considered 
 to be a man who has carefully, perseveringly, and 
 judiciously, gathered his information practically, by an 
 infinite amount of laborious voyage and travel, and 
 that, frequently of a dangerous character ; who has 
 spent nights as well as days on the ocean, on fresh- 
 water lakes, on the precipitous and rugged mountains, 
 in the unwholesome morasses, and on the arid plains, 
 also during frost and snow, so as to secure an intimate 
 knowledge of the almost endless variety of the feathered 
 race. All this the Squire had already done to an 
 extent seldom or never equalled by one individual 
 and had realised an additional acquisition to the 
 science by the persevering and well-handled use of. 
 the microscope. 
 
 In possession of such very rare and advantageous 
 privileges as were in existence at "Walton Hall, it is 
 not surprising that ilr. "Waterton, with his inherent 
 taste for natural history — that he, who had laboured 
 hard and unceasingly, during a long and harassing 
 life, to attempt to unravel the interesting and secret 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 101 
 
 mysteries in the various branches of this science — 
 that he, who with lengthened and extensive experience 
 in various climes, from infancy to the hale man at 
 eighty — that he, who •with the knowledge acquired 
 by travel and by unequalled opportunities to gain the 
 practical information of yW^-ornithology, absolutely at 
 his own fireside — I say it is not surprising, that such 
 a man should have stood unrivalled in this engaging 
 and seductive scienca 
 
 "Son citivis Jwmiiu contingit adire Corinthum." 
 
 " It is not the lot of every man to visit Corinth." 
 
 With such a host of substantial and unequivocally 
 admitted foundations, on which to build a knowledge 
 of natural history, we may fairly claim Charles Water- 
 ton to have been a beacon to guide us through many 
 of the diversified labyrinths and hidden intricacies 
 of nature, and may conclude without fear of contra- 
 diction from the unprejudiced, that with all these united 
 aids, which were supported by vigorous health — by an 
 active and powerfully physical frame — by great mental 
 energy and resolute determination, coupled with sound 
 and extensive learning — Mr. Waterton has stood promin- 
 ently out for many years as a giant in natural history. 
 
 " Ta mihi magnus ApoUo.'' 
 
 " Thou shalt be my great Apollo." 
 
 As Apollo's power was universally acknowledged 
 in every country, so has Mr. Waterton's superiority in 
 
1 02 CHAELES WATERTON : — 
 
 taxidermy been admitted. As Apollo's oracle at Delphi 
 was consulted by all nations in that age, so was the 
 Squire consulted, during his life, by all countries. 
 And as Apollo's statue, which graced Mount Actium 
 as a pharos to caution the mariners from danger, 
 so has Mr. Waterton stood out as a beacon to guard 
 ornithologists from error. 
 
 The fraternization of Mr. "Waterton and myself, 
 which was, for many years, widely known to be so 
 close and intimate was, now and then unworthily, nay, 
 in some instances dishonourably taken advantage of; 
 in one case especially so, and in a way certainly not 
 reflecting much credit on the vulgar perpetrators of a 
 most disingenuous imposition. 
 
 A party of three, in the instance to which I have 
 alluded, proceeded from Leeds by rail to Wakefield ; and 
 hiring a conveyance in the latter place, they presump- 
 tuously drove over to Walton Hall, stating that they 
 "had driven their own horse and carriage from Leeds." 
 
 " One individual of this party," said the Squire, 
 "evidently invested in his Sunday-trappings for this 
 special occasion, was the principal spokesman on their 
 arrival at the hall, and he was manifestly not want- 
 ing in either assurance, or effrontery, whilst he 
 coolly represented himself as an 'intimate friend of 
 Doctor Hobson's,' whose name as he doubtless well 
 knew, was a welcome passport in all seasons at 
 Walton Hall." 
 
 On their entree to the mansion, the Squire, of 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOEK. 103 
 
 course, believing that this gentleman had actually 
 driven his own horse fourteen miles, and that he 
 really was " an intimate friend " of mine, and having 
 had no opportunity to measure his mental capacity, 
 was immediately anxious to shower down the bless- 
 ings of the house upon a leash of men he then 
 considered meritorious, but who, after a further ac- 
 quaintance, he designated " a misrepresenting assem- 
 blage of clownish mushrooms." 
 
 When the Squire had good-naturedly lionised them 
 through the natural history in the staircase, he not only 
 very kindly invited them to take tea, (a proposition 
 which, it would appear, they rather voraciously accepted,) 
 but he actually urged them to come some future day 
 to dine and to bring their "better-halves" with them. 
 
 Mr. Waterton afterwards, however, observed, "So 
 soon as I had a fair opportunity of 'taking stock' of 
 this trio, I felt that I could not congratulate the 
 Doctor on the acquisition of his 'intimate friend,' 
 and my suspicions of fraud began to increase in conse- 
 quence of the evidently shallow and superficial attain- 
 ments of these intrusive curiosity-mongers." 
 
 On taking their final departure after the hospi- 
 table reception they had so undeservedly met witb, 
 Mr. Waterton cast his keen eye on the horse which 
 he thought he recognised as a Wakefield hack, and, 
 anon, around the dog-cart, on which he fancied that 
 he caught a glimpse of the name of a Wakefield 
 livery-stable keeper, but was not so certain as to con- 
 sider himself in possession of evidence sufficient for 
 
104 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 absolute conviction, or, as he observed, "these exqui- 
 sites should have had the reward of their merits duly 
 meted out to them free of discount, and by a species 
 of electricity which would have astounded them." 
 
 "The leader of the clan, whom I shall, for dis- 
 tinction's sake, call the insolent ' beau,' " said the 
 Squire, "is now known to me by name, but I shall 
 not enlighten you as to his sobriquet, because it might 
 create a disagreeable feeling against these worthies. 
 By the way, one of the three, an ungainly animal 
 in formation, and rejoicing in broad Yorkshire ver- 
 nacularism professed to be indisposed, and was there- 
 fore put to bed ; whether this was a ruse in order 
 to conceal his slaughter of the queen's English I 
 know not, but, from certain telegraphic symbols pass- 
 ing between them my suspicions were aroused. I 
 must confess that I did not like his being in a room 
 alone, as there were many little tempting trifles unat- 
 tached to the walls, whilst he was big enough to 
 have taken a feather-bed home with him, if he had 
 only had a fair chance. 
 
 "You may think me rather spiteful, but of all 
 vices I thoroughly despise deception, and excessively 
 dislike being myself so meanly victimised. 
 
 "The following day I called at the livery-stable 
 in Wakefield, to ascertain if some Leeds gentlemen 
 had the previous day, hired a conveyance to take them 
 to Walton Hall, and if the vainglorious leader of the 
 leash had represented himself as ' an intimate friend 
 of Doctor Hobson's.' 'Sure enough,' quoth the 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 105 
 
 master of the horse, 'some Leeds shopkeepers did 
 yesterday hire a conveyance, but the gaudy-got-up- 
 leader knew better than try to gammon me with any 
 of his nonpariel. No, no, he knew that his fabrications 
 would not go down here. Never trouble your head 
 Squire about that macaroni, he has more cheek than 
 brains, indeed, them as knows him, tells me he has not as 
 many as would bait a mouse-trap." 
 
 "Now, so far as I had an opportunity of judging, the 
 third individual conducted himself like a gentleman; 
 but inasmuch as he was a 'particeps criminis' in 
 the deceitful transaction, if the fop and the giant 
 should be transported, their more gentlemanly com- 
 panion should, most assuredly, not go scot-free. 
 
 "If the leader in the team should ever hazard a 
 second visit to "Walton Hall, you shall hear the sequel, 
 and you shall then know his name, which, however, 
 I will not reveal — even to you — unless this lord 
 paramount should again break the bonds of propriety 
 and of truth. Let him rest in, I suspect, his obscurity. 
 He told me he kept his carriage and resided in the 
 suburban district of Leeds, on this allegation I am scep- 
 tical, yet I have charity enough left to forgive him." 
 
 On subsequently pressing Mr. "Waterton to give 
 the name of the Leeds swell, he replied, " I will 
 never do that; but I will admit that I have my sus- 
 picions he is of Israelitish descent, as he turned up 
 his nose at a piece of fat bacon on the tea-table as if 
 he had some Hebrew blood in his veins." 
 
CHAPTER IT. 
 
 The park at Walton Hall is a favorite resort, and 
 probably I might fairly add retreat for the carrion-crow, 
 and has afforded most satisfactory information rela- 
 tive to the long-disputed question at issue as to the 
 gregariousness of this species. 
 
 Mr Thompson in his admirably written "Natural 
 History of Ireland," admits that a dozen carrion- 
 crows had been seen consreojated in the evening at 
 Eammerscales in Dumfrieshire. On the other hand, 
 the Eev. F. 0. Morris says, "These birds keep in pairs 
 the whole year, and are believed to unite for life, and 
 that more than two or three are seldom seen in 
 company." 
 
 Another author says, "The brood remains with 
 the parents till near breeding-time, and though 
 carrion-crows collect in small flocks during the winter, 
 they seem to do so rather from an accidental meeting in 
 quest of food, than from any principle or instinct of 
 a solid nature." 
 
 Montague observes, "These birds keep in pairs all 
 the year, seldom congregate but to regale on some 
 carrion, or in winter to roost." 
 
 Tamil's remark is " The carrion-crows keep in 
 pairs all the year, and more than two are seldom seen 
 together, unless assembled over a carcass." 
 
CHARLES WATERTON, ETC.: — 107 
 
 The observant Gilbert "White says, "Carrion-crows 
 go in pairs the whole year, it ' is therefore probable 
 that they, like ravens, pair for life." 
 
 Maegillivray quotes Mr. Haslay, who says, " In the 
 neighbourhood of Leicester, I have seen the carrion- 
 crows in little groups of fours and fives, perhaps so 
 many families which had not broken up their brother- 
 hood." 
 
 Mayer says, " Carrion-crows, although not gregarious, 
 appear more sociably to consort with other members 
 of the corrida in general than the raven do"es." 
 
 In Wilson's American ornithology it is stated 
 that "the American crow agrees so nearly with the 
 European species as to satisfy me that they are the same," 
 and the only allusion made by him as to their being 
 gregarious is this, "towards the close of summer, the 
 parent crows with their families, forsaking their 
 solitary lodgings collect together, as if by previous 
 agreement when evening approaches." 
 
 Selby observes " Carrion-crows seldom associate in 
 numbers, but generally remain in pairs through the year.'' 
 
 It is evident from the extracts of the various authors 
 from whom I have quoted, that up to this period, the 
 question of gregariousness has not been finally deter- 
 mined, but, in the park, at Walton Hall, this embar- 
 rassing and disputed subject of inquiry has been 
 definitely settled. In the winter, and in the early spring 
 months, it has not been unusual to see from forty to 
 fifty, and occasionally, upwards of eighty of these birds 
 in a single flock, — a sufficiently valid testimony of 
 
108 CIIAKLES WATEKTON: — 
 
 nature's laws, where the agency of non-intervention lias 
 been effectually carried out, and a convincing proof that 
 the wily carrion-crow, not only knows where he is cared 
 for, but is sagacious enough, and also desirous to take 
 advantage of the laws of protection. Many ornithologists 
 of celebrity have pooh-poohed the idea of the carrion- 
 crow being gregarious; but how do they get rid of the 
 awkward evidence of large flocks of this species 
 congregating for months in succession, where and when 
 they have an opportunity to do so ? The Squire and I 
 have repeatedly counted upwards of eighty of these 
 birds, in both December and January in one distinct 
 flock, before their deserting the park, whilst a few remained 
 to nest and nature their young yearly within the walls. 
 
 There has been another controversy relative to the 
 carrion-crow which has held a doubtful position, and 
 probably with good reason, viz., whether the female 
 covers her eggs previously to temporary absence from 
 her nest. 
 
 Mr. Waterton and I have repeatedly had opportunities 
 of examination, and never on any occasion found the 
 eggs covered, but frequently observed a marked differ- 
 ence in form, size, and colour. Men of equal and 
 undoubted authority and veracity have found the eggs 
 of the carrion-crow covered and uncovered. ""When 
 doctors differ, who shall decide ? " 
 
 My opinion is, that if the carrion-crow is leaving her 
 nest to feed, and in no way hurried in making her 
 necessary arrangements, she will cover her eggs, but 
 if disturbed, and leaving her nest from fear of some 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOKK. 109 
 
 intrusion, I think it then very prohahle, that in the 
 hurry of the moment, she will speedily fly from her 
 nest without covering them. 
 
 At one period, there was, in this park, another in- 
 stance of rare occurrence, indeed, probably, the only 
 similar one on record. You could daily see a purety 
 white common goose having become a monogamist, 
 being paired with a Canada male bird, taking her lofty 
 aerial flights in company with her foreign mate, for- 
 getting her former, and her naturally domestic habits, 
 appearing now as an espoused partner, and assuming 
 in all her nuptial felicity, the varied habits of her wild 
 paramour. 
 
 Here, the nightingale pays its annual and cordially 
 welcome visit, and is listened to at the hall, evening 
 after evening, with infinite pleasure, melodiously warb- 
 ling its charming song in its silent and secure retreat. 
 
 " Whence is it, that amaz'd I hear 
 From yonder wither' d spray, 
 This foremost morn of all the year. 
 The molody of May ! 
 
 " But thee no wintry skies can harm, 
 V\~ho only need'st to sing, 
 To make e"en January charm, 
 And every season Spring.'' 
 
 The "packing" of carrion-crows, in this park, is a 
 remarkable and a convincing proof of the validity of pro- 
 tection among the feathered tribes, when efficiently 
 
110 CHARLES AVATERTON: — 
 
 used in order to secure the ends desired to be ob- 
 tained by the naturalist. It is, however, scarcely pos- 
 sible to conceive a place better adapted for this object, 
 and for the study and elucidation of the mysteries in 
 nature, than the park at Walton Hall; especially for 
 that section which may' be deemed minute ornithology, 
 and which, in later years has been so marvellously 
 revealed by the extraordinary powers of the telescope. 
 
 In this park, it seemed as if all nature had been 
 formed to meet the wishes of the Squire. There is an 
 abundance of Avotid, underwood, water, and undulating 
 ground, whilst the extent of the park is sufficiently 
 large to allow of portions being devoted entirely to abso- 
 lute seclusion for those birds which are naturally dis- 
 posed to avoid the haunts of man. 
 
 The upper two-thirds of the lake with its adjacent 
 wood and pasture land, are kept altogether free from 
 any intrusion whatever, for six successive months every " 
 year. Even visitors at the house of whatever rank 
 they might be, were always "warned off" those portions 
 specially set apart for natural history purposes. There 
 Mas never any favour shown to either rank or ( sex, if 
 it happened to clash with any part of natural history 
 which taught to distinguish, to better comprehend, or 
 to more accurately ascertain and describe the objects 
 of nature. Even during the whole breeding-season, 
 the heronry district was strictly forbidden ground, 
 unless in case of accident to a young heron by falling 
 from its nest — in which case aid would be immediately 
 afforded. 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Mr. Waterton was in the habit of registering memo- 
 randa as to dates and names of birds as occasional 
 visitors in the park for upwards of thirty years, with 
 which information he kindly furnished me, in order 
 that all my statements should be of unquestionable 
 accuracy. 
 
 Prom the following list carefully examined, and 
 from his own recollection, it appeared that all the 
 birds of which record is made in the annexed cata- 
 logue had at one time, or another, sojourned or, at all 
 events, been seen within the park at Walton Hall. 
 I may add, that I have myself very frequently seen a 
 great majority of those here named on the lake, or 
 in the grounds; and many of them to the greatest 
 possible advantage by means of the telescope, which 
 I seldom omitted using on my oft-repeated visits to 
 the Squire. 
 
 Birds seen in the Grounds of Walton Hall. 
 
 Osprey. 
 
 Rook. 
 
 Spotted woodpecker 
 
 Peregrine. 
 
 Jackdaw. 
 
 Lesser woodpecker. 
 
 Kestrel. 
 
 Magpie. 
 
 Creeper. 
 
 Sparrow-hawk. 
 
 Jay. 
 
 Crossbill. 
 
 Hobby. 
 
 Missel thrush. 
 
 Grossbeak. 
 
 Merlin. 
 
 Song thrush. 
 
 Bullfinch. 
 
 Wood owl; 
 
 Fieldfare. 
 
 Goldfinch. 
 
 Larn owl. 
 
 Redwing 
 
 Yellowhammer. 
 
 Bong-eared owl. 
 
 Blackbird. 
 
 Common bunting. 
 
 Little earless owl. 
 
 Skylark. 
 
 Black-headed ditto. 
 
 Woodcock owl. 
 
 Titlark. 
 
 House sparrow. 
 
 Raven. 
 
 Starling. 
 
 Mountain sparrow. 
 
 Carrion-crow. 
 
 Cuckoo. 
 
 Chaffinch. 
 
 Hooded crow. 
 
 Green woodpecker. 
 
 Brambling. 
 
112 
 
 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 Siskin. 
 
 Brown linnet. 
 Green linnet. 
 Lesser redpole. 
 Pied flycatcher. 
 Common flycatcher. 
 Nightingale. 
 Robin. 
 Redstart. 
 Hedge sparrow. 
 Reed sparrow. 
 Blackcap. 
 Willow wren. 
 Golden crested wren. 
 Common wren. 
 Wheatear. 
 Whinchat. 
 Stonechat. 
 Oxeye titmouse. 
 Blue ditto. 
 Cole ditto. 
 Long-tailed ditto. 
 Bearded ditto. 
 Nuthatch. 
 Yellow wagtail. 
 Pied wagtail. 
 
 Grey wagtail. 
 
 Chimney swallow. 
 
 Sand martin. 
 
 House martin. 
 
 Swift. 
 
 Kingfisher. 
 
 Nightjar. 
 
 Ringdove. 
 
 Stockdove. 
 
 Turtledove. 
 
 Pheasant. 
 
 Partridge. 
 
 Snipe. 
 
 Quail. 
 
 Land-rail. 
 
 Water- rail. 
 
 Lesser rail. 
 
 Little land-rail. 
 
 Thick-kneed plover. 
 
 Lapwing. 
 
 Golden plover. 
 
 Wild swan. 
 Common swan. 
 Mallard. 
 Shoveller. 
 
 Widgeon. 
 
 Teal. . 
 
 Tufted duck. 
 
 Pochard, 
 
 Golden eye. 
 
 Chestnut duck. 
 
 Common scoter. 
 
 Velvet scoter. 
 
 Dabchick. 
 
 Dusky grebe. 
 
 Eared grebe. 
 
 Canada goose. 
 
 Egyptian goose. 
 
 Barnacle goose. 
 
 Cape goose. 
 
 Goosander. 
 
 Smew. 
 
 Garganey. 
 
 Cormorant. 
 
 Coot. 
 
 Water-hen. 
 
 Heron. 
 
 Common sandpiper. 
 
 Four of the gull tribe. 
 
 Common tern. 
 
 Black tern. 
 
 Apart from the breeding-season, coots are very- 
 numerous at Walton Hall. They are continually- 
 feeding and sporting on the lake within a short dis- 
 tance from the windows of the house, together with 
 countless thousands of a great variety of water-fowl. 
 During the severe winter months, when the whole lake 
 is one sheet of ice, its appearance would, now and 
 then, astound an old and even travelled ornithologist, 
 as it not unfrequently occurs, that you may see nearly 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 113 
 
 the whole frozen lake literally covered by a startling 
 variety of water-fowl. This multitude of visitors on 
 the lake in winter, consists (and frequently at the 
 same time,) of cormorants, teal, tufted ducks, pochards, 
 widgeons, the garganey, smew, shoveller, and now 
 and then of the velvet and common scoters, 
 together with extraordinary numbers of wild duck. 
 Thousands, especially of the latter, rest in such 
 close proximity to each other, as sometimes to conceal 
 even any appearance of ice. They will thus silently 
 congregate for hours in succession, in a perfectly quiescent 
 state when sitting on the ice. You will see the Egyptian 
 and the Canada geese, which are permanent residents in 
 these grounds wandering here and there in vain and 
 anxious search for water, whilst the apparently indolent 
 and listless herons then stand out on the banks of the 
 frozen lake, isolated and prominently interesting objects, 
 gracefully beautifying and perfecting this enchanting 
 scene of natural history. The stillness and complete 
 quietude on the icy surface of the lake and its immediate 
 environs, evidently inspire the birds with a relying con- 
 fidence and an assurance of safety, which you do not 
 meet with elsewhere. All living nature, as if grateful 
 for the Squire's protection, appears to^ have formed a 
 positive attachment to this special locality. That birds, 
 however, should prefer this to other land and water 
 resorts is not surprising, when we know that in other 
 places they are generally surrounded by enemies, and 
 consequently, in perpetual fear; whereas here they are 
 
114 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 fostered and protected on every side, and live in peace 
 and happiness. 
 
 " Those Christians best deserve the name, 
 Who studiously make peace their aim ; 
 Peace, both the duty and the prize 
 Of him that creeps, and him that flies.'' 
 
 In speaking of the attachments of birds to particular 
 objects or to peculiar localities, it may not be out of 
 place to allude to a singular instance bearing on this 
 question, which occurred in the lake at Walton Hall 
 in the year 1858. A pair of coots formed their nest on 
 some material which they doubtless believed to be an 
 immoveable foundation ; but the wind came and the 
 storm arose and mercilessly detached the rushy turf 
 on which the nest rested, leaving the entire fabric with 
 the female and her fondly cherished eggs in its centre, 
 a floating mass, and drifting at the tender mercy of the 
 uncontrollable tempest. As the fickle breeze veered to the 
 different points of the compass, so the patiently submissive 
 and powerless coot with her buoyant edifice, altered her 
 direction, and unwittingly changed her locality. Not- 
 withstanding her uncertain tenure of ubiety, and possibly, 
 even of house and home for the next moment, she patiently 
 yielded to her lot. Here to-day, elsewhere to-morrow, 
 but wherever her destiny cast her, whether buffeted on 
 the open water or driven amid the reeds and the 
 rushes, there was she always faithfully supported, 
 cheered and comforted, by the partner of her weals 
 and her woes. Ovid has beautifully expressed the 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 115 
 
 feeling that must have animated this constancy in the 
 male bird, 
 
 " Hanc cupit, lw.no optat ; sola suspired in illd ; 
 SignaqvA dat nutit, solicitatqtie notis." 
 
 " Her he desires, for her he longs, for her alone he sighs ; 
 He makes signs to her by nods, and courts her by gestures." 
 
 His warm and abiding affection knew no change in 
 their hitherto wretched uncertainty. Throughout this 
 long and anxious trial of attachment, he never once 
 forsook her, nor was this noble-hearted bird freed from 
 his painful state of solicitude until that period had at 
 length arrived when they could mutually congratulate 
 each other on their abiding and unbroken constancy 
 prompted by nature, which rewarded these two immutably 
 attached coots with a progeny to amply repay the anxiety 
 and care they had never failed to bestow on each other, 
 and upon the contents of their previously fragile and 
 floating capital. 
 
 We have this generally corroborated by Col. Montague, 
 who having described their nests and attachments, says 
 "In this buoyant state a sudden gale of wind has' been 
 known to draw them from their slender moorings, and we 
 are assured that the nests have been seen floating on the 
 surface of the water with the birds upon them." 
 
 To which confirmation Selby adds. " From the nature of 
 the materials comprising the nest and the situation in which 
 it is built, it sometimes happens that it is torn from its 
 moorings by a flood, and afterwards floated at random on 
 the surface of the water, without destroying the eggs or 
 preventing the female from coutinuing her incubation." 
 
116 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 Independent of the rigid protection of the feathered 
 tribes within these walls, every part of the park seems 
 to. be, somehow endowed with a congeniality favourable 
 to the existence and propagation of birds, and therefore, 
 singularly conducive to all ornithological pursuits. Unless 
 the white owl felt herself perfectly at home, and entirely 
 free from any thing like danger, she would not be seen 
 frequently during the day in the month of Jnne, fearlessly 
 pursuing her mousing avocations. Her attachment to 
 this protected place where she is exempt from every 
 molestation, renders her so happy and confident, that 
 she generally contrives to hatch two broods, yearly ; and, 
 as there is nothing to incommode nor disturb her offspring, 
 nor to prevent their reaching maturity, this park must 
 largely contribute towards the prevention of the entire 
 extinction of the white owl. 
 
 The ivy-covered ruin on the island has long been 
 a favourite nesting-resort for the owl ; but the recently 
 severe winters have destroyed much of its luxuriant 
 growth and foliage, which previously, whilst adorning 
 the ruin, afforded to the owl a tempting retirement 
 for incubation. Indeed, if these saving retreats had 
 not here existed for 'the propagation of this very useful 
 bird to the farmer, in which to mature its offspring 
 for future years, the neighbouring district would have 
 been deprived altogether of a bird, which probably 
 destroys more rats and mice for the farmer than all his 
 cats do which he so much prizes. And yet the farmers 
 seldom care for the preservation of a friend who is always 
 on the watch for their interests. 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 117 
 
 I may add, that two or three pairs of the hrovm owl 
 were always fortunate enough to yearly hatch and mature 
 their young in the wood adjoining the grotto. 
 
 I would that an admonition, from that luxuriantly 
 cultivated district, East Lothian, could influence our 
 English farmers to endeavour to multiply the white 
 owl, but they have hitherto turned a deaf ear to all 
 remonstrance or persuasion of this nature. 
 
 Mr. Hepburn, from that elysium of agricultural culti- 
 vation, says : — " Shortly before sunset the white owl 
 leaves its retreat, skims along the hedge-rows, hunts 
 over the meadows and corn fields like a spaniel, and 
 drops suddenly on its quarry. 
 
 You see her approach the homestead on noiseless wing, 
 threading the labyrinth of stacks. She now enters the 
 outhouses or the barn, and speedily re-appears with a 
 mouse in her claws. 
 
 Perching on the top of a stack, she devours her prey 
 preens her feathers, and shrieks. Should plenty of food 
 occur she will remain all night and visit the place very 
 frequently. 
 
 It is at this time, especially if the weather be fine, 
 that mice betake themselves to the outside of the stacks, 
 where, all night long, they sport amongst the extremities 
 of the sheaves and, doubtless, drink the crystal dew- 
 drops in their season. Erom her watch - tower, this 
 owl swoops down among them or nimbly seizes them 
 as she slides between the stacks. 
 
 A sorry adept indeed she must be if she do not secure 
 one with each foot at a time. Nor must we forget the 
 
118 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 owl's services in the meadow and corn-field. With such 
 facts before his eyes, where is the man who has the 
 least interest in the cultivation of the soil, that will not 
 protect this beautiful and highly useful bird ? " 
 
 In 1815, the late George Eennie, Esq., of Phantassie, 
 in East Lothian, had the late Sir John Sinclair, Bart, 
 staying a few days with him whilst I was also a visitor 
 in the house, and I shall never forget the very interest- 
 ing discussion they had on the destruction of mice and 
 young rats by the white owl. 
 
 Like Mr. Waterton, they had counted the number of 
 these vermin which had been taken by a pair of white 
 owls to their offspring during one night. Although I 
 do not remember the number, yet I well recollect that 
 it was enormous, and that they agreed to write to the late 
 Mr. Curwen of Workington Hall, then M.P. for the 
 county of Cumberland, asking him to unite with them 
 in publishing the result of their determinations on this 
 subject, and as these three gentlemen were the great 
 agricultural luminaries at that day, such a document 
 would have been likely to have had weighty influence 
 throughout the United Kingdom. 
 
 On appearing at breakfast one morning, Sir John, with 
 a countenance pleasantly lighted up observed, " Eennie, 
 a happy thought occurred to me during the night, 
 conceived, and I dare say, hatched by the influence of 
 your excellent toddy." 
 
 " Well, Sir John, as my toddy has aided in developing 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 119 
 
 the happy thought,' we should share the honour," 
 replied Mr. Kennie. 
 
 " With all my heart," rejoined Sir John. 
 
 "As the germ has its origin in only one end of the 
 grain of wheat, I have been calculating what an immense 
 saving might be secured nationally, by employing old 
 women beyond the age of physical labour, to cut each 
 grain transversely into two parts with a pair of scissors. 
 One half of the seed sown would thus be economised as 
 a clear gain for the common weal." 
 
 " What would the ' common weal ' have to pay for the 
 ' clear gain ? ' retorted the intelligent and sharp-sighted 
 Eennie. 
 
 A moment's reflection was sufficient to convince Sir 
 John of the absurdity of his proposition, and to induce 
 him to instantly acknowledge that he began to doubt — 
 whether he was a native of Scotland, as it was so totally 
 unlike a genuine Scotchman to estimate the gain without 
 counting the cost. He laughed heartily at his abortive 
 "happy thought," and addressing himself to me, as an 
 Englishman, playfully remarked, " What would your friend, 
 Curwen say to this ignis fatuus of mine. Pray tell it 
 not in Gath." 
 
 On the lake at Walton Hall there have been Canada 
 geese for very many years, a few of which are always 
 kept pinioned so as to induce those that are not 
 pinioned to remain along with them on the water, and 
 also to secure, at all times, a certain number on the 
 lake or on its surrounding banks in order to enrich the 
 
120 CHAELES WATEKTON: — 
 
 natural history scenery and add beauty to the landscape. 
 The process of pinioning should be had recourse to 
 when they are goslings, and consequently, unable to 
 fly; but should this opportunity have been accidentally 
 omitted, the keeper always managed this trifling opera- 
 tion upon the old birds between the 12th and 24th of 
 July, as, a little after the summer solstice they invariably 
 shed their wing-feathers, and are therefore totally 
 unable to fly for a few days; consequently, by a little 
 manoeuvring at that time, they are easily laid hold of, 
 provided the capturing parties thoro\ighly understand 
 how to go about their business. During this period 
 however, the Canadians seem to be quite conscious of 
 their inability to escape by flight and are therefore 
 extremely cautious not to trust themselves at such a 
 distance from the lake as to encounter any difficulty 
 on their part, in again reaching the water before you 
 could intercept them on land. Indeed, you have to 
 slily watch for a feasible chance to accomplish your object, 
 and even then, it sometimes requires very considerable 
 physical ability to secure your intended captives. I may 
 here state, that if the cunning Canadians once escape 
 being captured by your incautiously permitting them to 
 reach the lake before you are able to intercept them, they 
 will never, so long as they are unable to fly, give you 
 another chance on land. 
 
 These birds breed here, but seldom prolifically. If 
 their eggs were entrusted to the common domestic lieu, 
 I believe that the fecundity of the Canada as well as of 
 the Egyptian geese would be materially increased. "We 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 121 
 
 all know that the barn-yard hen will hatch, diligently 
 attend to, and mature the web-footed duck, but it must 
 be remembered that we and not the hen, supply the 
 young broods with suitable food ; and of course, the 
 young of the Canada and Egyptian geese would need 
 to be supplied with that peculiar character of food, 
 specially applicable to their natural requirements. 
 
 Instinct inspires the cuckoo with an unerring know- 
 ledge, to discriminate into what bird's nest to deposit her 
 egg, so that the character of food of its future foster-parent 
 may be naturally adapted to the young cuckoo which 
 she will have to feed and protect; but instinct ceases 
 to inspire when different species clash with each other. 
 
 The Squire, on one occasion, to a certain but limited 
 extent disregarding instinct, placed the eggs of the magpie 
 under the jackdaw and those of the jackdaw under the 
 magpie ; and he placed the carrion-crow's eggs under the 
 rook and those of the rook under the carrion-crow. So 
 far as this trifling deviation from nature extended, the 
 result was, as it was anticipated it would be. They each 
 incubated, hatched, and matured their spurious offspring, 
 but, in all human probability, if Mr. Waterton had 
 diversified the distinction of the species a little more 
 widely, he would have met with a reverse of his former 
 success. 
 
 "When occasionally indulging in an idle hour, seated on 
 the favourite rock in the grotto, I have frequently been 
 surprised by Mr. Waterton's immediate and never failing 
 
122 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 discrimination of the song or even of the chirp of any 
 bird in the fir-grove. Their variety of notes, confusion 
 to me, was to the Squire simply the mingling of so 
 many languages, in the knowledge of which he had 
 heen perfected. 
 
 • ' Hark ! on every bough, 
 Tn lulling strains the featherM warblers woo." 
 
 And yet, although two or three songsters of different 
 species were warbling simultaneously, Mr. Waterton would 
 distinguish by name the various birds without any apparent 
 difficulty. 
 
 On one occasion however, the Squire was "fairly 
 floored" according to his own admission, by a wonderfully 
 clever vocal imitation, but certainly not of a warbling 
 character, and I am delighted to have it in my power 
 to furnish the identical anecdote to which I allude from 
 its original source. 
 
 The annexed letter written to me the other day by 
 my friend, Mr. Salvin, the author of that eminently 
 standard work, entitled " Falconry in the British Isles," 
 needs no preparatory observation from me. 
 
 "Whitmooi; House, Guildford, 
 
 "October 20th, 1806. 
 " Dear Dr. Hobson, 
 
 " Perhaps two little anecdotes relating to our old friend 
 the late Mr. Waterton, (who was certainly the most 
 wonderful man I have ever seen,) may be considered 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 123 
 
 worthy of a place in your excellent work which I am 
 delighted to see is so well received. 
 
 " I will begin "with my first introduction to the old 
 Squire, for it was so ridiculous and characteristic that 
 I shall never forget it. One fine Sunday morning in 
 spring, my brother M. C. and I drove over from 
 Leeds to Wakefield and thence to Walton Hall, but 
 before arriving there adventure the first befel us. At 
 that time the Squire went to Wakefield on Sundays 
 to attend divine service. We had also been to the same 
 chapel and knew his carriage, which to our dismay we now 
 saw before us, so we held a council of war when it was 
 decided that as he (the Squire) was only acquainted with 
 our family &c, and not with ourselves individually, it 
 would be awkward to pass him and arrive before him, 
 so we determined to pull up and to let the carriage get 
 well a-head. Having given him plenty of law, we 
 proceeded, and passed the first barrier by telling the 
 lodge-keeper some plausible tale, upon which she let us 
 through, and we arrived at the iron bridge before the 
 house. Here 1 held the horse, whilst my brother sought 
 admission to see the collection, of the butler who came 
 to the front door with copper coal-scuttle and brush in 
 baud. "1 am sorry, Sir, said the faithful looking servant, 
 master never allows the collection nor the grounds to be 
 seeu on Sundays." Well, said my brother, we have come 
 a long way, and indeed if Mr. Waterton knew who we 
 were, for he was at school at Tudal, with our Uncle Bryan 
 Salviu, all would be right. No sooner was this said than 
 the brush went into the applicant's ribs, and with a hearty 
 
124 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 good shake of the hand the Squire owned to have heen 
 " doing the hutler " and welcomed us both in. We 
 remained until the evening, being well entertained with 
 the "Wanderer's charming stories of Ms travels and the 
 many curious and interesting facts in natural history which 
 he pointed out. My father had acquired a taste for 
 natural history from Mr. Tunstal of Wycliffe, the last 
 of that family, who at that time had one of the finest 
 private collections in the north, and with whom the 
 famous Bewick was constantly staying. I may therefore, 
 almost say that I inherited a taste for natural history, 
 which was greatly increased after this delighful visit. It 
 also taught me that many writers on this subject were 
 mere copyists, and so keep handing down errors which 
 are a disgrace to the age, instead of studying it for them, 
 selves in the ample field of nature. 
 
 "I had the pleasure after this of frequently visiting 
 Walton, and upon one occasion I had the honour of 
 assisting the Squire in arranging his splendid collection, 
 and I well remember having the misfortune of breaking 
 the glass belonging to " the nondescript," which mishap 
 was most good-naturedly forgiven. 
 
 " It was not often that the Squire was " done," but your 
 humble servant once took him in, even in natural history. 
 Some people have the gift of imitating animals, and I 
 believe I can boast of the elegant accomplishment of 
 " doing the pig " and one evening I slipped out upon the 
 lawn and standing near the window I did my part so 
 effectually (being in particularly good tune) that out came 
 mine host armed with a broom, in the greatest state of 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOEK. 125 
 
 excitement, fully believing that the pigs had got out, that 
 some one had left the gates open on the bridge, and 
 that they were hard at work rooting up the beautifully 
 mown grass. Upon finding out his mistake he was greatly 
 amused. 
 
 " Believe me, very truly yours, 
 
 "F. H. Salvin." 
 
 I have previously observed that Mr. Waterton 
 always entertained an antipathy to the rat, and that 
 it was the only animal at Walton Hall to which he 
 gave no quarter. His hostile feeling against the 
 " Hanoverian," and his ingenuity how to quit him 
 were, several years ago, productive of means so unique 
 and so instantaneously effective, that they certainly 
 merit a passing notice. On the Squire's return home, 
 after a somewhat lengthened period in the desert- 
 forests in South America, he found Walton Hall so 
 infested with rats that the whole house was overrun 
 with them. He therefore immediately set his wits 
 to work, in order to devise some plan that would 
 speedily free him from the " Hanoverians ; " and at 
 once designed his mode of action, which proved on 
 execution, as successful as it was unprecedented. He 
 caught a fine old rat in a "harmless trap," which, of 
 course, was not in the slightest degree injured, and 
 when all the household had retired to rest for the 
 night, he carefully smeared this rat all over with tar, 
 and then set him at liberty in one of his principal 
 runs. Doubtless, this recently liberated prisoner 
 
12(3 CHARLES WATERTON : — 
 
 highly scented and well "tarred" but not "feathered," 
 would, on his unexpected escape, lose no time in 
 reconnoitring every available avenue within his reach. 
 In fact he would, simply from fear of himself now 
 that he was so' highly perfumed, scour the ins and 
 outs of what might be fairly termed his own 
 country in double quick time, by which means he 
 would impregnate every underground burrow with an 
 odour that is said of 'all others to be the most 
 offensive to the rat. Even his own fraternity seem to 
 have been so terrified by the unequivocally disagree- 
 able odour of this scented " Hanoverian," that they 
 fled by wholesale during the night across the narrow 
 portion of the lake ; and the Squire, at day-break 
 on the following morning, found the whole house 
 entirely freed from his hitherto unwelcome visitors. 
 When Mr. Waterton named this laughable circum- 
 stance to me, he, at the same time, told me that he 
 had repeatedly "scarred away" rats by mixing tar 
 with finely chopped garlick, and leaving a small por- 
 tion here and there in their "runs." 
 
 On the outside of the Cromwell doors in the old 
 ruin there is a broad stone step nearly on a level 
 with the threshold, but overhanging the water. It is 
 always perfectly dry on its upper surface, and fur- 
 nishes a good and accessible foundation for the visitors 
 to stand upon whilst examining the antique doors, 
 which are really objects of deep interest from their 
 peculiar style of architecture, and from their attached 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 127 
 
 rude and heavy appendages then thought necessary 
 for the protection of the mansion, together with por- 
 tions pierced by Cromwell's bullets. If these ancient 
 doors are closed whilst you are standing on this step, 
 you are then placed between them and a very deep 
 part of tHe lake with no chance of escape ; — even if 
 you jump into the lake, you have no means of reaching 
 a place of safety except by swimming at least one 
 hundred and fifty yards, — in fact you are immured in 
 a most perfect " lock-up." Now, it accidentally occurred, 
 that a poacher who had long been very notorious in 
 his way, and who had for a lengthened period, been what 
 is termed "wanted," having committed sundry depreda- 
 tions on Mr. "Waterton's manor, by stealing pheasants' 
 eggs, &e., &c, was, by a manoeuvre, when in front of the 
 house, tempted on to the island where the Squire 
 happened to be at the moment. 
 
 The poacher, who was a well-known character for his 
 evil ways, had been, for some time, in jest, nick-named 
 "fur;" Mr. Watertou, when in a jocular mood, having 
 previously given him that opprobrious appellation, in 
 consequence of his being a well-known thief. The 
 keepers, and indeed the whole household, somehow or 
 other, soon got to know that "fur " was the Latin word 
 for thief, and, therefore, more frequently honoured the 
 poacher by his Latin than by his real and English name. 
 Now this "man of three letters," "homo trium litcrarum,'' 
 was disposed to be facetiously impertinent ; the Squire 
 therefore, was determined, before liberating the poacher, 
 to accommodate him with "a Eowland for an Oliver," 
 
128 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 and whilst quietly remonstrating with him in great 
 apparent simplicity and kindness, as if his insolence had 
 been forgotton or forgiven, was at the same time, 
 ingeniously contriving ample punishment for him, by 
 cajoling him, unsuspectingly on to the fatal stone step in 
 the "lock-up." 
 
 No sooner was the poacher " placed," than the Squire, 
 at once adroitly closed the doors, leaving his saucy 
 oaptive in the solitary "lock-up," to deliberate on his 
 past conduct. On this fellow, in a whimpering strain, 
 threatening to drown himself unless immediately re- 
 leased, the keepers cordially encored the sentiment of 
 their lachrymose prisoner. He then became, but not 
 before some hours had elapsed, an apparent penitent, 
 and on that ground, was freed from "durance vile." 
 From that time forward, he was never known to poach 
 on the Squire's manor, and was always ready to do 
 him a " good turn," at least, so said the poacher himself, 
 and the Squire believed him ; but the wilful destruction 
 of eggs, which was the primary offence in this case, 
 always annoyed Mr. Waterton more than the slaughter 
 of the birds themselves. In this instance the Squire did 
 not recognise the old proverb, that "a bird in the hand 
 is worth two in the bush." 
 
 In years gone by, the Squire was a strict and deter- 
 mined preserver of game on his own estate. He then 
 like his neighbours, had a great abundance of hares, 
 partridges, and pheasants, and hesitated not to go to 
 a considerable expense for their preservation; but that 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOKK. 129 
 
 reckless character of population, which in the present 
 age almost bids defiance to the protection of property 
 in some districts, has latterly increased so rapidly and 
 so extensively in some of the neighbouring villages, that 
 an enormous amount of money is required to effectually 
 carry out the spirit of protection as regards the rigorous 
 preservation of game; hence it is literally beyond the 
 means of many country gentlemen, unless by a ruinous 
 expense, or at all events, by inconveniently infringing on 
 their income — a folly which they are not generally prone 
 to commit. " If gentlemen do," observed Mr. "Waterton, 
 •'indiscreetly yield to this alluring extravagance, other 
 miseries beyond pecuniary loss frequently await them, 
 as now and then, a melancholy loss of life is also 
 entailed by this rigid yet lawful protection of game.'> 
 The natural feelings and disposition of the Squire were 
 always so humane and so utterly antagonistic to every 
 thing which could, in the slightest degree expose any 
 party to the chance of sustaining injury, or of jeopardising 
 the life of a fellow-creature, that I am sure he would 
 have infinitely preferred the entire deprivation of game, 
 rather than have hazarded the possibility of injuring 
 any human being, more especially a poor man. 
 
 These remarks will sufficiently explain to my readers 
 why there has been no superabundance of game at 
 "Walton Hall for many years. Eecently indeed, the 
 encouragement for its preservation has been so little 
 observed, that the temptation held out to poachers 
 has not been at all adequate to the expense, toil, and 
 risk they would have had to run. 
 
130 CHARLES WATEBTON: — 
 
 Latterly, there have been no poachers with the solitary 
 exception of one of the Squire's own household, viz., 
 a very beautiful and enormously large cat, which in 
 186:>, weighed upwards of sixteen pounds. " "Wliitty," 
 for such was its name, an abrcviatiou of Whittington, 
 now and then took a marauding freak and occasion- 
 ally on the sly, picked up a stray leveret ; but he was 
 so special a favourite with the whole household, that 
 the sternest rebuke he ever received from his master 
 was a smile of forgiveness. " "Wlutty " numbered several 
 years at the hall, being brought from Searbro' as a 
 kitten in 1855, during which period he acquired a vast 
 amount of cunning, and indulged in a considerable degree 
 of familiarity with the domestics generally. He would 
 jump on to and familiarly sit upon Mr. Waterton's 
 shoulder during dinner, if his own "allowance" had 
 been forgotten, or if the butler had not precisely suited 
 his palate by the plate provided for him. 
 
 Notwithstanding " Whitty's" love of game, there were 
 always pheasants in the neighbourhood of the grotto 
 sufficiently numerous to please and amuse the naturalist 
 by their crowing, and also to prove and instruct the 
 inexperienced how the crowing of the cock-pheasant differs 
 from that of the game-cock, not merely in tone and in 
 character, but otherwise. The game-cock claps his wings 
 and crows, whereas the pheasant crows and claps his 
 wings. These birds never make a mistake in reversing 
 the order of these acts. They strictly adhere to nature's 
 instinct. 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 131 
 
 I am here reminded of an. amusing description of 
 pheasant-shooting by a Mr. Jonathan Higgins in 1837, 
 who could, it must be fairly admitted, lay no great 
 claim to the ordinary attainments of an English sports- 
 man of the present age. Mr. Higgins writes : — " Heard 
 some pheasants crowing by the side of a plantation — 
 got within gunshot of two of the birds, vich Higgins 
 said they vos two game-cocks, but Hicks who had often 
 been at Vestminster Pit, said, no sich thing, as game- 
 cocks had got short square tails and smooth necks, 
 and long military spurs. Shot at 'em as pheasants, and 
 believe ve lolled 'em both ; but hearing some orrid 
 screams come out of the plantation immediately after 
 ve all took to our eels and ran away vitbout stopping 
 to pick either of 'em up. At the end of a mile came 
 suddenly upon a strange sort of bird, vich Hicks 
 declared to be the 'cock of the woods.' Sneaked 
 behind him and killed him. Tinned out to be a peacock.'' 
 
 I have previously hinted at a suspicion existing 
 as to the destruction of foxes by the late Mr. Waterton. 
 Now that is a subject which the Squire and I have 
 freely discussed, and he solemnly assured me that it was 
 a most unjust accusation, being entirely devoid of truth, 
 adding, "In my youth, no one rejoiced more in hounds 
 than I did, and no keen sportsman had greater enjoy- 
 ment in, nor was more delighted with an " across country" 
 run than I was. And I can feelingly and with great 
 truth yet say, an old sportsman likes the crack of the 
 
132 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 whip. The very party who originated that foul falsehood 
 did it merely from a petty spite, and at the moment I 
 had it in my power to have crushed him when busily 
 propagating so base a fabrication. I could have traced 
 the lie to the originator, but I abominably detest all 
 squabbles, and would have had to sacrifice a quiet and 
 worthy neighbour in order to bring home and expose the 
 prime mover of the scandal. 
 
 " Those gentlemen who really know me will not give 
 credence to such a report, and if any -there be who do 
 me such injustice, I may say with the old proverb, 
 ' Latrantem curatne alta Diana canem ? ' ' Does Diana 
 on high care for the dog that bays her ? ' 
 
 " If the Badsworth hunt expect that I should en- 
 courage sly reynard to take up his quarters within my 
 park walls, and by way of his securing a bonne-bouche, 
 lunoh on a wild duck, a pheasant, or a Canada goose, 
 and enjoy a late and hearty dinner from my poultry 
 roost, they must labour under a strange misconception; 
 but I have no faith in that improbable scandal on 
 the hunt. If I ever find a fox in the park, he shall 
 assuredly be honourably excommunicated, and take his 
 brush along with him a-la-mode." 
 
 Several years ago, a party of officers from some 
 neighbouring barracks who were disposed to have a 
 lark, rode over to Walton Hall, and sent in their 
 cards with a request to see the interior of the man- 
 sion. Mr. Waterton received them very graciously. 
 Young, indiscreet, and professing to have a scien- 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 133 
 
 tific knowledge of painting which they did not in 
 the slightest degree possess, they soon hetrayed their 
 entire ignorance of the art, by foolishly pointing out 
 supposed imperfections where none existed, and by 
 absurdly praising those very portions of paintings 
 which were really defective. Mr. Waterton, con- 
 quently, soon ceased to. have any pleasing interest in 
 explaining the pictures under examination. 
 
 At this juncture, the Squire felt disposed to treat 
 them simply with pity ; but when his quick eye caught 
 the whole party actually ridiculing him, and indulging 
 in rude and personal ^remarks, notwithstanding his 
 extreme kindness to them, he became somewhat irate, 
 but silently so, excepting that he took an opportunity 
 to state that there were some very splendid paintings 
 at a house in the neighbourhood, with which they 
 would be highly delighted. " The gentleman himself " the 
 Squire observed, "was then from home but that an odd 
 and eccentric old fellow who lived in the house, was a 
 man of remarkable ability and invariably showed the 
 paintings, — that he was the best judge, and had 
 the most knowledge on these subjects of any man 
 in the county." The bait was greedily swallowed by 
 the officers. They would go at once, if it was 
 only to have a glance at this extraordinary bit of 
 mortality. 
 
 The Squire whispered to his butler to instantly 
 forward to the gentleman's house where the paint- 
 ings were, a disguise-suit for himself, which he had 
 recently had prepared for another purpose, but this 
 
134 CHAELES WATEKTON: — 
 
 was too tempting a chance to be deprived of without 
 trying the fictitious apparel. The carriage-road was 
 rather distant for the officers, but a short footpath 
 along the fields, allowed Mr. AVaterton to himself 
 anticipate their arrival, and give him sufficient 
 time to put on his disguise-suit, in order that he might 
 be properly equipped to receive the military critics. Mr. 
 AVaterton's counterfeited appearance succeeded admirably. 
 His disguise consisted of a faded red wig — an old green 
 shade over one eye — an eye-glass over the other — a thread- 
 bare coat so stuffed as to give to his figure the appear- 
 ance of a hunch-back — diab-colour_ed smalls with white 
 stockings — and a crutch used to relieve an apparently 
 crippled limb. 
 
 In this anomalous-looking costume, he supported the 
 singularity of character which he himself had pre- 
 viously drawn and represented to the officers at 
 Walton Hall, receiving them at his friend's residence 
 in the already stated absence of the master of the 
 house. In describing and descanting upon this exquisite 
 collection of paintings, the Squire now and then indulged 
 in what he ironically termed a venial blunder, such as 
 substituting a modern for an ancient master, and « 
 versa- He also highly eulogised portions which were 
 obviously defective, without a single objection being 
 made by the military coxcombs. 
 
 During the whole of this time, the officers amused 
 themselves by unmercifully and ungratefully abusing 
 "that old devil Waterton," insisting upon it "that he 
 had not a painting worth a rush in his whole house, 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOEK. 135 
 
 and that he was thoroughly and indeed glaringly igno- 
 rant of this branch of the fine arts." These warriors 
 had not the remotest idea that it was Mr. Waterton 
 who was lionising them, having no conception that they 
 had been so thoroughly duped and had really made such 
 simpletons of themselves. 
 
 "When the Squire thought that he had sufficiently 
 gulled the would-be proficients, and reduced them to a 
 self-evident conviction of their ignorance, he quietly, yet 
 in a moment dismantled himself of his counterfeit habil- 
 ments in their presence, making a respectful bow in his own 
 peculiar way to the censuring critics, with the addition, 
 your "humble servant, Charles Waterton." Their 
 apologies, to their credit, were abject, and the verbal 
 castigation they received from the Squire was as severe 
 as it was merited, inducing those brave warriors to hang 
 out the white flag and humbly sue for mercy. These gen- 
 tlemen ever afterward preserved a solemn, and probably 
 sulky silence as regarded the Squire ; never, of course, 
 acknowledging his acquaintance. 
 
 Mr. Waterton was one k of the most hospitable and 
 kind-hearted men in existence. The cordial welcome 
 I invariably received at Walton Hall prompted me to 
 face many a stormy day, and on my return, many 
 a bitterly cold night. 
 
 On one occasion, when meeting on my arrival 
 at the cast-iron bridge, he observed " we have killed 
 the fatted calf for you, which induces me to do a 
 little on the tiptoe," adding, 
 
 . . . . " Secepio, 
 
 Bulce tniki furere est, amico.' 
 
136 CHAKLES WATEKTON: — 
 
 "It is delightful to launch out on receiving my 
 friend." His launching out, I discovered, was in 
 reference to there being a roasted pea-fowl for dinner 
 on that day; and a dainty dish it was when it came 
 to be discussed. There is nothing however, very 
 striking in the flavour of a pea-fowl; for instance, if 
 blindfold, it would require an extraordinary nice, dis- 
 criminating palate to distinguish a roasted pea-fowl from 
 a roasted young turkey. The pea-fowl's gay plumage, 
 I admit, takes the shine out of the plain turkey, when 
 on the table as well as in the farm-yard,, or admiring 
 himself in the reflecting window. 
 
 A few extracts from some of Mr. Waterton's Letters 
 will convince the reader of his hospitality more 
 effectually than any simple assertions of mine. He 
 writes, 
 
 "My dear Sir, — Last Saturday night I sang 
 
 ' Cease rude boreas, blustering lailer,' 
 
 and called most lustily upon that frigid God to relax 
 his terrors and thus afford to our dear Doctor Hob- 
 son a safe highway from Leeds to Walton Hall. I 
 have just been saying, that I was in possession of a 
 bait to coax you over here. We have two fine cor- 
 morants, which daily swim on the lake within a 
 stone's throw of the drawing-room windows; and I 
 know that you would rather gaze on a cormorant 
 in such a position, than come to enjoy all the good 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 137 
 
 things we can offer you for dinner; hence, I offer 
 my tempting bait. We have also, just now, great 
 numbers of widgeon, and some grebe and teal. 'Hoc 
 scripsi rwn otii dbundantia, sed amoris erga te. 
 'I have written this not from having an abundance 
 of leisure, but of love for you.' 
 
 " Ever sincerely, 
 
 " Charles Waterton." 
 
 Again Mr. Waterton writes, 
 
 "My dear Sir, — We have just been speculating 
 on your putting in appearance here to-morrow. The 
 Doctor is always welcome, always puts us in 
 good humour, and makes us enjoy our dinner. I 
 am not yet free from the padlock on my grinders. 
 You ask how we got on at Aix la Chapelle, and if 
 I spent my time happily? Well, we got on charm- 
 ingly. We are never perfectly happy, but I can 
 say, ' JSxcepto quod non simul esses, cortera Icetus.' 
 'Except that you were not with me, I was, in other 
 respects, happy' 
 
 "I am fettered and disabled from driving over to 
 Park Place myself. I hope most fervently to see you 
 here to-morrow. If the fish are in the mud now that 
 the lake is being emptied it is somewhat singular, 
 as we cannot find one. Possibly your quick-sighted 
 D.D. at Leeds might be able to draw some out. 
 Yet, when I call to mind the professional engage- 
 ments of that celebrated divine, I am inclined to con- 
 clude that he is more in the shearing than in the 
 
138 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 fishing line. Now, I think I hear you say, — What 
 a fellow that Waterton is; he can never write nor 
 talk about our most * excellent parliamentary pastors, 
 without giving them a slap. 
 
 " Bishop , the Catholic prelate at , 
 
 is here now and will say mass for us to-morrow. 
 Now would be youi time to gain orthodox information 
 as to extreme unction about which we had conversation 
 the other day. When I tell you that there are now 
 even more wild ducks on the water than last week; 
 that the six strangers are not yet made out; and that 
 we want your ornithological eye to determine what 
 they are, you will surely come. 
 
 " Adieu, ever sincerely, 
 
 Charles Waterton." 
 
 The grotto was the luring place for a naturalist, 
 and where the Squire and I had our unreserved inter- 
 course and confidential conversation. It Avas always a 
 favourite resort for us. This artificial and ornamental 
 excavation in the rock was beautiful in scenery; it 
 was charming in aspect; it was all that could he 
 desired in privacy; and, finally, it was what the ladies 
 call a sweet and fascinating spot. 
 
 " Creatures that liv'd and moved, and walk'd, or flew, 
 Birds on the branches warbling, all things smil'd." 
 
 In this position, free from every intrusion, of the 
 rational or animal creation, did we watch, contemplate, 
 and admire the spontaneous and unbiassed acts, opera- 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 139 
 
 tions, and labours relatively due to, and performed by- 
 each species of the feathered tribe. Immediately in 
 front, with an extended right and left view horizontally 
 lower than our organs of vision by some fifteen or 
 twenty feet, was nature's repast for the birds lavishly 
 spread in the various forms of earth-worms, grubs, 
 slugs, beetles, and caterpillars, on the grassy surface, 
 whilst the numerous trees, shrubs, and flowers in profu- 
 sion furnished their portion of food, peculiar to the 
 character of tree or shrub favourable to their natural 
 nidus. 
 
 Along the centre of this little valley, glided longi- 
 tudinally a gurgling stream, over which and near its 
 surface, hovered myriads of the insect families having 
 undergone their varied metamorphoses, and now become 
 tempting food for the insectivorous swallow. Our 
 position might in reality, be said to be one of 
 repose as without moving hand or foot we had a near 
 approach and ample view of au immense diversity of " the 
 fowls of the air," and consequently every possible facility 
 to gain a thorough knowledge of their habits as regarded 
 the food on which they lived and fed their young, — 
 as regarded their time and mode of preening, — the 
 manner of building their own dwellings, the materials 
 used for that purpose, and of course, with this view 
 in the fore-ground, we soon became acquainted with, and 
 got into the secrets of their sundry little gallantries 
 resorted to during the interesting and evidently very 
 agreeable period of wooing, in order to obtain and 
 secure the affections of their favourites. The delicate 
 
140 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 and alluring attentions bestowed by the male upon the 
 softer sex by repeated offerings of a tid-bit as a bonne 
 bouche, were always as gracefully made as they were 
 coyly and modestly accepted by a decorous and well- 
 mannered acknowledgment on her part. 
 
 Trifling flirtations, 1 admit, did occasionally betray 
 the mutability of attachment in both sexes, but these 
 grievances were seldom of long duration, and rarely did 
 jealousy with her jaundiced eye succeed in stirring up 
 absolute war to the spur, with the exception of the 
 pugnacious sparrow and the robin, who always fought 
 with their own species. The irascibility of these little 
 birds sometimes induced them to continue their splenetic 
 contest until we have, more than once had to separate 
 them from what appeared likely to be a last and fatal 
 embrace. 
 
 In this pleasing and temporary seclusion, some years 
 ago, Mr. Waterton frequently alluded to our earthly 
 separation, and now and then to a future state, adding 
 in a grave and serious tone, "when I die, I hope that 
 my bones will be laid at the foot of this cross," ad- 
 verting to the one that was, as he had previously 
 stated, first publicly erected in England after the 
 Eeformation. On my replying, " No, no, Mr. Waterton, 
 let your bones be deposited in your own parish, and 
 at Sandal Church, in consecrated ground, along with 
 those of your ancestors ;" his rejoinder was invariably to 
 this effect, — "It is in reality, of trifling importance, 
 having finished my earthly career, where my bones 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 141 
 
 may be laid, but notwithstanding, I intend them to 
 rest in peace at the foot of this cross, with this inscrip- 
 tion to mark the spot : — 
 
 " Orate 
 Pro aiuma Caboli Wateoton, 
 
 Viatoris ; , 
 
 Cujus jam fessa, 
 Juxta banc crucem 
 Hie sepeliuntur ossa." 
 
 " Pray for the soul of Charles Waterton, the Wan- 
 derer, whose wearied hones are now buried here near 
 to this cross." 
 
 The Squire's bones had precious little rest during 
 a long and eventful life. "Waterton's Wanderings" 
 alone display a persevering and well-trained labour 
 which establishes the fact. Its earlier portion must 
 have been both mentally and physically a very anxious, 
 an extremely harassing, and a hazardous one. If we 
 take a calm and retrospective view of his middle life 
 and are open to conviction, we must admit that his 
 series of Essays evince one of vast and diligent observa- 
 tion, and of a laboriously inquiring research up to a com- 
 paratively recent period. Indeed, even in his eightieth 
 year, his mind was as active, as disposed for investi- 
 tigation, and as clear on the subject of natural history, — 
 as much alive in doing good to his fellow creatures, — 
 and as anxious, and as persevering as regards improving 
 and ornamenting his estate, as most men's minds are at 
 five and twenty. 
 
 The vast and judiciously arranged and substantially 
 executed improvements at Walton Hall during Mr. 
 
142 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 Waterton's life, were such, that lie might with equal 
 truth have said of Walton Hall as Augustus said of 
 Kome : — " Urbcm lateritiam invenit, marmoream, reliquit." 
 " He found a city of bricks, he left a city of marble." 
 And I may with equal justice to the memory of my 
 old friend add, " Nullum quod tetigit non ornavit." " He 
 attempted nothing that he did not embellish." 
 
 As to physical capability, his activity and. power at 
 his period of life, were extraordinary, and probably 
 unequalled by any other man of the same years. For 
 instance, in the summer of 1861, when in his seventy- 
 ninth year, . Mr. Waterton, in one of his jocose moods 
 by a run of fifteen yards, bounded over a stout wire 
 fence, without touching it with either hand or foot, 
 and this I very carefully measured to three feet Six 
 inches in height, — a calisthenic feat which, probably, 
 not one person in ten thousand could accomplish at so 
 advanced an age. 
 
 I have frequently, in painful suspense and much 
 against my own inclination, seen the Squire, when be- 
 yond seventy years of age, hop on one leg along the 
 brink of a rock forming the highest terrace in the 
 grotto, whilst the other leg was dangling over the chasm 
 below; and, when thus hopping at a rapid rate, he 
 would whirl himself entirely round in the air, and 
 dropping on the other foot, would return again by 
 hopping back on the contrary leg. On cautioning him, 
 he would reply, — " Non de ponte cadit qui mm sapientia 
 mdit." "He falls not from the bridge who walks with 
 prudence." I have said to him, when painfully affected 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 143 
 
 by his uncalled-for freaks and thus exposing himself 
 to danger, "Some of these follies will be the death of 
 you ; pray do not commit suicide in my presence ;" when 
 he replied, " Dont be alarmed, there is no fear that you 
 would be accused of being my murderer ; our friendship 
 is too notorious for a supposition of that sort, even in 
 the present corrupt and destructive age." 
 
 I have seen the Squire repeatedly sitting on the grass 
 or on the carpet cross-legged, as tailors sit on their 
 work-boards, "when he would, to the astonishment and 
 great delight of any surrounding friends, rise up into 
 an erect position, without touching the ground with 
 either hand. His power and consequent agility in the 
 lower limbs were marvellous, having the best formed 
 leg and the finest muscular development I ever saw, 
 whilst the transverse capacity of the chest was some- 
 what defective; at all events, it was not proportionate 
 with the lower extremities, which were enormous, but 
 beautifully formed. 
 
 On the Squire casually consulting me relative to what 
 he termed " an unseemly swelling of the ankles in a gentle- 
 man in the prime of life, and on the look-out for a 
 buxom widow, or a fat, fair, and forty-five lady," I 
 observed that the calf being so enormously brawny 
 rendered the ankles less unseemly than they otherwise 
 would have been, when immediately he facetiously 
 rejoined. 
 
 tc Harry, I cannot think," says Dick, 
 What makes my ankles grow so thick." 
 
 " You do not recollect says Harry, 
 How great a calf they have to carry." 
 
144 CHABLES -\YATERTON : — 
 
 I immediately asked the Squire to give me a copy 
 ■which he did at the moment, written in pencil on the 
 back of an old letter placed on his hat, I told Mr. 
 "Waterton that this reminded me of a party of University 
 men who were disputing as to the superiority of Oxford 
 or Cambridge, when he resumed his seat, desiring me to 
 tell him the decision of what he called the "Varsity 
 disputation." I did so, observing that one of the 
 controversialists remarked that the decision could not 
 affect him because he was educated at both Universities. 
 " That," said an old gentleman present, " puts me in mind 
 of a calf which I remember when I was a boy, was suckled 
 by two cows." " Really," said the University man of 
 duplex attainments, " and pray sir, what was the eon- 
 sequence?" "Why sir, he turned out the greatest calf 
 I ever saw in my life" The Squire laughed heartily and 
 observed " the double distilled gentleman caught it with 
 a vengeance." 
 
 Mr. Waterton was at ease and in his element when on 
 the lake ; he was thoroughly skilled in the art of rowing, 
 scudding through the water with perfect ease to himself, 
 and delighting his friends by his graceful handling of the 
 oars, — ever anxious to do the work. He prided himself, 
 and I believe with great justice, on being an adept, and 
 indeed, on being thoroughly conversant in the scientific 
 management of the sailing boat. He appeared to be 
 perfectly at home in tacking, and in so changing the 
 position of the sails as to always accomplish what he 
 desired without difficulty. 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 145 
 
 I observed, that the Squire was continually caring 
 not merely for the personal comfort of his freight, 
 but that he was also endeavouring to engage their atten- 
 tion by pointing out objects of interest in order to rivet 
 the eye on land rather than on water, and thus free 
 "them from the fear of a watery upset. But I believe 
 that notwithstanding the thousands of times that he must 
 have wielded the oars on this lake, no mishap, nor 
 indeed any thing approaching one, ever occurred under 
 his able and careful guidance. 
 
CHAPTEE V. 
 
 The Squire was proverbially liberal in gifts of friend- 
 ship, but singularly determined not to accept the 
 merest trifle directly nor indirectly in return however, 
 delicately presented, and occasionally his mode of refusal 
 would amount even to what, in another person would 
 have been deemed somewhat ungracious. 
 
 On one occasion, his fondness for what he termed " a 
 bit of surgery" upset his hitherto firm determination 
 not to be a recipient. On my arrival alone one day 
 unexpectedly at Walton Hall, I observed a countenance 
 evidently betraying anxiety to enter into some expla- 
 nation which was painful to him, and the moment I' 
 was seated he said, "I am, my dear sir, very very 
 solicitous that all nonsensical professional etiquette should 
 be hurled to the bottom of the sea until you can 
 accomplish a wish that sorely distresses me. It is that 
 you would condescend to soil the M.D., by opening an 
 abscess for a poor, poverty-striken but amiable patient of 
 •mine. I have carefully examined it, and I assure you 
 that it wants digging into very much." I replied, if the 
 case be one of absolute poverty, and the abscess is in the 
 condition and situation you represent, there can be neither 
 difficulty nor impropriety in your opening it. This reply 
 was just what the Squire wanted, as his object was to 
 get what he considered a legitimate privilege "to do a 
 bit of surgery." In fact, he had long yearned for such an 
 
CHARLES WATEKTON, ETC. 147 
 
 opportunity in order to practically exercise a vocation of 
 this character. "This is one step gained" he observed, 
 "but I have no surgical instrument proper for the 
 purpose." I drew a Synie's knife from my pocket 
 which I generally carry with me to supply a country 
 surgeon, in case of urgent need. The Squire's eyes 
 glistened with delight as he admired the form of the 
 knife. He evidently luxuriated in anticipation of the 
 exploit in prospect, 
 
 I thought this a happy occasion to get him to receive 
 a trifle from his friend, and therefore presented him 
 with the Syme's knife, on condition that he would 
 keep it to be ready for future operations if required, 
 not supposing that he was alive to my inward thoughts. 
 He immediately replied with a smile, " Ton have tackled 
 me on one of my many failings, I accept the knife with 
 many thanks, it will be invaluable to me," and he then 
 formed loops in his memorandum book, into which 
 to introduce the knife for safe keeping, and was ever 
 afterwards proud of "his operating knife." 
 
 From infancy to death, Mr. Waterton's habits were 
 ever scrupulously abstemious. Even to nearly the 
 close of his life, when our age is described as one of 
 labour and sorrow, he knew no indulgence whatever. 
 He had no additional "hour of rest" during the day. 
 Up to a late period in life, he would walk to Wake- 
 field in preference to going in the carriage; occa- 
 sionally, but with difficulty, he might be persuaded 
 to get into the carriage on his return home. Neither 
 
148 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 the arm-chair nor the sofa had any charms for the 
 Squire. On the contrary, he would absolutely work 
 when there was no occasion for labour, saying " labor 
 •ywc rpltqitas," " oven labour itself is a pleasure,'' and 
 insisted on a personally strict observance of that rigid 
 discipline which his Church required only from the 
 middle-aged and the hale adult. 
 
 Mr. Waterton, in earl}- life being predisposed to 
 pulmonary disease, was encouraged, under medical 
 advice about the year 1800, to largely deplete by 
 venesection, in order to subdue a recurring tendency 
 to pulmonary mischief. This was at a period when 
 pneumonia, unless vigorously and fearlessly met by 
 depletion in its incipient stage, quickly cut short the 
 thread of life. Thoroughly satisfied by experience of 
 the relief instantaneously obtained, convinced of the 
 salvation of life from the effect of large depiction 
 by the lancet, and being at that time a wanderer, 
 or, as the Squire wotild have himself said, in vaga- 
 bondage in the wild forests in South America, for eleven 
 months in succession, where no medical consultation 
 could be had — where no operative aid could be secured — 
 and when and where it might be death to wait until 
 to-morrow, Mr. Waterton determined to be, as far as 
 possible, prepared for the worst, and independent of 
 ordinary surgical aid ; he therefore was himself taught 
 venesection, " secundum artem," "according to the rules 
 of art," by a professional proficient, (the late Dr. Marshall,) 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 149 
 
 which operation if at any time it should be required, 
 he could perform upon his own arm and with his own 
 lancet, in the desert where he "loved to roam." 
 
 " Iffnotis errarelocis, igiwta videre 
 JFIumina gaudelat, stndio minttente labortm.'' 
 
 "He loved to wander over unknown spots, and 
 to see unknown rivers, his curiosity lessening the 
 fatigue." 
 
 I have repeatedly witnessed the Squire operate on 
 himself with the lancet, using either the right or the 
 left hand as dexterously as if he were a practised 
 expert; and I believe that the wisdom of this pre- 
 cautionary measure as regarded depletion, was amply 
 verified on several occasions in the forest, as well 
 as after bis return. In bleeding himself, he was sel- 
 dom satisfied or obtained sufficient .relief, until he 
 had drawn from sixteen to twenty ounces of blood. 
 He would never permit any one to render the least 
 assistance in tying up his ami on such occasions; 
 and would receive no help of any description what- 
 ever from any one excepting his servant, whom he 
 designated his " cup-bearer,"' allowing him as a sort 
 of favour, now and then to hold the basin into which 
 the blood flowed; but usually he insisted on sup- 
 porting it himself. 
 
 In the most delicate manipulations of any kind 
 he notoriously excelled, having fingers as nimble, as 
 pliable, and as sensitive as those of a well-bred lady. 
 With one hand and his teeth he tidily bound up his own 
 
150 CHAKLES WATERTON: — 
 
 arm preparatory to wielding the lancet, which was 
 not always in the best order. With either right 
 or left hand he opened a vein without the least dif- 
 ficulty when furnished with an instrument in good 
 condition, and was equally skilful in applying his 
 compress and fillet. The amount of blood taken, 
 entirely depended on the relief obtained in respiration 
 and in general feeling. He was not at all influenced 
 by any particular number of ounces of blood. The 
 Squire's rule was, not to close the vein until he could 
 freely expand the chest, and allow this expansion to 
 be made without suffering the least pain. 
 
 I may add, that on one occasion, when sent for to 
 see Mr. Waterton late in the evening, I found him 
 suffering from very acute pain, and vainly trying to bleed 
 himself. He repeatedly punctured the arm, but always 
 ineffectually as regarded getting a flow of blood. 
 On an examination of his lancet, I found the edge, 
 if it could be said to have one, was so blunt that 
 it shirked the vein every time he punctured the arm. 
 I therefore set it for him on a common slate-stone. 
 He then used his lancet with the utmost precision, and 
 succeeded at once. The Squire greatly astonished 
 me by never in the least degree flinching, when he 
 repeatedly pierced his arm with so blunt an instru- 
 ment. On explaining to him the danger of such 
 bungling operative practice, he replied after his 
 humorous fashion, " Teach your grandmother ■ to suck 
 eggs. How could any mortal readily open a vein 
 with an instrument that had been from under his 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 151 
 
 care for the three previous months, and, during that 
 period, had been the common corn-cutting hack for 
 the servant girls of the establishment ? And you 
 may rely upon it, that it has had some tough struc- 
 tures to encounter by "way of extraction, and pro- 
 bably, not been very artistically handled by our female 
 chiropodists." 
 
 In his special case, habit must have had something 
 to do with enabling Mr. Waterton to endure depletion 
 so frequently, and to such a liberal extent with 
 impunity. The marked mitigation of painful oppres- 
 sion obtained by venesection, was invariably so imme- 
 diate and complete, and the freedom from all distress 
 so permanent, that it was literally next to impossible 
 to prevent the use of the lancet by the Squire's own 
 hand. 
 
 I have, over and over, again and again, entreated the 
 Squire to deal less extravagantly in what he termed 
 " tapping the claret ; " and although I sometimes prevailed 
 upon him to restrain his hand for a short period, yet in 
 my absence, his resolution generally failed him, and he 
 reluctantly I believe, yielded to a feeling which he 
 really did endeavour vigorously to combat, but was 
 seldom able to conquer. 
 
 Even in his eightieth year, he did not hesitate 
 to take away from twenty to twenty-four ounces of 
 blood, with not merely temporary freedom from all 
 suffering, but with all the permanent benefit that 
 could be desired. It is very surprising that the lar- 
 gest bleeding never appeared in the least degree to 
 
152 CHAELES WATERTON: — 
 
 enfeeble him. If, previously to venesection, he had 
 been so ill, oppressed, and prostrate, as not to 
 be able to leave the bouse, be invariably after his 
 arm was tied up, became sprightly and in Ms usually 
 cheerful and merry mood. He would express himself 
 as relieved from a painfully overpowering and oppres- 
 sive load — he would go out to superintend his work- 
 men, or to trim his beautiful and lofty yew fences, 
 using the very arm he had recently bled without 
 reserve, or he would attend to any other of his ordi- 
 nary occupations whether mere amusements or absolute 
 labours, or he would gladly receive his friends, 
 — and, from that moment, you would certainly not 
 hear a murmur as regarded indisposition. In order 
 to support this artificial, and occasionally, I venture 
 to suppose, unnecessary waste, there was no extra- 
 ordinary supply in any form nor at any time; and 
 when I hazarded an admonition he would reply, 
 "Multo plures satietas guam fames perdidit viros." 
 " Surfieit has killed many more men than hunger." To 
 this I answered, "As a general rule I assent to your 
 assertion, but that is no reason why you should volun- 
 tarily sacrifice your own life with your eyes open to 
 such a termination by adopting an opposite extreme." 
 "Ah, my dear Doctor Hobson, you are out at the 
 elbows this time at all events; even a black fast 
 always does me good when it is all over, and when 
 my stomach has regained its usual tone and mechanical 
 power to tear asunder portions of animal food which 
 my grinders hesitate to tackle." 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 153 
 
 The Squire was not in the habit of allowing him- 
 self any increased amount of sleep nor any indul- 
 gence from his rigorously religious discipline, — nor 
 indeed, any diminution' of his positively laborious 
 occupations, which he often very unceasingly courted, 
 even to the injury of his health, and, I thought, 
 frequently to the destruction of all comfort. I often 
 counselled him from the authority of Seneca, that 
 "rest and repose should sometimes be granted to 
 the weary," " detur aliquando otium quiesque fessis," 
 but it seldom availed much, although he would occa- 
 sionally promise me that he would " pull up and be an 
 idle and jolly fellow for a few days at least," but 
 it was not in the nature of the man to fulfil such a 
 promise, although I quite believe that he persuaded 
 himself at the moment, that the action would crown 
 the intention. 
 
 Mr. Waterton, during his long life, even from 1799, 
 never partook of either wine, spirit, or malt liquor. In 
 addition to simple water, a cup of excessively weak 
 black tea was his favourite, indeed his only beverage 
 on all occasions, into which he put a large quantity 
 of sugar but no cream. On entreating the Squire to 
 substitute some more nutritious diet, rather than indulge 
 in his favourite "tea beverage" so contimially, I jocosely 
 remarked that we should some day see him trans- 
 formed into Pope's Tea-pot. Without a moment's con- 
 sideration he rose from his chair, and suiting the 
 attitude to Pope's words, replied 
 
 " Here living Tea-pot stands ; one arm held out, 
 One bent ; the handle this, and that the spout." 
 
154 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 The Squire always insisted upon his cup being so liberally 
 filled with this " pale-faced " compound, that a con- 
 siderable portion had to find its way into the saucer 
 before he would taste it. He ever most rigidly 
 ciiltivated the " early to rest, and early to rise " 
 plan to the letter, having himself for many years 
 uniformly retired to rest soon after nine o'clock in 
 the evening, and as invariably, he arose at half-past 
 three o'clock in the morning, when he lighted his 
 own fire which had been the previous evening pre- 
 pared for that purpose, and forthwith set to work in 
 good earnest in some Natural-history pursuit. The 
 Squire seldom materially exceeded the mediaeval aphorism, 
 viz., that "seven hours of sleep is enough for old or 
 young." " Septem horas dormisse sat est juvenique, senique." 
 By this never-failing early risirjg measure, an immense 
 amount of the preliminary labour of taxidermy in 
 arrangement and in preserving the skins of birds and of 
 other animals, so as .to represent life itself, was frequently 
 accomplished before an eight o'clock breakfast. Morpheus 
 had no seductive charms for the Squire. For more than 
 thirty years he never day nor night, stretched his " wearied 
 limbs " on a bed. Neither pliant springs nor the softest 
 feathers, nor the eider-down pillow, were temptations to 
 him — luxuries of such a nature had no decoying 
 influence over the Naturalist — they comforted not the bones 
 of one during life, who yet cared that these "wearied 
 bones " should rest in peace at the foot of the cross after 
 death. His only covering during the night when resting 
 on the hard boards, was a much-worn cloak with a 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOEK. 155 
 
 napless blanket if required, whilst his pillow was a 
 slightly hollowed out beech-wood Hock, in which to place 
 his cheek, but without any covering upon it. It is 
 difficult to conceive that such rigorous measures and health 
 could be co-existent. Milton evidently entertained an 
 opinion contrary to the practice put in force by my late 
 friend, when he said — 
 
 " Secret refreshings that repair his strength ;" 
 
 whilst Ovid has not less beautifully described the beneficial 
 effects of sleep in the following lines : — 
 
 "Samne quies rerum, placidissime, somne, Deorwm, 
 Pax animij qtiem cura fugit, qui corda diurnis 
 Fessa mvwtzterivs mulces, reparasque labori." 
 
 " Sleep, thou repose of all things : sleep, thou gentlest 
 of the Deities; thou peace of the mind, from whom 
 care flies ; who dost soothe the hearts of men wearied with 
 the toils of the day, and dost recruit them for labour." 
 
 Such were the gratifications — such the voluptuous 
 indulgences of the man who was ever most anxiously 
 and unceasingly devising various means to lessen the 
 distress, the difficulties, and the miseries of others — 
 whose private charities scarcely knew a limit, and 
 certainly no distinction of creed — who hesitated not to 
 relieve with a generous heart and open hand that man who 
 hau even been his avowed and open enemy. Two instances 
 of such a character were personally known to myself. 
 
 Thrice, from serious disease, did death with all its 
 terrors of speedy dissolution stare this good man in the 
 face during my intimacy with him; and as often, I 
 
156 CHAHLES WATEETON: — 
 
 am delighted to add, to the heartfelt satisfaction of an 
 extensive neighbouring district, and to the extreme 
 gratification of a host of warmly attached friends, was 
 the Squire mercifully spared. It was my melancholy 
 pleasure to attend Mr. Waterton professionally on all 
 these occasions; and on one of them, when for a lengthened 
 and intensely anxious period he lay in an utterly 
 helpless, hopeless, and totally unconscious condition, and 
 for many, many hours, appeared to be hovering between 
 life and death. Never shall I forget the very moment 
 when returning intellectual expression first beamed on that 
 countenance, on which an entire blank had so recently 
 and for so long a period existed — when even the 
 preceding hour had chilled, nay destroyed the last 
 ray of hope — and when and where the really disconso- 
 late friends of the apparently dying man were mutter- 
 ing, in mournful accents, "we shall never see his like 
 again." "Nulla ferent talem secula futura irirum." 
 And now, time having afforded an opportunity for 
 reflection since that period, I can still, from my own 
 feelings, confirm their then sorrowfully expressed senti- 
 ments. Lucy, a warm-hearted and faithful domestic, 
 then deserved unlimited praise, most judiciously using 
 every possible exertion to preserve her master's life. 
 
 In politics, the Squire was a staunch Conservative; 
 although, to the deep regret of many of his sincere 
 friends, he condemned the union of Church and Stata 
 His faith though, in either party or in any one of the 
 three if there be a third, was not extreme. Taxation of 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 157 
 
 every kind, and the National Debt, were the odious and 
 virulent sores with Mr. Waterton. 
 
 When taxes were accidentally alluded to, he would 
 support his anti-tax opinions, by stating that " there were 
 no poor-rates before the Eeformation, when all gentlemen 
 kept a sparrow-hawk, and the priest a hobby, that then 
 the charitable doles given at religious houses and 
 churches in every parish — did the business." 
 
 The Squire was passionately fond of the medical 
 profession in both its branches, indiscriminately dis- 
 tributing what the neighbouring poor called "Squire 
 Watterton's Pills," with, he persuaded himself wonderfully 
 beneficial effect. He was also warmly and immutably 
 attached to the priesthood of his Church, and especially 
 so to the Jesuits," being their firm and abiding friend 
 on all occasions. He was ever ready to have his joke 
 with me, by extolling the tenets of the Eornish 
 Church over what he termed our sectarian dogmas 
 observing, "You have no unity of principle, and are in 
 fact, acephalous monsters," — and would waggishly pledge 
 the Eomish caput mundi, against the Protestant caput 
 mortuum. 
 
 On showing him the following lines, he observed "they 
 are very good and true." — 
 
 " Eternity, which puzzles all the world 
 To name the inhabitants that people it ; 
 Eternity, whose undiscovered country 
 We fools divide before we come to see it, 
 Making one part contain all happiness, 
 The other misery, then unseen fight for it. 
 All sects pretending to a right of choice, 
 Yet none go willingly to take a part." 
 
158 CHARLES WATEETON: — 
 
 In a Letter to me he writes, in his merry mood, 
 
 "My dear Sir, — Father , of Stonyhurst, is 
 
 staying with us. You. will rememher that you once 
 over-hauled and prescribed for him. He will join us 
 to dine with you on Tuesday, He is a professed 
 Jesuit ; one of that very confraternity held up to modern 
 gulls by Eugene Sue the French infidel, as full of 
 machinations, malice, and mischief. But I will take 
 
 care that our Father has no gunpowder in his 
 
 pocket on Tuesday next, and I am certain that he cannot 
 get at any of my poisoned arrows, and I believe that 
 his pen-knife has no point to it : so you see he will be 
 quite unarmed. And moreover, I deem him incapable 
 of doing harm by any kind of mesmerism or occult science 
 or diabolical agency, as he has never frequented Doctor 
 
 E 's school in London, and he consults no wise man ; 
 
 nor can I perceive the least smell of sulphur about him 
 nor is there any appearance of a cloven foot. There 
 is therefore, nothing about him that* can cause the least 
 alarm to our bodies. As for our souls, I must frankly 
 own to you, that he does not handle^ them in the way 
 that your Dr. H — k does. Still, this is allowable in 
 England the supposed land of liberty, where we are all 
 allowed to go on board either St. Peter's Bark or 
 Charon's Punt, without much molestation from the 
 bystanders. 
 
 "Very sincerely, 
 
 "Charles Wateeton." 
 I have already remarked, that when any religious 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 159 
 
 observance was in question, the Squire, in spite of the 
 priest and the doctor, would now and then act 
 imprudently as well • as disobediently as regarded 
 doing that which might endanger his health. In fact, 
 however indiscreet or absolutely improper it might be, 
 under certain circumstances, to fast when health was at 
 stake, and when, at his time of life fasting was not 
 required by his own Church, yet fast he would, and most 
 rigorously carry out its sacred observance. I do not 
 doubt but this scrupulously exact adherence to fasting 
 absolutely enfeebled the body, and thus permanently 
 impaired his health. Age seemed, in the opinion of Mr. 
 Waterton, to exempt no one from fasting, at least if he 
 was by his own acts to form the example. 
 
 In reply to all written professional advice on this 
 subject, although, it was always most courteously received, 
 and as gratefully acknowledged, yet, an ingeniously 
 equivocating reply would be invariably transmitted 
 by return of post. I occasionally jeered him as to his 
 disobedience to the priest and the doctor, observing, that 
 he' was acting in direct violation of his faith, and 
 especially so at his age. No one however, had 
 any influence over him unless he was dangerously 
 ill. In such a dilemma, I must admit that he 
 was scrupulously obedient to every prescribed rule, 
 with one exception'; no persuasion could induce the 
 patient to go to bed. E'eclining on a sofa was the 
 utmbst concession that could be obtained, and that was 
 yielded with by no means a good grace. When I 
 advised rest, he would reply, " Corjoori tantum indulgeas 
 
160 CHAKLES WATERTON: — 
 
 quantum bonce valetudini satis est." "Indulge the body 
 only so far as is necessary for good health." 
 
 On one occasion during Lent, in reply to a Letter from 
 me, advising him as regarded the extent of fasting, he 
 playfully returned the following answer : — 
 
 " My dear Sir, — When I call to mind that you have 
 three times saved me from the dreary tomb, and when 
 I reflect on your valuable letter of advice as regards my 
 health, I feel how utterly impossible it is for me to make 
 an adequate return. I shall ever be in your debt were 
 I to live the length of the days of old Louis Cornaro. 
 Doing then all that I can do at present, which is to 
 thank you for what your skill and your friendship have 
 conferred upon me, I will briefly tell you how I am 
 going on, and will explain to you what kind of ground 
 I intend to pasture upon and stray through iintil Easter 
 Sunday morning shall put me on the high road, which 
 leads straight forward to the happy regions of roast beef 
 and plum-pudding. St. Francis of Assissium, (your 
 spiritual director will tell you about this glorious saint,) 
 very aptly gave the name of ass to that part of our 
 human composition which is generally known under the 
 denomination of our earthly frame. This comes so home 
 to myself in particular, that I often make use of the 
 word, when I know that those to whom I address myself 
 are above putting it down to the score of an ill-timed 
 attempt at wit, or of an unbecoming levity. I have then, 
 great pleasure to inform you that my ass is at present 
 very vigorous and sleek in his appearance, and even 
 becomes frisky when the radiant sun of March shines 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOKK. 161 
 
 warm upon it; and if it were not that certain parties 
 thwart it now and then, by trying to pull the dried 
 thistles from its mouth as it trots along, I should say 
 that nothing has intervened since Ash Wednesday to 
 cause it to deviate from the path which it is pursuing. 
 You are aware that this is a penitential time ; dried 
 thistles therefore are very appropriate food for asses, in 
 order that they may in some degree, make satisfaction for 
 past unruly behaviour, and also to prevent similar occur- 
 rences in future. 
 
 " Fearful of subsequent mischievous pranks, I have 
 considered it necessary to stint my ass to this hardy 
 kind of food; and if I may judge by internal feeling 
 and external appearance, we may safely jog on for a few 
 short weeks longer, without being reduced to the neces- 
 sity of regaling ourselves with a quartern or two of good 
 old oats should Peel's income tax allow us to indulge in 
 that sumptuous fare. In the mean time, your good and 
 valuable instructions shall be continually in view; and 
 if I find that my ass begins to droop his ears lower 
 and more frequently than it has been wont to do — if I 
 see that its eye is heavy, its pace slackened, its 
 skin hard to the touch, its mouth dry, and that 
 it appears to loathe its food, which in my opinion, 
 under existing circumstances, is quite good enough for 
 it, I will not fail to meet your wish, as regards an 
 increase of food. 
 
 '■'Very faithfully and sincerely, 
 
 " Charles Watekton." 
 
 m 
 
162 CHAKLES WATEKTON: — 
 
 On personally remonstrating with Mr. "Waterton, and 
 contending in a somewhat admonishing tone, that his 
 advanced age necessitated a more liberal diet, less phy- 
 sical exertion, and a diminution of mental labour, he 
 would with the utmost apparent gravity, observe: — 
 ".Age ! Well, my dear fellow, I am scarcely yet in the 
 prime of life, this question can be mooted many years 
 hence." Or he would take an opposite tack, remarking 
 that I was in error in supposing that increased years 
 required more liberal diet; on the contrary he would 
 say, and on more than one occasion has quoted Cicero 
 as his authority for disputing the soundness of my 
 advice, — " Habeo senectuti magnam gratiam, quae mihi 
 sermonis aviditatem auccit, potionis et cibi sustulit." "I 
 owe many thanks to old age, which has increased 
 my eagerness for conversation, and has diminished my 
 hunger and thirst/' To this the Squire afforded a true 
 convert. 
 
 The Letters I have quoted are specimens of the per- 
 fect illustration of humorous evasions frequently received 
 in reply to my prescribing a more generous and 
 nutritious diet. Their character is tolerably convincing, 
 that the necessity for an increase of nutriment and 
 diminution of labour, at least in the Squire's opinion, 
 never arrived, and therefore I really believe that fasting 
 was the order of the day until the close of life. Some 
 time ago, in reply to an invitation to dine with me, he 
 observed in his facetious humour, — " You will have 
 learned from the pastoral lips of your D.D., that we 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 163 
 
 have not quite yet arrived at mid-Lent, therefore you 
 may be sure that the Pope's padlock is still on my 
 grinders." 
 
 Mr. Waterton's personal apparel was" of so peculiar a 
 character, — of such a primitive style, and occasionally 
 so much worn, and his hat generally in so dilapidated 
 a condition, that he was, now and then addressed by 
 strangers as a person very much below his own grade 
 in society. He usually rejoiced in a blunder of this 
 kind, and was greatly delighted to carry on the miscon- 
 ception in apparent earnestness, by cleverly personating 
 the man of poverty. 
 
 On one occasion, when calling on a neighbouring 
 colonel, the butler showed him into the servants' hall to 
 the Squire's great amusement. The colonel, on its being 
 intimated to him that a person of the name of Waterton 
 •wished to see him, shrewdly suspected the blunder that 
 had been made, and hastened, himself to welcome his 
 friend, and to express great regret in consequence of the 
 supposed annoying mistake, whilst the Squire was chuck- 
 ling in his sleeve at the lucky incident. 
 
 On another occasion, the Squire was loitering leisurely 
 on the road near to the neighbouring village of Walton, 
 when a countryman accosted him by "Good morning, 
 my man, can you direct me the road to the Hall belonging 
 to Squire Watterton ? I want to try to buy some wood of 
 him, but they tell me he is a queer old chap if he happens 
 to be the wrong side out ; do you happen to know aught 
 of him?" , "Yes," rej)bied the Squire, "I know him well. 
 
164 CHARLES waterton: — 
 
 Indeed no one in the neighbourhood knows him so well, 
 or is so much in his company as I am. He is as queer 
 as Dick's hat-band ; you will have to get up early in the 
 morning if you mean to get to the blind side of the 
 old Squire." "Well," rejoined the countryman, "this is 
 a lucky hit; you are the very man for me; come into 
 "the public" close by, and I will stand a pint of beer, 
 and bread and cheese also if you will make it worth 
 my while." Mr. Waterton civilly declined the proffered 
 bribe, saying, "that he had already breakfasted," and 
 advised the countr} r man to have nothing to do with 
 " the old chap, " but to go direct to the woodman 
 "who," he observed, "was a very decent fellow." The 
 woodman was found ; the purchase was made ; and. on 
 the countryman's return, along with the salesman through 
 the park, they accidentally came in contact with the 
 Squire.- The coimtryman was so highly satisfied with 
 his purchase, that he could not refrain from tipping a 
 sly and grateful wink to Mr. Waterton, in having recom- 
 mended him "to have nothing to do with the old chap," 
 when to the countryman's horror, the woodman doffed his 
 hat after the rustic fashion, with a profoundly obedient 
 bow to his master. The cat was instantly out of the bag. 
 The countryman realised the mess he had got into, and 
 stammeringly attempted an apology, but was instantly cut 
 short by an order from the Sqxiire to the woodman, that 
 the purchaser should be taken to the Hall and well 
 regaled, — a finale which speedily set the countryman 
 at ease; and gave him an opportunity to receive at 
 Walton Hall, instead of having to pay at " the public." 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 165 
 
 The Squire always displayed a happy taste, for pick- 
 ing up any thing curious, unique, or interesting in the 
 science of natural history ; and having a peculiarly 
 skilful tact of preserving these specimens in all their 
 natural form and attitude and with the striking simi- 
 litude of life itself, his labours in natural history 
 produced a result as valuable as it is marvellous. 
 The moment you enter the mansion, you are forcibly 
 struck with the peculiarity, variety, and rarity of 
 objects which never fail to delight and deeply 
 interest not merely the eye, but the reflecting and 
 investigating mind. 
 
 Within the mansion there is one very extraordinary 
 and most interesting freak of nature at the foot of the 
 grand staircase, which Mr. Waterton obtained from 
 Eoberts the taxidermist at Scarbro'. This " lusus naturcc," 
 is the head of a sheep, having a horn growing from 
 one of its ears. The ear itself is normal. The horn is 
 natural in appearance, and is as firm and hard as 
 horns usually are. It is semi-transparent, and in fact, 
 presents nothing in its structure, form, or length, 
 different from ordinary horns on a similar breed 
 of sheep. There is no appearance whatever, of any 
 fellow horn on the other ear, nor on any part of the 
 head. This single and dangling aj)pendage had its origin 
 on the outer surface of the ear, about two inches from its 
 root, and about one inch from its tip. Its primary source 
 therefore, is entirely free from the slightest union, or 
 even appearance of connection with the skull; neither 
 
166 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 is it attached to the periosteal membrane immediately- 
 investing the bone. 
 
 Horns are usually given to animals as weapons of 
 defence, but in this particular instance, this horn would 
 be not merely useless, but detrimental for such 
 purpose, as it would seriously interfere with the natural 
 mode of defence and, consequently, this poor sheep 
 if ever in a difficulty during its life, could never have 
 verified the accuracy of Cicero's assertion : " Hie est 
 mucro defensionis meae." " This is my weapon of defence." 
 
 Inasmuch as horns naturally arise at an equal distance 
 from the centre of the skull, there is generally no great 
 inequality of weight to interfere with the balancing power 
 of the head, whereas in this case, the weight of the 
 loose horn continually hanging on one side of the head, 
 without any counterbalancing equivalent on the opposite 
 the muscles on the hornless side, became so elongated, 
 that the head had actually rotated one-fourth of a 
 circle, and of course, was so far out of its natural 
 equilibrium. It is also well authenticated that such was 
 the position of the head for a considerable period before 
 the animal was slaughtered. This head is deservedly 
 much examined by visitors, as an unusual, if not unique, 
 deviation from nature. 
 
 I have a great desire that this volume should not be 
 embarrassed by narrow nor by distinctive limitations. 
 On the contrary, I have been especially anxious that it 
 should afford in the widest acceptation, matter intimately 
 associated with the every-day occurrences — natural- 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 167 
 
 history incidents, and the unravelling of interesting dis- 
 coveries, or corroborations of such — by the widely known 
 Squire of Walton Hall, i.e. consistent with the current 
 reading of the age. 
 
 With these preliminary observations, I trust, as the 
 horn of a ruminating animal has been the subject of 
 the last two or three paragraphs, that it will not be 
 deemed irrelevant nor an inappropriate deviation, should 
 I venture to inform such of my readers as are not con- 
 versant with natural history, — that all the ruminantia 
 having horns, have neither canine teeth nor incisors in 
 the upper jaw, and that they are incapable of reducing 
 their herbage to a state sufficiently pulpy by the ordinary 
 mode of mastication. 
 
 The substituting provision as an equivalent for this 
 apparent deficiency is secured by an instinctively phy- 
 sical power capable of conveying the grossly pounded- 
 herbage, in its imperfectly macerated condition directly 
 forward from the mouth to the first of the four 
 stomachs with which all ruminants are provided. 
 
 The first stomach being large and elastic is conse- 
 quently capable of containing an immense amount of 
 imperfectly masticated herbage. The second, into which 
 this mass in due time is passed, is small and globular 
 with powerful parietes, rendering it capable of grasping 
 and compressing portions of its contents into separate 
 pellets, after having been subjected to maceration and 
 chemical action of the secretion from its lining mem- 
 brane. Subsequently, these pellets are regurgitated into 
 the mouth, in order that they may be finally and 
 
168 CHARLES WATEKTON: — 
 
 effectually blended into a homogeneous pulp by re- masti- 
 cation, and then descend into the third stomach. 
 
 This pulp there becomes thoroughly amalgamated, and 
 in that condition is admitted into the fourth stomach, 
 eventually passing into the larger intestines. 
 
 Without due consideration, it might be supposed that 
 the ruminantia, unlike the non-ruminant animals, can 
 have no enjoyment of their food. Doubtless, the simple 
 act of grazing and a hasty and coarse crushing of the 
 herbage in its dry state, its juices not being imparted 
 to the palate, are little more than mechanical opera- 
 tions, and therefore, so far as gustatory gratification is 
 concerned, must be inconsiderable, but we are ignorant 
 what amount of pleasure these instinctively preparatory 
 acts for future re-mastication may contribute to the 
 animal, in anticipation of chewing the cud. 
 
 That chewing the cud, the ultimate voluntary opera- 
 tion, as regards digestion, is a pleasurable one, none 
 can doubt, who have attentively observed cattle in a 
 recumbent position, with their heads to the breeze 
 during the re-masticating function. 
 
 " On grassy banks herds ruminating He." 
 
 Wild animals of the antelope, deer, and buffaloe tribe, 
 are admirably adapted by this ruminating provision for 
 the country they inhabit, as it is a well-known fact, 
 that these animals could never cross the almost bound- 
 less desert and barren tracts in search of food, or in 
 their spring and autumnal migrations, if they were not 
 furnished with four stomachs. 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 169 
 
 Many of the ruminantia require very little water, and 
 being able, in consequence of the peculiar character of 
 these accommodating receptacles of digestion, to carry 
 so large an amount of herbage, their physical powers and 
 life itself, are thus sustained a much longer period 
 without a fresh supply of food than the non-rumi- 
 nants are; — a proof of adaptation to the .soil. 
 
 During their migratory passage in herds across the 
 barren wastes, they are frequently so harassed by beasts 
 of prey, that in continual fear they have little time 
 and few opportunities to pick up any isolated, stunted, 
 and dried plants they may accidentally meet with, thus 
 they are wonderfully aided and reinforced , by this pecu- 
 liar and more than usually complicated arrangement of 
 the digestive organs, which affords another convincing 
 proof of the widely ordained and admirably adapted pro- 
 visions in nature to meet the wants of the great variety 
 of climate and location. 
 
 I may observe that as regards the teeth, the camel is 
 an exception as a ruminant, being supplied with both 
 incisors and canine teeth, but singularly enough this 
 peculiarly formed animal is hornless. 
 
 In alluding to natural curiosities, I am ignorant whether 
 the occurrence of the sponge, in fresh water lakes, is so great 
 a rarity as to be deemed one ; and I am not aware whether 
 the production of the sponge depends on the quantity 
 of water, the peculiarity of soil over which it passes, 
 through which it may permeate, on which it may 
 rest, or indeed, from what it does primarily originate. 
 
170 CHARLES WATEKTON: — 
 
 Neither do I know -whether it is more frequent in some 
 than in other localities, but at all events, I have several 
 times found it in the lake at Walton Hall ; aud Mr. 
 Waterton himself also on two or three occasions, dis- 
 covered some tolerably large specimens of the sponge 
 in this lake. The specimens which I met with, were 
 generally attached to dead twigs of trees, or to" portions 
 of dried or decayed wood. 
 
 Until within the last few years, the water in the lake 
 was allowed to pass away at its surface-level, consequently, 
 all the soil and decayed vegetable matter remained in the 
 lake; but in 1857, Mr. Waterton so arranged the waste- 
 sluice as to permit the superfluous quantity of water to 
 escape at the base of the lake, which important 'alteration 
 necessarily lessened the amonnt of mud, and consequently, 
 increased the depth of the laka Its deepest part 
 however, does not exceed eighteen feet. Its form is 
 somewhat singular, resembling a comma with its extreme 
 and curved point reversed, its caudated portion terminating 
 by a narrow strip of water, which is literally secluded by 
 wood on both sides ; and, therefore, so thoroughly screened 
 and retired, that it is admirably calculated to tempt every 
 species of water-fowl to assemble here, where they find 
 food, privacy, and protection. To this interesting 
 portion of the lake we were often indulged by a 
 pleasant trip in the sailing boat from the mansion, 
 which agreeable excursion by expert tacking, could 
 generally be accomplished, to and fro, without the aid 
 of oars. 
 
 When the day is serene and there is scarcely a 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 171 
 
 perceptible breeze on the lake, it is very delightful and 
 highly interesting to the naturalist, to linger on the still 
 ■water close to its banks, and gaze on the numerous and 
 happy water-fowl, rejoicing in their simple, exposed, 
 and unadorned nesting retreats. They seem to be 
 devoted in admiration of the treasures they so carefully 
 conceal and protect, and with their wide-spread wings, 
 and extended abdominal feathers, apparently manifest 
 an anxiously inborn solicitude to impart a genial 
 warmth to their eggs, as if fully aware that this exten- 
 sion of feathers would absolutely tend to develope the 
 embryo contained within them. It was also now and 
 then, extremely interesting and instructive to watch the 
 bird which had just become a painfully anxious mother of 
 a numerous and scattered brood, displaying her self- 
 reliant and ingenious schemes of protection for her off- 
 spring which .under fear, are suddenly and unpremedi- 
 tatedly determined by natural and instinctive impulse, 
 and which, it cannot be denied, closely assimilate, nay 
 in many instances, absolutely represent reason itself. 
 From their courage in defence of their young, and their 
 assiduity and perseverance during incubation, the coward 
 may learn to be brave and the rash to be patient. 
 
 " Reasoning at every step he treads, 
 Man yet mistakes his way ; 
 While meaner things, whom instinct leads, 
 Are rarely known to stray." 
 
 "When this lake was dredged in 1857, a quantity 
 of broken portions of glass — of glass bottles, and a 
 variety of broken ordinary crockery, were found em- 
 
172 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 bedded in the mud, which medley of revealed acci- 
 dents had been evidently thrown into the lake in 
 past ages, in order to get rid of them, probably to 
 get them out of sight, and possibly out of mind. 
 The surface of many of these frgaments, when found, 
 was so smoothly and firmly encrusted by a thin 
 film of some deposit during the time they had lain 
 in the mud, that it appeared to be a portion of the 
 glass itself, and not simply incrustation. The varied 
 and vivid tints of this deposition yielded a brilliancy 
 and lustre to the surfaces of the debris which were 
 beautiful in the extreme. Specimens of these were 
 recently preserved at "Walton Hall, which shone as 
 brilliantly as when they were taken out of the water. 
 The mud in which these gems have rested for so many 
 years when excavated and spread on the grass, lias 
 enriched the surrounding land ; and this fertility, 
 from its application, reminds me of the kitchen-garden 
 which is prolific in an unusual degree. 
 
 Mr. Waterton, thoughtful in the extreme for the cook 
 and the kitchen, made a point of having a profuse 
 variety of herbs and vegetables for sallads and soups, 
 as well as an abundance of fruit, filberts, walnuts, and 
 asparagus, indeed an abundance of everything in the 
 way of garden-produce in proper season, not forgetting 
 the leguminous products, green peas for ducks, and beans 
 for home-fed bacon. In addition he cultivated an exten- 
 sive water-spring for cress, which he had in great plenty 
 and perfection. 
 
 These considerately supplied acquisitions afforded an 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 173 
 
 annexation materially influencing both the comfort and 
 expenses of the household establishment. The garden 
 is large, and from its having a southern inclination 
 as regards position, ripens its produce early, and 
 consequently its fruit has always a richness of flavour. 
 Its fecundity is not surprising, when it is known that 
 its situation is sheltered from all the destructive 
 winds — that it has a most genial aspect — and that 
 the whole of the garden is "made ground," composed 
 of thousands of cart loads of the best and richest soil 
 that could be procured. In it, an enbankment or 
 elevated portion of ground is supported and "faced" 
 by a substantial wall, having the form of a segment 
 of a circle. Here, in this sunny aspect, numerous 
 bee-hives were usually placed, being sheltered on all 
 sides, excepting on the south. 
 
 AVhen this wall was being built, Mr. Waterton had a 
 vast number of nesting-holes prepared in it for sand- 
 martins, in which to safely deposit their eggs and 
 hatch their young. For many years, martins in 
 great numbers frequented these separated compart- 
 ments, and brought up swarms of their offspring, but 
 recently, they have entirely deserted the place. This at 
 the time was considered a singular and unaccountable 
 caprice, as the holes, which had been so judiciously 
 and carefully provided for them, were in every way, as 
 agreeable as they could be made. They were remark- 
 ably favourable for incubation, being perfectly dry 
 and entirely out of the reach of all vermin. Neither 
 was there any living creature within the walls of this 
 
174 CHAKLES WATERTON, ETC : — 
 
 garden excepting a tortoise, which had its home 
 here for many, many years. This freak of the sand- 
 martins is a proof of a harmonious understanding 
 being arrived at among themselves, and that they acted 
 in complete concert. 
 
 The Squire, some years ago, was happy in antici- 
 pating the arrival of the sand-martin, as it made its 
 appearance the first of the swallow tribe, so long as it 
 visited Walton Hall. After its unaccountable desertion 
 of this immediate district, the chimney-martin following 
 the house-swallow speedily succeeds it, the swift arriving 
 the last, although it leaves this country the first, or about 
 the same time that the sand-martin leaves us. The 
 chimney-martin then takes its departure, whilst the 
 house-swallow is the last to be seen here. 
 
 In attempting to direct attention to objects, in the 
 park, on the lake, the island, and in "the grotto" 
 and its immediate confines, I have doubtless, omit- 
 ted to notice many well worthy of being examined, 
 which may strike the eye of an enquiring stranger, — 
 nay my very familiarity with them may, possibly 
 plead my best apology for such omission. 
 
 " What place is here ! 
 What scenes appear ! 
 
 Where'er I turn my eyes : 
 All around, 
 Enchanted ground, 
 And soft elysiums rise." 
 
CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 I never met with any one at Mr. Waterton's age with so 
 retentive a memory. If during conversation a similitude 
 or corroboration of a statement was needed to elucidate or 
 amuse, he was seldom found wanting, and if he had 
 recently read, or heard, an anecdote in Latin or English, 
 he could generally, reproduce it word for word. 
 
 I well remember that there was a disagreeable stench 
 near the Grotto, where a pic-nic party of the working class 
 had assembled to dine a few days previously, and seeing 
 a parcel resembling an envelope on the ground, I observed, 
 rely upon it that letter contains some dead animal matter, 
 (which turned out to be a stale herring), when the Squire 
 after a moments consideration, and with great gravity of 
 countenance said, " Well, Jones complained of a bad smell 
 about the Post-office, and asked Brown what it coidd be. 
 Brown didn't know, but suggested that it might arise from 
 the dead letters. I immediately remarked you do astonish 
 me, to find how indeliby everything is written down in 
 your brain." " No," he observed, " the ink is not so 
 permanent now as it used to be. At one time I could 
 have bottled up any thing I heard, and have drawn the 
 cork years afterwards, and have reproduced its contents at 
 pleasure in as sparkling a condition as Madame Clicot's 
 champagne, a mischevous product which I never allow to 
 be brought into my house. 
 
176 CHARLES WATEETON: — 
 
 About that time a lady wrote to me relative to the 
 destruction of the spawn of fish by swans on the lake close 
 to their house, which letter I submitted to the Squire. 
 After having descanted at some length on this subject in a 
 letter to me, he seized upon the watcher as m-jre 
 destructive than the swan, and in his ire said, "This is 
 the era for defamation. Many a poor bird be it gentle 
 or ferocious, is doomed to death for imaginary crimes. 
 If your friend would hang her game-keeper and flog her 
 watcher once a week, for his poaching transgressions, she 
 would always have more than enough of fish to admire, 
 to eat, and to pickle, But the gun and poison are in 
 perpetual use. There is no living now-a-days, said the 
 louse to her mother, when she saw the nursery maid 
 handling a comb to rake the children's heads." 
 
 There were two reasons always prevailing in the 
 Squire's vivid memory to account for his unwarrantably 
 severe condemnation of understrappers in general, and for 
 his half declared acquittal of the swan. 
 
 The former had its origin in his innate attachment, 
 long continued, unbroken, and unalienable familiarity with 
 the feathered race — the latter arose from ingratitude 
 experienced several years previously from a watcher, who 
 whilst he was being benevolently supported by. his master 
 was secretly a traitor to his interests. 
 If I have but sparsely gathered from the really numerous 
 good deeds of the " South American Wanderer," I have 
 at all events, the satisfaction to believe that sufficient 
 have been rescued from oblivion, to afford ample con- 
 viction as to the truly estimable and engaging character 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 177 
 
 of Mr. Waterton. If an excuse were needed for such 
 a preservation, I should say with Tacitus, — that " I hold 
 it to be the special office of history that virtuous actions 
 he not buried in oblivion, and that men feel a dread of 
 being deemed infamous by posterity for their evil words 
 and actions.' " Prcecvpuum mumts annulium, reor, ne 
 virtutes sileantur, vigue prams dictis factisgue, ex posteritate 
 et infamia metus sit." 
 
 In attempting to rescue some of the noble deeds of 
 the Squire from oblivion, I am not labouring under the 
 dubious feelings which Pope modestly admitted, when 
 he said, in the office of collecting his previous writings, 
 that he was altogether uncertain, whether he looked upon 
 himself as a man building a monument, or burying the 
 dead. My object has ever been that the memory of the 
 dead should not be buried. Let us permanently bury 
 the actions of those whose deeds are these of darkness* 
 but let us disseminate, cherish, and render enduring 
 the memory and deeds of the virtuous. 
 
 The chief part of the Natural-history specimens within 
 the mansion at Walton Hall, when they were in what 
 may be termed an elementary state, were subjected to 
 a thoroughly immersed maceration for a considerable 
 period, in a saturated solution of oxymuriate of mercury, 
 after which careful preparation of the skin of either bird 
 or animal, neither moth nor any insect whatever will 
 ever attempt to destroy it or deposit its eggs in any 
 portion of the skin or feathers so prepared and " mounted." 
 But it must be strictly observed that simple momentary 
 
178 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 immersion was never relied upon by the Squire, nor 
 had recourse to, excepting in the most favourable speci- 
 mens. The subject intended for preservation, particularly 
 if not in a fresh condition, might require to be thoroughly 
 covered in the. solution for a day, or in some instances 
 a greater length of time. 
 
 Taxidermists say that " corrosive sublimate is expensive, 
 and then there is the trouble attendant upon wetting and 
 drying the feathers. Now, the additional cost is in reality 
 trifling, it is the additional trouble they don't like, which, 
 after all, is a mere flea-bite ; and in compensation they 
 would have the satisfaction of knowing, that their 
 mounted specimens would be permanently safe from 
 hat penetrating and destructive foe the moth." 
 
 Some birds at Walton Hall, thus preserved by Mr. 
 Waterton, have been purposely exposed, having been 
 experimentally located in their present position without 
 shade or any protection whatever for upwards of fifty- 
 five years, and are now as fresh in appearance, and as 
 perfectly free from any trace of the moth, or of any of 
 its pernicious and despoiling influences as they were 
 the day they were "set up." 
 
 Notwithstanding Mr. Waterton's repeatedly publishing 
 his mode of preservation in detail in his works, and also 
 now and then in ordinary newspapers for the benefit of 
 all, — yet you continually hear of parties, professing a 
 knowledge of natural history and taxidermy, even yet 
 enquiring the best mode of preservation from the moth. 
 
 All the birds and animals, as well as all other speci- 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 179 
 
 mens of natural history preserved by the Squire, are 
 indebted for maintaining their correctly anatomical form, 
 natural life-like attitude, and their permanently well- 
 sustained position, entirely to modelling by internal 
 manipulation. This admirable method is unques- 
 tionably far superior to any other yet adopted. Its 
 advantages are numerous and really important, and they 
 are certainly very convincing to all taxidermists who 
 will, with nice accuracy, follow out the method recom- 
 mended and invariably adopted by the Squire. 
 
 This mode of manipulation within the skin gives 
 great scope and wonderful facilities to the taxidermist, 
 in enabling him to produce and bring out at pleasure, 
 not merely local elevation of feathers on any particular 
 portion of a bird, but it gives him the power also of 
 raising perpendicularly, and of sustaining in a perma- 
 nent position, even any individual feather that may be 
 required to imitate nature by standing erect. It also 
 enables the taxidermist to elevate any patch apparently 
 inflated however small, or any extent of bristling feathers 
 however large; for instance, in order to represent anger, 
 as in the male turkey, or the assumed dignity, con- 
 spicuous pride, and self-conceit of the peacock. 
 
 Another great advantage is obtained by this ingenious 
 method, inasmuch as it requires neither stuffing nor 
 wires to sustain and preserve the attitude or position 
 once given. In fact, the skin of either bird or animal 
 by being soaked in the saturated solution of oxymuriate 
 of mercury and daily manipulated by modelling witliin, 
 until the required form and attitude are ultimately 
 
180 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 gained, and until the absorption of all moisture is 
 completed, becomes thoroughly and effectually tanned 
 and durably unalterable in its form and position, needing 
 no artificial support of any description whatever. If 
 by accident, any bird so prepared should be crushed 
 into an unseemly or unnatural form, the skin, from its 
 inherently elastic property of recovering its former figure, 
 will revert to its original form the moment that detrimental 
 pressure is removed and the skin and feathers are simply 
 adjusted. A weasel and indeed other larger animals, were 
 so ingeniously mounted by the Squire, that you could 
 instantaneously detach the head or the limbs, or even 
 one half of the body from the other half, and replace 
 them as quickly ; — and without the slightest appearance 
 of any defect, the different parts could be again united 
 in a moment so as to produce a perfect animal, to the 
 astonishment of any accidental spectator. Indeed the 
 head and legs could be thus detatched and placed 
 within the body of the animal so preserved. 
 
 Such splendid specimens as the male turkey and 
 peacock in the extension-staircase at Walton-Hall, 
 (both being magnificent in plumage,) would each cost 
 the Squire a considerable amount of labour daily, for 
 several weeks before completion; but it must be re- 
 membered, that half a dozen specimens might be 
 in hand at the same time. In some stages of this 
 mode of preservation, one single bird might probably 
 require an hour's labour, whilst another in a more for- 
 ward stage of being preserved, might not need more 
 than five or ten miuutes. It is however, always abso- 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOEK. 181 
 
 lutely necessary that more or less internal modelling 
 should be daily had recourse to, so as not merely to 
 obtain, but to preserve the form and attitude which have 
 been secured the previous day. 
 
 Simple pieces of hard wood of arbitrary lengths to 
 suit the modeller, and from three quarters of an inph 
 to an inch in circumference, with smooth and rounded 
 heads of various sizes, were the only mechanical materials 
 Mr. Waterton used for all his modelling purposes. 
 
 The objection urged by taxidermists generally against 
 this method, is the difficulty of execution and the length 
 of time it is supposed to occupy. If however, three or 
 four or half a dozen birds are in process of being mounted 
 at the same time, this objection ceases. Nothing, it is 
 evident, but an unheard-of perseverance and labour, 
 coupled with lengthened experience, could have accom- 
 plished what the Squire has actually perfected in taxi- 
 dermic execution; but he who has determined to be 
 incomparable, must encounter and submit to an infinite 
 amount of both physical and intellectual exertion, that is, 
 "he who would eat the kernel must crack the shell." 
 " Qui e nuce nucleum esse vult, frangat nucem." 
 
 Mr. Waterton was so ardently attached to every thing 
 pertaining to natural history, that any labour connected 
 with this department of science, which would weary 
 most men, never appeared to have any fatiguing in- 
 fluence over him; and more especially, if his 
 subject was either beautiful, rare, or one somewhat 
 unique or difficult of execution. 
 
182 CHAELES WATERTON: — 
 
 The Squire was always singularly liberal in his desire 
 to communicate information, in what he jocularly termed 
 the " bird-stuffing line," to any one who was really anxious 
 to be taught; but if the should-be learning pupil ever 
 so far forgot himself as to suppose, that as an expert 
 in taxidermy, he was closely treading on the Squire's 
 heels, this professing pupil would pretty soon be in 
 disgrace, and in an inglorious position. 
 
 On the other hand, if any one wanted a hint, and in a 
 proper spirit manifestly realised his own inferiority in 
 the art of "setting up" birds, the Squire would speedily 
 recognise his anxiety for improvement, and forthwith 
 display an evident and unmistakeable pleasure in 
 supplying his intellectual wants, — and always in an 
 agreeably instructive manner. 
 
 In however humble a position of life a man might be, 
 yet if he was in mental distress, in consequence of a 
 lack of taxidermic skill, the Squire would feelingly 
 say, " Poor fellow ! I pity him." 
 
 " Qiwmcunque miserum videris, hominem scias. 1 ' 
 
 "Whenever you behold a fellow creature in distress, 
 remember that he is a man." 
 
 This kind feeling and generous conduct on the part 
 of Mr. Waterton, had, doubtless, its origin in a similarity 
 of taste as regarded natural history. The old proverb 
 says, '' Birds of a feather flock together," and I pre- 
 sume, from the somewhat strange associations we some- 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 183 
 
 times see, they do so regardless of plumage. Ovid happily- 
 elucidated and confirmed these sentiments, when he wrote 
 the following lines : — 
 
 " Scilicet ingeniis aliqua est concordia junctis, 
 Etsermt stvdiz fcedera quisque sui." 
 
 "In truth, there is a certain alliance between kindred 
 minds, and each one cherishes the ties of his own pursuit." 
 
 If a man either had, thought he had, or was supposed 
 to have, any knowledge whatever in the science of natural 
 history, the door at Walton Hall was always open to him. 
 by asking permission at the fountain head ! 
 
 As a general rule, no unknown party was admitted 
 beyond the threshold of the lodge doors, unless he could 
 give some apparently satisfatory reason for his entrance 
 within the park walls ; but now and then, the feminine 
 janitor was outwitted by some contrivance or other, so 
 specious as to secure a stranger's entrance ; — under such 
 circumstances, the Squire's patience was occasionally 
 severely tested. On the whole however, the arrange- 
 ment of exclusion at the lodge to all strangers was 
 gently and reasonably made, and so effectually carried 
 out, as to preserve entire privacy in the whole of this 
 extensive domain, so that there could be no disagreeable 
 nor unexpected intrusion at any time. 
 
 If a stranger did get access to the house, the questions 
 that Mr. Waterton put to himself, on one occasion at 
 least, in a half- whispering tone, in my presence, before the 
 final determination, " to be, or not to be/' were these " Has 
 the man come here in quest of gape-seed ? Has he come 
 
184 CHARLES WATEETON: — 
 
 •with a profession of a knowledge of -which he is really 
 ignorant ? Has he come to teach the old Squire how to 
 stuff birds ? Or, has he come, in all humility, to gather 
 a few crunibs of information ? If he have come for any 
 of the first three reasons, he may wend his way home 
 again as soon as he likes ; if for the last reason, I will 
 admit the poor fellow." 
 
 In reality, it was of very little moment what the man 
 might have come for, as the Squire's kind heart could 
 rarely refuse admission to any one ; hence hundreds of 
 these "poor fellows" still breathe the spirit of the 
 following quotation : — 
 
 " Vita enim movtuorum in memori& vivorum est posita.'' 
 
 " The life of the dead is retained in the memory of the 
 living." 
 
 Although Walton Hall is, in many respects, a very 
 convenient house, yet it has in my opinion, one great 
 disadvantage; for instance, as a matter of necessity, 
 every thing weighty or unwieldly has to be received 
 into the house on a tier below the ordinary front ground 
 floor, and in order to gain such admission, all these things 
 have to be conveyed across a portion of the lake, on the 
 south-west side of the mansion, by a large flat-bottomed 
 boat to a place, I admit, well adapted for their being 
 easily and safely landed. 
 
 The Squire from Jong continued habit and usage, I pre- 
 sume, considered this little or no inconvenience, although 
 by this transit was conveyed all the fuel consumed in the 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 185 
 
 house in the form of coal and wood ; also, all stone and 
 bricks and mortar for reparation or alteration as regarded 
 building purposes, hogsheads, furniture, &c, &c. A con- 
 siderable quantity of fuel must have been always required, 
 as Mr. Waterton could never get on satisfactorily or with 
 any comfort, without large fires. 
 
 If the Squire came to my house unexpectedly during 
 my absence, even in July or August, when a fire was 
 generally, not merely unnecessary but disagreeable to 
 most people, he would, immediately on his arrival, rush 
 into the kitchen until a fire could be made for him 
 in its proper place ; and on my return, he would say, 
 " How I have enjoyed myself at a roaring fire in your 
 kitchen." 
 
 I apprehend that this morbid sensibility as to cold 
 arose from excessive fasting, a too frequent repetition 
 of " tapping the claret," and a prejudicial habit of abstract- 
 ing an inordinate amount of blood at one time, or prob- 
 ably from both causes ; and, I feel confident, that these 
 combined acts, which I always unreservedly disapproved 
 and endeavoured to disuade him from resorting to, 
 materially cut short his life. 
 
 It gives me great pleasure to record any act or occur- 
 ence connected with the late subject of this memoir 
 which tends to establish 'a, correct conception of the 
 natural disposition and true character of the man ; 
 and it affords me special gratification when any such 
 contribution is obtained from a source at once conveying 
 a convincing impression that such event has been 
 actually witnessed by an intimate friend of the Squire. 
 
186 CHARLES ' WATEKTON : — 
 
 Now to my knowledge there existed for several years 
 not only a very agreeable natural history correspondence, 
 but a confiding friendship between the old Squire and Sir 
 James Stuart Menteth, Bart., and therefore any incident 
 authorised by Sir James is doubly welcome, and more 
 especially as I have a generous permission to insert it in 
 my future editions. 
 
 " My Dear Doctor Hobson, 
 
 " Having read ' Charles Waterton, his home, habits, 
 and handiwork,' perhaps it may gratify you to hear how 
 much pleased T am with it, and also to know I consider 
 it very truthful in all you describe of the pursuits and 
 character of our dear old friend the Squire of Walton 
 Hall. 
 
 " For nearly forty years I enjoyed his society, and 
 occasionally partaking of his hospitality I had ample 
 opportunity of being well acquainted with his sound and 
 excellent views of natural history, and of witnessing in 
 his park the various and ingenious contrivances he adopted 
 to make it a home and paradise for the feathered creation. 
 
 " As I have always, from being a boy, taken the liveliest 
 interest in natural history, you may easily conceive how 
 much I used to enjoy my visits to Walton Hall. 
 
 " After one of these visits I committed to paper a slight 
 sketch of what I saw in the park and in the house. 
 
 " This paper appeared in Loudon's Magazine of Natural 
 History, vol. viii, page 28, in January, L835. 
 / " If you will read it you will find that I agree with you 
 in the delightful portrait you have drawn of the dear old 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 187 
 
 Squire, and of the different ways he devised to make his 
 park a safe retreat and paradise for every bird that entered 
 its precincts. 
 
 " I never knew a man of kinder or more amiable dis- 
 position. 
 
 "After the death of Mr. Loudon, editor of various useful 
 works on gardening, &c, he left his widow not over well 
 provided for. Mr. Waterton having been acquainted with 
 Mr. Loudon, invited his widow to Walton Hall, and during 
 this visit of a month, composed his third volume of 
 'Essays on Natural History,' which he presented to 
 Mrs. Loudon to make what she could of it. 
 
 "Few country gentlemen were more versant in the 
 classics than Mr. "Waterton. He had Virgil, Horace, and 
 Ovid at his finger ends, and readily composed verse in 
 English and Latin. 
 
 "From Ovid's Metamorphosis he took many hints to 
 adom his three volumes of 'Essays on Natural History.' 
 
 "These beautifully written Essays will long survive 
 the amiable author and instil in many a youthful mind 
 a love of natural history, and also teach a good lesson of 
 showing kindness to every dumb animal ; and I wish I 
 could add, infuse in the minds of our rural aristocracy a 
 love of preservation of life of many of our birds and 
 animals which the gamekeeper has now orders to destroy, 
 and hang on his gibbet. I hope that Mr. Waterton's 
 good example may be followed by many of the English 
 Squires by making their parks the home and asylum of 
 the much-persecuted birds, so useful to man in clearing 
 his woods and fields of insect vermin. 
 
188 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 " Books like Boswell's life of Doctor Johnson are always 
 interesting to the reader. Imparting the conversations of 
 a distinguished man acquaints us with his mind and 
 thoughts. In your ' Waterton's home, habits, and handi- 
 work,' you have given us these in a lively and , interest- 
 ing manner. By doing so your book will be valuable 
 and interesting to every lover of natural history ; and it 
 will diffuse far and wide a knowledge of a man who has 
 done more for the cultivation of natural history than 
 any one of his day. There was not a British bird 
 nor animal, whose habits and character he had not 
 studied by watching them out of doors at every season 
 of the year. 
 
 " Hoping you will be amply rewarded for all the 
 trouble you have taken in recording the doings in natural 
 history of such an interesting and good man as Charles 
 Waterton, of Walton Hall. 
 
 " I am, my dear Doctor Hobson, 
 
 " Yours sincerely, 
 
 "James Stuart Menteth. 
 " Mansfield House, 
 
 " Near Cumnock, Ayrshire. 
 
 "25th October, 1866." 
 
 To describe the interior of the mansion at Walton Hall, 
 and do justice to it, would require a varied extent of 
 knowledge which few men possess, and would be a 
 labour of so Herculean a character that few men would 
 care to undertake the task, whilst a still less number 
 would be able to creditably accomplish the laborious and 
 difficult undertaking. 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 189 
 
 Bare, exquisitely beautiful, and truly gorgeous birds 
 from all countries, uninterruptedly and with unbounded 
 satisfaction, meet your eye at every step in the magnificent 
 grand staircase and its extension. You can scarcely 
 conceive it possible that even living nature could surpass, 
 nay could equal the simple dead representations here dis- 
 played, to such a state of perfection has art attained. But 
 the " great object of art is to conceal art." " Ars est celare 
 artem." In taxidermy, you have here unrivalled execution 
 In attitude, you have life itself in all its varied phases. In 
 plumage, you have lustrous beauty unsurpassed even in 
 life. In anatomy, you have every local prominence, local 
 depression, curve, nay, even the slightest elevation or 
 depression of each separate feather, to accurately repre- 
 sent nature in all her imposing grandeur and apparent 
 animation. Yon are delighted with each bird, animal, 
 reptile, and insect. You are charmed with each group, 
 whilst you are literally fascinated and amazed with 
 the "tout ensemble." 
 
 On the top of the staircase is the veritable cayman, 
 mentioned in " Waterton's Wanderings," and on which 
 the Squire was mounted in Essequebo, after being 
 caught by a shoulder of mutton bait, and when under 
 the control of the natives and his own servant. Here 
 you see the actual line and hook which captured and 
 safely secured this alligator in the river, and by which 
 he was dragged on to " terra firma," evidently much 
 against his own inclination, now that he was favoured 
 with a barbed hook in his stomach* by which his 
 man-eating propensities were doubtless thoroughly sub- 
 
190 CHAELES WATERTON: — 
 
 dued. You also see, in this enchanting staircase, the 
 huge snake with which the Squire contended in single 
 conflict, and which, by his never-failing courage, pre- 
 sence of mind, and power, he bravely conquered, even 
 when it had coiled its vast and powerful length around 
 his body, with so tight and oppressive a grasp, as to 
 nearly suffocate him. 
 
 It is utterly impossible, either by any written or ver- 
 bal description to convey even a faint idea of the reality 
 in this extraordinary collection. Surprising as it may 
 appear, yet the preservation of every bird, animal, insect, 
 and their name is legion,) in the whole of this unparalleled 
 assemblage abounding in rarity, beauty and eccentricity, 
 is the work solely of the Squire's own hands. We may 
 well exclaim in admiration, "When shall we find his 
 like again?" " Quando ullum invcnicmus paremV 
 
 Although I dare not attempt to describe, even 
 generally, the numberless objects of curiosity within 
 the house, yet I will venture to draw attention to two 
 or three, because of their extreme peculiarity, and the 
 marked attention bestowed upon them by strangers. 
 
 In the first place, (illusion may be made to an 
 enormous crab, really a monster in size, beautiful in 
 colour, natural in attitude, and splendidly preserved and 
 "set up." 
 
 Mr. Waterton, when in one of his merry moods, and 
 such jocular humours were by no means either unfre- 
 quent or unwelcome, waggishly represented this crab, 
 which he called his " crustacious favourite." in Latin 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. ' 191 
 
 verse, as one of the twelve signs of the summer solstice, 
 thus playing on the word Cancer, and placed the verses 
 within the case containing the crab. "He anticipated," 
 he was accustomed to say, " a bit of criticism from the 
 cognoscenti, a hearty laugh from those who had as matter- 
 ing of the dead tongue, but not learned enough to 
 understand it, and great gravity from those who had 
 never thumbed a Latin grammar, and he was not dis- 
 
 apppointed," he observed, "in the long run." 
 
 i 
 " Cancer. 
 
 SOLSTITIUM JESTmjM. 
 
 Jussti fatomm, non audet, Umina cancri, 
 
 Unquavi cuiriculo, Sol svperare suo 
 Juxta autem portam, cursum repressit equorwm, 
 
 Uiide dies longa, et nox brews esse solet. 
 
 CAROLUS WATERTOX." 
 
 The Latin verse may be thus translated : — 
 
 The Summeb Solistioe. 
 
 Sol dare not drive — such the decree of fate — 
 Past Cancer's hounds, but when he nears the gate, 
 Pulls up his coursers in their fiery-flight, 
 Hence, come the longest day and shortest night. 
 
 When Mr. "Waterton saw any one who modestly and 
 unaffectedly acknowledged his ignorance of the Latin 
 language, he politely and very kindly afforded every 
 possible explanation relative to his verses, and to the habits 
 of the crab ; but when his quick eye caught any one 
 professing that of which he was evidently ignorant, the 
 Squire invariably "passed by on the other side." The 
 
192 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 Scholar had an utter detestation of pretended assumption 
 of a knowledge by any party not possessing it ; and he 
 never failed by his manner alone, to convey an unmistake- 
 able and unenviable impression to the erring individual 
 The crab which incited Mr. Waterton to represent it in 
 Latin verse as the fourth constellation in the Zodiac, 
 is really a magnificent one in nature as a crab, and 
 the Squire's skilful manipulation in "mounting" it, has 
 rendered it, as a specimen of art, an object of equal 
 admiration. 
 
 I have already described " John Bull and the National 
 Debt," in the representation of the filbert-tree and 
 mill-stone in a state of nature ; but Mr. Waterton, from 
 his extreme horror of all taxation, was induced to illustrate 
 this subject of nature by a very singular work of art, placed 
 within the extension staircase. 
 
 These two subjects of nature and art are synonymous in 
 appellation, " John Bull and the National Debt " being 
 used by the Squire as applicable to both ; in appearance 
 however, they are very dissimilar, yet their dissimilarity to 
 the eye Avill not allow us to draw any other conclusion 
 than that the ultimate result will be the sanie in both 
 cases. The Squire always stoutly maintained, that 
 although the death of the filbert-tree might be of a some- 
 what distant and lingering character, yet that its fatal 
 termination would not be the less sure, simply from the 
 effect of strangulation ; whilst in the case of art, although 
 John may boast of his coat of mail with which he is 
 clothed as a protecting armour ; and of his peculiarity of 
 construction, as indicating strength and endurance, — yet it 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 193 
 
 is evident, that the immense weight he has to sustain must 
 ultimately bring him to the ground. 
 
 This most singular and ludicrous subject of art represents 
 John Bull as standing on four legs, to denote power and 
 capability to support a heavy weight. His back is formed 
 from that of the tortoise, whilst a sturdy-looking visage 
 peeps out from under the over hanging shell of the anterior 
 extremity of this artificial roof. His legs are short and 
 representing double the number allotted to man as I 
 have already stated, in order to indicate power and 
 stability, whilst a well-filled sack is slung across his 
 back; on one side of -which is written transversely in 
 legible characters, "John Bull and the National Debt," 
 and on the other, " Eight hundred million pounds sterling." 
 This is a most extraordinary, and indeed, what may be 
 termed a most unearthly looking object ; one that excites 
 intense curiosity as to its composition, and invariably 
 tickles the risible faculties of strangers. 
 
 Mr. "Waterton had considerable inventive genius, 
 especially in the actual formation of supposed extinct 
 animals, and generally of the most horrid form and 
 appearance, by a skilful union of separate portions of 
 reptiles. By the way, his inventive powers, though exer- 
 eised more than forty years ago, had nearly carried his 
 experimental ingenuity to a fatal issue. He had for a 
 considerable period, conceived some crude and ill digested 
 idea, that the act of flying was within his grasp, and 
 that in a short time, he would become a second Pegasus 
 in execution. 
 
 o 
 
194 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 Under this surprisingly delusive impression, he invented 
 and manufactured duplicates of a peculiar character of 
 mechanism as substitutes for natural wings, to be fixed 
 on each arm, and to be united by their surrounding 
 the thoracic and dorsal portion of the trunk. 
 
 How the Squire proposed to dispose of his lower 
 extremities he did not explain to me, but I remember 
 he stated that a man's legs however symmetrically formed, 
 were inconveniently long and heavy for an " atmospheric 
 trip," unless they could have something more sustaining 
 than air on which to rest, or to sustain the lever they 
 represent, and consequently, were too unwieldy and 
 unmanageable to be of any service to the aeronaut in 
 navigating the atmosphere ; adding, that the only time, 
 during his life, he had found his legs in the way, was 
 when he attempted to fly 
 
 At all events, Mr. Waterton not only manufactured 
 fictitious wings, but actually attached them to his arms 
 and trunk, and also formed and fixed the remaining 
 mechanism which he conceived was necessary to be 
 attached to the other parts of the body, so as to complete, 
 and as he imagined, perfect this really chimerical project; 
 and in order to carry his scheme into practical execution, 
 he arranged to make his first essay from the eves of 
 the roof of a building in the farm yard being an eleva- 
 tion of several yards, from whence his flight, it is true, 
 would be of limited extent in a forward direction, and 
 where an abundance of litter would break the severity 
 of a possibly uncontrollable and rapid descent. 
 
 Fortunately, however, when 'the Squire was "clipped , 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOKK. 195 
 
 and heeled" for his first attempt to take an aeriform 
 cruise, "an intimate friend," " Alicui toto pectore deditus," 
 accidentally walked into the farm yard, and happily 
 had sufficient influence over the would-be aeronaut to 
 persuade him to take his incipient trip from a less 
 elevated position. 
 
 Of course, it is needless to minutely detail the many 
 perils and dangers he actually encountered in attempting 
 to carry out this delusive conception, as the Squire after- 
 wards unhesitatingly admitted to me, that unlike Pegasus, 
 he could neither fly to the *top of Mount Helicon," nor 
 further imitate him " by then flying up to heaven." Also, 
 that his affinity for the earth, to his great surprise, woe- 
 fully out balanced his attraction to the clouds, and that on 
 coming in contact with "mother earth," he received, as 
 he was wont to say, when jocosely using the Walton 
 dialect, such a " foul shak," as to be satisfactorily convinced 
 that soaring in the atmosphere was not his fo?-te, having 
 in his unwilling, unintentional, and disagreeably hasty 
 descent, like Phaeton (who lost command of his horses) 
 thoroughly lost all command of his wings, and thus" 
 narrowly escaped a broken neck, by pitching lightly 
 and softly upon his head in spite of the faith he 
 had entertained in his all-supporting wings. 
 
 "Since that egregious and unpardonable blunder of 
 mine," observed Mr. Waterton, " I have realised the 
 rebuke given by Apelles, ' Let not the cobbler go beyond 
 his last ' — ' Ne Sutor ultra crepidam.' My legs, which are 
 all that mortar man can desire, so long as they are used as 
 nature intended, have never failed to come to my rescue 
 
196 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 when in difficulty, so long as I trusted to them, whilst my 
 wings have never been put to the test but once, and 
 then ingloriously left me in the lurch. 
 
 "The publicity of my rash attempt to confide in 
 wings, together with my failure, which at the time was 
 comparatively in a nut-shell, where I had hoped it would 
 remain, soon, contrary to my wishes, spread abroad, and 
 the rumour in its route gathered nothing that was 
 enviable on my behalf, but just the reverse. This 
 was somewhat annoying, but I must admit' that the 
 chaffing I fell heir to was Ultimately beneficial to me, 
 inasmuch as it convinced me that I had no earthly chance 
 to lay claim to the motto of the Earl of Thanet, — "He 
 flies with his own wings," " Alis volat propriis ; " an 
 accomplishment which I had fully intended to have 
 acquired. I was however satisfied, that in popular lan- 
 guage, I had been " out of my element," had laid 
 myself open to the sneers of professing friends, and that 
 I had in future, much better tenaciously adhere to my 
 favourite natural-history labours, in which I encountered 
 neither danger nor derision. And yet, no man cares 
 less for these two bugbears than I do ; in fact, the former, 
 the public say, has now and then been somewhat courted 
 by me, whilst the latter is insidiously patronised by the 
 professor of friendship whom I despise." 
 
 " Forty years ago I had a hard struggle to keep my 
 head above water against a host of self-constituted cen- 
 sorious scoundrels, but the unprejudiced public took 
 my wandering bantling by the hand, affording it even- 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOKK. 197 
 
 handed protection until it arrived at maturity. When 
 armed cap-a-pie and floating in smooth water, it bravely 
 hoisted the colours of self-defence, and confidently threw 
 down the < gauntlet, anxious to be overhauled by hon- 
 ourable and impartial reviewers." 
 
 It frequently happens that, in reviewing the character 
 or writings of a man, those self-appointed censors 
 are the least qualified to form a reliable judgment, — 
 are the most prejudiced and perversely obstinate in 
 promulgating their opinions, and the least inclined to 
 put a favourable construction on any doubtful point. 
 
 It is, indeed, an admitted fact, that many disputed 
 the varacity of "The Wanderings," published in 1825; 
 but the subsequently repeated and astounding feats of 
 the Squire at length convinced all worthy of notice, 
 that in every natural-history instance recorded by 
 Mr. Waterton, his word was truth. 
 
 This ungenerous scepticism did to a certain extent, 
 as I have previously observed, rankle in the heart of the 
 good old man, or he would never, at so remote a 
 period, have dwelt on these invective animadversions 
 as he did to his old friend, Mr. Harrison of - Lancaster, 
 who for the last twenty years was accustomed to fre- 
 quently see- the Squire at his own residence and at 
 Lupset Hall, near Wakefield, the seat of Mr. Daniel 
 Gaskell,- a very old and valued friend of Mr. Waterton. 
 
 To Mr. Harrison, the Squire observed, " that after his 
 removal of a host of rattle-snakes from one compartment of 
 a case to another," an old fellow who had witnessed, what 
 he termed this dangerous and courageous transfer, cried 
 
198 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 out, "Well! after this fact I'll believe ' The "Wanderings."' 
 
 Now what can he more convincing of the worthless- 
 ness or rather of the undeservedly damaging influence of 
 an opinion founded on a limited knowledge of the 
 subject entertained by such ignorant or inconsiderate 
 parties, than the one here recorded ? 
 
 Had disparagement or even disbelief, been limited to 
 parties moving in a sphere of life similiar to the instance 
 to which I have now alluded, such impediments would 
 have been trifling, but the moment the naturalist had 
 hatched his offspring, and before the deliberately judg- 
 ing portion of the public had an opportunity to form 
 their own opinion by perusal as to the veracity of its 
 contents, war to the knife was waged against "The 
 Wanderings," consequently before being fledged it had 
 to suffer the deteriorating pressure of unjust accusations. 
 
 Some of the regularly constituted reviewers at once 
 emphatically stated that the contents were untrue, and 
 on that false assumption these censorious critics, pro- 
 ceeded to pour out their ill nature. 
 
 Notwithstanding, however, the degrading position in 
 which some of the detractors had most unjustly placed 
 "The Wanderings" it gradually emancipated itself 
 from so undeserved a condemnation. Some of the 
 imputations were so spiteful that the cloven foot peeped 
 out, whilst the bitterest reviewers betrayed so malignant a 
 feeling that many of the more charitable public, from utter 
 commiseration for the Author ventured to judge for 
 themselves, and immediately "the tables were turned" 
 to such an extent as to induce the thinking and 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 199 
 
 unprejudiced portion of the people to read and believe, 
 Gradually, as the Squire's pov/ers became more known. 
 "The Wanderings" in a relative ratio crept into sum- 
 mer plumage, working out a reputation and eminent 
 distinction for the Author, which thousands would be 
 delighted to inherit, and which have shed a lustre on the 
 name of Charles "Waterton that succeeding ages will be 
 loth to efface. 
 
 As a further and definitely individual confirmation of 
 what I have stated relative to the loose and incongruous 
 opinions of many reviewers of " The Wanderings;" on 
 which they formed their judgment and promulgated 
 their harsh and undeserved ridicule, I may select the 
 Squire's "riding the cayman," as the chief stumbling- 
 block on which they seized as " an uqualified untruth." 
 
 Now, Mr. Waterton admitted to me that when he 
 mounted the cayman, " I had no fear, because I knew 
 it was impossible that the hook, from its peculiarity of 
 construction, could be returned through the mouth, and 
 having made it myself, I had carefully ascertained that 
 there was no flaw in it, and had also tested the strength 
 of the rope. You may rely upon it that I made all 
 secure for the sake of number one, as I had a pre- 
 determined intention to mount the saurian if he should 
 give me a chance. 
 
 " My enemies, if I have any, have played the fool in 
 disputing my having accomplished a feat, which any 
 oldlady, minus her crinoline, might have easily done." 
 
 Somewhat similarly was the first edition of this volume 
 recently received by the Editor of the Zoologist. Not- 
 
200 CHAKLES WATERTON: — 
 
 withstanding its restrictive title and the Author's disavowal 
 in the preface, as well as in the body of the work, that he 
 had the slightest pretension of being the biographer of 
 Waterton, and notwithstanding his distinctly stating 
 that " it would be little less than an insane act on his part 
 to attempt to write the life of a man of whose antecedents 
 he was totally ignorant, and of the former half of whose 
 life he knew nothing," yet the reviewer beyond all 
 courteous precedent chose to designate him the " biogra- 
 pher " of Waterton, and on this unjustifiable assumption 
 of his own creation, founded an acrimonious and depre- 
 ciatory review, which malevolent poison he disseminates, 
 but withholds the Englishman's right, by an undignified 
 and delusive reply, refusing to insert the author's re- 
 monstrance against his distortion of facts. 
 
 I have already pretty broadly hinted that Mr. Water- 
 ton did not shine in the management of land, that his 
 knowledge of agriculture was limited, having neither 
 taste nor relish for practical farming. He unfortunately 
 never gave land the credit of being grateful, nor of its 
 being a reimbursing recipient, whilst on the other hand, 
 the really good farmer chiefly depends on a spirited and 
 judicious outlay. Mr. Waterton was not, what in the 
 present high farming age, would be termed an agricul- 
 turist. For instance, even the trifling drainage which 
 was accomplished by the Squire on the land at Walton 
 Hall, was absolutely coaxed out of him by a favourite 
 agricultural friend and neighbour, and this atom was 
 not granted without a protest of disapprobation, and 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 201 
 
 I might add, under a firm conviction that his pasture 
 would suffer considerable depreciation by this "new- 
 fangled and expensive mode of farming," -which he con-' 
 tended, would ruin the crops by laying the land far 
 too dry, especially if the drains should be insanely cut 
 upwards of three feet in depth. 
 
 Mr. Waterton had peculiar and erroneous notions as 
 regarded the improving or detonating land by drainage, 
 he insisted that drains, however judiciously made, would 
 not influence the land to yield a better and more nutritious 
 quality of grass, and that the land which was left a little 
 swampy would produce a greater abundance of equally 
 good pasturage and more milk and butter for the dairy. 
 
 He contended that animals, horned cattle espe- 
 cially, required quantity, so that they could speedily 
 fill their stomachs, lie down, chew the cud, and take 
 rest. He would point out as an instance of what sort 
 of grass he approved within a short distance of the 
 mansion, — viz. : — the swampy ground where the herons 
 were accustomed to feed and pass many of their leisure 
 hours. 
 
 Now it had evidently never entered into the Squire's 
 calculations, that the reason why the grass was so long 
 in this spongy ground, was because of its being of 
 so hungry and coarse a nature from want of drainage 
 that the cattle would not eat it. 
 
 I suspect, that inasmuch as this spongy ground 
 afforded an agreeable lounge and fertile feeding resort 
 for his special favourites the herons, the Squire could 
 not divest himself of a similar feeling, and that he 
 
202 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 was in reality, enamoured of the swamp because the 
 herons were enraptured with it. His excessive love 
 of ornithology led him astray on this all-important 
 question to the farmer. 
 
 Independent of Mr. "Waterton's naturally humane 
 feelings influencing him to prevent the destruction of 
 the mole and the owl, he warmly contended that they 
 undoubtedly were two of the farmer's best friends. 
 
 " I have myself accurately ascertained" said the 
 Squire, " that an owl which had a brood in the old 
 ruin to nurture, brought to its nest, on an average, 
 not less than four or five mice an hour, for several 
 hours in succession. Indeed the large amount of food 
 devoured by a brood of voracious young owls is, to 
 any one inexperienced in these matters, inconceivable." 
 
 It would be difficult to find a dissentient voice, as 
 regards the owl, but there may be some conflicting 
 testimony as to the farmers deriving benefit sufficient 
 to counteract the damage sustained by the burrowing 
 propensities of the mole. The Squire beheved, and 
 strenuously urged his opinion, that the "runs" made by 
 the burrowing of the mole near the surface, were more 
 beneficial as drains to the farmer than those made 
 by man. So far as the moles labours <io in this 
 direction, few farmers woidd be found to coincide or 
 approve. But when the uaturabst stated that moles, 
 in their under-ground burrows destroyed an immense 
 number of slugs, &c, &c, his opinion and arguments 
 gained him many disciples among agriculturists, and 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 203 
 
 some good and experienced farmers, although they 
 condemn the mole because of the unsightly mounds of 
 earth which it raises on the surface, and the ravages it 
 sometimes commits by devastating the tender roots of 
 young wheat, yet hesitate to positively determine for or 
 against it as regards its beneficial or detrimental services 
 to the farmer. They occasionally leave it an open 
 question, and for the following reason. Mr. Waterton is 
 not without supporters on his side of the argument. 
 
 A respectable authority relates an interesting experi- 
 ment which proves the service rendered to agriculturists 
 by moles, and the impolicy of destroying these little 
 quadrupeds. 
 
 In a commune of the Canton of Zurich, the municipal 
 council were lately about to proceed to the election of a 
 mole catcher, when M. Weber, a distinguished naturalist, 
 laid before the board the following facts. 
 
 M. Weber observed that — " he had carefully examined 
 the stomachs of fifteen moles caught in different locali- 
 ties, but failed to discover therein the slightest vestige 
 of plants or of roots ; on the contrary, they were filled 
 by the remains of ascarides or earth worms." M. 
 Weber not satisfied by this fact, shut up several moles 
 in a box containing sods of earth, on which fresh 
 grass was growing, and also a smaller case of grubs 
 and earthworms. In nine days two moles devoured three 
 hundred and forty of the white worms, one hundred 
 and ninety-three earth-worms, twenty-five caterpillars 
 and a mouse, skin and bones, which had been enclosed 
 while alive, in the box. M. Weber next gave them 
 
204 CHAKLES WATEETON: — 
 
 raw meat cut up in small pieces, mixed with vegetables. 
 The moles eat the meat and left the plants. He next 
 gave them nothing hut vegetables. In twenty-four hours 
 two moles died of starvation." 
 
 It has been long known that moles live a very short 
 time, unless they are frequently supplied with food. 
 
 Another naturalist of eminence calculated that two 
 moles would destroy twenty thousand white worms in a 
 single year. 
 
 Having alluded to the peculiar kind of food essential 
 to the sustenence of a lower grade of animal, the 
 mole, I am reminded of its liberal distribution by 
 Mr. Waterton for the susport of the neighbouring poor, 
 of every political shade, and every religious creed, as 
 a marked trait in the character of this good and 
 kind-hearted man. If a suffering creature was too 
 poor to employ the surgeon in the district, Mr. "Waterton 
 was always anxious that I should see him; and if the 
 patient was unable to pay the chemist, the Squire 
 himself, not only furnished the needful for that purpose, 
 but took special care to supply the particular kind of 
 food required in each case. If the patient was able 
 to walk to the mansion and dine in the servants' hall, 
 there was the opportunity afforded to enjoy a good 
 dinner; — if not, a liberally supplied plate was directed 
 to be sent for from the hall. Bread, meat, milk, and 
 eggs, were freely distributed to the sick and broken 
 meat, &c, &c, to the needy. New shoes to the naked 
 feet Avere seldom refused, and were occasionally given 
 in a very peculiar way. 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 205 
 
 Mr. Waterton, at one time, had for a considerable 
 period, an iinderstanding with a shoemaker in Wake- 
 field, that if any poor fellow should call upon him 
 and present him with his knife, which the cobbler 
 knew, he should retain the knife, and furnish the 
 mendicant with a pair of serviceable shoes, calling on 
 Mr. Waterton for payment. 
 
 On naming the circumstance to the Squire, and 
 asking if it was a correct version, he replied, "Yes, 
 you have got the right sow by the ear. It is as 
 true as that Pope Pius the IX. is a holy man; and 
 I will tell you the reason why I made the arrange- 
 ment to which you have alluded, with the man of 
 leather and wax at Wakefield. 
 
 "Many years ago, a miserable, half-starved looking 
 wretch, and apparently terribly foot-sore, met me near 
 the village of Walton, and entreated charity in such a 
 piteous tone, and in such apparently genuine humility, 
 that my flinty (scientifically termed silicious,) heart was 
 softened ; — and having nothing less than half-a-crown 
 in my pocket, I was speedily minus that amount. In, 
 the latter part of the day, on passing through Sandal, 
 on my way to Wakefield, I accidentally came in contact 
 with this scoundrel who had done me out of half-a- 
 crown in the morning. Although very drunk, he recog- 
 nised me by a very familiar ' How do you do, old 
 boy? I owe you one; come into the public - house, 
 and I will treat you with a pint of heavy wet out of 
 your own half-crown, as I have fifteen pence in button- 
 park yet.' 
 
206 CHAHLES WATERTON: — 
 
 " This drunken exhibition so annoyed and so thoroughly 
 disgusted me, that I set my wits to work to discover a 
 better method of affording relief to the poor than by 
 giving them money. It has so far, answered well, con- 
 sequently, my old and well-known knife has gone the 
 same errand so frequently, that I think it would find its 
 own way now to the cobbler's shop at Wakefield. 
 
 "But even this plan would not have made me per- 
 fectly secure in one case, if Jack Ogden my keeper, 
 had not come to my aid. "We were repairing a tree, 
 outside the park walls, which had been severely handled 
 by a violent hurricane, when an apparent object of distress 
 in the form of man, accosted me in a mournful and 
 tremulous strain and, at the same time, directing my 
 attention to his bare feet. His case seemed to be one so 
 deserving of relief, that I quickly had my trusty knife in 
 my hand, ready to send on its mission of charity to 
 the Wakefield cobbler when Jack Ogden came up, and 
 knowing my Wakefield dodge, and seeing me knife in 
 hand, whispered to me that he had seen this vagabond 
 take off his shoes and hide them in a thick fence, before 
 entering the field where we then stood, — that he had 
 taken them from their hiding-place, and then actually 
 had them in his shooting-jacket pocket. 
 
 "I immediately said aloud, 'Jack, do you think my 
 shoes would fit this poor fellow, who is barefoot ? ' 'No, 
 sir,' he replied, ' yours wont fit him, but I have a pair in 
 my pocket that seem to be about his size ; try them on to 
 these poor feet of yours,' said the keeper, in an apparently 
 sympathising tone of voice. The culprit at a single 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOKK. 207 
 
 glance, Tecognised his own property, his countenance fell 
 to below zero, and he at once pleaded guilty. Jack 
 pulled his dog-whip from this universal pocket of his, 
 and was anxious to inflict summary punishment ; how- 
 ever, having nothing ' silicious ' as the scientific now say, 
 in my composition, I begged the scoundrel off, substituting 
 a threat to imprison him, if he should ever appear in the 
 district of Walton again." 
 
 The misletoe, which is commonly suspended in houses 
 to announce Christmas, was a favourite plant with Mr. 
 Waterton ; not because it was used as I have stated, nor 
 in consequence of the formerly Druidical custom to usher 
 in the New Year by youths presenting it to their elders, 
 but because, in many country places, it had acquired, and 
 still maintained in this district a widely reputed celebrity 
 as a cure for epilepsy. 
 
 The Squire endeavoured, by grafting the misletoe into 
 various trees, more especially into the apple tree and the 
 thorn, to cultivate it at Walton Hall, in order that he 
 might gratify the poor who had great faith in its exhibi- 
 tion ; but it, somehow, never succeeded to any extent. It 
 did live, it is true, but it never really flourished, and a* 
 severe winter generally almost destroyed it. 
 
 When I told Mr. Waterton, that inasmuch as epilepsy 
 arose from such a variety of causes even if curable, no one 
 agent therefore, would be a remedy for all cases, — -the 
 Squire replied, " Very probably, but it may furnish hope 
 to the sufferer, and 'hope deferred, maketh the heart 
 sick.'" 
 
208 CHAELES WATERTON, ETC. 
 
 The Squire had the universally acknowledged capability 
 of vividly representing animated nature in hideous and 
 gastly aspect, as well as the faculty to portray and 
 adorn her in the most fascinating and attractive elegance 
 of formation, nay " to snatch a grace beyond the rules of 
 art," and he was also gifted with the singularly rare, 
 inventive, and imaginative endowment, of constructing 
 and organising animal representation of supposed extra- 
 mundane characters, even on the spur of the moment. 
 
 Indeed, from the vast variety of his artificially prepared 
 demonstrations, widely and conclusively substantiated, he 
 might have had a sly peep into a retrospective age, even 
 beyond that of a knowledge of the palaeontologists of the 
 present day, and yet still apparently harmonising with 
 the fauna of the animal kingdom of this generation, the 
 modified deviations from known extinct animals assuming 
 a gradual metamorphosis from antiquity. 
 
, CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 Mr, Wateeton was a wonderfully keen and very staimch 
 supporter of the "infallible Church," consequently, now 
 and then, was greatly delighted by a vehement and caustic 
 attack on what he always designated " our Eeformed 
 Church as by law established," as he was wont, in sportive 
 criticism, to thus speak of it. In order to carry out his 
 own individual notions more efficiently, and to more 
 thoroughly humiliate us Protestants in what he termed a 
 "savoury mode," he jocosely and practically represented 
 many individuals, who took an active part in the Church 
 Eeformation upwards of three hundred years ago, by 
 means of an actual and substantial illustration com- 
 posed of the most disgusting creatures that his flight 
 of fancy could conceive, from the animal, nay from the 
 loathsome reptile creation. 
 
 Still more signally to mark the horror he entertained of 
 the ground-work of Protestantism, and to enrich in con- 
 tumely, the distasteful and nauseous spectacle so ludicrously 
 got up, the Squire assembled in solemn conclave the most 
 prominent Eeformers of the age 'as special objects of his 
 sarcasm and antipathy by name, attaching such appella- 
 tion to each reptile as he conceived most suitable for the 
 character he intended to lampoon, assigning the most 
 absurd and disagreeable position and attitude to each 
 representive of this professed " senatus-consultum" " decree 
 of the senate." He also associated with our most 
 
 p 
 
210 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 prominent and distinguished characters of Church 
 Eeformation a sprinkling of his fancifully suggested or 
 supposed inhabitants of the infernal regions, not of 
 course forgetting to introduce in apparent gravity, the 
 "Old Gentleman'' under the cognomen of "Old Nick." 
 
 This representation is so cleverly "got up" in taxiderniic. 
 execution, so ludicrously and artistically ridiculous and 
 absurd in appearance, character, and singularity of 
 attitude, and evidently, in the Squire's opinion, so 
 precisely appropos to those most distinguished in the 
 age of Church Reformation, as regarded the individual 
 appellations which he conceived and selected for criticism, 
 that I have strong reasons for believing Mr. Waterton 
 deemed this practical illustration his chef d'ceuvre in the 
 art of taxidermy. 
 
 I have also a well-grounded suspicion, but no absolute 
 certainty, that this Reformation display was gravely 
 intended as a sarcastic and contumelious retort on the 
 Socinian boast of having brought disasters on the Romish 
 Church. 
 
 " Totajacet Babylon ; destruxit tecta Lutherus, 
 Caiviims muros, sed ftuidamenta Socinus." 
 
 " All Babylon lies prostrate ; Luther destroyed the roof, 
 Calvin the walls, but Sooinus the foundation." 
 
 It must be observed, whenever allusion has been made 
 in the preceeding pages, to either words or acts on the 
 part of Mr. "Waterton apparently trenching on profanity, 
 or on what might be considered as expressive of a want of 
 due respect or veneration for the Supreme Being, that I 
 have invariably and truly represented him as jocose. 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOEK. 211 
 
 Watts however, says, " If the subject be sacred, all 
 ludicrous terms, and jocose or comical airs should be 
 excluded, lest young minds learn to trifle with the awful 
 solemnities of religion." 
 
 The Squire's inherent eccentricity of character, so 
 universally known, from personal intercourse and from 
 his various publications, coupled with the admittedly 
 extreme views held by him in regard to his own Church, 
 invariably allowed him, by sufferance, permission, or a sort 
 of sanction, to say and do many things which the ordinary 
 usages of society would not tolerate in others. 
 
 Mr. Waterton had an inordinate, and I am sorry to 
 acknowledge, in my opinion, an injudicious amount of 
 credulity in his composition, — a feature, by the way 
 admitted to be prominently marked and extensively 
 indulged in the Komish Church. In the Squire's case 
 however, many who were strict adherents to the discipline 
 of their own Church, lamented and were greatly surprised 
 with this excess of credulity in so highly educated a man, 
 and in one who had seen so much of the world and its 
 obliquities. 
 
 Unsuspiciousness, a trait abstractedly considered, is 
 worthy of the highest approbation, and is most frequently 
 associated with youth, but as years roll on, this admir- 
 able quality is occasionally found to have been the germ 
 of future self-delusion, and is apt to gradually slide into a 
 credulity which is satisfied without requisite evidence. 
 
 " Tarn scspe nostrum declpi Fabulluin quid 
 Mivaris, Aule ? Semper honus homo tiro est." 
 
212 CHARLES WATEKTON: 
 
 " Why wonder Aulus, that our friend Fabullus is so often 
 deceived ? The virtuous man is always a novice." 
 
 To show the playful levity of my octogenarian friend 
 I may mention a circumstance which occurred without 
 a moment's warning of a very unexpected nature. 
 
 In the north-east corner of the front entrance hall 
 of the mansion stood a table on -which to place the hats, 
 great coats, gloves, &c, of arriving visitors, which was 
 covered by a large cloth, hanging down to the floor. On 
 seeing me drive up to the bridge in front of the house, 
 the Squire has, more than once, secretly crept on all fours 
 like a dog under the table, waiting my arrival in the 
 hall, in order that I might place my great coat &c, &c. 
 upon this table; and whilst I was thus unsuspectingly 
 engaged, he has in his private retreat commenced to growl 
 like a savage dog behind the cloth, and has siezed my 
 legs in such a practically canine manner, that I really 
 had no idea at the time, but that some fierce dog was 
 attacking my lower extremities. 
 
 Mr. Waterton's kindness and generosity were unbounded. 
 Almost invariably, on my leaving the hall, when about 
 to return home in the evening, I was sure to find my great 
 coat pockets well stuffed with apples, pears, filberts, 
 or some other fruit which might be then in season, whilst 
 my carriage box was as repeatedly most liberally stored 
 with cherries, eggs, or other edibles. 
 
 In order to manifest his warmth of heart and a wel- 
 come reception to his friend, the Sqiiire would, on my 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 213 
 
 arrival, even in the most boisterous weather or in the 
 depth of winter, nay in a snow storm, come out to meet me 
 at the bridge, without hat or any other covering on the 
 head, although his hair was always cropped as short 
 as the most dexterous expert in the hair-dressing line 
 was able to cut it. He would frequently come out to' 
 welcome me, even in his slippers, and prove his pleasure 
 to receive me by actually dancing down the whole length 
 of the broad flagged walk, occasionally throwing one of his 
 loose slippers from his foot high up in the air above his 
 head, and expertly catching it in his hand in its descent. 
 The wetness of the flags underfoot, or a shower overhead, 
 never constituted any impediment to an exploit of this 
 character with Mr. Waterton, when he was even approach- 
 ing his eightieth year. 
 
 Although the Squire rigidly abstained from all stimuli 
 in the form of fluids, yet he was incautious, and by no 
 means even ordinarily discreet, as regards the consumption 
 of solids. He had naturally a good appetite, and as he some- 
 times heedlessly indulged it, the consequence was, that 
 when the Pope, as he facetiously observed, " removed the 
 padlock from his grinders," instead of his eating sparingly 
 for two or three meals as he ought to have done, he would 
 at once, unwisely gratify his palate, (until very late in life,) 
 with a hearty relish of rich soup and also solids in the way 
 of animal food. The result was as others anticipated, the 
 stomach, which had occasionally been subjected to abso- 
 lute starvation by severe fasting, was for a long time, 
 totally unequal to perform its healthy and normal functions, 
 
214 CHAELES WATEETON: — 
 
 when suddenly loaded, or rather, over-loaded with that 
 of which it had been so long deprived. Hence succeeded 
 a train of painful feelings, and, for the moment, a con- 
 viction that Dr. Kitchener was not grievously in error 
 when he stated that "the stomach was every man's 
 master." 
 
 At these times, I can bear testimony, as an eye wit- 
 ness, to the acute agonies of the Squire ; and, as a 
 convincing proof that he did then suffer severely, he would 
 silently retire and even condescend to betake himself 
 to the sofa, which was a very unusual concession for 
 the rigid Eoman Catholic to submit to, and, of course, 
 he was then by his own admission, thoroughly deter- 
 mined to be more wise for the future, but 
 
 " JEgrotat dcemon, monachus tunc esse volebat ; 
 D&mon convaluit, dternon ut ante fuit." 
 
 " The Devil was sick, the Devil a monk would be ; 
 The Devil got well, the Devil a monk was he." 
 
 "When the Squire was well and mentally undisturbed 
 by trifling mishaps or unanticipated annoyances, which are 
 difficult to always prevent under any circumstances, even 
 in smaller establishments than the one at Walton Hall, 
 he enjoyed an exuberant flow of spirits, and was never 
 niggardly in their distribution, if appreciated by those 
 around him, so as to convince him that his hilarity 
 contributed pleasure. On the contrary, however, if he 
 experienced an ungracious or repulsive silence, a frigidity 
 of manner, a gratuitous or intentional hauteur, he could 
 and would be contemptuously taciturn to the precise 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 215 
 
 extent to convince that he had (to use a mercantile 
 phrase) taken stock of their deportment, and that he 
 intended to meet out measure for measure. 
 
 His mode of communicating such determination to 
 characters so discourteous was singularly significant and 
 effective. Indeed so thoroughly did the silent system of 
 punishment on .the part of the Squire sting to the quick 
 that you might occasionally see the arrogant reduced to a 
 position of absolute humility, and the torpidly indifferent 
 to one of apparent cordiality. 
 
 Mr. Waterton's patience was now and then severely 
 taxed by parties gaining admission from the introduction 
 of friends to see the staircase, many of whom were not 
 only totally ignorant of ornithology, but ten to one 
 equally unacquainted with every other ology. In this 
 unenviable position the Squire had to resort to various 
 expedients rather than give offence by a palpable want 
 of attention. 
 
 A countryman once gravely asked Mr. Waterton if he 
 thought he could turn him out "a complete curer of 
 birds in two months, and if he could, what he would 
 charge per month, and board and lodge him into the 
 bargain." The Squire replied that he never worked for 
 money, hoping thus to cut short this ignoramus without 
 further trouble, when the countryman, not understanding 
 figurative expressions, but thoroughly comprehending 
 realities, observed that he was very much obliged, and 
 would enter on these terms on Monday next. This free 
 and easy acceptation of terms that had never been offered, 
 set the Squire's bristles up, when he coolly remarked 
 
216 CHARLES WATEETOX: — 
 
 " He was surprised that his mother had. allowed him to 
 come alone/' and forthwith took French leave of what he 
 called "the unlicked cub." 
 
 Mr. Waterton's chief and never-failing delight appeared 
 to be in beautifying his park and enriching the scenery 
 immediately surrounding the mansion, as well as in 
 rendering Walton Hall distinguished, unexampled, and 
 unique in its peculiarities. 
 
 The Squire, by his refinement of conception, his purity 
 of taste, his singularity, and wonderful and unparalleled 
 execution in handiwork, has created a lasting memorial 
 of himself, which can in no way be more faithfully 
 delineated than by the inscription on the monument of 
 the late Sir Christopher "Wren, in St. Paul's Cathedral : — 
 
 " Si monumentum requiris, circumspict." 
 i 
 
 " If you seek my monument, look around." 
 
 A specially favourite amusement with Mr. Waterton 
 was, the trimming his beautiful fences with a light hedging 
 bill. On one occasion, whilst thus engaged, he accident- 
 ally cut his foot very severely with this sharp hook. On 
 the arrival of his surgeon from Wakefield, he ventured 
 to gravely admonish the Squire, as to the inexpediency 
 and danger of his recent occupation, and strictly en- 
 joined absolute rest, with an elevated and horizontal 
 position of the limb, as well as the continued applica- 
 tion of folds of linen dipped in cold water on the wound. 
 
 On the surgeon's re-appearance the following day, the 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 217 
 
 Squire had slily and unobserved, escaped from his 
 thraldom, of course without leaving any message to that 
 effect. A "hue and cry" was raised, and when dis- 
 covered, the culprit was found working in the gnnmds as 
 usual with his favourite hedging bill, and to the astonish- 
 ment and "great annoyance of the surgeon, was standing 
 in a ditch ankle deep in water. On a respectful and 
 really serious remonstrance being made, Mr. Waterton 
 gravely insisted _ that he was strictly and perseveringly 
 carrying out the surgeon's injunctions, by having slit open 
 the upper leather of his shoe to allow a free admission of 
 water to the wound on his foot ; consequently, it had been 
 continually immersed in cold water for the preceding two 
 hours, and as he was not walking, he contended that the 
 limb was at rest. 
 
 On Mr. Waterton's recovery from the accident to which 
 I have alluded, he wrote me the following Letter : — 
 
 "Walton Hall. 
 " My Dear Sir, — A letter from Park House always acts 
 on me as balm on the way-worn traveller's wounds. The 
 less we say about wounds the better, recollecting recent 
 occurrences. We want no inviting to your table. We 
 are forcibly urged into Leeds as the loadstone drags iron 
 to itself. I have been vagabondising. The old proverb 
 says, " Qui multum peregrinantur rarti sarictificantur." * 
 
 " I wanted a vampire, and have succeeded. This morn- 
 ing I am off to our dear Jesuits at Stonyhurst. There will 
 
 * "He who travels much is rarely sanctified.'' 
 
218 CHAKLES WATEKTON: — 
 
 be no need for me to enter into any kind of plot with these 
 good fathers for the destruction of our'government. Lord 
 John Mummery has done the needful. Considering the 
 very great interest you always show to our family, when 
 things go bodily wrong, I should deem myself an ungrate- 
 ful sinner, were I not to drop you a line by this day's 
 post. 
 
 "Yesterday, I eat my breakfast unfeelingly, having 
 spent the previous night coughing. Finding that the 
 pulse was feeble and below the standard mark, I thought 
 it high time to put things peremptorily to rights, so 
 produced the lancet, longo post tempore visum. * Father 
 
 . — stood looking on. John Warrener our servant 
 
 was my cup-bearer, and in a pet I called him a noodles, 
 when he said, ' he might well be one, as he had not never 
 seen nobody bled before.' I let out above five-and-twenty 
 ounces of blood. The pulse returned to its normal beat. 
 The cough no longer pained me. I could make my elbows 
 meet behind me, which I can always do when in good 
 fettle. 
 
 ' Dixero quid si forte jocomts, hoc mihi juris 
 Cwrriveiiid. dabis.' "f* 
 
 " A week ago I had well nigh put myself into a state 
 which would have enabled my dexterous friend Sam Smith 
 to pay his assessed taxes with increased facility. Whilst 
 I was cutting off the dead branch of an elm tree, the 
 ladder on which I stood slipped sideways, and down I came 
 
 * "Not seen for a long time. 
 
 + " If perchance I shall speak a little jooosly, you will kindly allow me 
 that privilege." 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 219 
 
 in full twelve feet of descent soss upon the earth. I had 
 just presence of mind in the act of falling, to forcibly 
 restrain my breath, and from fastings being meagerly 
 supplied within, when I reached the ground, I may say 
 with truth, that I literally bounced upon my feet in an 
 instant, and then continued my occupation. My transit 
 from high to low merely produced a stiffness in my neck 
 and right leg the following day. Had my ass been full 
 of beef at the time, I might not have gone further, but 
 assuredly should have fared worse. 
 
 " By the way, feeling how much store we rustic inhabi- 
 tants of Walton Hall set by you, and at the same time 
 knowing how fervently you always obey the ecclesiastical 
 edicts of Queen Victoria, we wish to know how you have 
 managed to bear the discipline in submitting to the 
 humiliation of the tremendous national fast on "Wednesday 
 last. We ourselves have not materially suffered, as we are 
 not in the habit of paying attention to any spiritual 
 authority that comes not from the sacred inclosure of the 
 eternal city ; so that Wednesday passed off with us as 
 usual. 
 
 " Very sincerely, 
 
 " ClIAELES WATERTON." 
 
 In the Squire's letter just quoted, he alludes to making 
 his elbows meet behind him, which apparently juvenile 
 volatility seems so simple and easy of accomplishment 
 that I had never dreamt of its difficulty. Its practical 
 solution however, is an embarrassing puzzle to most men. 
 
 Mr. Waterton was formed by nature to scatter to the 
 
220 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 winds dilemmas of this character. He could in truth 
 "make a long arm" and consequently, as the upper 
 portion of the trunk of the body was spare and somewhat 
 narrow, he possessed unusually overbalancing advantages 
 in his favour for the achievement of this manoeuvre, 
 because, whilst the abnormal length of arm afforded the 
 advantage of a more lengthened extension than ordinary 
 the diminished capacity of the chest lessened its necessity, 
 hence the Squire's facility in consummating a feat which 
 seems to be such plain sailing in theory, but which in 
 practice proves so perplexing to most men. 
 
 Mr. Waterton and I have very frequently together 
 narrowly and perseveringly watched the exciting season 
 of ornithological incubation, and by the various resources 
 and appliances which we frequently had in our power, 
 have now and then, settled many knotty points as to 
 habits and distinguishing peculiarities, which could be 
 decided only by our^ absolutely witnessing them. The 
 " little island " in the centre of the lake at Walton Hall, 
 was our favourite ground of observation in the spring 
 months by means of the telescope, being admirably 
 situated and adapted for that purpose, when this lake- 
 girt locality yearly contributed much that was valuable, 
 interesting, and instructive to the ornithologist, and much 
 that was amusing to the merely ordinary observer, during 
 the period of the incubation of, at least, three species of 
 water-fowl, viz., the Canada goose, wild duck, and bald 
 coot. 
 
 These birds nested freely on the "little island," the 
 
IV 
 
 f, 'i;» 
 
 !#'' 
 
 Wmmm 
 
 
 "if El il» I' to, 
 
 «! 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 221 
 
 elder trees, bramble bushes, and long and coarse grass 
 which here abounded, always affording a safe, shaded, 
 retired, and concealed retreat, as well as perfect quietude 
 to numbers of the females whilst silently and instinctively 
 discharging a solitary yet pleasing duty imposed on them 
 by nature, being necessarily a whole month virtually 
 separated from the male bird. 
 
 It is really quite delightful to see how papa and 
 mamma play into each other's hands, if I may be 
 allowed the allegorical expression. For instance, if the 
 mallard should not be in the way when the duck leaves 
 her nest for the purpose of feeding, and for the pleasure 
 of refreshing herself by a wholesome wash in the lake, 
 she invariably, before her departure, so arranges her little 
 temporary abode that the eggs should be entirely con- 
 cealed from the eye of any intruder, by a covering of 
 down and feathers, previously and instinctively plucked 
 from her own abdomen and breast by her bill, whilst this 
 simple but efficient covering, being a bad conductor of 
 caloric, materially prevents the escape of heat from the 
 eggs, so that only a trifling or unappreciable decrease of 
 temperature takes place until her return. 
 
 This instinctive arrangement for the protection of her 
 eggs having been accomplished, she rapidly glides into the 
 lake for her brief holiday with apparently great delight, 
 repeatedly and forcibly flapping her outstretched wings on 
 its surface, a sportive exertion of power of all water- 
 fowl when in a merry mood. The noise thus produced 
 is peculiar, and generally soon heard by the male bird 
 who, having caught a glimpse of his partner, speedily 
 
222 - CHARLES WATERTON : — 
 
 and rejoicingly approaches her hy the same flapping 
 progression which the female had previously resorted to 
 on leaving her nest. 
 
 These birds having exchanged cordial congratulatory 
 inclinations and declinations of the head, and achieved 
 sundry other evidently pleasurable as well as playfully 
 physical gesticulations on the lake, the mallard without 
 further ceremony, directs his impetuous course from the 
 lake to the island, hurriedly waddling along to the nest so 
 recently occupied by his spouse, round which he repeatedly 
 walks, continually and gracefully bowing his head over 
 it. He then, with his bill, gently removes the feathers 
 covering the eggs in the centre of the nest, to its circum- 
 ferential portions. He afterwards, by the same means, 
 disposes the eggs in such positions as to render his 
 entrance to the nest safely and. easily accessible, and 
 in situations the least likely to cause damage to the 
 treasures of his faithful consort, which had for the time, 
 been taken under his charge, a duty which he gravely 
 settles down to, in the necessary absence of his better 
 half. 
 
 Occasionally, the kind-hearted mallard would stealthily 
 approach the immediate neighbourhood of the nest, whilst 
 the duck was still performing the dreary office of incuba- 
 tion, when by his fidgetty and restless movements here 
 and there in immediate proximity to the duck, and 
 by the repeatedly graceful declinations of his head to- 
 wards his spouse, it was evident that he was coaxing 
 and tenderly inviting her to leave her nest in order to 
 feed and have a refreshing dip in the lake. Usually 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 223 
 
 she was neither unwilling nor tardy in yielding to his 
 evidently anxious solicitations to leave her eggs for a 
 short period, but it was invariably observed, when she 
 did so at the mallard's request and in his presence, that 
 she never, on her departure on these special occasions, 
 attempted to cover them, manifestly well aware that the 
 mallard would take careful charge of her treasures until 
 she returned to attend to her duty. 
 
 Now and then, these birds would boldly venture to 
 nest on the very brink of the "little island," and even 
 closely approximating the margin of the water, being 
 then conspicuously exposed to the anxiously scrutinising 
 surveillance of the inmates of the drawing-room by 
 means of the telescope, the powers of which agreeably 
 and instructively revealed every habit, however trifling, 
 of the particular species of water-fowl under examina- 
 tion, during the anxious period of incubation. 
 
 With every-day opportunities of such a character for 
 Mr. Waterton to gain an unparalleled amount of infor- 
 mation which could be entirely depended upon, it would 
 have been strange indeed, if so observing, zealous, and 
 vigorous a mind, could have remained ignorant of a 
 thorough knowledge of that very subject which he had 
 ever, during his whole life, had most at heart. And, it 
 must he acknowledged that "the testimony of nature 
 is of greater weight than the arguments of learning." 
 " Validius est natures testimonium quam doctrince argu- 
 inentum." 
 
 The Canada geese have occasionally nested on the 
 
224 CHAKLES WATERTON: — 
 
 island on which the house stands, and on more occasions 
 than one within ten yards of the dining-room windows, 
 hut the very close proximity to man and his daily and 
 hourly movements and accompaniments, necessarily placed 
 the hirds in a position subjected to a disagreeable amount 
 of observation and restraint, and doubtless, in many 
 instances, prevented them from invariably resorting to their 
 natural and undisguised habits ; hence, information gained 
 from birds nesting close to the house was never to be so 
 fully relied upon as knowledge gleaned from the "little 
 island," although at a much greater distance, but which 
 was obtained at a time, and from a situation when and 
 where the birds had no idea that they were under the 
 inspection of any human eye. 
 
 The most interesting points to attract the attention of 
 the naturalist, as regards the habits of these birds during 
 the period of sitting on their eggs for the purpose of 
 hatching their young are, on the part of the female, viz., 
 her plucking down and feathers from her own breast and 
 abdomen, in order to use them for a special purpose, — 
 also, her covering and thus concealing her eggs when 
 she leaves her nest, by distributing those feathers which 
 she has secured, over the eggs, in accomplishing which 
 another important end is gained. 
 
 For instance, inasmuch as feathers are imperfect con- 
 ductors of heat, the duck with instinctive design, uses the 
 material, of all others best calculated to prevent the escape of 
 that caloric with which she has previously supplied her eggs. 
 Another interesting point is, her leaving her nest at the 
 special request of her husband, in order to feed, wash, 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 225 
 
 preen, and refresh herself. A third point almost amount- 
 ing to reason, is her apparent knowledge of there heing 
 no neccessity to cover her eggs when the mallard is 
 about to take upon himself the office of discharging 
 her special duties, until she is desirous and prepared to 
 conveniently attend to them herself. 
 
 The acts worthy of notice as regards the mallard, are 
 in the first place, his anxiously hastening to occupy the 
 nest so soon as he is aware that the duck has left it, 
 and that it is then unprotected by either of its owners; 
 in the second place, the mallard's tender care for his 
 better half, by his affectionately requesting her to feed 
 and refresh herself, should be recorded; and thirdly, 
 his anxious readiness to supply her wants until she 
 returns,— also his carefully removing the covering of 
 down and featbers from the eggs by his bill, to the 
 circumferential portions of the nest, before he ventures 
 to put his foot into bis lady's abode. 
 
 These natural and ordinary habits of both sexes to 
 which I have now drawn attention, having been for 
 many years repeatedly witnessed through the medium of 
 the telescope, by Mr. Waterton and myself at Walton Hall, 
 may be received as established facts in natural history. 
 
 The "little island" could never boast of entertaining 
 more than the three species of water-fowl to which I have 
 alluded. It seemed singular, but the herons never 
 condescended to visit it, although daily crossing it in their 
 flights and hovering around its precincts. They would 
 assemble on the banks of the lake immediately opposite 
 it to plume themselves — in the swamp, to dabble in the 
 
226 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 shallow water where they seemed to be actively en- 
 gaged in quest of frogs — to roost in the heronry, and 
 remain in it for the purpose of incubation, and visit 
 the head of the lake and its tributaries in order to fish 
 during the day, but never in the night, as they then 
 hunted the neighbouring streamlets or the various estuaries 
 at ebb tides within distance. 
 
 I may here state, that formerly there was a generally, 
 but absurdly prevailing opinion that herons, during 
 incubation, rested on their nest with a leg hanging out 
 on each side, in consequence of the limbs being so long 
 that they could not be conveniently accommodated within 
 the nest. I suspect that such idea has not yet, even in 
 this knowing age, entirely vanished, although a moment's 
 reflection ought at once to dispel such an absurd and 
 illogical impression, when it is explained that the heron's 
 nest is from ten to twelve inches in width, whilst the 
 heron itself is not more than one-half this width, and, I 
 may add, that the Squire and I have several times had 
 very favourable opportunities of watching herons on their 
 nests during incubation, through the medium of the 
 telescope, by which means, we could clearly ascertain 
 that, their legs like those of other birds, were within the 
 nest, and that such a position did not appear to interfere 
 with the comfort of- the heron in the slightest degree. 
 On the other hand, if the heron, occupying a width of not 
 more than five inches transversely as regards the breast 
 and thighs conjointly when in the act of incubation, 
 should attempt to bestride a space of ten or twelve inches 
 diameter, by suspending its legs over the edges of its 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 227 
 
 nest, it would find it an utter impossibility to accomplish 
 such a feat, even supposing its anxious determination to 
 submit to such an inconvenient position. 
 
 When alluding to Mr. Waterton's want of relish for 
 agricultural pursuits, I ought to have stated his very 
 equivocal skilfulness as regarded horses ; for although 
 in his younger days he always lived in the country, and 
 was continually surrounded by a certain class of the 
 equine race, yet it must be admitted, that they were 
 generally not of that stamp calculated to fascinate a high- 
 mettled and plucky youth, such as the Squire then really 
 was ; consequently at that period of life, when a know- 
 ledge of the horse ought to be gained, if ever such skill 
 is to be thoroughly acquired, and which most desirable 
 acquisition all country gentlemen should assuredly possess, 
 Mr. Waterton had no probable chance to become a pro- 
 ficient in that science. 
 
 His father however, thinking that when grown up 
 to man's estate, he would be materially benefited by 
 mixing with his equals "in the field," spiritedly and 
 liberally procured for him a couple of accomplished 
 hunters; and as there was always, even in infancy, 
 an immense amount of naturally -inherent courage in 
 the Squire's composition, he did what few men under 
 similar circumstances would have dared to do, that is, 
 " he rode to the hounds," and never shirked a five-barred 
 gate when it came in his way, which feat, trifling as it 
 is represented by the closet sportsman, is always more 
 agreeably, and now and then more easily discussed 
 over a bottle of Port than accomplished "in the field." 
 
228 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 Two or three, who were deemed "fast" young men 
 at that date, and who were regularly to be seen at the 
 cover side, and invariably gave extravagant prices for 
 their horses had, from other reasons totally unconnected 
 with hunting or any of its accompaniments, been 
 obliged to succumb to their creditors, " which unfortunate 
 occurrences," the Squire observed, "so scared my father 
 that he said, ' Charles, I fear this hunting may ultimately 
 lead you into similarly disgraceful difficulties, now that 
 I frequently hear of your jumping five barred-gates, and 
 being so highly complimented by sportsmen like Lord 
 Darlington for your bold riding. 
 
 'Praise from an old and acknowleged thoroughly good 
 sportsman, and more especially from one of the "right 
 sort," and with a sprig of nobility attached to his name 
 glibly glides into the brains of young men, and now 
 and then turns them upside down, and it would greatly 
 ■distress me if you should slip the cable and come to 
 grief. You obliged me by commencing to hunt — wall 
 you still futher oblige me by giving it up ? ' 
 
 " I instantaneously replied, ' Yes father, I will do 
 whatever you desire me to do, but I am satisfied that 
 hunting has had nothing whatever to do with the failure 
 of the parties to whom you have alluded. On the con- 
 trary, I believe that hunting has been of material service 
 to them, in warding off the evil day for a certain period. 
 
 " ' The hunting field substantially invigorated the phy- 
 sical energies of these men, and whilst in it, they were 
 neither guzzling Champagne, throwing the dice, nor trans- 
 gressing the bounds of morality, all of which habits 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOKK. 229 
 
 extracted infinitely more guineas from their breeches pockets 
 than ever the most extravagant-priced hunters did ; and, 
 as to moral comparison, we will let that pass, but from 
 this day agreeably to your wishes, I shall never again 
 appear in crimson, nor risk my neck over a five-barred 
 gate. So far I have kept my promise, and a pledge to my 
 father was recognised by him in as sacred a light as if 
 it had been made to the Pope himself.' " 
 
 Whilst this check in the Squire's hunting career, in a 
 great measure accounts for his being below par in the 
 knowledge of that noble animal the horse, it furnishes 
 additional information of his surprising innate courage 
 and ready aptitude to succeed in almost any thing he 
 chose to attempt. It also displays a singularly fine 
 and exemplary character as a son, in so promptly acquies- 
 cing in the wishes of his parent, as the Squire had become 
 unequivocally attached to this popular, glorious, and 
 invigorating diversion, and felt thoroughly convinced that 
 his father's conclusions were derived from false premises. 
 
 If a horse stood upon a short leg, and had short and 
 nearly upright pasterns, and carried a good head and 
 tail, he was, in the eye of the Squire, perfection. 
 
 Mr. Waterton had no idea that there was a happy 
 medium as regarded the length and obliquity of this por- 
 tion of the limb which constituted in the hack, the lady's 
 pad, the hunter, and the race horse, the most desirable 
 formation for each distinction of duty or of service. 
 
 His opinion was, that his favourite combination to 
 which I have alluded, constituted a sure foundation for 
 
230 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 the greatest amount of speed, endurance of labour, lasting 
 properties to the leg, and ease and comfort to the rider 
 in all cases and for every purpose. 
 
 You could never convince Mr. Waterton that a lady's 
 pad should stand on a somewhat longer and less upright 
 pastern than a hack destined to carry a gentleman's 
 weight, or that a more lengthened and oblique pastern 
 contributed greater elasticity and resiliency of spring than 
 the short and upright pastern did. 
 
 It was therefore evident that the Squire had based his 
 original learning on opinions established in his youth 
 from the hairy leg and a lack of quality so much in re- 
 quest in that day among country gentlemen. 
 
 Mr. Waterton had quite as great a partiality for the 
 application of the lancet in the stable department as he 
 had in the mansion, bleeding to the amount of half a pail 
 being generally followed by a drachm each of calomel 
 and tartarised antimony, whether the horse was suffering 
 from a plethoric condition, or might be as hungry as a 
 hawk from sheer starvation, in fact the Squire was a 
 second Doctor Sangrado. 
 
 Whilst he was liberal of oats beyond measure to my 
 horses, he was in the same ratio, parsimonious to his own, 
 contending in unaffected sincerity, that a great many 
 horses were ruined by conceited and empty-headed 
 grooms who believed that all diseases arose from a 
 want of oats, and that all diseases were prevented and 
 cured by their inordinate exhibition. 
 
 That Mr. Waterton was, to a limited extent, on the 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOKK. 231 
 
 right track, I will not dispute, but being naturally so 
 sanguine a character, he was apt to hunt his game too 
 closely, and therefore now and then to unwittingly over- 
 shoot his mark. 
 
 When no Taunting superiority of endowment or of sur- 
 passing talent was vaingloriously professed, Mr. Waterton 
 invariably refrained from any thing bordering on sarcasm, 
 but if undeserved pretensions were indulged and ostenta- 
 tiously displayed, and especially if officiously claimed as 
 meritorious, his ridicule or even satire was expressed with 
 a caustic contempt and a silent but an evidently marked 
 disapprobation which made the boasting party wince 
 under his chastening and castigating reproach, causing the 
 magniloquent pretender to repent and bitterly regret 
 having incautiously ventured out of his depth. And 
 he would probably turn towards me and say in a half 
 whisper, 
 
 " It's hardly in a body's power, 
 To keep, at times, frae being sour." 
 
 A self-opinionated and conceited young coxcomb, who 
 was visiting the staircase at Walton Hall, and whose 
 dress, exquisite, and extreme in the fashion of the day, 
 had, from this very circumstance, already unfavourably 
 attracted the keenly observant eye of Mr. Waterton. 
 This aspiring youth, having separated himself from his 
 accompanying party, coolly called the Squire's attention 
 to "two or three little errors in the attitude of the pea- 
 cock" in the extension staircase, terminating his criticism 
 by saying, " On the whole Mr. Waterton, the execution 
 
232 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 of this bird does you considerable credit, but I Have a 
 strong suspicion that it is not an honest bird, or in other 
 words, that it is decked with a few borrowed plumes in 
 its tail which is unusually long." 
 
 The concluding uncalled-for as well as undeserved and 
 insolent remarks, roused the Squire's ire to the extreme 
 of endurance, and in recounting the fracas to me, he 
 observed, "I looked this man-milliner so profusely got 
 up full in the face, and enunciated what I had to say 
 with an emphasis which would not fail to leave an 
 indelible recollection, -that 'the mark of the hatchet was 
 against the wall,' and that I had taken an accurately- 
 estimated measure of his natural history attainments," 
 when I immediately observed in reply, "Sir, I should 
 degrade myself by holding any cavilling argument with 
 so mere a stripling in natural history as you, and the 
 more especially, as it is palpably evident, from your 
 remarks, that your ignorance far outshines any ordinary 
 qualifications which you may possess in the bewitching 
 science of ornithology. Go home Sir I beseech you, and 
 carefully pore over some elementary A. B. C. work 
 relative to the anatomy of the peacock, and endeavour 
 to ascertain where the tail of a peacock is situated, as at 
 present, your ignorance may constitute self-bliss, but it 
 must give much pain to your friends if they happen to 
 possess any knowledge whatever of natural history. 
 
 " After the lapse of several years my friend made his 
 second appearance on the stage, when he was dressed like 
 a Christain, and on this occasion, conducted himself like 
 a gentleman." In fact, he not only did not assume any 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 233 
 
 ornithological knowledge, but earnestly entreated the 
 Squire to pardon his former absurdly ostentatious display 
 of science, the very rudiments of which he was totally 
 ignorant, admitting that he had richly merited the severe 
 castigation which was then meted out to him, and was 
 grateful in the extreme, that his punishment had not 
 been carried out to absolute ostracism, appending in all 
 humility an ample apology, by saying, " Mr. Waterton I 
 admit that I then thought myself a Solomon, and am 
 ashamed to add, that I even considered myself competent 
 to instruct you, but now, by close application in con- 
 sequence of your invective cat-o-nine-tails, I am beginning 
 to discover my incapacity, and to clearly see how little 
 I really do know, and at the foot of Gamaliel I shall now 
 be thankful for the falling crumbs." 
 
 Mr. Waterton was much pleased, saying " there was an 
 evident sincerity in this spontaneously expressed atone- 
 ment which no gentleman could slight," and when he 
 named this circumstance to me, he observed, " I was 
 myself half inclined to apologise for my original warmth, 
 but, on further consideration, I merely remarked, that I was 
 much pleased to see the once barren and unprofitable tree 
 bringing forth fruit, and that a learned Bishop of the 
 Orthodox Church as by law established, had said, 'I had 
 rather confess my ignorance than falsely profess know- 
 ledge, as it is no shame not to know all things, but it is a 
 just shame to over-reach in anything.' "' 
 
 My friend sometimes rushed into extreme views, and 
 thus necessarily into exhorbitant measures, and then 
 
234 OHABLES WATEKTON: — 
 
 unfortunately found himself on unsubstantial and indeed 
 untenable ground. 
 
 The witholding an amount of oats sufficient to afford 
 his horses power and energetic spirit adequate to accom- 
 plish the labour required, was a failing which the Squire 
 never could conquer ; but I believe this arose chiefly from 
 ignorance of the management and the essential requisites 
 necessary for the preservation of genuine health in the 
 animal, and not from any stingy motive. 
 
 In order to convince him that his horses would not 
 only do more work, but accomplish it more easily and 
 more speedily, I have reminded him of what Burns said 
 to "Auld Maggie." 
 
 " When thou was corn't, an I was mellow, 
 We took the road, ay like a swallow ; 
 At Brooses thou had ne'er a fellow, 
 
 For pith an speed ; 
 But ev'ry tail thou pay't them hollow, 
 
 Whare'er thou gaed." 
 
 "When frosts lay lang, an snaws were deep, 
 An threatened labour back to keep, 
 I gied thy cog a wee-bit heap, 
 
 Aboon the timmer ; 
 I ken'd my Maggie wad na sleep, 
 For that, or Simmer." 
 
 Inasmuch as Burns was sometimes quoted by the Squire 
 as "a knowing farmer," I took advantage of the Poet's 
 expressed opinion in his " New-year morning salutation 
 to his auld mare Maggie," in which he advocates a liberal 
 supply of oats, he having evidently been convinced that 
 in order to secure and maintain " the pith and speed " of 
 the swallow she must be well " corn't," and when " frosts 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 235 
 
 and snaws " retarded agricultural operations beyond their 
 usual time, she was prepared to meet the anticipated 
 difficulties by her "-cog," (measure) having been slightly 
 heaped above the " timmer " in addition to her usual fare. 
 Mr. Waterton replied " however correet Burns might be 
 in feeding auld Maggie, it was no reason why he should 
 become 'mellow,' and thus make a beast of himself." 
 
 A young gentleman, a thoroughly clever "cross-country" 
 man, accompanied me a few years ago to Walton Hall, 
 and in the course of some animated conversation, or 
 what is usually termed chaff, the Squire was relating 
 a hunting anecdote connected with the late well and 
 widely known Martin Hawk, who hunted with Lord 
 Darlington for many years. 
 
 Each recounted his own hunting exploits until a little 
 rivalry began to manifest itself, when they arranged to 
 jump a bar for some trifling wager, more from love than 
 money, Mr. Waterton contending that with the excep- 
 tion of bridles, the horses should come to the scratch, 
 and perform their feats "in puris naturalibus," and, 
 with this proviso, dared at seventy-four years of age, 
 our friend to the mark, who having a private signal 
 from me, to my great satisfaction, prudently declined 
 the dangerous contest. 
 
 Had they carried out this absurd rivalry, on the 
 bare backs of their steeds, in all probability, one or 
 both might have realised the perilous descent of Icarus, 
 as a man, accustomed from his cradle, to ride upon a 
 saddle, would cut a sorry figure on the bare back. 
 
236 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 I merely allude to this contempt of danger, to show 
 the Quixotic character of the veteran at seventy-four. 
 
 About the year 1847 or 1848, a clever and ingenious 
 fellow living in Leeds of the name of Green, very 
 adroitly duped some would-be scientific proficients, who, 
 it was then said, modestly estimated their own natural- 
 history attainments at no inferior rate, but the sequel will 
 better inform us on this delicate point. Green cleverly 
 managed to accomplish his mechanical labour, and to 
 gain his ends for a time among those self-esteemed 
 cognoscenti with considerable ability and decided success 
 in the following manner. He destroyed a toad without 
 in any way disfiguring it, and having procured a large 
 block of coal, he split it into two parts ; he then 
 neatly excavated a portion in the lower half, the form 
 and size of this indentation being precisely adapted to> 
 correspond with that of the toad, into which cavity he 
 placed the reptile already prepared for its berth, leaving 
 its back slightly projecting. In the upper half of the 
 block of coal a trifling excavation was made, just suffi- 
 cient to admit the trifling but necessary projection of 
 the back, which I have already named. 
 
 When these two halves were placed in close appo- 
 sition the toad exactly fitted the excavations, and the 
 two halves of the block precisely fitted each other, so 
 as to convey the impression that the toad had been 
 thus accidentally imbedded in its present position in 
 by-gone ages, when it might be supposed that the 
 surrounding matter was in so fluid and yielding a con- 
 dition as to form a mould for this batrachian reptile. 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 237 
 
 Green plausibly asserted, that this block of coal was 
 from a colliery at or near Osmondtliorpe, and professed 
 to know the precise number of fathoms below the surface 
 whence it was obtained. With great apparent simplicity 
 he detailed the various circumstances of his becoming- 
 possessed of this monstrosity by saying, that when 
 walking up Wade Lane in Leeds behind a coal cart, 
 a large block of coal accidentally fell from the load, 
 and by its concussion on the pavement, split into two 
 parts, — that he was thunderstruck to see a living toad 
 in the lower half, — and that he immediately seized 
 both halves, and took them home as a valuably booty. 
 On exposure to the air however, he observed, "the toad 
 died, without a struggle." 
 
 This fellow, whose powers of assumption were largely 
 developed, not only succeeded I have understood, in 
 persuading three different parties to credit his absurd 
 and false statement, but actually gulled them into being 
 purchasers of what he very truly, but very unintentionally, 
 called unnatural productions. 
 
 It is somewhat singular that these three artificial pro- 
 ducts should have fallen into the hands of three reputed 
 naturalists. By the way, Green did not display his 
 wisdom nor his usual tact, in disposing of so many 
 specimens of his handicraft at no greater distance 
 from each other than York, Leeds, and Holbeck, as 
 of course, the discovery of one deception would be 
 very likely to expose and lead to the revelation of the 
 other two, and so it turned out. 
 
 This gross imposition, however strange it may appear 
 
238 CHAELES WATEETON: — 
 
 remained undiscovered for so long a period, and the 
 sums received for these fictitious specimens were so 
 richly remunerative, that Green was emboldened to fly 
 at higher game, and actually hazarded a call at Walton 
 Hall, ambitiously hoping to dispose of his hitherto 
 highly approved, although misrepresented wares, to the 
 universally recognised giant in natural history. The 
 foundation on which Green rested for success was errone- 
 ous as he made his essay in a quarter highly gifted 
 with the powers of acutely distinctive discrimination. 
 He dwelt too much upon his previously experienced 
 ability to deceive, without carefully weighing the ordeal 
 of the keen, intelligent, searching, scientific, and 
 antagonistic eye he had on this occasion to encounter. 
 This indiscreet step was a woeful mistake, on the part of 
 the hitherto skilful and experienced impostor. The 
 Squire, fortunately was at home; put in appearance, 
 and received the stranger without the slightest pre- 
 vious knowledge of the man, and without a suspicion 
 that the kidnapping toils were to be so skilfully 
 spread for him, or that dust would be thrown in his 
 eyes by so cleverly manufactured a falsehood. 
 
 I will endevour to state what passed during this inter- 
 view, as nearly as possible in Mr. Waterton's own words, 
 having repeatedly heard him narrate the conversation 
 with apparently great pleasure, and especially as regarded 
 his immediate discovery of what he always termed the 
 "clumsy fraud." 
 
 Whenever the subject was broached, the Squire usually 
 commenced by saying, " On the occasion of Green's visit 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 239 
 
 to my house, I happened to have a gentleman in the room 
 ■with me, learned in many things, but not in natural his- 
 tory. When this fellow Green, exposed his counterfeit 
 and fabricated monstrosity for a professed inspection, but 
 in reality for nefarious sale, I without any difficulty, 
 instantly discovered the deception, and anxious to let 
 my learned friend into the secret, without letting Green 
 know what my private opinion was, I said to my visitor, 
 'Annosa wipes haud capitur laqvso,' but did not anglicise 
 by adding, ' An old fox is not to be caught with a springe.' 
 As however, I smiled when addressing my learned friend, 
 who was still in the room and manifestly enjoying the 
 prospective finale, Green evidently concluding that my 
 scrap of ^ Latin although unintelligible to him, was lauda- 
 tory of his exhibition, and therefore appeared more and 
 more satisfied with his apparently exalted and self- 
 established but really unenviable position. At length, 
 gathering still more assurance, he coolly looked me 
 in the face, and with a grinning smile of self-appro- 
 bation observed, 'Did you, Mr. Waterton, ever witness 
 so great a curiosity in your life ? and you must have 
 seen many curious things in your travels in foreign 
 countries I suppose/ My reply was expressed with an 
 intentionally stern countenance. Sir, in all my travels, 
 at home or in 'foreign countries,' I never met with so 
 great and so unpardonable an impostor as you. Get 
 out of my house instantly you scoundrel, and if I 
 ever hear of your offering this gross imposition for 
 sale again, rest assured that I shall expose you right 
 and left. 
 
240 CHARLES WATERTON, ETC. 
 
 " When this vagabond had fairly taken his departure 
 and finally turned his back of the house, my friend, who 
 vastly enjoyed the concluding stormy scene, and more 
 especially what he jocosely designated my terminating 
 benediction, expressed his great surprise that the flimsy 
 fiction should have escaped a detection which I so instantly 
 discovered, particularly, he observed, as this unparalleled 
 imposition had been previously examined by so many 
 experienced naturalists, when, really without any inten- 
 tion of lacerating the thickened cuticle of these self- 
 styled natural history celebrities, I could not refrain from 
 replying, 'Very true, sir, and I assure you that I am 
 and ought to be grateful. ' Beati monoculi in regione 
 cceaorum.' ' Happy are the one-eyed in the country of 
 the blind.' " 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 I have already alluded to the hollowed-out beeehwood 
 block for Mr. Waterton's pillow during the night, but 
 the providing an unyielding "sleeper" for the cheek to 
 rest upon was not limited to the Squire's bedroom. This 
 very singular caprice was invariably resorted to on board 
 ship, as, when the weather would permit, and even when 
 of a very dubious character, he delighted to sleep the^ 
 whole night on deck, and always to gratify and indulge in 
 this peculiar fancy by resting his cheek on what he called 
 his velvet cushion, — viz., the outward soles of his strong 
 shoes, which were furnished with a profusion of stout nails. 
 
 "When the Squire was in a light-hearted mood, and 
 detailing to me his mode of curing an ulcerated leg, which 
 of course involved the exhibition of a host of "Squire 
 Watterton's Pills," I asked him if he gratified his sides 
 alternately, when softly luxuriating all night on the hard 
 boards. His decisive reply was, " No, it cost me too much 
 to prepare one for its endurance to induce me to make a 
 second experiment on the same subject." 
 
 Some years ago (my memory does not furnish me with 
 the date), I had a portrait presented to me, in conse- 
 quence of my fortunately bearing the same surname as 
 the subject of the painting to which I shall now allude. 
 It was the portrait of the late Mr. Tobias Hobson on 
 horse-back, who so generously and munificently contri- 
 buted to the town of Cambridge, by the erection of public 
 
 E 
 
242 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 edifices. On its arrival at my house Mr. Waterton hap- 
 pened to be dining with me, and was wonderfully delighted 
 with the newly imported production, probably more so 
 in consequence of Mr. Hobson having been a universally 
 recognised and avowedly good man, coupled with a con- 
 siderable amount of eccentricity of disposition. This 
 gentleman, representing an individuality or an acknowledged 
 peculiarity of character, I suspect had a material influence 
 with the Squire. Some verses having been published, in 
 1 734, by that celebrated Latinist Vincent Bourne relative to 
 the subject of this painting, I, in a casual way, and really 
 without being in earnest, asked the Squire to turn poet 
 and Anglicise them, in order to attach them to the paint- 
 ing we were then admiring. The following day, to my 
 great surprise, he returned me a copy which I now tran- 
 scribe, from Bourne's original, and which Mr. Waterton 
 told me " he had turned into his doggrel verse whilst in 
 the railway carriage on his return to Walton Hall." 
 
 " HOBSONI LEX. 
 
 " Complwes (ita, Granta refers) Hobsonus alehat 
 
 In stabulo \ongo, q%ios locitaret, equos. 
 Hoc lege, ntforibus sta>et qui proximus, ille 
 
 Susciperet primas, solus et ille, rices. 
 Aut hunc, aut nullum— sua pars sit cuique laboris; 
 
 Aut hunc, aid nullum — sit sua cuique quits. 
 Conditio obthmii, nulli violanda toffato ; 
 
 Proximtis hie foribus, pioximmesto vice. 
 Optio tarn prudem cur non hue usque retenta est t 
 
 Tarn, bona cur unquam lex abolenda fait ? 
 Hobsoni vete'em not warn revocare memento; 
 
 Tuque iterum Hobsoni, Granta, videbis equos. 
 
 " YINCUXTIO BOURNS." 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 243 
 
 "HOBSON'S LAW 
 
 " In his long stable, Cambridge, you are told 
 HobsM kept steeds tor hire in days of old ; 
 On this condition only — that the horse 
 Nearest the door, should start the first on course 
 Then next t j him or none, so that each beast 
 Might have its turn of labour and of rest. 
 This granted, r.o one yet, in college dress, 
 Was over known this compact to transgress. 
 Next to the door —next to the work— say why 
 Should such a law, so just be doomed to die ? 
 Remember, then, this compact to restore, 
 And let it govern as it did before. 
 This done— happy Cambridge, you will see 
 Your Hobson's stud just as it ought to be. 
 
 " Charles Watertoj.-." 
 
 Addison, who was born about forty years subsequent 
 to Vincent Bourne, thus describes the subject in a paper 
 in the Spectator. 
 
 "I shall conclude this discourse with the explanation 
 of a proverb, which, by vulgar error, is taken and used 
 when a man is reduced to an extremity, whereas the pro- 
 priety of the maxim is, to use it when you would say 
 there is plenty, but you must make such a choice as not to 
 hurt another who is to come after you. 
 
 "Mr. Tobias Hobson, from whom we have the expres- 
 sion, was a very honourable man, for I shall ever call the 
 man so, who gets an estate honestly. Mr. Tobias Hob- 
 son was a carrier, and being a man of great abilities 
 and invention, and one that saw when there might good 
 profit arise, though the duller men overlooked it. This 
 ingenious man was the first in this island who let out 
 hackney horses. He lived in Cambridge, and observing 
 
244 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 that the scholars rode hard, his manner was to keep a 
 large stable of horses, with boots, bridles, and whips, to 
 furnish the gentlemen at once, without going from col- 
 lege to college to borrow as they have done since the 
 death of this worthy man. I say, Mr. Hobson kept a 
 stable of forty good cattle, always ready and fit for travel- 
 ling ; but when a man came for a horse, he was led into 
 the stable, where there was great choice, but was obliged 
 to take the first horse which stood next to the stable door : 
 so that every customer was alike well served according 
 to his chance, and every horse ridden with the same 
 justice : from whence it became a proverb, when what 
 ought to be your election was forced upon you, to say, 
 'Hobson's choice.' This memorable man stands drawn 
 in fresco, at an inn, (which he used) in Bishopgate-Street, 
 London, with an hundred pound bag under Iris arm, 
 with this inscription upon the said bag : — 
 
 ' Tbe fruitful mother of a hundred more.' 
 
 "Whatever tradesman will try the experiment, and 
 begin the day after you publish this my discourse, to 
 treat his customers all alike, and all reasonably and 
 honestly, I will ensure him the same success. 
 
 "I am, Sir, your loving friend, 
 
 "Hezekiah Thrift." 
 
 I may add, that an artist was desired by the author- 
 ities of the town of Cambridge to furnish a large painting 
 of Mr. Hobson mounted on a powerful horse, and, anxious 
 to prove, and to publicly establish, their deep sense of 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOEK. 245 
 
 gratitude by a lasting memorial, and one specially worthy 
 the occasion, they stipulated with the " coming " artist, 
 that he should previously produce a smaller one for 
 approbation. The artist, on his first essay, succeeded so 
 satisfactorily] in pleasing the authorities by the proba- 
 tionary one, that he had not the slightest difficulty in 
 immediately obtaining an order for a very large portrait 
 for the town. • By an agreeable and fortunate accident, 
 the lesser and really original painting has fallen into 
 my hands. The horses tail in this painting flows to the 
 ground. The bridle is a snaffle, having a pink rosette 
 below the ear. The saddle cloth is large, appearing both 
 before and behind the saddle, and is party-coloured. Mr. 
 Hobson himself, to my astonishment, wears a wide-awake 
 hat, and a short cloak tied with ornamental tassels in 
 front. He rides in top-boots and spurs, the former being 
 so short as to allow a considerable portion of stockings 
 to be displayed. The costume of both man and horse 
 is materially different from that which is in use in this 
 fanciful age, excepting as regards the present day's simi- 
 larly Vanflalic and unbecoming wide-awake hat, which it 
 seems was then in use. 
 
 In speaking of the dress of Mr. Hobson, I am reminded 
 of that of the late Mr. Waterton, which did not precisely 
 accord with the fashionable habiliments now worn. The 
 Squire pertinaciously adhered, until very recently, to the 
 blue coat and metal buttons, that is, on extraordinary 
 occasions. His usual dress when at home, and when 
 attending to what he conceived his ordinary and necessary 
 
246 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 duties, was a brown jacket without skirts — very wide 
 trousers — worsted stockings — and shoes that were always 
 worn so loose on the foot, that he could, by giving his 
 leg a sudden jerk, Lb row them a considerable distance 
 in any direction he might desire, and which singular 
 exploit he delighted to perform when iu happy harmony 
 with all around him. 
 
 You would never err far in telling Mr. Waterton that 
 he had " a shocking bad hat ; " when he would imme- 
 diately, with the utmost gravity, reply that a half 
 detached crown or a few air holes were really desirable, 
 as he was ever anxious to keep his head cool, excepting 
 when ornithologising on the highest terrace in the grotto, 
 when and where he delighted to bask in the sun's hottest 
 rays without his hat. His shoes were also often in the 
 same dilapidated condition. I must admit, that the 
 Squire had rather a pride in not only dressing peculiarly,' 
 but shabbily, which crotchet, his best and real friends 
 neither admired nor approved. 
 
 The supposed and ever-to-be-lamented imaginary proof 
 of independence, by his usually sporting a somewhat 
 eccentric and threadbare attire, pleased and captivated the 
 vulgar, and by this " aura popular is," " breeze of popu- 
 larity," he was himself unfortunately caught, andpermis- 
 sively wafted on the wings of the multitude, at all events, 
 for the moment. Notwithstanding that I sometimes 
 professedly jeered him, as to the character of his apparently 
 "cast off" ordinary attire, whilst, at the same time I 
 was, to his knowledge, unambiguously and intentionally 
 in good earnest, yet he would jocosely quote Cicero, whose 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOHK. 247 
 
 advice, he said, lie always followed, " Adhibenda est mun- 
 ditia, non odiosa, neque exquisite/, nimis, tantum, quae fugiat 
 agrestem, ao inliumanam negligentiam!' " We should 
 exhibit a certain degree of neatness, not too exquisite nor 
 affected, and equally remote from rustic and unbecoming 
 carelessness." 
 
 The Squire's kindness of heart was, in reality, the origin 
 and the primary motive power in first seducing and in 
 latterly influencing him to somewhat indiscreetly yield to 
 popular approbation. For many years, as the decline of 
 life slowly but surely advanced, he could never muster 
 sufficient resolution to refuse the applications for mob 
 pic-nic parties of unlimited numbers, and occasionally, 
 even of dubious cast, who, being beyond all measure 
 gratified and exalted by his condescension, vociferously 
 and fulsomely flattered his open-hearted generosity, con- 
 sequently, that which was, in earlier life, positively 
 irksome, became by degrees, and unfortunately, long 
 before the close of life, a too unlimited pleasure to him. 
 
 Whilst disapproving, and occasionally, unnecessarily 
 harsh censurers, were ready to say, " Plausu petis clarescere 
 vulgi," "You seek celebrity through the plaudits of the 
 mob," this single-minded man would, in earlier life, have 
 supplied his reply very probably from Byron, — 
 
 " I seek not glory from the senseless crowd ; 
 Of fancied laurels I shall ne'er be proud : 
 Their warmest plaudits I would scarcely prize, 
 Their sneers or censures I alike despise."' 
 
 Mr. Waterton, I am quite sure, persuaded himself that 
 he was entirely free from any influence exercised by the 
 
248 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 multitude; but the precept, "Know thyself," which was 
 inscribed in letters of gold over the portico of the temple 
 at Delphi, is extremely difficult of accomplishment, the 
 more especially, when adulation is the insidious means 
 used to gain an end : — 
 
 " O popular applause ! what heart of man 
 Is proof against thy sweet seducing charms ? 
 The wisest and the best feel urgent need 
 Of all their caution in thy gentlest gales.'' 
 
 Mr. Waterton, notwithstanding all his temerity and 
 absolutely indiscreet recklessness in exposing himself to 
 personal danger with poisonous snakes, in descending by 
 means of ropes dangerously precipitous cliffs in quest of 
 birds' eggs, and by repeatedly and very unnecessarily 
 jeopardising life in various ways, was after all, specially 
 watchful in preserving the health of himself and his 
 household generally. For instance, he was a determined 
 advocate for throwing open doors and windows to secure 
 free ventilation, whilst he was at the same time equally 
 anxious to keep up large fires throughout the house. As 
 to supplying fuel, sweeping up the fire-side, and having 
 it always in tidy order, no housemaid could accomplish 
 these little labours more speedily, nor more artistically, 
 nor with more pleasure than Mr. Waterton, who really 
 prided himself on performing a feat of this sort in better 
 style than it was ever done by the footman. 
 
 In 1857, the late Mr. Ainley, SuTgeon, of Bingley, 
 informed me that there was a very singular hatch of the 
 domestic duck in his neighbourhood, every one of which 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 249 
 
 had some generated or inbred malformation. I desired 
 my friend to procure the whole hatch for me, in order that 
 I might have them " mounted " as specimens of " sports of 
 nature." Mr. Ainley intrinsically shrewd, and well skilled 
 in ornithology, and whose heart was immersed in natural- 
 history pursuits, returned home immediately, anxiously 
 hoping to lay hold of the whole hatch, but, to his great 
 disappointment and regret, only just in time to secure a 
 solitary male bird, the remaining number having been 
 destroyed, from a vulgar and superstitious idea being 
 entertained in the neighbourhood, that if any thing 
 assuming an unnatural or a monster-like form should 
 be allowed to live, some bad luck would attach to the 
 owner. 
 
 On becoming possessed of this bird, which fortunately 
 arrived at my house when the Squire was spending 
 the day with me, it was forthwith carefully examined by 
 Mr. Waterton and myself, and found to be devoid of a 
 particle of web between its toes. My old friend, who had 
 a keen eye for the discovery of any peculiarity, was in 
 an ecstacy of delight, and instantly on this discovery, 
 proposed that it should go on to the lake at Walton 
 Hall, until matured and dressed in its most captivating 
 plumage, when he would then shoto me a specimen of 
 his handiwork in taxidermy, if we could only harden 
 our hearts to return a verdict of execution by chloroform. 
 
 Mr. Waterton became much attached to this bird, 
 which was, on its arrival at Walton Hall, named by 
 him, and consequently by all in the establishment, 
 "Doctor Hobson," a name which it continued to retain 
 
250 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 so long as it floated as a living mallard on the lake, 
 and indeed, singularly enough, for a short period after 
 its death. 
 
 In 1860, a somewhat ludicrous circumstance, connected 
 with this water-fowl, occurred. A farm servant, hat in 
 hand and with elongated visage, approached the Squire, 
 saying, "If you ple-ase Squire, Doctor Hobson is de-ad." 
 My good old friend, who was always much more careful 
 of my life than of his own, instantaneously pictured my 
 death and not that of the bird. lie urgently interrogated 
 the hind as to the source of his information, and to the 
 trustworthiness of his authority for the assertion he had 
 made ; when the reply was, " I seed him mysen liggin 
 de-ad, all on a lump at dam he-ad." The mystery, hitherto 
 inexplicable to my well-wisher, at once vanished, and Mr. 
 Waterton combining the grave with the gay, immediately 
 wrote an exceedingly clever and most entertaining letter 
 of condolence and congratulation to me, in which, in 
 melancholy strain he regretted the death of this favourite 
 bird, but rejoiced that his friend was not " liggin all on a 
 lump at dam he-ad," and added, "I shall, in due time, 
 ' set-up ' your namesake, so that no taxidermist in exist- 
 ence shall have just cause to display a fault-finding 
 physiognomy, and that is saying a good-deal, as we 
 bird-stuffers are admitted to be a snarling and pugnacious 
 tribe." 
 
 In July, I860, the Squire, on presenting me with this 
 beautifully preserved mallard, declared that he felt- as 
 much delighted on the occasion as if he were treading on 
 enchanted ground. Its attitude is perfect, whilst the 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 251 
 
 various elevations and depressions of feathers give the 
 appearance of actual life. Within the case is written, by 
 Mr. Waterton's own hand, the following memorandum : — 
 
 " The Common Duck. 
 In' the year 1857, My friend, Doctor Hobson, brought this 
 bird to Walton Hall, where it lived over two years, and 
 then died. It was hatched without any appearance what- 
 ever of web in its feet. 
 
 "Charles Waterton. 
 " Walton Rail, July 8, 1860." 
 
 I may add, that one duck in this extraordinary brood 
 was hatched with its head reversed, having its bill as 
 regards its horizontal position, appearing and indeed 
 actually situated immediately above its tail, so that 
 when food was placed on the ground, behind its tail, 
 this duck always had to seize it by turning a somersault. 
 
 This bird inherited doubly interesting peculiarities, — one 
 specially arising from its being individually abnormal 
 as regarded its deficiency of the ordinarily decussating 
 webs between the toes, universally assumed to furnish a 
 mechanism to materially aid propelling power in the act 
 of swimming, and yet, in this instance no appreciable 
 difference in apparent power nor in rapidity of motion 
 from its companions was discernible when gliding at an 
 ordinary rate along the lake, nor even when breasting and 
 buffeting the waves on a tempestuous day. The other 
 peculiarity is its being . one of a hatch of seven or 
 eight, all of which unmistakeably betrayed some singular 
 physical malformation. 
 
252 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 A collection so numerous of defective formation from 
 even various sources would constitute an interesting one, 
 but such an assemblage from one hatch only would have 
 engaged the deep interest of all naturalists, and I regret 
 beyond measure my inability to have obtained a phe- 
 nomenon so rare and yet so nearly within my reach. 
 
 The Squire, very much to the regret of his most 
 intimate friends, at all times positively delighted in 
 wearing " a shocking bad hat," and also in never allowing 
 it to be brushed. On one occasion, when dining with 
 me, my servant had previously had private orders to 
 carefully sponge the Squire's hat with very weak vinegar 
 and water whilst he was at dinner, and to then thoroughly 
 brush it until its outward aspect had undergone an entire 
 change, in my opinion for the better. When about to 
 return home, Mr. Waterton took up his hat in the 
 entrance-passage many times and as often put] it down 
 again, in evident doubt, distrust, and apparent distress, — 
 at last observing, under a countenance of some irritation, 
 and in a tone of indubitable displeasure, "Now this is 
 really too bad ; some one has taken away my hat, leaving 
 in its place a Miss Nancy looking concern, which none 
 but some fashionable Tom Pool would put on his head." 
 I saw that the Squire was becoming annoyed, " that the 
 shoe pinched," and therefore, told him that the hat was 
 really his own, but that I had desired it to be brushed up 
 a little, and to convince him, pointed out the letters, 
 C. W., written by himself in the interior of the hat. He 
 immediately remarked, "Doctor Hobson, if any other 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 253 
 
 person had taken such a. liberty with my hat I should 
 never have forgiven him, and I hope you will never do so 
 again, as you have completely ruined my long-worn and 
 favourite beaver." 
 
 From this very moment he calmed down again, his 
 countenance changed from the grave to the gay, and, in 
 genuine amnesty, he ever afterwards allowed me to joke 
 him on the once tender and susceptible subject though 
 never forgetting to wind up with an half in earnest, and 
 half in jest rebuke, adding, " Well but after all, you really 
 did ruin my head-gear for all useful purposes, as I never 
 could wear it with either pleasure or satisfaction after- 
 wards, until it had lapsed, in some measure into its 
 former unaspiring condition, by getting rid of that sleek- 
 looking surface which gave me such a priggish appearance." 
 
 I have more than once alluded to Mr. Waterton's 
 natural kindness of heart, and this amiable trait of 
 character, I may add, was daily manifested by having 
 his capacious pockets constantly well filled with scraps 
 of bread, for distribution to all living creatures that 
 would eat this material during his daily peri grin ations 
 from morning to night, in the neighbourhood of the 
 mansion and the farm buildings. His admirers and 
 followers, therefore in this numerous class of recipients, 
 for such he never failed to secure, were familiarly 
 friendly with him, pecking " the staff of life " from his 
 hand without fear, and without any apparent suspicion 
 of its being a deceitful decoy, which friendly confidence, 
 manifested by the feathered tribe, always delighted him. 
 
254 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 The Squire had a numerous appointment of cats about 
 the farm buildings, which were diligently and daily 
 attended to. When fish was in requisition, he would 
 carefully collect, in an old newspaper, after dinner, all 
 scraps offish and their bones, and take them himself to the 
 saddle-room, and would bruise the hard relics gathered 
 from the table with a tolerably heavy hammer, by which 
 operation the bones were so softened as to be masticated 
 without difficulty, swallowed without danger, and ' 
 devoured evidently with an insatiable relish, by the whole 
 feline retinue, which he could at any time assemble at the 
 saddle-room, by calling out somewhat loudly, " My Pretty." 
 In the evening, Mr Waterton generally regaled his favour- 
 ites with new milk direct from the cow, so that the cats 
 were well cared for, and, being thus liberally fed at home, 
 there was less temptation for them to sneak into the 
 grounds in quest of a leveret or of a young pheasant or 
 partridge. 
 
 On asking the Squire if the cats would not hunt better 
 if he would provide less luxuriously for them ? he replied 
 "you are not the first person who has fallen into that 
 error. Eemember that it is the cats special nature to 
 hunt vermin altogether independently of satisfying hunger. 
 Such a notion as you have suggested is applicable to the 
 animal which kills and immediately devours, whilst the 
 cat is impregnated with an instinct which prompts her to 
 hunt for pleasure. Observe her pounce upon a rat or a 
 mouse with all her energy, exerting herself to the utmost 
 of her physical power as if implacable in order to secure 
 her prey, but the moment it is within her gripe, you will see 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 255 
 
 her countenance relax from the previously apparent ani- 
 mosity with which she clutched her victim. Nay, she 
 seems to simply preserve and tenderly retain her hold until 
 in a little while she alternately liberates and retakes it for 
 her future amusement." 
 
 I thanked Mr. Waterton for his information, and with a 
 mischievous intention to puzzle him observed with a grave 
 countenance, how is it that the cat, which is not a rumi- 
 nant, and has also canine teeth and incisors, yet seems to 
 take so little pains to grind her food by mastication ? 
 when he replied, " how can she grind, when she has no 
 lateral motion in the lower jaw ? adding, you have not 
 caught a weasel asleep, although I am pretty sure that 
 you had set that down as an achievement." 
 
 His pointers, numbering three or four, very much to my 
 surprise, were left entirely to the care of the keeper, 
 as, during the protracted period of my friendship with 
 Mr. Waterton, I never knew him pay the least attention 
 to them, nor manifest any special care about them, 
 having laid aside the gun a long time before his death. 
 
 If he had not had entire confidence in the humane 
 attentions of his keeper in the kennel department, he 
 would have, I doubt not, supervised their apartments 
 and have, if necessary, personally administered to their 
 comfort. 
 
 Many years previously to Mr. Waterton's death, when 
 on one occasion, we were sitting alone in the grotto, 
 admiring his favourites flitting around us from spray 
 to spray, and calmly discussing their habits, or musing 
 
256 CHAELES WATERTON: — 
 
 on their varied character of life, the Squire was apparently 
 in the genuine enjoyment of his nature. In the midst 
 however of our pleasures, and, without a single prelimin- 
 ary remark as a harbinger of his hitherto hidden woes, 
 his countenance suddenly changed its aspect, from 
 apparent cheerfulness to one of unusual gravity, gradually 
 increasing to an intensity of despair. Eecovering quickly 
 again from this smothered mental distress, he could 
 no longer refrain from open-hearted admissions. 
 
 He then introduced and freely indulged in cool and 
 calculating speculations as to the ultimate fate of his vast 
 and varied handiwork. In general terms, he observed, 
 that the diversified assemblage of all, his labours might be 
 moonshine — a flash in the pan — a Will-o'-the-wisp — a 
 merely ephemeral gathering together of the productions 
 of nature, the result of his unceasing and unwearied 
 labours. 
 
 In thus giving vent to his grief, when tears rolled down 
 his furrowed cheeks, and when truly " wearing the -wil- 
 low," he suddenly roused from his depressed condition, 
 and with a smile, expressed a hope that the work of his 
 hands might yet be a spark from which, at some future 
 period, a flood of light, by numerously radiating powers, 
 might illuminate another generation of the scientific 
 of their day, adding I do believe, even if I were aware 
 that the whole of my collection, which has taken me 
 a lifetime to procure and put in order, should be consumed 
 by fire to-morrow, I should still set to work again in 
 good earnest, perseveringly and resolutely continuing 
 to pursue that aristocratic (?) craft, which has always 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 257 
 
 appeared to me to be my natural vocation ; not I admit, 
 with the same pleasurable feeling, unless I could be satisr 
 fied and thoroughly convinced that my labours had a fair 
 chance to benefit and instruct a future generation." 
 
 I wish to be understood from what I have stated as 
 now speaking of the time to come, when it will be spoken 
 of as the time gone by, just as the modern architect 
 does when he admits the cementing superiority of the 
 ancient thin mortar grout, compared with that of the 
 present age — as the modern painter is wont to do, who 
 candidly acknowledges the superiority of certain com- 
 binations of colours prepared by the -ancients, as com- 
 pared with those used by artists of the existing age, 
 acknowledging and deeply lamenting the loss which all 
 their ingenuity and all their scientific attainments can 
 neither reproduce nor so efficiently replace. 
 
 Although during our long familiar intercourse and 
 cordial friendship, we now and then had occasion to intro- 
 duce private and not always agreeable affairs, necessarily 
 connected with an appeal to the finer feelings, affections, 
 and passions generally, sufficient to tempt the lachrymal 
 gland to shed its briny and crystal drops, yet on no pre- 
 vious occasion, did I ever see the Squire shed a tear. 
 
 When we were about to leave the grotto, and return 
 to the house, I quietly remarked, " Where the treasure is, 
 there will the heart be also." The Squire immediately 
 rejoined, "You never quoted a more true proverb, nor, 
 probably one more apropos ; I do delight in natural 
 history, and especially in a bit of bird-stuffing." 
 
 With a heart acutely sensitive — by nature delicately 
 
 s 
 
258 CHABLES WATERTON: — 
 
 susceptible of the tenderest and most refined feelings 
 and impressions, and ever brimful of sympathy and 
 unbounded affection for his friends, or even for the 
 stranger in difficulty or distress — how singular that I 
 should never see Mr. Waterton give vent to his feelings 
 by a single tear, until the occurrence I have just named. 
 
 It seemed to me, that in order to reduce the Squire 
 to a positively lachrymose condition, there was a some- 
 thing wanting beyond simple grief — that he must be 
 roused by some secretly cherished suspicion betraying 
 a want of confidence in the future, or by some mortifica- 
 tion mixed up and amalgamated with his favourite natural- 
 history labours. 
 
 Mr. Waterton's great anxiety manifested on all occa- 
 sions, appeared to me not only that he should lead a 
 spotless and untarnished life among his fellow men in 
 all sublunary matters, but that he should be distin- 
 guished for his high attainments, in those pursuits to 
 which he had been so ardently and faithfully attached 
 from infancy, and that his memory in after ages should 
 be signally distinguished by posterity with a feeling that 
 he had at least done something worthy of a grateful 
 recollection from the man of science and the philosopher 
 of a future generation. 
 
 For many years Mr. Waterton entertained an unconquer- 
 able horror of being the subject of an artist, consequently, 
 it was only by a carefully preconcerted manoeuvre arranged 
 between the artist and myself, of which the Squire was 
 entirely ignorant, that we succeeded in obtaining even 
 
MR. WATERTON AND THE AUTHOR PHOTOGRAPHED BENEATH THE 
 LOMBARDY POPLAR. 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 259 
 
 the present unsatisfactory apology for the man. In ac- 
 complishing this I had to feign fatigue, and proposed 
 to refresh myself by resting a while on the grass, and 
 managing, by a little persuasion, to coax Mr. Waterton 
 to adopt a similar course, so that he might be in such 
 a position that it was impossible for him to see the artist 
 or the camera. If he had caught the slightest glimpse 
 of either one or the other, he would have bolted instan- 
 taneously, — hence the view of the back only. Those 
 however, who were intimately acquainted with the Squire, 
 during the last few years of his life, will have no difficulty 
 whatever in immediately recognising the man, even from 
 the present imperfect illustration, although the face is 
 not visible. 
 
 Of course, I glftdly sacrificed my own photograph, 
 from its being necessary that I should continually talk 
 to my companion, in order to divert his attention from 
 the artist, and endeavour to keep him from any move- 
 ment if possible to do so, which was very difficult with 
 a man having naturally so active a mind. In this pho- 
 tographic view of our chief subject, without any previous 
 intention the lens fortunately caught a portion of the 
 well-known Lombardy poplar, which had been twice so 
 dreadfully mutilated by lightning. 
 
 "As when heaven's fire 
 Hath scathed the forest oaks." 
 
 On telling the Squire that I believed we had been the 
 chosen objects for the camera, he instantly assumed an 
 erect attitude, and smilingly observed, " They might sue- 
 
260 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 ceed in securing your face, but it was utterly impossible 
 they could catch mine, as I had my back to them, 
 and to that they are welcome," after which remark he 
 made no further allusion to the subject, of which I was 
 very glad, as I was a little fearful that the march we had 
 stolen upon him, we hoped without suspicion, might have 
 been a source of annoyance and have ruffled his temper. 
 
 In fact we were fairly foiled in our intentions. My idea 
 was to have had Mr. Waterton standing alone at the base 
 of a tree looking up and into it as if bird-nesting, the 
 province and position of a naturalist, and an attitude in 
 which I had frequently seen him, but the miyielding 
 and inexorable fates were against us. 
 
 It was always very difficult to get to the blind side of 
 the Squire, and I apprehend that he entertained an 
 opinion that wc were contemplating some mischief of 
 this nature, as he would never remain a moment in one 
 place until he was reclining on the ground and had his 
 back to the region of the artists. 
 
 I then named a wish to photograph " John Bull and 
 the National Debt" which was in the extension-stair- 
 case, as I observed that in my opinion, it would be an 
 interesting object in the forthcoming little volume. He 
 appeared delighted with the proposition, and said, he 
 thought the " nondescript " and the " Church Eeformation 
 case " also would photograph well, and in high glee brought 
 them down stairs for that purpose himself. I suspected that 
 his expression of countenance, which was generally com- 
 municative of future events to the bystander, indicated 
 amicable hostilities, betraying an inward intention to have 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 261 
 
 a sly fillip against the Protestant Church, and so it was. 
 The "Eeformation case," he observed in great hilarity, 
 and with an intentionally caustic smile on his countenance, 
 "would be specially gratifying, and absolutely a bonne-louche 
 to those professing religious sentiments as ' by law estab- 
 lished.'" These subjects were attempted to be photo- 
 graphed, but that indispensible essentiality daylight had 
 vanished, or at least, so far deserted us that the " Eeform- 
 ation case " was a complete failure, whilst the " nonde- 
 script" was really excellent. 
 
 By many, it will be recollected that the " nondescript " 
 was the frontispiece in an early work of Mr. Waterton's, 
 a publication which, at that time, 1825, was read with 
 great avidity, not merely from its being the production 
 of so original and singularly amusing a writer, but 
 because it contained a vast fund of charmingly interesting- 
 matter as well as an abundance of useful and hitherto 
 absolutely unknown information, whilst it also contributed 
 so materially and vitally to practical natural-history. 
 
 It was generally supposed, indeed by some freely and 
 very positively asserted, that the " nondescript " which is 
 assuredly an extraordinary looking object, was modelled 
 with a view of representing by similarity of face, a certain 
 eminent nobleman, possessing at that period the highest 
 honour of the long robe, but who was not in very 
 special favour with the South " American wanderer." 
 
 On my putting the question, as to whether there was 
 any truth in this almost general belief, adding, with a view 
 to squeeze a little information out of my old friend (but 
 who was wide awake) that I thought there certainly was 
 
262 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 a likeness that many would recognise, but that so far as I 
 recollected of the nobleman's face and of. that of the 
 " nondescript," they were not as had been stated regarding 
 the similarity of Caesar, and Pompey, " whose faces were 
 said to be remarkably similar, particularly Pompey's ; " — 
 the Squire's only appearance of a reply for a little time 
 was simply a smile, but having gathered his thoughts 
 together, he gravely observed, " ' Si poema loquens pictura 
 est, pictura taciturn poema debet esse ' * being muzzled, 
 on this special question, you must patiently bear with my 
 taciturnity, and let those who think the cap fits put it on." 
 Por upwards of fifty years Mr. Waterton entertained a 
 firm conviction that hydrophobia was under the remedial 
 influence of the careful and judicious agency of the 
 Woorali poison. He was several times sent for to distant 
 cases, and two or three times actually proceeded to the 
 residence of the patient for the purpose of using the 
 "Woorali, but in every instance the cases had succumbed, 
 to this fearful malady before his arrival. On one occasion 
 on reaching Nottingham, fully prepared to test the efficacy 
 of the Woorali his patient had just expired, it was there- 
 fore arranged by the " old Squire " and the medical staff at 
 the General Hospital to experiment upon a donkey. The 
 well-known eminent surgeon Mr. Higginbottom, was one 
 of the hospital surgeons and so delighted Mr. Waterton 
 that they became cordial friends, of whom indeed I have 
 frequently heard the Squire speak with great respect. 
 
 Mr. Higginbottom informed me that they then poisoned 
 a donkey with the Woorali, producing apparent death, but 
 
 * " If a poem be a speaking picture, "a picture ought to be a silent poem." 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 263 
 
 on making an incision into the windpike, and causing 
 artificial respiration, the donkey got upon its legs and the 
 Squire mounted and rode it round the room. 
 
 This donkey was henceforth named Woorali and lived 
 for many years on the large grass-plot attached to the 
 General Hospital. « 
 
 Mr. Higginbottom, it is well-known has been for very 
 many years remarkable for leading and persevering in an 
 abstemious life, and being now I believe in his seventy 
 ninth year, we may reasonably conclude that he has 
 derived benefit from the plan which he has adopted. About 
 nine years ago however, this gentleman was completely 
 check-mated by the Squire as regarded the adoption of 
 abstinence. 
 
 These gentlemen accidentally met in town when the 
 temperate and abstaining surgeon asked Mr. Waterton 
 where he had dined? Dined? Eesponded the Squire, 
 no where. I take a bun and a glass of cold water when 
 I am hungry. 
 
 In a letter to his friend at Nottingham, in 1863, Mr. 
 Waterton says, " I am now four score and one year and 
 three months old, and I can stand upon the upper branches 
 of a tree, or upon the top of a high wall without fear of 
 falling. I rise every morning winter and summer at half- 
 past three o'clock. I do not even know the taste of wine, 
 nor of any spirituous liquor, and sixty-seven years have 
 now passed over my head since I drank a glass of beer,/ 
 and I have passed twenty years off and on in the 
 pestilential swamps of the tropics. During this period I 
 have largely and repeatedly depleted by venesection." 
 
264 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 A gentleman recently says "an amusing anecdote is 
 reported as follows of our chief natural-historian, some 
 friends of mine were at a German watering-place and 
 when discoursing together, a tall and interesting looking 
 person came up to them and said, ' I do not wish to pick 
 a quarrel nor to pick your pockets, but I should like to 
 be allowed to join your conversation.' ' Certainly,' replied 
 these gentlemen, 'we were talking of natural history' 
 ' Oh/ rejoined the stranger, ' natural history is a favourite 
 subject of mine. Indeed, I suppose I am the only person 
 who has ridden an alligator.' ' No sir,' replied my friends, 
 ' Mr. Waterton has done the same thing.' ' Mr. Waterton !' 
 said the stranger, 'you surely do not believe what that 
 old humbug says.' 'I should believe every thing Mr. 
 Waterton says,' was the universal rejoinder. 'Notwith- 
 standing what you say,' persisted the stranger 'I still 
 believe that I am the only person who has ridden an 
 alligator.' ' Then sir, we presume,' observed my friends, ' you 
 are Mr. Waterton.' They were right, and a most agreeable 
 companion they found in the Squire of Walton Hall." 
 
 When that deservedly popular and, taking into con- 
 sideration the age in which the book was written, I may 
 add scientific work the "South American Wanderings," 
 first made its public appearance in 1825, various were the 
 murmuring surmises as to Mr. Waterton's wanton and 
 inhuman cruelty, in having been regardless either of tor- 
 turing animal or of sacrificing human life in order to gain 
 his own ends in natural history attainments. 
 
 In addition to what was useful and instructive, the 
 
kt THE NONDESCRIPT," IN THE EXTENSION STAIRCASE AT WALTON HALL 4 
 
HIS "HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 265 
 
 " Wanderings " furnished, in consequence of the introduc- 
 tion of the "nondescript," a sensational subject of so 
 novel and exciting a character that it afforded an 
 unbounded amount of gossip of that peculiar type which 
 was freely indulged in by a certain class in the surrounding 
 district, — a genus of that special kind of humanity by the 
 way, which it may be safely admitted, is being continu- 
 ally diminished in its numbers in each succeeding age 
 and generation. These parties declared themselves to 
 be so forbearing and benevolently intentioned, as to 
 generously take charge of the supposed misdeeds of their 
 neighbours, although such high-minded disinterestedness 
 might occasionally sacrifice the opportunity of attending 
 to and correcting their own. Into such merciful hands, 
 on the issue of that publication, was the Squire of 
 Walton Hall tenderly committed. 
 
 Suspicions of the gravest and most diabolical charac- 
 ter were currently circulated, accompanied by dubious 
 expressions, dismally long faces, and awfully tremulous 
 shaking of the head, evidently foreboding a supposition 
 of something sad in the sequel. 
 
 These vile insinuations and widely disseminated under- 
 currents rapidly gained ground, and lost nothing by 
 their iterated repetition, verifying and thoroughly con- 
 firming the predication of the greatest of the Eoman 
 poets : — 
 
 " Fama, malum quo non aliud velocius ullum, 
 Mobilitate viget, viresque acquirit enndo." 
 
 " Eumour, than which no pest is more swift, increases 
 by motion, and gains strength as she goes. 
 
266 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 It was whispered that the Squire had, when in the 
 ' back woods " in South America, shot a native human 
 being, and actually " mounted " his head and a portion 
 of his bust after the fashion of his " setting up " ordinary 
 natural history specimens, and placed him in the grand 
 staircase at Walton Hall, having bribed the custom-house 
 officers to secure his safe transition through the grasp- 
 ing clutches of these vigilant guardians of the revenue. ' 
 
 Many were the severe and absolutely uncompromising 
 remarks and not a few nauseating aspersions, pointed at Mr. 
 Waterton, in which certain parties indulged who pro- 
 fessed to be in the secret, and who sapiently hinted 
 that an inquest ought to be held on the "mounted 
 bust" actually exposed in the Walton Hall Museum, in 
 order that the Squire might be brought to condign 
 punishment " and no mistake." 
 
 Malicious gnashing of the teeth, from professing friends, 
 was currently indulged on the one hand, whilst wringing 
 of the hands and affectionate lamentations were gravely 
 deplored on the other, in the most heart-felt regret, for 
 " the poor Squire's unfortunate and pitiable position " in 
 which it was reported he had so indiscreetly placed 
 himself, and so recklessly played the part of the " dare- 
 devil," — at least, a liberal amount of the surrounding 
 residents for many miles had made up their minds to 
 such an absurd belief, and continued to resolutely maintain 
 that opinion for a certain period. 
 
 Time however, without any very lengthened interval, 
 convinced these deluded and would-be wise instigators of 
 intended mischief, that this bust was simply modelled 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 267 
 
 from the skin of the head and bust of a monkey, and that 
 Mr. Waterton had not criminally dyed his hands in the 
 blood of a human being. And it is my firm impression, 
 that the Squire never entertained the slightest intention 
 that this unique work of art should represent by physi- 
 ognomical similarity, any particular individual whatever. 
 Indeed, Mr. Waterton had too much natural amiability of 
 disposition— too much cultivated gentlemanly feeling, and 
 was in possession of too great an amount of worldly policy, 
 to be guilty of so flagrant and uncalled-for a voluntary 
 and unprovoked sarcasm, or to commit himself to the 
 possibility of a glaringly deserved rebuke from the lynx- 
 eyed public. The Squire had been at Corinth,- — he was far 
 too wide awake to be caught napping in connection with 
 a subject so fertile in the possibility of mischief. In the 
 execution of this singularly conceived work of art there was 
 fine scope for a display of the talent in which the Squire 
 so signally excelled. 
 
 In addition to his innate partiality for the substitution 
 of the pleasing and cheering resemblance of life for the 
 grim visage of death, he had in time gone by, carefully 
 studied the muscular anatomy of the face as an agreeable 
 recreation, which was afterwards indefatigably followed 
 up by bestowing considerable attention to the works of 
 Lavater. 
 
 There was an union of a variety of knowledge which 
 enabled Mr. Waterton to produce a prodigy in apparent 
 nature and when I observed, " How could you dream of 
 such an idea as to turn the monkey into man ?" He replied 
 " I fear you do not indulge in the scientific and progressive 
 
268 CHARLES waterton: — 
 
 works of the day. Are you not aware that it is the present 
 fashionable theory that monkeys are shortly to step into 
 our shoes ? I have merely foreshadowed future ages or 
 signalised the coming event, by giving to the brute a 
 human formation of face, and to this face an expression of 
 intellectuality, for which I dare say there are in the 
 medley of humanity a few here and there who would 
 consider that a fair exchange would be no robbery." 
 
 In consequence of some misrepresentation for admis- 
 sion to the Park at "Walton Hall, the Squire wrote the 
 following letter to me : — 
 
 " My dear Sir, 
 
 "I saw the last swallow on the 16th October. By the 
 way, ' if you admit Irishisms,' it was a house-martin. The 
 last ring-dove cooed on the 17th. Two gulls have been 
 here all day. Can we have a stronger proof of an early 
 winter ? 
 
 " Now, as I' am aware that application may be made 
 to you to see my lions, it being known that we are such 
 intimate friends, I will here chalk out a line which will 
 save you future trouble. 
 
 " When you wish your friends (supposing them to be 
 personally unknown to us) to see the staircase, you may 
 be quite certain that they may have their fling here from 
 nine in the morning until noon, and from two in the 
 afternoon until the light fails, Saturdays always excepted, 
 as on that day, the whole house is under the housemaid's 
 scrubbing brush. 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 269 
 
 "If any party of your friends want a pic-nie, the 
 building at the grotto will he at their disposal the entire 
 day, and they will have crockery, kettles, &c, from the 
 Hall. They need not send their horses to the village, as 
 I have such a superabundant store of hay, the little they 
 eat will never be missed. The woman at the lodges, for 
 the trifling gratuity of a shilling will prepare their tea, 
 and clean all up the following morning. 
 
 "How delighted I am to hear that you have enjoyed 
 your trip into the Arctic regions. I have fancied I was 
 getting too fat, therefore have come down to a breakfast 
 cup of very very weak tea without milk, and a bit of dry 
 bread twice a day. " This diet has made me so elastic, 
 that I am out all day pruning trees. 
 
 ".Nothing new, excepting that the ladies' maid, having 
 jilted her first lover, was herself jilted by a second, and 
 has again succeeded in pacifying the first, who was very 
 spooney, and now, they are seen billing and cooing at 
 every hedge-corner when opportunity serves them. 
 Doubtless the parson will soon be needed. 
 
 " M is also dead. Poor good priests. They are 
 
 now enjoying their reward in glory. They are gone to 
 where sin is never seen, and where sorrow is unknown. 
 They have nobly done their duty, and they cared not 
 for life on earth when that duty was to be performed. 
 Would that my own departure from this "valley of 
 tears " could be as happy as theirs has been. 
 
 "Are there no rosebuds among your feminine friends 
 who would like to see the staircase and enjoy a chop of 
 Wakefield mutton ? I do long to pay you a visit to 
 
270 CHARLES WATERTON, ETC. 
 
 lessen the contents of your larder, but in Ember week 
 we have three whole days of orthodox black fast, and 
 next week comes Corpus Christi, a festival of the Church of 
 England, kept on the first Thursday after Trinity Sunday, 
 in honour of the Eucharist, one of the greatest festivals in 
 Christendom. 
 
 "It was reported you were dead. I always had a 
 positive aversion to wear mourning, but if you should die 
 before me, I swear by the Hades of Satan and Hippocrates 
 that if you do deprive us of your services, we are so 
 infatuated with you, that I will put on a black suit, aye, 
 and wear it a whole year and a day, and be in sackcloth 
 and ashes during that period. 
 
 " Should you have a leisure day to spare, be it known 
 that the Pope, (God bless him in his sorrows) will allow us 
 to offer you a chop on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. 
 
 " When I went to Aix-la-Chapelle I found it choke-full 
 of visitors from all the surrounding district. They had 
 assembled at that ancient town for the Septennial exhibi- 
 tion of the relics so nearly connected with man's re- 
 demption. I have just seen an interesting letter from Eome, 
 giving an account of the miraculous and instantaneous cure 
 
 of Lord 's son in that city, by the prayers of the 
 
 martyr-nun of Minx. 
 
 "I observe what you say about the chaffinch. You 
 will hear its last Avarble on the 15th of July, and it will 
 not sing again until the second week in Pebruary. 
 " Very sincerely, 
 
 "Charles Waterton." 
 
CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 On one occasion, immediately before Mr. Waterton's 
 return from Aix-la-Chapelle, which place he usually 
 visited yearly, and where he had been staying for a 
 considerable period, he addressed the following Letter 
 to me : — 
 
 "My dear Sir, 
 
 ' Cernite sim qualis ; qui modo qualis eram.' * 
 
 " I may now say to myself — 
 
 " Lusisli satis, edisti satis, atque bibisti, 
 Tempus aiire tibi est."\ 
 
 Eating, drinking, and lounging, are so much in vogue 
 here that there is no spare time for ornithology. The 
 swifts left us a few days ago, and have probably reached 
 their southern destination. You see they pretty nearly 
 keep time with those in England, — Buzzards, owls, 
 magpies, carrion-crows, and ravens are not wantonly 
 destroyed here, as in England, by our rascally game- 
 keepers. I can therefore, always have a peep at my 
 favourities by going a couple of miles out of the town. 
 
 " Our Queen passed through here a few days since, but 
 I did not get a look at her sacred Majesty. 
 
 * "Behold what I am, and what I was but a little while ago. v 
 
 +" Thou hast trifled enough, has eaten and drunk enough, 
 It is time for thee to depart." 
 
272 CHARLES WATEETON: — 
 
 " Your last kind Letter (without date by the way, 
 never mind, it's all one in the long run,) gave us great 
 amusement, pleasure, and satisfaction. I had written to 
 you once previously, since we became vagabonds, but as 
 you made no mention of it, I concluded that my Letter 
 got strangled on its way to Leeds. Bearing in mind the 
 old saying, ' Qui amat periculum, peribit in Mo,'* we have 
 given up the idea of visiting places where there is 
 'plurima mortis imago,'f and shall quietly bend our 
 returning steps to the well-known land of pride, heresy, 
 and smoke. 
 
 " I here see fat and wealthy old sinners, a short time 
 ago apparently bursting with beef and pudding, walking 
 about now without assistance. They arrived with 
 crutches, then hobbled in the course of a few weeks 
 with two sticks, then with one stick, then with none 
 at all. 
 
 "We shall return by Grenoble. In the vicinity of 
 that ancient town is the farnoHis Salette, for ever 
 memorable on account of the miraculous apparition of 
 the blessed Virgin to the two shepherd children. We 
 shall see all the wonders there, — and, on our return, 
 you shall have a report of the result from my own 
 mouth. 
 
 " The Doctors here seem to be a compound of 
 homceopathists and non-bleeders. I think I shall write 
 an essay on blood-bleeding, what say you ? — please let 
 
 * "He who loves danger will perish in it." 
 + "Death iu full many a form." 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOKK. 273 
 
 me have your opinion; and if you would do penance, 
 
 by giving me a few hours of your personal assistance, 
 
 you would do a charitable deed, and if you were not 
 
 one of the new faith, I would pray for your soul in 
 
 purgatory, in case you go first, for depend upon it, our 
 
 souls will have vast difficulty in going to heaven in a 
 
 straight line. 'Hcee seripsi non otii abundantia, sed 
 
 amoris erga te.'* 
 
 " Sincerely, 
 
 " Charles Waterton." 
 
 On Mr. Waterton's return from Aix-la-Chapelle he 
 always discoursed freely on the healing virtues of its 
 "wonderful springs," and also as to its superiority of 
 regulations in police jurisdictions as compared with 
 those in England. We must not however, forget that 
 his habit of travelling and of roaming in the new 
 world in early life, where he had abundance of oppor- 
 tunities of gratifying his natural-history tastes, and of 
 procuring in distant regions many things which he 
 could not obtain in England, materially biassed and 
 probably unduly warped his immediate impressions and 
 future sentiments in every point of view. 
 
 It is not indeed surprising that a man, entertaining 
 somewhat extravagant views on subjects appertaining to 
 religion, should occasionally very much enjoy a holyday 
 residence in a city, whose Eoman Catholic inhabitants 
 numbered nine-tenths of the whole population, and a 
 
 * " I have written this, not from having an abundance of leisure, but of 
 love for you." 
 
 T 
 
274 CHAELES WATERTON: — 
 
 city also rich in historical associations, and especially of 
 a character fascinating to the inclinations of the Squire. 
 
 Mr. Waterton delighted to describe the beautiful 
 shrubberies and tastefully laid out walks in the ruins 
 of the outer ramparts, the splendid Cathedral and its 
 sacristy, sanctified and more sacred by its containing 
 some of the relics and remains of Charlemagne, also its 
 monasteries, and vast . and valuable library, in a city 
 ■where it is said all languages are spoken. 
 
 The Squire was always anxious to be at Aix-la-Chapelle 
 during the Septennial exhibition of the relics of Charle- 
 magne, which period of solemn display occupied a fort- 
 night in July, when an immense concourse of strangers 
 are invariably drawn to the city. In praising much 
 connected with this demonstration and the inhabitants 
 themselves, he never forgot to signally condemn the wide- 
 spread practice of gambling, nor to deeply lament its 
 being sanctioned by government. 
 
 " Waterton's Wanderings," having antecedently been 
 extensively read abroad, procured for him personally, 
 a distinguished position in natural-history attainments, 
 which induced strangers to look upon him as being so 
 entirely out of the ordinary class of men, that eulogistic 
 expressions and acts indicating regard and admiration 
 were continually afloat in society of the highest grade. 
 
 Under so animating a host of approbationary evidence 
 on all sides, a man must be almost more than mortal 
 who could turn a deaf ear to such charms ; hence the 
 Squire's love for another country over his own is neither 
 surprising nor unpardonable. The heaviest accusation 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 275 
 
 of this character could but charge him with the com- 
 mission of a venial error, even if it be one. Mr. 
 Waterton delighted to return by Grenoble, the first town 
 of importance that opened its gates to Napoleon on 
 his leaving Elba, because there was a museum containing 
 some good specimens of natural-history, and very probably 
 Salette being in the immediate neighbourhood might be 
 another alluring reason, as well as the very splendid library 
 in this town. 
 
 Aix-la-Chapelle was a wonderfully favourite resort of 
 the Squire's. I believe that the opportunity of seeing a 
 variety of birds of prey, on which he could gaze with 
 extreme pleasure, constituted one of the principal 
 inducements why Mr. Waterton annually turned his 
 head in that direction. 
 
 On the subject of the "famous Salette" lie of course, 
 on his return, largely expatiated, and insisted on my 
 chiming in with him to the full extent of his own 
 self-conviction. He was amazed how I could be so 
 obtuse and bigoted as not to be, at once proselytised, 
 expressing the greatest surprise that I was so perverse 
 and hoodwinked as not to go along with him even in 
 his "tolerant belief." 
 
 After earnestly expostulating with me, " I have," he 
 observed, " often heard it said, that none are so deaf as 
 those who won't hear, but I can bear testimony that none 
 are so blind as those who won't see." Although we were 
 both emphatic in our disputation, yet our controversy was 
 invariably maintained with such a thorough conviction of 
 
276 CHAKLES WATERTON: — 
 
 the sincerity of a sacred veneration for the cause \re 
 espoused, that a word in anger never escaped the lips 
 of either of us. I entertain not a shadow of a doubt 
 but that the Squire indulged to the fullest extent, in 
 the firm belief of the appearance of the apparition of 
 the blessed Virgin to the two shepherd children; and, 
 that no argument, however sound or lucidly expressed 
 and convincing to Protestants, nor any amount of per- 
 suasive powers, however bewitchingly used, could have 
 created an atom of doubt or disbelief in his mind. 
 
 The Squire's pretensions " to write an essay on blood- 
 letting," could not, of course under any circumstances, 
 be seriously entertained for a single moment, but the 
 difficulty I had to conquer was to convince him that such 
 was the fact. When Mr. Waterton had once conceived 
 an idea, which he unfortunately now and then did without 
 due consideration, and being naturally somewhat impatient 
 under expressions of non-coincidence, it was not an easy 
 matter nor a pleasant one either, to put an agreeable as 
 well as an efficient break on the rapid current of his 
 hastily, arranged intentions or predetermination, without 
 the infliction of momentary displeasure, or even an 
 occasional approximation to offence. 
 
 In this instance however, by a wholesome distribution 
 of oil on the troubled waters, and by a gentle and per- 
 suasive hint that an essay on such a subject was neither 
 his business nor his forte, and that professional etiquette, 
 which was generally very unyielding, would taboo my 
 treating any question of such a nature in unison with a 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOKK. 277 
 
 non-professional man, I escaped without a scratch of dis- 
 approbation or of censure. The only observation he ever 
 made on the subject being, " So you decline being joint 
 author, although I doubt not that by such a union we 
 might save many valuable lives. Your reasons," he further 
 observed, "are probably good, at all events they are 
 decisive, and I knock under." 
 
 The Squire certainly had, in propria persona, practi- 
 cally experienced the effect of venesection in a wholesale 
 degree, but never by dribblets, and had undoubtedly, to 
 my knowledge, frequently derived very great advantage 
 from it; but Mr. Waterton was naturally of so sanguine 
 a temperament, that the benefit he gained on many 
 occasions when suffering acute pain, led him to believe 
 that bleeding was a remedy in all cases, and thus he 
 deprived his judgment of maintaining an unbiassed value, 
 which it would have assuredly secured in a less confident 
 and a more coolly discriminating man. 
 
 Indeed, it cannot be denied that to a certain extent 
 — occasionally to a very unreasonable, and not unfre- 
 quently to a prejudicial one,— this failing, partaking so 
 largely of pure empiricism, is and has been in all ages, 
 too apt to prevail, even in the legitimately constituted 
 healing art. 
 
 For instance, when any agent may have, in a thera- 
 peutic sense, beneficially exercised its curative influence, 
 so as to afford the medical man an unusual and gratifying 
 amount of satisfaction, and now and then have actually 
 surpassed his most hopeful and confident expectations, 
 an impression and an unconquerable tendency are engend- 
 
278 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 ered, and generally so thoroughly established in its favour, 
 as to render it exceedingly difficult to control his resorting 
 to it too promiscuously — immoderately, or beyond rational 
 bounds — hence the failure of many valuable and power- 
 ful agents, simply from their misapplication, and hence 
 the sinking into unmerited neglect of what would be 
 inestimable remedies if judiciously administered. 
 
 Mr. Waterton was willing to acknowledge that he 
 himself was not entirely free from some ingenerate charac- 
 teristics, although probably not without their utility which 
 certain parties thought fit to designate specialities, and 
 even in his presence to stigmatise as eccentricities. This 
 was too much for the Squire to patiently accept and 
 endure ; and therefore, after calmly contending that what 
 they were pleased to call eccentricities were' few and 
 trifling, he somewhat pungently observed that "a moiety 
 of the offences at which they were carping, would not be 
 noticed by any who had cut their wise teeth. The present 
 age," he remarked, "was fertile in precocious and 
 inexperienced popinjays, who officiously interfered by 
 attempting to teach others, but who certainly ought to he 
 in the learning and not in the teaching class." This was 
 a knock-down blow for the intruding fault-finders, who 
 had that moment indiscreetly indulged in quizzing what 
 they called the Squire's eccentricity, and unfortunately in 
 the hearing of his coachman, simply because he had fixed 
 a notice in the saddle-room to prevent smoking there, 
 but what was mortifying to Mr. Waterton and ungentle- 
 manly on the part of the strangers, was the indulging in 
 personal remarks in the presence of his coachman. As 
 the Squire frequently fed his cats there, he found the 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 279 
 
 smoke disagreeable to him, and he also invariably depre- 
 cated the use of ignited tobacco in the immediate 
 contiguity of all combustible matter. 
 
 The nut which Mr. Waterton had furnished to be cracked 
 by the parties to whom I have just alluded was not a 
 sweet one, and the gentlemen in due time acknowledged 
 their error by a singular mode of apology. They sent the 
 Squire a bird "in the flesh," rare in the district, along 
 with the following somewhat anomalous note : — 
 
 "Messrs. B and N send for Mr. Waterton's 
 
 acceptance, a bird, they believe, never previously killed in 
 Yorkshire, in exchange for their insolent remarks in the 
 
 saddle-room at Walton Hall on the inst., which they 
 
 wish to retract, and sincerely apologise for an indiscretion 
 which they are thankful to have had efficiently corrected." 
 
 I can well conceive that the Squire's manner, and ex- 
 pression of countenance, which on such occasions, were 
 any thing but agreeable, would be even more caustic than 
 his sentiments declared on the occasion of those gentle- 
 men's uncalled-for and officious interference, because, 
 smoking was an accomplishment of all others, for which 
 he had no sympathy. Passing strange, however, as it 
 may and certainly did appear to all at the time, the 
 Squire one cold winter's night, on my leaving the house 
 for a thirteen miles drive, actually stood at the door with 
 a burning spell in his hand, to light a cigar for me, in 
 order as he observed, "to keep out the cold," which kind 
 offer had no similar antecedent at Walton Hall, but not- 
 withstanding this, I had the moral courage to gratefully 
 decline the well intentioned overture on the part of my 
 friend who himself so disapproved the practice. 
 
280 CHAELES watekton: — 
 
 Although the Squire's great abhorrence of the habit 
 of smoking might be mixed up with a considerable amount 
 of prejudice in opposition to -what he delighted in calling 
 " that disgusting habit," yet his reasons I am induced to 
 believe, were in some measure judiciously grounded on the 
 universally admitted danger of its possibly setting fire 
 to valuable property, frequently involving the loss of 
 life from accident or carelessness, or from its being so 
 constantly used by the free drinker, whose wits, when 
 "wine is in," are sure to be "out." 
 
 I readily and cheerfully admit that smoking and drink- 
 ing are not invariably, nor yet uniformly twin sisters, 
 and further acknowledge, that they are but seldom, if 
 ever so closely associated in the upper classes whilst it 
 cannot be denied, that in the lower ranks of life, this 
 double - relation - tendency or reciprocate affinity, is so 
 unequivocally marked with apparently kindred feelings, 
 that each habit seems to be a counterpart of the other 
 
 In Mr. Waterton's early life and education, smoking was 
 not known, much less recognised in good society ; indeed' 
 the perniciously soothing weed, in any form for that pur- 
 pose, was not tolerated in his age excepting among the 
 humble grades. Any man who would have dared to 
 infringe on the then usual and ordinary rules of good 
 breeding, by venturing to smoke in the street, which was 
 deemed an unpardonable amount of assurance, would have 
 been instantaneously sent to Coventry. Such were the 
 then ordinary usages in all stations above mediocrity. 
 
 Impressions imbibed in early years, by naturally self- 
 opinionative temperaments, have hitherto been invariably, 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 281 
 
 and I believe, correctly acknowledged to increase in 
 ascendancy as life advances, until at length, they amount 
 to an undeviating conviction that' their accuracy is 
 infallible, and undoubtedly, the old Squire was some 
 years before his death, an unflinching instance of the 
 character now described. 
 
 There is however, in the present age, one very marked 
 feature, and a fearfully growing one in the use of tobacco, 
 in a banefully depraved direction, which was frequently 
 dwelt upon and bitterly lamented by my old friend. This 
 demoralising habit was even more repugnant to his 
 feelings than any to which I have hitherto made reference. 
 I allude especially to the abominable practice of smoking, 
 now almost universally had recourse to by mere children. 
 No sooner has some stripling been divested of his feminine 
 garb, than he is seen deliberately smoking his short pipe 
 in the public streets. Wrapped up in the vain-glorious 
 supposition and affectation of manliness, he does not 
 attempt to conceal his disgusting transgression, nay on 
 the contrary, he openly and exultingly displays his mal- 
 practice, assuming and personating in miniature the man 
 of importance. 
 
 If an immoderate use of tobacco has a prejudicial 
 influence over the adult, whose matured organs have a 
 greater antagonistic resistance and corrective power as 
 antidotes, than what are possessed by immature organs, — 
 we need not a Solomon to reveal to us the sure and fatal 
 consequences which will be ultimately entailed on the 
 present as well as on a future generation. 
 
 This publicly and vauntingly displayed curse is on all 
 
282 OHAELES WATERTON: — 
 
 sides acknowledged as a reality ; and a universal censure 
 should be indiscriminately and indignantly lavished on 
 parents for their neglecting to restrain so pernicious a 
 habit. A moment's reflection however, furnishes a reply 
 difficult of contradiction. How can a parent, with a pipe 
 in his own mouth, admonish his child who is diligently 
 walking in the footsteps of his father ? 
 
 If Satan should be deputed to correct sin, the reproof 
 would be administered with a bad grace, and with little 
 reasonable hope of its efficacy. 
 
 At Scarbro', in the Winter of 1854, Mr. Waterton 
 wrote to me, in his ordinarily enlivening and humorous 
 vein, the following Letter : — 
 
 " My dear Sir, — We received your last communication 
 with great pleasure, and read it with contented smiles. 
 Having now taken our last dip in Neptune's briny wash- 
 tub, nothing remains but to square accounts betwixt our- 
 selves and good Mrs. Peacock, of Cliff No. 1., which we 
 always arrange satisfactorily to both sides. 
 
 "To-morrow morning we shall leave Scarbro' with a 
 sigh, and journey on to those gloomy regions, where 
 volumes of Stygian smoke poison a once wholesome 
 atmosphere; and where filthy drainage from hells upon 
 earth is allowed by law, for the sacred rights of modern 
 trade, to pollute the waters in every river far and near. 
 
 " To-morrow being our great detonating festival, I shall 
 have a leisure hour to ruminate on the dreadful conse- 
 quence of old Guy's atrocity, had he succeeded in blowing 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOEK. 283 
 
 to atoms a few dozens of miscreants who ought all to 
 have been hanged for their crimes against heaven and 
 earth. 
 
 " The Vicar of this place is expected to be ferociously 
 eloquent in the pulpit, in denouncing the horrors of 
 Popery to a holy congregation of terrified old women." 
 
 In a previous Letter he writes, — 
 
 "Not having had a single line from us, you will 
 naturally conclude that we have either forgotten you 
 (impossible), or that we have all gone to the bottom of 
 the sea in a g fishing-boat. We are all alive, and not far 
 from our great festival, about to commemorate how Guy 
 Fawkes and his holy squad did dabble in charcoal and 
 saltpetre, to the utter consternation of all good Protestants. 
 No doubt the Pontifex Maximus was at the bottom of all 
 the intended mischief. 
 
 "The parson here will ascend his pulpit, and preach 
 a sermon to warn his congregation against having any 
 thing to do with the Devil, the Pope, and the Pretender. 
 
 " You will be shocked to hear that Archdeacon — , 
 
 after having cruised for years among the shoals and sand- 
 banks of heretical England, is on his way to the sea of 
 eternal bliss — having gone bump ashore an St. Peter's rock. 
 There he is, high and dry, and it is the universal opinion 
 that, were all the steam-tugs of the country put into 
 requisition, their united force would not be able to get him 
 into deep water again. 
 
 " Ever sincerely yours, 
 
 "Chaeles Wateeton." 
 
284 CHARLES WATEETON: — 
 
 Mr. Waterton was for a long period, much attached 
 to Scarbro' in consequence of its purity and supposed 
 salubrity of atmosphere, as well as from the absence of 
 pernicious influences, arising from filthy trade accumula- 
 tions, and also from its site being peculiarly adapted for 
 efficient drainage. 
 
 He always delighted in expressing his horror of the 
 pollution of air and water by noxious gases and poisonous 
 emanations from various chemical works and dye-houses, 
 &c, &c, the more especially, as he had experienced, to 
 his sorrow, abundant proof, that although he had been 
 able at his own residence to guard against the latter, 
 yet that he was to some extent under the deleterious 
 and inextricable influence of the former, as he was well 
 aware, that the artificial and detrimental usurpations so 
 destructive to animal life and vegetation, were not limited 
 to proximity in their immediate neighbourhood, but 
 that they were conveyed through the medium of the 
 atmosphere to long distances from the original source 
 of their formation, and still retaining their power to 
 prove, that where they existed or were deposited, there was 
 sure to be " death in the pot." 
 
 The Squire never objected, when in good feather, nay 
 he delighted to briefly indulge in a light and friendly 
 argument, and particularly when supporting his own 
 creed, which he always did with great earnestness, and 
 I am thoroughly satisfied, with genuine sincerity, as 
 well as with considerable force and ingenuity, he stoutly 
 maintained that it was an extremely rare, if not an 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 285 
 
 absolutely unknown occurrence, for a Protestant of a 
 third generation in unbroken succession, to survive 
 and retain a beneficial interest in property confiscated 
 rom a Eomanist; and that this punishment inflicted as 
 a Divine judgment, was sure, at all events at no remote 
 period, to detrimentally reach every such instance, 
 whether lay or church-patrimony or possessions. 
 
 In order to indulge, to corroborate, and to still more 
 confirm his convinced imagination, as well as to generously 
 favour us Protestants with an additional and enlightening 
 rap on the knuckles, the Squire would calmly, but very 
 determinedly wind up his argument by saying, which 
 he once did to a gentleman in my presence, " You now 
 know my settled opinion, which has never been hidden 
 under a bushel, but you shall have the benefit of another 
 accredited assurance, infinitely surpassing any influence 
 that my ipse dixit might contribute,—' Be male qucesitis 
 vix gaudet tcrtius hceres.' 'A third heir seldom enjoys 
 property dishonestly got.' " 
 
 At the moment, without in the slightest degree desiring 
 or attempting to raise any argument, but on merely 
 questioning the accuracy or truth of this quotation, as 
 regarded its known accomplishment in times gone by, 
 Mr. Waterton, who unquestionably, had a wonderfully 
 retentive and correct memory in all genealogical matters, 
 was I admit, able to enumerate a series of family ancestry, 
 in Yorkshire alone, to such an extent as to surprise, nay 
 to stagger his opponent in argument, and to apparently 
 substantiate the quotation he had used, if not his own 
 assertion, as to an unqualified and uninterrupted sequence 
 
286 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 by extinction beyond the third generation, to which he 
 still most tenaciously adhered. 
 
 Probably, if the Squire's theory had been fairly and 
 impartially tested by a searching and scrutinising examina- 
 tion of families generally, who had never enjoyed con- 
 fiscated property at all, the result, by comparison, might 
 have been similar in both cases, and if so, Mr. Waterton's 
 idolised idea, of its being a limitedly providential judg- 
 ment would fall to the ground. Under such circumstances, 
 it might then perhaps, be fairly conceded, that a partial 
 and undue leaning to the Eoman Catholic side of the 
 question had doubtless been, in a great measure, the 
 basis for his entertaining the opinion he so staunchly 
 maintained and promulgated. - 
 
 This notion, so zealously and even religiously cherished' 
 by Mr. "Waterton, was a specially favourite crotchet with 
 him, and was frequently introduced, during the whole 
 period of our intimacy, whenever a familiar chit-chat 
 accidentally took such a turn as to allude to the con- 
 fiscation of property in former years, or to the adjudging, 
 by forfeiture, of penalties to the public exchequer; 
 and with a man of so sanguine a temperament, and 
 so naturally inclined to yield to the credulous, it did 
 not surprise me to see him ride his hobby with 
 doubtful discretion and somewhat unmercifully; a 
 mode of argumentation, by the way, ill-calculated to gain 
 converts. I am well aware that the Squire was not the 
 first to broach the idea of the influence of a Divine 
 judgment in the cases to which allusion has been made, 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANBIWOKK. 287 
 
 and I merely name it to record his definite opinion on this 
 subject, which, even in the present age, is contended by 
 many to yet hang in equilibrium. 
 
 Having, in my immediatelyprevious observations, intro- 
 duced and directed attention to ancestry generally, 
 I am forcibly, aud indeed, agreeably reminded of Mr. 
 Waterton's own paternity, and more particularly, 
 as the natural animus of the man habitually displayed, 
 by a variety of accidentally occurring circumstances, 
 so much genuinely expressed filial feeling. In three words, 
 Virgil may have been acknowledged to have truthfully 
 predicted and faithfully delineated the subject of our 
 Memoir, — " Patriae pictatis imago." " The image of filial 
 affection." 
 
 His never-failing, enduring, and affectionate veneration, 
 uniformly manifested for the memory of his late parents, 
 was singularly gratifying to all around him ; whilst this 
 devoted and reverential esteem for their memory was more 
 especially evidenced and convincing when emphatically 
 recording any anecdotes or dubiously chronicled legends, 
 relative to his father, which might have occurred forty 
 or fifty years retrospectively. 
 
 The simple relation of these traditionary reflections 
 of the mind, many of them strongly marked by the 
 rust of antiquity, always appeared to give the Squire 
 extreme pleasure. The respect and deference shown, on 
 all occasions, to the judgment of his late father, on any 
 
288 CHAELES ' WATEETON : — 
 
 and every subject, were remarkable, as, although Mr. 
 Waterton was not unfrequently somewhat obstinate 
 in not yielding to the very evidently correct opinion 
 that might happen to be advocated by any ordinary friend. 
 yet if it suddenly or accidentally occurred to him that his 
 deceased parent had held the opinion which his friend 
 then entertained and was maintaining, but in opposition 
 to which impression he himself was in direct antagonism 
 and was vigorously, nay determinedly then resisting, he 
 would at once alter his course, and openly and even 
 somewhat exultingly, accord with his friends conviction 
 which he had up to this period, so diametrically opposed, 
 and even occasionally, ventured to turn into ridicule or 
 derision. 
 
 The Squire, after a perceptibly internal struggle, and 
 a grave self-condemnation as to the interpretation he 
 had adopted regarding the question in dispute, would 
 then say to his rival in argument, — "I must frankly 
 own that I see, and am fully sensible of the false 
 impression under which I have laboured, and unreservedly 
 acknowledge my error. I well remember, and with ex- 
 treme pleasure, that the sentiments which you are now 
 so ingeniously advocating were the very convictions enter- 
 tained by my father; and as his judgment and con- 
 clusive decisions, on all subjects, were so immeasurably 
 superior to my own, I must draw in my horns, and cry 
 peccavi ;" "I have sinned." This must be admitted as 
 a noble recantation in a man who had been so invari- 
 ably accustomed to be "the lead horse in the team," 
 or "to play the first fiddle" — in one who had seldom 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOKK. 289 
 
 met with contradiction — who was naturally somewhat self- 
 opinionated, and who was bordering on eighty years of age, 
 a time of life when opinions are usually supposed to be 
 irrevocably fixed or closely approximating immutability, — 
 at least so says the world generally. We must admit, that 
 when the opinion of the world is all but universal, it 
 would savour very strongly of an unwarrantable or a 
 discourteous dogmatism to assert that it was in error, 
 or to deny that where there is smoke there is sure to 
 be some fire. "Flamma fumo est proximo,." Flame is 
 near akin to smoke." 
 
 If this can be in honest truth, indubitably and cor- 
 rectly considered as an age of legitimate and veritable 
 progress, as it is generally and even vauntingly stated 
 to be, we should at all events, expect to be frequently 
 gratified by meeting with similar instances of an unpre- 
 tending and modest deference of the wayward son 
 respectfully yielding to the sober and experienced judg- 
 ment of the parent. 
 
 Is it so ? Has the advanced and widely expanded 
 scheme of scholastic and moral education so universally 
 adopted, and by some, affording such enthusiastic and 
 wholesale commendation, together with such a signally 
 boasted improvement in the trainiog discipline of youth, 
 substantiated the expectations of the sanguine supporters 
 of the present vaingloriously approved system ? Has the 
 recently indulgent system, the overweening estimation 
 on the part of the parent, in confiding to early, nay 
 to premature and inexperienced years been judicious, or 
 has it been a misplaced trust? T7 
 
290 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 A negligence even of proper respect is in close proximity 
 to an undue assumption in the presence of superiors, 
 and I cannot refrain from alluding to a severe reproof by 
 a late Bishop of Bristol, then Vice-Chancellor of the 
 University of Cambridge, administered to two under- 
 graduates who neglected to pay the accustomed com- 
 pliment of "capping," which has prevailed in the 
 University from time immemorial. The Bishop to their 
 astonishment arrested their steps and inquired the reason of 
 their neglect. The two men then trembling, begged his 
 lordship's pardon, observing they were "freshmen," and 
 did not know him. " How long have you been in 
 Cambridge?" asked his lordship. "Only eight days," 
 was the reply. "Very good," said the Bishop, "puppies 
 never ,see until they are nine days old." 
 
 Do we, " now-a-days," see sons generally manifesting 
 a respectful, a compliant, and a confiding deference to 
 parents? I wish I could reply in the affirmative. On 
 the contrary, are we not frequently grieved by witnessing 
 in youth not only an unwarrantably self-conceited 
 and offensively arrogant estimation of their own abilities 
 and acquirements, not merely contending for an indiscreet, 
 a hap-hazard, or a go-a-head progress, but also openly 
 and lavishly expressing disapprobation and contemptuous 
 opinions of the judgment of " our old governor ? " 
 
 Nay we now and then, I regret being obliged to admit, 
 see ignorance and self-sufficiency so closely interwoven 
 and amalgamated in youth, that the son, although 
 acknowledged by all to be immeasurably inferior in every 
 respect to " the old governor," and comparatively in total 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 291 
 
 darkness — yet, we find him, instead of paying a youthful 
 and deferential respect to age and to his parent, actually 
 with an insufferable assurance, disapproving and openly 
 . censuring the superior discrimination of the more 
 enlightened and proficient parent. 
 
 " He spake, and to her hand proferr'd the bowl, 
 A secret pleasure touched Athena's soul, 
 To see the preference to sacred age, 
 Regarded by the just and sage." 
 
 If, in our inferential deductions, we are to be guided 
 by the premature, contemphtously inattentive, and off-hand 
 manners of the present age, apparently the result of the 
 recent "go with the stream" system of discipline, it 
 would appear as if there had been an encouragement 
 adopted, tending to the production of an undue and 
 unbecoming precocity of intellect, the result of which 
 short-sightedness is sure to ultimately defeat its own 
 purpose, and eventually, generate what a powerful author 
 designates " the fools of that paradise," who do not under- 
 stand that which they profess to teach, and are too vain of 
 their own imaginary attainments to learn knowledge 
 from others. 
 
 The indorsing countenance, the absolutely laudatory 
 encouragement, and the woefully mistaken zeal so in- 
 variably bestowed by parents upon their children, in 
 order to promote and to advance precocity of intellect, 
 is thoroughly destructive of healthy cerebral function, 
 as also ultimately of general physicial development. 
 
 The moment the mind in early life, takes an undue 
 lead of the body, the normal condition of both is banefully 
 interfered with. 
 
292 CHARLES WATEETON: — 
 
 If we have, too lavishly bestowed artificial measures, 
 tending to produce a premature ripening of the brain, in all 
 human probability we shall ultimately have to witness 
 premature death, or what is infinitely more deplorable, we 
 may eventually calculate upon painful and permanent 
 evidence of a lamentable and distressing imbecility of 
 mental power in various degrees, but to what extent, no 
 human foresight can divine. 
 
 " Modesto tamen et circumspecto judicio de tantis viris 
 jpronuncianditm est, ne, quod plerisque accidit, damnent quae 
 non intelligunt." " We should however, pronounce our 
 opinions with reserve and cautious judgment, con- 
 cerning such eminent men, lest, as is the case with many, 
 we condemn what we do not understand." 
 
 Mr. Waterton was, during his whole life, anxiously 
 punctual and extremely exact in all his pecuniary trans- 
 actions, ever having the greatest horror of being in debt. 
 Indeed, the position of his being indebted to any one, 
 however trifling the amount might be, or without con- 
 sideration as to its having been recently incurred, was 
 little less than an agonising condition for the Squire to 
 realise. He also disapproved and excessively disliked all 
 paper pecuniary payments, much preferring what he was 
 pleased to call " solid tin "' to a cheque, although it might 
 bear the signature of an intimate friend, or even that of 
 an acknowledged millionaire. 
 
 His management, or in rigid truth, I ought to say mis- 
 management of money in any and every form, was un- 
 exceptionally anomalous ; and, I trust, without incurring 
 severe or even merited censure, I may add, that it was 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 293 
 
 somewhat savouring of the last rather than of the present 
 century. For instance, many years ago, he determined to 
 encircle his park by a very high and substantial stone and 
 mortar wall ; but as he himself observed, " I had then no 
 loose cash in my drawer with which to meet so indefinite, 
 and in all human probability, so large an expenditure, 
 and although never reputed to be needle-witted in the 
 acquirement of pounds, shillings, and pence, yet I trust 
 that I had sufficient mother wit and inborn honesty in my 
 composition to prevent my ever ordering anything for the 
 payment of which I should have had to borrow the 
 amount ; and catch me directing or authorising any thing 
 to be done that I can't pay for. In that respect at all 
 events, I am a chip of the old block. Although this was 
 in truth my real position, I firmly resolved at all hazards, 
 to gain my ends, and zealously set to work, by joyfully 
 amassing reiterated instalments, in order to accumulate a 
 substantial hoard, by frequent deposits of spare cash into 
 my idolised safe although, of the vegetable kingdom only, 
 until it should contain five hundred sovereigns, the 
 predetermined sum requisite for the commencement of 
 my intended ' castle in the air.' 
 
 " This being accomplished, in my humble opinion, by a 
 laudable and thrifty economy, yet without descending to 
 the cheese-paring system, which I ever did and ever shall 
 abominate, I at once engaged masons to build the then 
 contemplated, but now existing and circumjacent wall, 
 which I had so long and anxiously set my heart upon; 
 but it was commenced with a most distinctly mutual 
 understanding that when the last sovereign was drawn 
 
294 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 from its hiding-place, the masons should instantly cease 
 their labours, although this state of poverty (that is, when 
 the drawer should have yielded its last sovereign), might 
 accidentally occur on a Friday night, and not on Saturday, 
 the usual wage night. It was fortunate, for the sake of 
 preventing any misunderstanding, that such a prophetic 
 provision had been previously arranged, as it did so occur ; 
 — that is, my hitherto fund-supplying treasury pleaded 
 'nulla' bona,' 'no effects;' there was, consequently, a 
 ' suspension of payment,' and I therefore, strictly according 
 to our pre-arrangement, discharged ' every man jack ' on 
 the Friday night until further orders. 
 
 " My favourite deal-drawer was at once a receiving, a 
 protecting, and a subsidising depository, over which I kept 
 an argus-eyed guard, as the lock having been manufactured 
 in an age of greater honesty and less roguery than the 
 one to which I allude, was of ancient and simple con- 
 struction. This affianced custodian of my pecuniary 
 capital was subsequently again and again replenished by 
 frequent spare cash reserves, until it had gratefully 
 admitted and ultimately as liberallly yielded the last 
 sovereign needful to complete the noble barrier which 
 now stands as an invaluable and permanent rock of 
 defence between the poacher and myself, and within 
 which I can with pleasure, and at all events, figuratively 
 echo the following lines : — 
 
 ' I am monarch of all I survey, 
 
 My right there is none to dispute ; 
 From the centre all round to the sea, 
 I am lord of the fowl and the brute.' 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 295 
 
 "On suspending all building operations by discon- 
 tinuing the masons as I have already stated, agreeably to 
 the contract antecedently and mutually indorsed on the 
 commencement of their labours, until my sovereigns should 
 increase in number, a professing friend, about whom I 
 always had my own well-balanced opinion and that a 
 suspicious one, officiously and impertinently censured this 
 act of mine by remarks unworthy of a gentleman, and of 
 much too coarse a nature to be gratifying, or even pala- 
 table to me, but I speedily settled his unneccessary and 
 discourteous interference, by simply asking him if I had 
 performed my portion of the original contract. He replied, 
 ' abstractedly, you have.' I then observed, Sir, when my 
 father disapproved of any thing I was saying, or was 
 evidently about to say in the presence of a third party, 
 he would very audibly whisper, ' tace is the Latin for a 
 candle,' which was tantamount to saying, hold your tongue, 
 and don't make such a fool of yourself. This, Sir, is the 
 observation I should have thought it my duty to have 
 made to you, if a third party had been present, which, 
 unfortunately is not the case." 
 
 I admit the extreme severity of the rebuke, yet probably 
 an overwhelming majority of my just, equitable, and high- 
 principled readers may be induced to concede even its 
 necessary propriety, as the Squire observed, " it required a 
 giant's blow, or something tantamount to steam power, to 
 level this gentleman with the ordinary usages of society." 
 
 When I expostulated with the sovereign hoarder and 
 store-keeper in the most gentle way imaginable, as to the 
 possibility or even probability, of robbery in his own house 
 
296 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 and the very evident insecurity and inexpediency of 
 treasuring up so large a sum in an ordinary deal drawer, 
 and also in a financial point of view, as regarded the loss 
 of interest whilst the sovereigns were accumulating, he 
 remarked, in apparently intense gravity, that, "according 
 to the political aspect of the times in which we live and 
 are so unmercifully taxed, the money is quite as safe in my 
 favourite drawer as it would be in the Bank of England, 
 and I shall have infinitely more pleasure in paying the 
 masons in solid gold than in flimsy paper, which a drunken 
 mason might accidently use in order to light his pipe, and 
 thus, by this simple inadvertence or sottish stupidity, 
 deprive his family of sustenance for the next month. I 
 will have nothing to do with the shadow when I can lay 
 hold of the substance. And I think you will agree with 
 me, when I tell you that a nobleman's footman in Hamp- 
 shire (at least, so says Hone), to whom two years' wages 
 were due, demanded the sum from his master, and gave 
 notice that he would quit his place. The master inquired 
 the reason of the man's precipitancy, who told his Lord- 
 ship, that he and a fellow-servant were about to set up 
 a country bank, and that they wanted the wages for a 
 capital. 
 
 " I am well aware," continued the Squire, " that your 
 Leeds merchants, who are keen, crafty, and wide awake in 
 'their generation,' would have designated me a flat, or, 
 according to the fashionable slang of the present day, ' a 
 muff,' and would have regarded me as having taken leave 
 of my senses, by robbing my sovereigns of daylight for so 
 long a period, and myself of interest for the cash in reserve, 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 297 
 
 or as they would have commercially contended, in a useless 
 heap; but this is a question which I shall not contest, as 
 I strongly suspect that ninety-nine out of a hundred 
 would vote against me in this new-fangled age, which 
 means, make money honestly if you can, hut if not 
 honestly, yet make it, as my old favourite Horace whispered 
 to me in my Stonyhurst days, and which sentiment, 
 some parties who are prepared to sail as near the wind 
 as possible, now cordially indorse, although I never did, 
 .and most assuredly never shall so steer my craft, although 
 I should live to number the days of Old Parr." 
 
 Notwithstanding Mr. Waterton's inaptitude and generally 
 undisciplined mode as regarded the management of money, 
 and its yielding or unyielding business-like returns, yet in 
 detailed expenditure and receipts no one could be more 
 acutely sensitive or accurate. I well recollect that when 
 our conversation with a mutual friend took the turn to 
 which I have now alluded, the Squire remarked, " I have 
 long entertained a wholesome fear of ' being done,' as the 
 vulgar say, whilst, at the same time, I have an equally 
 anxious desire to prevent the possibility of any one in 
 truth, saying that I have not paid him the uttermost farthing 
 that he is rigidly entitled to. 
 
 " In early life, like many other young, inexperienced, and 
 unenlightened swells, (if I ever deserved that odious appel- 
 lation,) I was twice victimised to my heart's content. In 
 making this admission, I may add, that the first swindle 
 never opened my eyes, but the second time the pigeon was 
 plucked, the sting dipped through the feathers, and so in- 
 convenienced me that I coolly and firmly resolved never 
 to be caught in a similar trap again. 
 
298 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 Although I did not relish either my first or my second 
 spoliation, yet, excepting for the sake of the awful position 
 of the plunderers, I do not now lament the calamities to 
 which I have alluded, as they exercised so marvellous and 
 salubrious an influence over me, that in after-life I have so 
 far escaped all serious losses. I do not however, mean to 
 convey an impression that I have steered clear of minor 
 frauds, but where poverty has been their matrix, I have 
 endeavoured to reconcile myself to the loss, hoping that the 
 little I have been deceitfully deprived of may have bene- 
 fitted some poor creatures after all." 
 
 Here we are again reminded of the distinction Mr. 
 Waterton invariably made between a criminality committed 
 by men in the upper ranks of society as compared with a 
 similar act in the lower orders. He was accustomed to 
 speak of the seductive vices to which poverty was almost 
 necessarily exposed, and of the nearly insuperable diffi- 
 culties she had to conquer. 
 
 He would add to his plea for mercy on behalf of the 
 delinquent, the acknowledged depravity of the human 
 heart, and hence its natural proneness to yield to the 
 temptation of vice, and more especially in a body enfeebled 
 by want, contending still further in aid of charity, that if 
 the body was insufficiently supported, the mind would be 
 necessarily deprived of its energies, and would consequently 
 lean to apparently present comfort, nay possibly tempting 
 luxuries. 
 
 As an ample confirmation of what I have stated, I may 
 adduce an instance which bears me out to the letter. In 
 1828 a gentleman, living in the neighbourhood of Wake- 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOKK. 299 
 
 field, but now a resident in Nottingham, called upon the 
 Squire one morning, when he had just received one hundred 
 pounds from his publisher, as a portion of his profits for 
 the "South American Wanderings," when Mr. Waterton 
 told him that having no present use for the money, he 
 determined to distribute it to the poor in the immediate 
 neighbourhood. This intended liberal and disinterested/ 
 proposition, was carried into execution that very day. 
 The first house he entered on his charitable mission was 
 that of a Protestant who had eight children, and who came 
 in for his fair share of the hundred pounds, although he 
 had been accustomed to publicly abuse Mr. Waterton in 
 consequence of his being a Eoman Catholic. This noble 
 act prompted by a generous and forgiving heart was only 
 one of many similarly admirable ones during a long life. 
 Such an example was truly heaping coals of fire on the 
 heads of some pharisaical professors, who could see no 
 virtue in any charitable act but those of their own, 
 ■which, like Angel's visits, were few and far between. 
 
 Mr. Waterton's experience of a return for pecuniary or 
 other equally valuable assistance' was, he always stated, 
 gratitude from recipients of known good principle, but 
 frequently no acknowledgement, nor even any recognition 
 whatever from those devoid of principle, and is not this a 
 sufficient proof of the impropriety of indulging in pro- 
 miscuous charity? 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 I have previously hazarded the liberty and propriety of 
 alluding to Mr. Waterton's politics, which were of some- 
 what singular texture, and I think the opinion then re- 
 corded is pretty accurately corroborated by the following 
 Letter to me : — 
 
 "My Dear Sir, — I shall not vote. You know my 
 sentiments. If driven to extremities, I had rather be 
 slain by the sword of a Tory at noon -day than be stabbed 
 at midnight by the muckfork of a sinuous, tortuous, 
 treacherous "Whig. As for the Eadicals — poor needy 
 devils ! — they would 1^ake the last remaining farthing 
 from my breeches pocket, and then leave me to shift for 
 myself. "What a patriotic trio ! Poor Britain ! I pity 
 thee from my heart. True patriotism is banished from 
 thy once independent realm. "What with Jew, and what 
 with Gentile, thy Parliament House will soon want a 
 Lord Protector with his whitening brush. ' Sir Harry 
 Vane ! ' The Lord deliver me from Sir Harry Vane. 
 
 " I am just returning from Lancashire, where I have 
 spent a most delicious week with the holy Jesuits at 
 Stonyhurst. Their arrangements for the Christmas merri- 
 ments were so admirably seasoned with ingredients to 
 warn you on your passage to a better world, that it would 
 be almost impossible to say whether the soul or the body 
 received the greater benefit. "Would that you had been 
 there. As your unavoidable engagements cut us off from 
 
CHARLES WATEETON, ETC. 301 
 
 an opportunity of telling you by word of mouth, how 
 sincerely, how fervently, we wished you a merry Christ- 
 inas, let us hope that nothing will interfere on New 
 Year's Day, to prevent our shaking you by the hand, 
 and saying, at the same time, a 'happy, happy, new 
 year' to one whose friendship is ever dear to us, and 
 whose professional services to us are beyond all estima- 
 tion. 
 
 "In addition, I wish to show you two magnificent 
 toads, which have been sent to me in spirits from Bahia, 
 and which are now ready for a distinguished place in the 
 Museum. 
 
 "And lastly, I feel a vehement inclination to gratify 
 you with a view of your old friends, the Eeformers of the 
 Church as by law established. I am also anxious that 
 you should invite me to eat a bit of mutton, or even a 
 morsel of bread and cheese with you, under your 
 hospitable roof, any day next week. 
 
 "Ever sincerely and faithfully, 
 
 " Chaeles Wateeton." 
 
 The preceding letter pleasurably reminds me of several 
 very happy hours enjoyed at Stonyhurst College many 
 years ago. Late in the evening, I was urgently summoned 
 to go as quickly as the rail and post-horses could convey me 
 to visit my old friend the Squire, who, whilst spending his 
 week's holiday at the place of his early education, had a 
 sudden and alarming attack of indisposition. Happly, on 
 my arrival a little after four o'clock in the morning, the 
 sufferer had rallied wonderfully, and then appeared to be 
 
302 CHAELES waterton: — 
 
 free from danger, so that instead of my sojourn there, during 
 the day, being one of sorrow, it was truly one of very- 
 great satisfaction, there being from the first moment of my 
 entering this seat of learning, an universal anxiety to 
 thoroughly promote my comfort, consequently, during my 
 brief stay among the Jesuits, I was, in every way, really 
 in clover, and I am delighted to have the opportunity, not- 
 withstanding the length of time since this occurrence, to 
 express my heartfelt gratitude for the very cordial reception 
 and hospitality I met with from a body of very agreeable 
 and learned men. 
 
 On taking my leave of Mr. Waterton, previously to my 
 departure from Stonyhurst, he facetiously observed, " I am 
 right glad thdt you have had an opportunity of mixing in 
 the society of those good men. You have, it is true, now 
 and then accidently met with a stray Jesuit or two at 
 Walton Hall, but here you have had a chance of associating 
 with a bevy of them in their natural and familiar lair, and 
 of judging of what sort of stuff they are composed as a 
 body. Surely you are now satisfied and convinced that a 
 Jesuit is an animal neither dangerous nor repulsive of 
 approach, and from what you have seen to-day, are you 
 not confident that our dear Jesuits are always triumphant, 
 that they never stumble, find that one of this body would 
 convey your soul across the Stygian creek more judiciously, 
 and with less fear of an upset than one of those pharisaical 
 Parsons who think it damnation to whistle on a Sunday. 
 I only allude to the pharisaical, recollect." 
 
 On the occasion of any official declaration by the 
 sovereign, of a general fast, or any thing of a similar 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOKK. 303 
 
 character, I was sure to fall heir to a little good-natured 
 raillery or friendly sarcasm from the Squire, as the follow- 
 ing Letter will amply testify :— 
 
 Walton Hall, Friday. 
 "My Dear Sir, — Your Proclamation is excellent, and 
 cannot be mended, saving, that a box of ' Squire Watter- 
 ton's Pills ' ought to be directed to be on the side-board 
 the following day. 
 
 " I am just writing to Mr. , with a request that he 
 
 will come and have a drop of broth with us on Sunday. 
 How lucky it will be if you are obliged to be professionally 
 in Wakefield on that day. Kindest remembrances from 
 your patient, who is much better. Thanks for this to the 
 incomparable Doctor Hobson. 
 
 "Believe me, my dear Sir, 
 "Ever truly yours, 
 
 " Charles Waterton." 
 
 Anxious, for various reasons, (which it is unnecesary 
 that I should here explain,) not to introduce a greater 
 number of my late friend's Letters, than would as much 
 as possible, simply, faithfully, and accurately delineate 
 his true character, I have not, although in possession of 
 upwards of a hundred, and frequently placed in a tan- 
 talising and tempting position, yielded to the desire 
 to do so, nor have I indulged in the quotation of a single 
 line, unless, from a stern conviction, that I deemed 
 it absolutely necessary to illustrate some peculiar trait 
 of disposition, natural propensity, or some singularly 
 
304 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 inherent and pervading spirit of this man, so remark- 
 able in many points of view, and so matchless in his 
 natural history attainments. 
 
 It will, I feel confident, be freely and willingly 
 admitted, that no written description, however carefully 
 drawn, short of the Squire's own identical sentences, 
 words, and ideas, could convey to the reader so vivid 
 and correct an imagination, or represent so life-like a 
 form, as the Letters themselves, which are so unique, 
 so pithy, and so original; and it must be remembered, 
 that these communications were one and all, written 
 without the slightest conception of their ever meeting 
 the eye of the public ; — therefore, we have here, with- 
 out a particle of affectation or intentional conceal- 
 ment, Charles Waterton himself, in his spontaneously 
 free, normal, and undressed colours ; — for instance, 
 
 '■' My Dear Sir, — If I should have sufficient strength, 
 after this day's Government fast (think of a fast appointed 
 by a Government which ridicules the fast of Advent, 
 and sets that of Lent at utter defiance), I will be with 
 you at the usual time. God bless and protect you. 
 "Most sincerely, 
 
 " Charles Waterton." 
 
 Some writer in referring to Mr. Waterton's extraor- 
 dinary muculiar activity, wonderful nerve, and evident 
 contempt of danger, has expressed surprise at his 
 maintaining his youthful propensities, together with 
 such vast energetic power and unusal daring intrepidity, 
 when verging on forty years of age, substantiating 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 305 
 
 his astonishment by the following quotation from the 
 Squire's own pen. 
 
 " During our stay in the Eternal City, I fell in with my 
 old friend and schoolfellow Captain Jones. Many a tree 
 had we climbed together in the last century, and as our 
 nerves were in excellent trim, we mounted to the top of 
 St. Peter's, ascended the Cross, and then climbed thirteen 
 feet higher, where we reached the point of the conductor 
 and left our gloves upon it. 
 
 " After this we visited the Castle St. Angelo, and con- 
 trived to get on to the head of the Guardian Angel, where 
 we stood on one leg." 
 
 I introduce the above quotation now, which had up 
 to this time, singularly enough, entirely escaped my 
 recollection, although Mr. "Waterton had often named to 
 me this daring and dangerous climbing frolic. An 
 allusion to it here, is especially made, in order to still 
 further establish and verify the really boyish predilections 
 of the Squire, by reminding and directing the reader's 
 particular attention to a simply sportive freak of his, 
 already recorded by me, namely, his concealing himself 
 under a table, and imitating the growling rage of a 
 savage dog, when his years numbered nearly four-score, 
 which practical joke he not only excessively enjoyed 
 at the moment, but in high glee and with all the 
 animation and gaiety of juvenescence on his part, reported 
 to a friend, who accidentally arrived soon afterward. 
 
 On the last occasion of his playing this practical joke, 
 I gently hinted at the fortuitous hazard incurred, 
 stating that many instances were recorded, on un- 
 
 x 
 
306 CHARLES WATEKTON : — 
 
 doubted authority, when even permanent aberration of 
 the mind had been the result of such a sudden and un- 
 expected shock to the. nervous system. The Squire, in 
 perfectly good humour, and with a positively atoning 
 smile beaming on his countenance as an apparent peace- 
 offering rejoined, "Doctor Hobson, you have spoken 
 discreetly, whilst I have acted indiscreetly. I realise 
 the danger to which you have alluded, having myself 
 read of such issues as you state. If I ever again play 
 a similar trick, you shall flog me with a cat-o'nine-tails. 
 It shall not be said of me, as a Yankee observed, when in 
 conversation with me, ' Things have come to a pretty pass 
 when a man is not allowed to flog his own nigger,' — you 
 however, shall have the signal privilege of flogging your 
 own friend, if such a chastening correction should be 
 deserved in future." 
 
 I have here cheerfully alluded to this perilous ascent 
 in order to better corroborate Mr. Waterton's statement by 
 observing that the late Captain Jones himself detailed to me 
 in the presence of the Squire all the circumstances con- 
 nected with this sky-larking defiance of danger. 
 
 Mr. "Waterton's universally acknowledged familiarity 
 with the habits of the " beasts of the field and the fowls 
 of the air," was, I suspect, unparalleled, which rendered 
 him not only a "Triton among the minnows," and 
 exquisitely amusing to all, but a marvellously instructive 
 and enlightening companion to any friend partial to the 
 captivating study of natural history. If a positive know- 
 ledge was wanting of any" diffidently stated or un- 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 307 
 
 authenticated peculiarity, or of a recognition of the habit 
 of any bird, which had been recorded on equivocal 
 authority, — or if his memory failed him as to any habit, 
 which, singular to say, at his age it rarely did, he would 
 observe, " We must ascertain this point without a doubt 
 as to its positive accuracy, from actual and careful obser- 
 vation, so as to be sure that we make no blunder, or we 
 might undeservedly appear in the category of simply 
 closet-naturalists. We must carefully and diligently study 
 nature where she is, and on no occasion by deputy nor 
 by plagiarism. She is never to be found in the library, 
 nor in the drawing-room, excepting (if I may be allowed 
 the metaphorical expression,) through the medium of 
 the telescope." 
 
 " Thou Nature art my goddess ; to thy law 
 My services are bound." 
 
 This, the telescopic mode of procuring a sound and 
 unerring knowledge of the habits of birds and of animals, 
 is really, in all eases where it is practicable, infinitely 
 preferable even to that which is generally termed " field " 
 in contradistinction to " closet-ornithology." For instance, 
 all birds assembling on the " little island " in the centre 
 of the lake at Walton Hall, are in a locality inducing 
 them to believe that they are free from the haunts of 
 man, and consequently, under this confident impression 
 of their undiscoverable privacy and entire seclusion, as 
 well as being located in a position of entire freedom 
 from disturbance, appear and act unpremeditatedly and 
 in a thoroughly spontaneous manner. Having .no know- 
 
308 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 ledge of a detecting nor of a supervising eye being placed 
 over them by the telescope, there is nothing to limit nor 
 to cramp their ordinary acts — their likes or dislikes — 
 their desires or their objections — which is that precise 
 condition in nature so desirable to obtain but so difficult 
 to find -within our power. 
 
 When there is no human agency, nor unusual external 
 influence being exercised over them, tending to control 
 any sudden impulse of feeling, you then see them ''in 
 puris naturalibus," that is, in the reality of nature,— and 
 by careful telescopic observation, you have the rare and 
 eligible opportunity of acquiring a clear and unerring 
 insight into the unsuspecting and unbiassed actions and 
 habits of this branch of organised life, guided by instinct. 
 You see their habits intuitively directed to adopt beneficial 
 and reject hurtful operations, not merely for the moment, 
 not limited to the present only, but by instinct wonder- 
 fully and discriminately selected, and hence, extended for 
 their good to the future. 
 
 How nearly do instinct and reason approximate — how 
 closely they verge and tread on each other's heels — they 
 are assuredly within immediate call, nay they frequently 
 appear to absolutely amalgamate. 
 
 "Providence or instinct of nature seems, 
 Or reason though disturbed, and scarce consulted, 
 To have guided me aright." 
 
 We see a half-starved and hungry dog pick up a 
 scrap of offal, thrown from the butcher's stall into the 
 dirty street, and therefore, offensively and unpalatably 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOEK. 309 
 
 soiled with various impurities. His appetite may be 
 ravenous, yet he refuses, in its filthy condition, to masticate 
 and swallow the prize he has laid hold of, in order to 
 satisfy his craving hunger. 
 
 The animal at once recognises the necessity of cleansing 
 the spoil he has obtained, and with his front teeth only, 
 he grasps a small portion of the unsavoury treasure in its 
 then disagreeable condition, and shakes it with a ven- 
 geance, until it is freed from its gross impurities. Having 
 effectually carried out the object he had in view, he 
 greedily, and with an evident relish, devours that which 
 was recently offensive, but which is now made sufficiently 
 pure for him by his own device. 
 
 Another instance of a close approximation of instinct 
 and reason, may be deduced from the feathered tribe. In 
 the farm-yard among the poultry, we see the male bird, 
 from a feeling of admiration and affection for the softer 
 sex, sedulously scratching the dung-hill in anxious search 
 of worms or of imperfectly digested cereal produce, for his 
 feminine associates ; and when his labours are rewarded 
 with success, he stands erect for the moment, with his 
 head raised aloft, loudly calling by a peculiar "chuck, 
 chuck, chuck," for some lady-pet, to whom he may bestow 
 the delicate morsel he has secured and which he holds in 
 his beak for her acceptance. 
 
 It must be admitted, that immediately successive and 
 evidently projected intentions are, in many instances, put 
 in force by the male bird in order to accomplish an end, 
 which appears to be foreseen. 
 
 The first intention that chanticleer proudly entertains, 
 
310 CHARLES WATERTON : — 
 
 is, in his gallantry, to unmistakeably indicate some marked 
 attention to the weaker vessel or, in other and more com- 
 plimentary terms to the fair sex, in conceiving the idea of 
 procuring a "tit-bit" for some favourite, by adopting 
 Doctor Kitchiner's sentiment, namely, a thorough con- 
 viction that " the way to the heart is through the medium 
 of the stomach." 
 
 The male bird clearly knows where to find the food he 
 requires, and he is equally conversant with a knowledge 
 how to procure it; he also knows that he can, by an 
 intelligible signal, — a language of his own, — secure the 
 presence of another, to whom he desires to give the food he 
 finds. Sometimes, whilst actually holding the prize he has 
 discovered, he makes his well-understood signal, by crying 
 " chuck, chuck, chuck ;" on other occasions, immediately 
 on perceiving it, he resorts to his signal, and on the hen's 
 arrival, points to it with his beak, or picks it up and grace- 
 fully presents it to her. 
 
 Prior says — 
 
 " The philosopher avers, 
 That reason, guides our deed, and instinct theirs. 
 Instinet and reason, how shall we divide ?" 
 
 Pope responds — 
 
 "Reason serves when press'd ; 
 But honest instinct comes a volunteer." 
 
 An accurately observing and very intelligent friend, on 
 whom I can thoroughly depend, informs me that he had, 
 some years ago, a goldfinch which was passionately fond of 
 the soft interior of household bread. If however, a crust 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOHK. 311 
 
 was offered to the songster, it was always accepted, but the 
 cunning bird, with great sagacity, immediately dropped 
 the gift into his drinking reservoir, and invariably allowed 
 it to remain in the water until rendered sufficiently soft for 
 easy deglutition, when it would artfully, and of its own 
 accord, fish it out, and use it as choice and delectable food. 
 My friend assures me that this was done without any 
 previous instruction whatever. 
 
 There is no "glorious uncertainty of the law" existing 
 with birds and animals, "feroenaturce," "in a 'state of wild 
 nature;" with them might is right, and an admission of this 
 acquired authority or dominion is yielded and permanently 
 established and witnessed on all sides, without the aid of 
 magnifying power. You unerringly ascertain, on both land 
 and water, that there is not merely non-resistance, not 
 simply a capitulation under certain circumstances for the 
 moment, but it is evidenced as a permanency, by a run- 
 away, swim-away, or fly-away retreat. The less power- 
 ful or less courageous rival for monarchy on land or on water 
 soon discovers that its position is an untenable one, and, in 
 future, submissively occupies that station in the decree of 
 mastership, in relation to its associates, which a superiority 
 in courage or physical force has awarded it. Nature, in 
 her nude state, has few difficulties to encounter or to 
 contend with, since each species speedily claims and as 
 resolutely maintains its precise and previously acquired 
 and recognised position as regards the various degrees of 
 supremacy, or even despotism in some few species, which 
 appear to inherit an innate spirit of tyranny. 
 
312 CHARLES WATEKION: — 
 
 The Squire himself was, for a number of years previously 
 to his death, inestimably indebted to the telescope, for a 
 wholesome correction of many early conceived and errone- 
 ous impressions of the habits of various birds, having 
 unwittingly picked up ill-founded impressions, by a sort of 
 universal yet unauthorised consent, that such and such 
 birds were the subjects of such and such habits ; whereas, 
 the telescope, when brought to the rescue, soon set him 
 right, as it invariably and infallibly does correct and put 
 an end to all mere assumption and closet ornithological 
 theories, as well as to the speculations of a romantic or 
 fanciful brain. Unfortunately, sanguine temperaments, 
 when pursuing and professing to closely examine the 
 intricacies of natural history, as in other sciences which 
 require great circumspection and positively absolute facts, 
 take many things for granted which have no existence 
 excepting in a stretch of imagination, or the fumes of fancy, 
 so that no dependence can be, with any confidence, placed 
 on their statements, — hence, habits which actually do exist 
 are passed over without the slightest notice, whilst those 
 existing only in imagination are promulgated as realities. 
 
 This is a great and growing grievance, and a lamentable 
 cause of retarding truth and accuracy in natural-history 
 publications, because few authors have the desired oppor- 
 tunity of practically gaining for themselves the accurate 
 information necessarily required for the correction of un- 
 founded impressions, and are consequently, driven (that is, 
 if they are determined to write,) to publish opinions and 
 statements formed by and gathered from their general 
 reading on these subjects, or from direct plagiarism derived 
 from visionary or unauthorised sources, — and thus are 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 313 
 
 errors, or indeed, decided misstatements, perpetuated from 
 one generation to another. 
 
 In the ordinary and every-day occurrences in life, we 
 continually find it acknowledged that verbally expressed 
 and even written statements, need frequent, and indeed' 
 severe correction. Now, if common occurrences, which are 
 every body's business, require an expostulating and a 
 redressing influence, how can we reasonably expect to find 
 natural-history statements, which are studied comparatively 
 by few, — and those comprising the sanguine as well as the 
 indolent, — I say, how can we expect so great a medley of 
 descriptions to be in a position entitled to claim exemption 
 from such a chastisement ? 
 
 The man who writes a book, on the heterogeneous sub- 
 jects of natural history, for the sake of pecuniary profit, 
 which is, I suspect, generally an unproductive as well as 
 an infelicitous speculation, or that he may acquire honorary 
 distinction as an author, without being deeply, and I may 
 add, naturally imbued by a devoted and inherent love for 
 the science, and without a thorough knowledge of the 
 elementary details and foundation of this charming study> 
 is not the man to instruct. Ninety- nine out of a hundred 
 of those who peruse such a book, with a view to gain 
 correct knowledge in the varied departments of natural 
 history, may be much pleased and highly amused, and very 
 reasonably and justly so, according to the ability, the skill, . 
 or the refined taste of the author, but its inevitable 
 inaccuracy and indisputably vague definitions as regards 
 nature, will always debar its being a means by which the 
 earning ornithologist can be safely or invulnerably guided 
 in the attainment of his wants. 
 
314 CHARLES WATBETON: — 
 
 Any one, who dares to call himself a naturalist, ought 
 never to be in a position to claim the privilege of 
 sheltering himself under ignorance of a habit of any bird 
 or animal, by using the expression generally. The path 
 of nature is undeviating, and may be fancifully assimi- 
 lated to the skin of the Ethiopian, or to the laws of 
 the Medes and Persians, which change not. Nature 
 always says it is, or it is not. She invariably deals in 
 stern individualities, and never indulges in dubious nor in 
 undefined generalities, — of course, monstrosities excepted 
 
 "We should remember that we may, by earnest and 
 assiduous labour, but most assuredly not without it, attain 
 a position to require only a comparatively trifling 
 amount of shelter in consequence of our ignorance in 
 this branch of science. On the other hand, if we cal- 
 culate upon possessing an accurate knowledge of God's 
 varied works in creation as a congenital gift, we labour 
 under a grievous and a really inexcusable error, and 
 one which can never be compensated by any substitute. 
 Nature no more furnishes us with this knowledge 
 without the utmost exertion of our energies, than she 
 bestows virtue without the shoulder being put to the 
 wheel. " Natura non dat virtutcm ; nascimur quidem 
 ad hoc, sed sine hoc." " Nature does not bestow virtue ; 
 we are born indeed to it, but without it." 
 
 Many men in their own estimation call themselves 
 naturalists Avho have not an atom of legitimate claim 
 to such a distinction. 
 
 "Boasting is but an art our fears to blind, 
 And with false terrors sinks another's mind." 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 315 
 
 Inasmuch as it is extremely difficult and almost 
 impossible to: secure favourable opportunities in order 
 to rigourously investigate some habits, therefore, when 
 we can by means of a telescope, witness any acts abso- 
 lutely exercised, it is essential, for the sake of accuracy 
 and to prevent the possibility of mistake by trusting i 
 to memory, that we should jot down the facts ascertained, 
 at the very moment when such well-authenticated 
 truths are before our eyes, nay are actually discovered 
 and determined, leaving nothing for memory to supply, 
 — a wrinkle is thus added, confirmed, or destroyed in 
 the book of nature for the future. 
 
 The Squire, in all his numerous and unusually long- 
 continued natural-history pursuits, had invariably three 
 simple and elementary objects in view, viz., the' dis- 
 covery of a habit hitherto unrecorded — the verification 
 of those already enrolled and generally admitted in 
 natural history — and the irrefutable correction of those 
 Testing on hearsay or equivocal evidence, or on the 
 theoretical, the fanciful, and the questionable contri- 
 butions emanating from the closet, the latter of which 
 provokingly unacceptable consignments to the public 
 were surprisingly numerous. 
 
 Mr. Waterton would say, when in a facetious or jocose 
 humour, "If it be necessary to eat a peck of salt at 
 a man's table before you can be said to know him, 
 what length of time and close observation is it reason- 
 able to suppose, would be required to become a pro- 
 ficient in the absolutely practical knowledge of the hUbits 
 of birds and of animals ? On working this out by the 
 
316 CHAKLES WATEETON : — 
 
 rule of three, you will find the result will be a man's life- 
 time, and an indefinite period beyond that as a remainder; 
 and even this remainder, let me tell the off-hand and 
 take-for-granted naturalist, will be no atom." 
 
 Mr. Wate'rton, I believe, never manifested the slightest 
 disposition, during any period of his life, to attempt 
 to tame or domesticate wild animals, and certainly 
 never sanctioned nor approved of such an essay being 
 made by any other person in the lengthened span of 
 our intimacy; indeed, even the simple deprivation of 
 the liberty of either bird or beast was distasteful in the 
 extreme to the tender-hearted Naturalist, and was by 
 him sternly deprecated. 
 
 He could not bear to see any creature deprived even 
 of its liberty without considering it an inhuman torture, 
 and would bring Burns to his aid by reciting the dying 
 words of " Poor Maillie " when alluding to her master. 
 
 " Tell him if e'er again lie keep 
 As muckle gear as buy a sheep. 
 bid him never tie them mair 
 Wi' wicked strings o' hemp or hair, 
 But oa' them out to park or hill, 
 An let them wander at their will ; 
 So may his flock increase and grow 
 To scores o' lambs an' packs of woo'." 
 
 If any one ever suggested or desired the domestication 
 of a wild animal of any species whatever, the Squire 
 would' instantly and determinedly oppose the propo- 
 sition, contending against it with a countenance betraying 
 an inward horror, which was expressive of its being 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 317 
 
 the avant-courier, the harbinger of a future cruelty, 
 to which he could never be persuaded to consent, much 
 less approve. He would in a firm but subdued Lone 
 say, that he never could endure to witness desert-nature 
 repulsively disfigured and painfully tormented during 
 life by any inhuman brutality. 
 
 The Squire also insisted, that if even the mildest 
 form of domestication, or assuredly of incarceration, 
 should be once unfortunately conceived and indulged 
 in — if the thin end of the wedge should be once introduced, 
 that it would, in a great number of cases, lead to tribu- 
 lation or torture, and indeed to his positive knowledge, 
 had, in some instances, terminated in the greatest 
 barbarity, but one fortunately seldom seen or permitted 
 in a civilised country. 
 
 The Squire's argument was grounded and uniformly' 
 exemplified by adducing, in his brief but telling phrase- 
 ology, "the inhuman cage-confinement of birds," and 
 especially on that of the bullfinch, which he contended, 
 if viewed in the most favourable light that any depri- 
 vation of liberty could claim, was nothing less than 
 imprisonment, nay solitary confinement for life And 
 callous and unimpressible as all endowed with right 
 feeling must admit such an infliction on innocent and 
 unsuspecting nature to be, yet it was but the first act 
 in the tragedy of the woes of this poor bird. 
 
 The second link in the chain of its afflictions, the 
 teaching it music, he contended, although mild by com- 
 parison had its numerous discomforts and annoyances, 
 very frequently from the inconsiderate and case-hardened 
 
318 CHARLES WATERTON : — 
 
 austerity of its teacher. Tor instance, when birds 
 are taught to perform or to do certain acts requiring 
 (in order to accomplish such unnatural feats,) severe 
 and long-continued training, it is found necessary to 
 deprive them of all food for a protracted period, so 
 that they may especially enjoy their rations which are 
 given to them immediately after their training lesson as it 
 is supposed that the poor creature, after a little time 
 ascertains that this food is given as a reward or a bribe 
 for its obedience. When it is supposed to be requisite to 
 punish a bird, the trainer takes it in his left hand, and with 
 a flirting or jerking action of his right thumb and long 
 finger, hits the bird on the scalp, — and sometimes 
 these fillips are of a flint-hearted character. 
 
 When poor " bully," as the bird-catchers call him, has 
 been made as perfect, under existing circumstances, in 
 the art and execution of vocal music, as human skill 
 can inculcate, his brutal and avaricious teacher, believing 
 that there can be a still further improvement, a more 
 melodious and attractive vocalization secured in his 
 pupil by obliterating his vision, hesitates not to per- 
 forate the pupil of each eye with a red hot needle, hoping 
 by this cruel act, to improve his intonation and also 
 secure some other additional refinement, and consequently 
 to obtain a more extravagant remuneration for him. 
 
 Mr. Waterton when abroad, had several times seen 
 the bullfinch in this deplorable condition, and there 
 appeared, from what he could learn, to be no doubt 
 but the poor creature, in order to " pass dull time away," 
 when ruthlessly and inhumanly deprived of the faculty 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 319 
 
 of vision, is driven to amuse himself by singing more 
 frequently than he otherwise would do, if his attention 
 were occupied and amused by seeing the various 
 objects around him. I may add that tbe Squire stated 
 he was not sufficiently skilled in the science of music, 
 to be able to distinguish with accuracy whether the 
 loss of eyesight certainly tended to improve the 
 acquired vocal powers of the songster. He also remarked, x 
 that he had known many instances in England of the 
 linnet being deprived of vision, but be knew not by 
 what means. The chief reason for this savage act is 
 grounded on the supposition that by depriving the 
 bird of one sense, namely, that of seeing, the other 
 senses become more acute, perfect, and refined. 
 
 I understand that in England, the linnet frequently 
 suffers by bird-fanciers, this merciless and cold-blooded 
 barbarity, by an apparently less torturing, but certainly 
 by a longer-continued, and probably, in reality, by a still 
 more excruciatingly painful operation. The means these 
 bird-fancying miscreants adopt, is the application of 
 intensely heated iron, or some other metal similarly 
 prepared, for a continued period, in such close approxima- 
 tion to the eyes as to produce a degree of inflammatory 
 action sufficiently intense to entirely destroy their healthy 
 organization, and to induce consequent loss of vision, 
 which is the entire aim of these mean-spirited - and 
 mercenary recreants. 
 
 Although we can not literally assimilate "poor bully," 
 nor the harmless linnet, however mutilated and disfigured 
 in aspect, to any thing strictly monstrous, even under 
 
320 CHARLES WATERTON : — 
 
 the most aggravated circumstances, yet we are figuratively 
 reminded of Virgil's line relative to Polyphemus the 
 Cyclops : — 
 
 " Monstrum hovrmdum, informs, ingens, ad lumen ademptum." 
 , " A monster horrible, mis-shapen, huge, and deprived of his eye.'' 
 
 It has been previously stated that Walton Hall did 
 not abound with game ; — and the reason then assigned 
 was, the heavy cost and extreme difficulty of preserving 
 the manor, in addition to the frequently consequent 
 sacrifice of human life. A more matured recollection 
 furnishes me with sundry other representations, creating 
 additional stumbling-blocks in the way of accomplishing 
 all that could be desired in the way of preservation of 
 game, which ought not to be omitted without some 
 explanation. 
 
 It is a universally acknowledged fact, that hares, in 
 order to be in a healthy and productive condition, require 
 variety of food and distant feeding ground. Now these 
 essentials, within the park walls at Walton Hall, are 
 necessarily limited, the amount of arable land being 
 trifling, and the feeding ground unfortunately in close 
 proximity with that in which they make their forms in 
 which to squat ; and, whensoever hares are very numerous 
 on a limited space, they soon become infected with what 
 keepers call the " rot," very many dying off, and those that 
 '' pull through" are not fit for the table, at all events for 
 six or eight months. 
 
 The nesting ground for partridges is good and safe, if 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 321 
 
 the weasel be "kept under," as the ground is dry, and 
 there is always a plentiful supply of water, but there is a 
 lamentable dearth of arable land, and consequently, an 
 insufficiency of cereal crops to sufficiently attach and 
 endear them to their birth-place, — and by straying out 
 of the manor in quest of seeds, turnip and potatoe" cover, 
 as well as basking-ground, they are often picked up on the 
 outskirts by the straggling poacher. 
 
 The male-bird renders no assistance in the act of 
 incubation, but always remains in close proximity so as 
 to warn the female of danger, and by a pretended 
 exhibition of being unable to fly, he half flies and half 
 runs, in order to lead away any apparently intruding 
 party from the nest. Few birds show the same intensity 
 of parental affection as the partridge. For instance, in 
 the wet summer of 1836, Mr. Weir says, "several pairs 
 were found dead in the fields near Bathgate with their 
 hroods under their wings, having perished under the 
 influence of cold and hunger rather than expose their 
 tender charge to the inclemency of the weather." 
 
 Pheasants being very fond of roosting and of cover, 
 if artificially supplied with Indian corn, buck wheat, or 
 some other equivalent, do remarkably well at Walton 
 Hall; — indeed, the Squire had, beyond all doubt, ample 
 proof of this in bygone days. 
 
 One day, on paying Mr. Waterton a casual visit, 
 and immediately observing that his temper was some- 
 what ruffled, — which irritated condition his countenance 
 always speedily betrayed, — I enquired if he was poorly, 
 
322 CHARLES WATEKTON: — 
 
 or if anything had distressed him, when he excitedly 
 
 replied, "Yes, I am grieved to the back bone; Mr. 
 
 whom you would just now meet in the carriage-road, 
 and who professes to be enchanted and in raptures 
 with the works of God's creation has just left the 
 house ; and, what do you think ? he coolly turned 
 up his nose at my Bahia toad, calling it ' an ugly 
 brute.' 
 
 " That a gentleman, avowing himself a lover of 
 natural history, and pretending an anxiety to work 
 in the same vineyard with me, should profanely 
 designate one of God's creation 'an ugly brute,' was 
 enough 'to put me out' for a week,' — so I left him in 
 the staircase to his own cogitations." 
 
 This was a mode of manifesting indignation or dis- 
 pleasure not entirely free from objection, and was one 
 which, indisputably, few persons would have adopted 
 under similar circumstances, as the Squire doubtless, 
 by his remorseless countenance and unpalatable manner, 
 did not conceal from the gentleman that he shelved 
 him in evident umbrage. 
 
 When we however, make charitable and privileged 
 allowances for the peculiar idiosyncracy of the man, 
 in consequ'ence of his positive adoration of the works 
 of creation, and also for the light in which he very 
 probably received the unguarded, and certainly, the 
 unfortunately selected expression of his casual natural- 
 history visitor, there was then much to be said on be- 
 half of Mr. Waterton, and in extenuation of his sore 
 annoyance at this manifestly unintentional offence on 
 the part of the stranger. 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 323 
 
 This, like some other of our friend's little failings, 
 ( and who is free from a sprinkling of imperfections ? ) 
 had an origin and a foundation grounded on a sacred 
 feeling, which by some might be considered as more 
 than compensating for the intentionally ungracious 
 desertion of a gentleman in his own house, and yet 
 offering no correcting nor reproving observations to 
 the offending party in proof of his disapprobation, 
 which mode of condemnation was not the usual one 
 with the Squire. In fact, as a general rule, he was in- 
 stantaneously "down upon" those whom he conceived 
 unreasonably differing in opinion with ( him, and occa- 
 sionally, where the dissent savoured of officiousness, and 
 when he had his antagonist fairly "inter malleum in- 
 cudem," "between the hammer and the anvil," in rather 
 a rough-and-ready fashion. He was implicitly impressed*" 
 with the idea that every thing in nature was beautiful, 
 and consequently, could not see any thing disgusting 
 in the toad, which he would handle, nay fondle, appa- 
 rently with the greatest delight. He would expatiate, 
 in evident pleasure, on its eyes, "those brilliant lumi- 
 naries of vision," upon its utility to man, notwith- 
 standing his ingratitude in return for its destruction 
 of the despoiling insect families. He would dwell upon 
 its harmlessness, and upon its general appearance, as 
 an object of interest and admiration, although he had 
 no friend to support him, with evident pleasure. 
 
 Mr. Waterton always entertained and manifested such 
 a profound respect for the Deity, and indeed, absolute 
 veneration for every thing created by or associated with 
 
324 CHARLES WATERTON, ETC. 
 
 potentiality or sacred attributes, that he could seldom 
 sanction an expression of even disapprobation of any of 
 God's works, much less endure appellations, in the 
 slightest degree repulsive, to be applied to any object 
 ■whatever within the range of natural history, without 
 what he termed, giving a " Eowland for an Oliver," 
 yet in this isolated instance, he signally failed in his 
 wonted effective retort, his displeasure being such as to 
 entirely obliterate his ordinary presence of mind, which 
 was usually in the ascendant. 
 
 Before my friendship with the Squire, the toad had 
 frequently been the subject of experiment with him, he 
 had buried it in an earthen jar underground with and 
 without' food for certain periods of time, weighing it 
 previously and subsequently to its being so immured 
 but my treacherous memory serves me not as to the 
 comparative increase or decrease in weight, showing the 
 variously limited duration of its imprisonment. 
 
CHAPTEE XI. 
 
 For a very long time I have carefully preserved many of 
 Mr. Waterton's ' letters written to myself, without any 
 special reference to the character of their contents, not 
 however, until recently, with any idea or pre- determined 
 intention of my applying them to their present purpose, 
 but with a hope that they would be useful to some other 
 surviving friend who might, and I doubted not, would feel 
 an anxiety to rescue their hitherto hidden recital, and the 
 good deeds of this extraordinary man from oblivion after 
 death. 
 
 " Death only is the lot which none can miss, 
 And all is possible to Heaven but this." 
 
 Indeed, at one period, I had entertained a rather con- 
 fident and certainly a pleasing idea, that ■ some Jesuit or 
 a combined phalanx of that fraternity, to whom the Squire 
 was such a hospitable, considerate, and warm-hearted 
 friend, would have been naturally induced, or in naked 
 truth, would have been irresistibly tempted to have written 
 the life of their noble and generous benefactor, and I then 
 determined, that not only should Mr. Waterton's ' letters to 
 me be at their unlimited service, but that I should have 
 been in addition, delighted to have furnished the author, 
 or the incorporation of authors, with all the information 
 that I was master of, from which they might have selected 
 or rejected at pleasure. ' 
 
326 CHARLES" WATERTON: — 
 
 Of course, it would have been little less than an insane 
 act on my part, to have contemplated, and still more so, 
 to have attempted to write the life of a man, with whose 
 early antecedents I was totally unacquainted — of the first 
 half of whose life I literally knew nothing — and of whose 
 family ancestry I was comparatively ignorant, knowing 
 little more than what the ordinary newspapers of the day 
 brought to light, when the good man had ceased to exist. 
 
 It will then be evident, that I never meditated any thing 
 beyond a brief sketch of the retained and deeply impressed 
 reminiscences of my friend, and I should, in truth, bitterly 
 lament if a single sentence should have escaped from my 
 pen which would have been contrary to the wishes of the 
 deceased. 
 
 The Squire's spontaneous, voluntary, and uninvited 
 acts never failed to be of A noble character. His chief 
 objects, when fairly relaxed from his various and numerous 
 taxidermic labours, were by exemplification, directed to the 
 generous support and relief of his fellow-creatures, and as 
 the organs of credulity and benevolence were largely 
 developed in our enterprising friend, we cannot be surprised 
 to find that he was very often grossly imposed upon, and, 
 therefore, fully verifying the truth of an assertion of Ovid's, 
 — " Quique aliis cavit, non cavet ipse sibi ;" " And he that 
 has defended others, fails to defend himself." Let me here 
 add, that the charities of the Squire's benevolent heart, 
 carried out in supposed secrecy on his part, were innumer- 
 able ; some of which, accidentally coming to light, 
 thoroughly established that which his intimate friends 
 never questioned, namely his innate kind and generous 
 feeling, and always exercised without parade. 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOKK. 327 
 
 If a man, whom he had befriended, behaved rudely or 
 ungratefully, the Squire would hunt up all sorts of excuses 
 and apologies for him, and would not hesitate to plead 
 earnestly on behalf of this sinner. 
 
 On a friend once saying to him in my presence, " Eeally 
 this is easting your pearls too promiscuously," Mr. Water- 
 ton observed, "Ah, my dear friend, err on the safe side. 
 You and I have repeatedly had the offer of pearls which 
 we have rejected, why then should not this poor fellow 
 have another chance ? " 
 
 Few persons have known Mr. Waterton for so lengthened 
 and uninterrupted a period and so intimately as I had the 
 satisfaction of doing, and the number of individuals would 
 be limited indeed who could advantageously enter into and 
 record any very detailed information with regard to his 
 ordinary and undisguised habits, or with respect to his 
 marvellous manipulating powers; and probably, a still 
 smaller number, if there he any such surviving confidants, 
 who were, during the life of my friend, so intimately 
 acquainted as I was -with the many interesting minutice of 
 Walton Hall and its surrounding scenery in its familiar and 
 unaffected attire. 
 
 Under his own roof, during our friendship, the 
 Squire's every-day habits were reserved nor concealed 
 from me, whilst his taxidermic skill, as an amateur 
 and practical expert, with all his ingenious arrangements 
 and contrivances, were invariably and even seductively 
 exposed to me ; nay I was cordially invited at all times, to 
 share in the interest Mr. Waterton himself experienced in 
 
328 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 ornithological operations, in order to endeavour to fathom 
 all their difficulties, and to attain a knowledge of all their 
 intricacies, whilst Walton Hall and its many peculiarities, 
 in consequence of their being so frequently and so un- 
 reservedly under my eye, and so precisely harmonising 
 with my own tastes, were as familiar to me as if I had 
 resided within the park walls for half a century. 
 
 Mr. Waterton, from the commencement of our friendly 
 and familiar intercourse, was well aware of my ardent 
 attachment to every thing connected with natural history, 
 and therefore, when he had obtained any thing novel or 
 out of the ordinary way; or if he had himself added 
 any thing by his own handiwork to his collection, well 
 selected acquisitions to which he was incessantly con- 
 tributing until the close of life ; or if a strange bird had 
 made its appearance on the lake, or in the grounds, I was 
 pretty sure to receive a letter requesting me to pay him 
 a visit, whilst every possibly captivating inducement was 
 volunteered to encourage and persuade me to drive over 
 and socially share his prospective pleasures, — the object of 
 which visit was, without exception, in his letter of 
 invitation fully entered into and minutely explained, so 
 as to give me a detailed foresight of his contemplated 
 intentions; and the more especially, if there was any 
 knotty or disputed point associated with natural history 
 to solve, determine, or correct, or any attempt to be 
 made to unravel by our united effort, any recent discovery 
 which had been publicly recorded as actually accomplished 
 and practically displayed, and particularly, if it appeared 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 329 
 
 to be enveloped in any unusual mystery, or in some decree 
 of incredibility. 
 
 The Squire was always in possession of moral courage 
 sufficient in the first instance, to firmly but gently 
 contend for the correction of an error unguardedly or 
 recklessly stated, and if a palpable one was obstinately 
 persevered in, he would then not at all hesitate to support 
 his own side of the argument by very energetic language, 
 and occasionally, by a tartness and an asperity of expres- 
 sion somewhat ungracious, and unfortunately, also by a 
 very decided insuavity of manner. 
 
 On my arrival at the Hall on such occasions as I have 
 named, Mr. Waterton was always on the tip-toe of 
 expectation, being as sure as " death and taxes " to be 
 eagerly looking out ; and the moment my foot had over- 
 stepped the threshold of the entrance-hall door, his 
 anxiety was manifested to introduce the subject of his 
 previously noticed novelty, — probably some unique abnor- 
 mity in the animal kingdom or in the feathered tribe 
 might be prepared and conspicuously placed so as to 
 create intense surprise or " love at first sight," or it might 
 be some recently and exquisitely mounted rare but normal 
 specimen in some other or collateral branch of natural 
 history. At all events, I was never disappointed by his 
 frequent special invitations, which, on no occasion, failed 
 to he interesting and to afford a gratifying treat to me, 
 independently of a certainty of two or three hours of 
 genuine enjoyment with the Squire himself. Then, to 
 witness his animated manner, his hurried anxiety, and his 
 extreme delight to exhibit any thing new, "fresh from 
 
330 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 the mint," or recently executed, was such that my heart 
 must have been frigid indeed if I had not cordially 
 shared in his very manifest pleasure and gratification, 
 whilst rapidly recounting or vividly explaining its pecu- 
 liarities, or nature's necessary and marvellous provisions, 
 with evident heartiness and impetuosity of exposition, 
 and in his own incomparably quaint style. 
 
 Mr. Waterton might be fairly, and indeed impartially, 
 deemed in some degree impatient with any one hazarding 
 an opinion at variance with his own, as regarded the 
 attitude or anatomical form of the birds he mounted. In 
 whatever attitude he placed the subject of his labours it 
 was always natural, but seldom deviating from one of 
 repose. It is rare to see a bird of the Squire's "mounting " 
 in an attitude representing a state of surprise, ausculta- 
 tion, or anger. That position in which the bird is 
 evidently listening, is very interesting and adds, in many 
 instances, materially to the appearance of life,- 1 — but I 
 recollect very few mounted by the Squire " arrectis auribus," 
 " with ears erect." 
 
 This excessive degree of sensitiveness and susceptibility, 
 or what I have ventured to designate impatience, or an 
 unfortunate tendency to too readily " champ the bit," 
 which I have frequently alluded to by its proper name 
 to Mr. Waterton himself, was perceptibly indicated, even 
 if merely the most trifling difference of opinion was 
 ventured to be expressed in the mildest and most 
 gentle manner possible, and, in this respect, no one was 
 exempt from the reception of a testy or a somewhat 
 irascible punition, nor did any one possess the slightest 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOKK. 331 
 
 immunity from this infliction in consequence of age, 
 friendship, or sex ; — in this, as in other instances, he dealt 
 out equal justice to all. 
 
 It has been my most anxious and even ambitious desire, 
 and I may add, my firm determination, in "writing this 
 Sketch of the "Home, Habits, and Handiwork" of my late 
 friend, never to tread, nor even, in the least degree, trench 
 upon what writers in the present age would liberally permit 
 me to designate sacred ground, in other words, on a sub- 
 structure, from which I should have been " warned off" by 
 the Squire himself during his life. 
 
 It has also been my inflexible resolution, so far as a 
 cautiously formed judgment could direct and guide me, 
 never to infringe on any subject beyond what even Mr. 
 Waterton himself would have countenanced and sanctioned 
 during life. How far a successful or approved issue has 
 been realised, as regards the object in view, must be left for 
 an impartial and unbiassed public to determine. 
 
 Conflicting, prejudiced, and, now and then, ill-digested 
 opinions may be formed, and perhaps, of an obstinate 
 and unyielding character, as to the remarks contained 
 and the sentiments expressed in this volume, probably 
 as to their propriety, and possibly, as to its hazarded 
 publication, and especially I suspect, by parties, in truth, 
 totally ignorant of the circumstances under which I 
 write, and yet of course, speaking as if "ex cathedra" 
 "coming from high authority." 
 
 I quarrel not with any opposing party-spirit, from what- 
 ever cause it may emanate, nor even with a jaundiced or 
 malevolent eye, if such should prevail, nor with any 
 
332 CHAKLES WATERTOST: — 
 
 diversity of opinion that may be entertained ; indeed, it 
 would be unreasonable in me to calculate upon casting my 
 net with such exquisite skill as to secure every variety of 
 fish by a single draught. Such really dexterous manage- 
 ment would, in all conscience, require, in reality, "a long 
 pull, a strong pull, and a pull altogether," which combina- 
 tion of good luck and skill rarely falls to the lot of 
 human decision, however cautiously formed and judiciously 
 directed. 
 
 If the subject of this Memoir had been a naturally 
 ' diffident and retiring character — if he had dwelt within his 
 own park walls all his life, and had parsimoniously wrapped 
 himself up in his own sphere of knowledge, niggardly 
 tenacious of its distribution — if he had never travelled — 
 had never encountered the lion's share of danger by land 
 nor by sea, — if he had never mixed in society, nor roughed 
 it in foreign climes, — if he had ingloriously concealed his 
 every-day deeds " under a bushel," — if he had ever acted, 
 in the eyes of his fellow-men, " as a thief in the night " — ' 
 in that case, and under such unenviable circumstances, the 
 writing of this volume might have been an irksome and 
 would have been an unwilling and a disagreeable task, as 
 well as' a difficult card to play. 
 
 The Squire had far too open and generous a disposition 
 to care who might become acquainted with the ordinary 
 acts of his long and well-spent life, and more especially in 
 its later years, — lie knew his own singularities, and cared 
 not who shared in that knowledge. The old man never 
 beat a retreat from broad day-light, always abominating 
 " deeds of darkness." He himself, uninvitedly supplied me 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 333 
 
 with memoranda as to dates, in order to complete this 
 sketch, and years previously, he hesitated not to publish 
 his own biography, and was then not sparing in recounting 
 his own peculiarities, nor ashamed to describe, in not very 
 complimentary terms, his own personal appearance, — there- 
 fore, the basis on which I rest, is a permission more than 
 equal to all my necessary requirements for the publication 
 of this volume. 
 
 " Si quid amicum erga bene feci, ant considuijideliter, 
 Non rideor ma-uisse laudem ; culp& caruisse arbitror." 
 
 " If I have in any way acted well towards my friend, or 
 have faithfully consulted his advantage, I deem myself not 
 deserving of praise ; I consider only that I am free from 
 blame." 
 
 As I am anxious to delineate the man in his various 
 characters, I can not refrain copying the following letter 
 which is written in so off-hand a way, and in so cheerful 
 a spirit : — 
 
 My Dear Sir, — • 
 
 I am all right again, and should like to show you 
 some of the chief actors of the reformation in the staircase. 
 We fear that you may be mortgaged for Christmas day. 
 Come if possible when it arrives, you shall have a bed and 
 a slice of turkey and plum pudding. 
 
 I don't care who holds the helm of our crazy vessel, so 
 long as " Mummery John " does not get hold of it. You 
 did not arrive according to promise. We hope to be more 
 fortunate on Palm-Sunday after you have requested your 
 spiritual adviser to keep a blessed palm for you, when he 
 
334 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 delivers the sprigs to the assembled multitude from his 
 Altar. Stop, I ought to say table. Many thanks for your 
 communication. I hope that you will pursue the investi-, 
 gation. It is somewhat singular that I have never yet 
 found the large bone in the wings of waterfowl full of 
 marrow. Why is the bone of one waterfowl full and 
 another empty ? We shall join heart and soul in wishing 
 you a happy New Year when it comes, and many of them. 
 Keep yourself disengaged. 
 
 I returned from the good Jesuit Fathers yesterday. The 
 plant which you sent them flourishes admirably, and 
 blossomed beautifully during summer. In allusion to the 
 Baronet and his daughter, we were delighted with them. 
 We have two fine dusky grebes feeding with the coots 
 
 close to the boathouse. So Mr. wishes to kill the 
 
 devil. I think it imprudent to make such an attempt as he 
 suggests, as they really cannot do without him in our 
 houses of Parliament. They are very hard up, and it 
 would be cruel to take away their main prop. A multipli- 
 city of out-door work has pressed heavily on me, and to 
 wind all up, Advent has arrived, three days of which are 
 set apart by the Church in order that the body may give its 
 soul an additional shove to the realms above. Dr. H. will 
 have announced this to you. 
 
 Should you put in appearance three days hence, your 
 benign countenance will make the fiddle sound more 
 sweetly, and the dance will have redoubled charms. I am 
 still prone to obesity. 
 
 Ever yours sincerely, 
 
 Charles Watertost. 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 335 
 
 Mr. Waterton's anxiety to show me " some of the chief 
 actors of the reformation," always convinced me that this, 
 in his own estimation, was his greatest work of art in 
 taxidermy. In allnsion to the fiddle and the dance, Mr. 
 "Waterton was then shadowing forth an approaching gala to 
 be held in the Park. 
 
 The Squire's heart, in allegorical or vernacular language, 
 was infinitely too large " to rest and be thankful " with 
 those amusements or labours which usually terminate by 
 merely affording self-gratification so long as others were 
 in misery. Although always the most happy when 
 putting his shoulder to the wheel in good earnest in favour 
 of bis hobby, or when feeding the hungry, clothing the 
 naked, and ministering to the wants of the poor and the 
 desolate, yet his varied, unwearied, and enterprising 
 labours were not all devoted exclusively to the useful, nor 
 all exclusively to the pleasing — not all to the temporary, 
 nor all to the more durable. 
 
 His handicraft operations were so judiciously, so suit- 
 ably, and so reasonably combined, by mingling the agree- 
 able with the useful and the laborious, that they never 
 failed to yield an interest more than commensurate^ 
 with certain duties which are necessarily inseparable 
 from some disagreeable, repulsive, and responsible obli- 
 gations attached to the department of positively practical 
 taxidermy, — but where is the rose without its accom- 
 panying thorn ? 
 
 The embryonic source of the Walton Hall Museum 
 undoubtedly derives its origin, its initiative inchoation, 
 
 &' 
 
336 CHARLES WATERTON : — 
 
 as regards time, from the summer of the year 1812, 
 when its founder, the " South American "Wanderer," 
 literally rambled, unaccompanied by any friend, through 
 the wilds of Demerara and Essequibo, and boldly pene- 
 trated the borders of Macousia, in anxious search of the 
 Woorali poison, which at that period he not only for- 
 tunately obtained in the Portuguese inland frontier, but 
 actually witnessed its elaborate and mystifying manu- 
 facture, and which now, at the expiration of more than 
 fifty-three years, maintains all its pristine purity, and 
 appears not to be deprived of the shadow of a shade 
 of its original virulent intensity, as an effective and a 
 speedy poison, when inserted within the cuticle, even in 
 very minute portions; indeed recently, good and advan- 
 tageous opportunities, as well as clever, well-informed, 
 and experienced professional men, have tested and 
 thoroughly proved and established the possession of its 
 original efficacy, as regards its immediately and certainly 
 destructive power. 
 
 Mr. Waterton has, on several occasions, intimated to 
 me that he was primarily initiated into the fascinating 
 labyrinths of natural history — that the impedient cur- 
 tain was first raised by witnessing the varied and 
 resplendent plumage of the feathered tribes in Demerara, 
 which gorgeous display of the multifarious and diver- 
 sified tints of colour, when the numerous birds were 
 flitting from spray to spray, and peacefully and play- 
 fully hovering on the wing all around him, appeared, 
 from recollection, at the moment to far excel the 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 337 
 
 brilliant shades of the rainbow, — declaring that he had 
 never entertained the slightest conception of the 
 ornamentation and beauty of colours in nature which 
 he subsequently met with in foreign climes— that 
 he was totally ignorant of calisthenics, never having 
 in his earlier life instructed himself, nor ever having been 
 enlightened by others in the science of the perception of 
 beauty. The Squire on his first and unattended visit to 
 South America when young, powerful, and abounding in 
 physical activity, with a mind equally eagle-eyed, resolute, 
 and energetic, was evidently in blissful ecstacy with the 
 vividly radiating and harmonious colours of the birds he 
 there met with, as he says in his " Wanderings," " The 
 finest precious stones are far surpassed by the vivid tints 
 which adorn the birds," and in after-life, his counte- 
 nance always vigorously lighted up simply from his own 
 graphic description to his friends of these lustrous, varied, 
 and harmonious colours'. 
 
 From that date, 1812, to the melancholy and heart- 
 rending period of his death, did the Author of the 
 Walton Hall Museum — that extraordinary and unequalled 
 achievement in natural history — pursue his ceaseless 
 labours with a lively zeal, as agreeable as it was inde- 
 fatigable, and which, wheuats originating fabricator was 
 called hence, was I believe, never surpassed, and indeed, 
 was generally acknowledged to have been rarely if ever 
 equalled by any single individual. 
 
 I must apologise to my readers for the abrupt introduc- 
 tion of the following information relative to the subject of 
 this memoir. I readily admit that it is, in this part of the 
 
 z 
 
338 CHAELES WATEETON: — 
 
 book, somewhat out of place, but it really is a case of 
 " Hobson's choice," not having received it until the page 
 in which it has to be inserted is absolutely in the hands of 
 the printer. 
 
 This communication is doubly interesting, inasmuch as 
 it has reference to a period before I knew Mr. Waterton, 
 and has been furnished to me by a gentleman on whom I 
 can thoroughly rely, as well as its having been , positively 
 chronicled in black and white at the time, and conse- 
 quently not depending .on a stretch of memory. 
 
 The Eev. T. Dixon, now of the Holy Trinity Parsonage, 
 South Shields, was, at the time to which I am about to 
 allude, Curate in the Church at Sandal, and therefore a 
 neighbour of " the Old Squire," who was invariably very 
 attentive and remarkably kind to the clergy, consequently 
 the Eev. Gentleman had undisturbed opportunities of 
 frequently committing his observations to paper at the 
 moment, which he has not only communicated to me, but 
 given me permission to make use of them in this edition. 
 
 "Sandal, 10th January, 1826. 
 " Having read Mr. Waterton's ' Wanderings in America,' 
 in which he gives a detailed and most interesting account 
 of his four journeys thither, and many months residence 
 in the Forests of Guiana amongst wild beasts and serpents, 
 Caymen and Vampires, in quest of objects of Natural 
 History, my brother and I called upon him this morning 
 to beg the favour of seeing his collection, more especially 
 a creature which he obtained in his last journey, of the 
 monkey tribe, to which he has given the name of 'Wild 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 339 
 
 Man of the Woods.' He was most polite and attentive;' 
 and showed us this nondescript animal's bust, being the 
 only part he brought over with him. Its face and features 
 are perfectly human : a sweet placidity sits on the whole 
 countenance. Its skin is black : nose, mouth, and chin 
 without hair, but each side of the face, and a good deal on 
 to the cheek is covered with a glossy red hair, inclining to 
 yellow, which forms a thick beard under the chin of an 
 inch-and-a-half, or two inches long. The hair upon the 
 head is yellow, short, and, as upon the human head, with 
 a crown on the top. The animal had hands, and a long 
 tail. Its colour is that of the red monkey. But then this 
 human face ? Some will have it that Mr. Waterton has 
 formed it thus ; others, that it is impossible for any art 
 to compress and placidity the elongated savage countenance 
 of the monkey into that of the dignified and serene 
 Grecian ' lis est sub judice.' Nor will Mr. Waterton 
 terminate the contest by stating positively what the 
 case is. To the former he replies, 'If you cany 
 produce any specimen of the art that has under- 
 gone such a change by the hand of the operator, as 
 that the distorted face of the monkey has been converted 
 into a sweet human countenance, then you have grounds 
 for saying that I have thus altered this. Then may you 
 give to one side of the face an age of 70, and to the other side 
 the paleness and youth of a lad of 1 7.' To the others this is 
 his answer : — ' If you think it came thus from nature's hand 
 procure its fellow from his native forests. I should think to 
 establish the fact of its being a newly discovered species 
 would be sufficient. inducement for the undertaking.' For 
 
340 CHARLES WATEKTON: — 
 
 myself I am in doubt whether party has the advantage. Mr. 
 Waterton's skill in the art is unrivalled ; but still in com- 
 paring the head of a red monkey, which he put into my hand j 
 with the other, the latter differed as much from it as my 
 own, in everything except the colour of its hair and its 
 situation, in which respect there was much resemblance. 
 Thus the matter rests, and thus must it remain, till he 
 decides the point, which he has partly pledged himself to 
 do at some future period. He pointed out to us the 
 immense snake 14 feet long, and which he said, when alive 
 was nearly as thick as his own body. With this he had a 
 tremendous conflict in the woods ; he found it coiled up in 
 its den ; then reinforced by two Indians, at the risk of his 
 life and theirs he made the assault — he sprang upon it, 
 pinned it through the neck with a lance eight feet long, 
 which he immediately committed to one of the Indians to 
 hold, and threw himself upon its tail to keep it down. 
 This his own weight was not sufficient, till the other 
 Indian threw himself upon him, and after a considerable 
 struggle he got its moulh tied up with his braces, and 
 then they bore him off in triumph. Shortly after he 
 found and engaged alone a young one 10 feet long, as 
 it was crawling along he seized it by the tail; it now- 
 turned about; he took his hat off, put his hand into 
 it; let the serpent come open-mouthed within two feet of 
 his face, then he pushed his hat and hand into its 
 mouth; seized it behind its head that it could not 
 bite him; and let it fold itself about his arms and 
 body, as he saw it was not strong enough to break 
 the former. He says it pressed him very hard, but not 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOEK. 341 
 
 alarmingly so. He had subsequently a tremendous en- 
 counter with a cayman or a crocodile, which we also 
 saw. This monster is 10| feet long. An Indian hooked 
 it for him in the river Essequibo. But when hooked, 
 none of them durst come near it. At last, being 
 dragged within two yards of the shore, Mr. Waterton 
 sprang upon its back in the water, and after a perilous 
 struggle tied its fore-legs over its back, fastening 
 up its wondrous jaws ; and then ordered the Indians to 
 haul it to land and cut its throat. His preserved tro-,, 
 phical birds, insects, and reptiles, are unrivalled specimens 
 of the art, being as perfect in form, and as varied in the 
 brilliancy of their colours, as when nature gave them 
 the last touch of her plastic art and pencilled skill. 
 After the politest attention from Mr. Waterton, who 
 wished me to take a friend at any time, we exchanged 
 parting good wishes, myself not a little impressed in 
 his favour. Mr. Waterton is a Koman Catholic of an 
 ancient family, which has suffered much for its reli- 
 gion. The family seat is Walton Hall on a small 
 island surrounded by a beautiful piece of water. It 
 communicates, where the water is narrowest, with the 
 continent by a beautiful cast-iron bridge. Mr. Waterton 
 intends to journey again into America after the re-estab- 
 lishment of his health, which has been very precarious 
 since his last return." So far my narrative. I find I 
 have afterwards added the following note : — " The 
 Inquisition having subsequently threatened to bring 
 Mr. Waterton to account for killing a man, he was 
 obliged to confess that the creature was made out of 
 
342 CHAKLES WATERTON: — 
 
 two red monkey's heads, which his skill enabled him 
 to patch together ! Surprising deception ! ! ! 
 
 " T. Dixon." 
 
 The Eev. T. Dixon says in his letter to me, "It is 
 ■with peculiar regret, I see with many others, that the 
 splendid and unique museum, which that unequalled 
 ornithologist had collected and prepared with his own 
 hands has been removed from Waltou Hall. May I ask 
 why? And whither? as I cannot gather from your 
 narrative an answer to either query. My questions are 
 beyond merely idle curiosity. I was Curate of the 
 parish of Sandal Magna in 1825, when Mr. Waterton 
 returned from South America, and as such had different 
 opportunities of seeing his most beautiful collection, 
 which I well knew was subsequently much increased. 
 I called upon him a short time after his return and 
 had a most agreeable visit. He was in his handsome 
 dining-room and had numerous objects of natural history 
 before him on the table ; amongst them the ' Nondescript,' 
 about which we had much conversation, and that was 
 before the secret of its publication came out. Another 
 was a very beautiful American lark, which he had just 
 finished, and by which he showed me the superiority of his, 
 mode of preparation, by just laying his hand over it and 
 pressing it down, when it sprung up again, recovering 
 its former attitude, as soon as his hand was withdrawn, 
 with all the elasticity of life. 
 
 "I well remember the great boa constrictor, which used to 
 be coiled up as it were ready to spring at you, just within 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOKK. 343 
 
 the drawing-room door. Shortly after his return from 
 America he met Thomas Schorey, our parish clerk at 
 Sandal, whom he well knew, when he drew up his horse 
 and said, 'Well Thomas we shall now have no more 
 occasion for priests and clerks, as I have been in South 
 America and have shot the Devil there, and have brought 
 him home with me.' Thomas came at once to my lodgings 
 and told me this, and seemed dreadfully shocked at Mr. 
 Waterton's ' profane ' speech. 
 "I left the Curacy of Sandal January, 1826." 
 
 In the former edition of this volume I did not feel 
 at liberty to speak in detail as regarded the expropriation 
 of the subjects of natural history at Walton Hall, nor 
 did I hazard to inaugurate their induction within the " 
 walls of the Eoman Catholic institution at Ushaw, four 
 miles from Durham, established in 1808, and which owed 
 its origin to the dissolution of the English college of 
 Douay, in French Flanders, by the tyranny of the French 
 Republic in 1794. Now however, there appears to be 
 no longer any valid reason for concealing the present 
 location of the unwearied labours of the good old man. 
 The question is even now being continually put : " Is 
 the late Mr. Waterton's collection of natural history still 
 to be seen at Walton Hall ? " And on being informed of 
 its removal, great disappointment is invariably expressed, 
 and I may add, united with a deep regret, by many 
 who lament their having lost several irrevocable opportu- 
 nities from their dilatoriness of being so highly gratified as 
 they might have been. 
 
344 CHARLES WATEETON: — 
 
 The Squire has several times, when speaking of his 
 early pedestriauism and what he called, vagabondising 
 expeditions in South America, insinuated to me, that in 
 admiration of nature in all her varied profusion of modi- 
 fied phases and alluring aspects, with extreme pleasure 
 ami with a deep and fervid interest, which none but 
 an ardent admirer of nature could realise — that he had, 
 he observed, in numerous instances, been delighted and 
 infhientially animated beyoad measure, during a long 
 succession of years, by closely watching simple arbores- 
 cent vegetation during its gradually advancing growth, 
 from the tiny twig to its umbrageous and approaching 
 ornamental termination of its growth. 
 
 With this carefully acquired impression, formed on the 
 absolutely well-grounded information that I have now 
 described, firmly rivetted in his judgment, (and retained 
 in his memory,) and continually in view, Mr. Water- 
 ton invariably found himself assimilating, by anxious 
 and frequently repeated comparison, his growing and 
 rapidly accumulating natural-history collection, in a cor- 
 responding ratio, to the tender 'sapling of the forest, 
 whilst gradually increasing, ripening, and expanding into 
 maturity. 
 
 During the Squire's whole life, it was his great anxiety 
 to advance and improve the taxidermic art hitherto so 
 imperfect, and it was also one of his inextinguishable 
 objects to endeavour to elevate it in rank, in the widely 
 deviating scale of science. 
 
 Mr. Waterton's innate partiality and admitted ability 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWOEK. 345 
 
 for this marvellously imitative representation of life was 
 signal and enduring, and always dissociated from every 
 unworthy and selfish feeling. 
 
 The professed experts of the day had, \ip to this period, 
 displayed glaring incapacity in this faculty, generally 
 arising, in all probability, from a combination of difficulties 
 uncontrollably hostile to the accomplishment of any 
 certainty of excellence, and which from their very nature, 
 they could never surmount. 
 
 These acknowledged difficulties entirely arrested the 
 progression of artistic skill, as they consisted in a deficiency 
 in pecuniary resources, in an insufficiency of leisure 
 at command, in negligence of that character of literary 
 attainments essentially necessary, and from inattention to 
 the cultivation of refined taste. Mr. Waterton was, 
 fortunately in a position to check-mate all those trying 
 difficulties, and it must be admitted that they one 
 and all vanished, when tested and aided by his untiring 
 energy, and determination. 
 
 The Squire had one very prepossessing endowment, he 
 was largely gifted with the pleasure of pleasing, and this 
 was not limited in its bestowal to the learned, nor to the 
 aristocracy. It was liberally and heartily distributed to 
 the humble and unlettered, to the poor and needy 
 naturalist on all opportune occasions. 
 
 Nor was this noble quality restricted to his own 
 generation. Mr. Waterton has repeatedly said to me — 
 "I do hope that my labours will afford pleasure in 
 future ages, and if at this moment, I had a well- 
 grounded confidence in such an expectation, I could 
 
346 CHABLES WATERTON : — 
 
 at once, separate myself from all my handicraft without 
 a single regret." 
 
 Now, it can not be denied that this was unvarnished 
 liberality and genuine benevolence. It was a substantial 
 sacrifice of self-gratification for the advantage and pleasure 
 of others, and in reality, charitably extended to those we 
 have neither seen nor known. How unlike the man, who 
 when assailed to contribute something, for the sake of 
 posterity, peevishly replied, "Not a farthing, what did 
 posterity ever do for me ?" 
 
 After a certain period of life however, it was evident 
 that he who heretofore judiciously selected and deter- 
 minedly adhered to his own path, was now, not merely less 
 caring to contend against the erroneous opinions of others 
 but that he was more easily prevailed upon to adopt them. 
 The why ? and the wherefore ? were not so frequently 
 introduced, not so shrewdly and ingeniously brought into 
 requisition in support of his arguments, nor so per- 
 tinaceously persevered in as formerly. Honied words 
 had a more seductive influence as the Squire advanced 
 in years and declined in physical power. 
 
 His once favourable impressions were no longer incon- 
 trovertible. Alas ! the inflexibly independent Naturalist of 
 yesterday was gradually and manifestly declining from the 
 Charles Waterton of an earlier day. 
 
 I have hitherto been specially and rigidly careful in 
 limiting my remarks to Mr. Waterton only, but in defer- 
 ence to the opinion of many friends, I do now think that I 
 should not deal frankly, nay scarcely in equity, in a 
 second edition, with those who may peruse this volume, 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 347 
 
 if I should refrain from alluding to any of the late Mr. 
 Waterton's acts which might interest my readers, even if 
 it should, although reluctantly on my part, be the means 
 of introducing to publicity parties, concerning whom 
 abstractedly, I do not desire to make any observations. 
 
 I have thought it of sufficient interest to the literary 
 world and the public at large, to know the ultimate desti- 
 nation of Mr. Waterton's works of art, and incidentally, ot 
 such other property as he had the power to dispose of. 
 I have accordingly, procured an official copy of the will, 
 which is inserted at the end of this volume. In which it 
 will be seen that the bequest to the two legatees is so 
 framed that on the death of either, the surviving one would 
 take the whole. 
 
 That the museum, the absorbing idol of the Squire's 
 • whole heart, should, on the demise of the Naturalist, have 
 been subjected to the degradation of being inventoried. — 
 That it should have been arrested in its natural descent ly 
 inheritance as an heir-loom, to gladden the heart of 
 some existing scion, or even some prospective issue, 
 bearing the name of its founder, was painful to contem- 
 plate, but is still more distressing to realise. 
 
 It is marvellous, nay almost incredible, that subse- 
 quently to the decease of the testator, this noble collection 
 of natural history, should find its way to Ushaw, in spite 
 of the vehement attachment of its founder to Stonyhurst, 
 in spite also of the Squire's perpetually expressed admira- 
 tion of this Catholic institution, where he was educated, 
 which place, for a very long period, he preferentially 
 visited, in order to attend to certain religious duties, and 
 
348 chaei.es watekton: — 
 
 which institution, as his numerous writings will testify, he 
 praised beyond all others, and in addition, the existing 
 inmates of which, in their various positions in this estab- 
 lishment, up to the time of his death, he almost adored. 
 How unintelligible, — how mysterious ! if not paradoxical. 
 
 " This is not thy old language, nor own thoughts." 
 
 What greater criterion or proof can we have that the 
 Walton Hall Museum was, in reality, originally and 
 intentionally designed by the Squire himself, as the 
 affiliating link between his continually progressing 
 acquisitions, ' his untiring labours, and the ultimate com- 
 pletion of this permanent and lasting patrimony in 
 conjunction and in perpetuity with the name of the 
 naturalist ? 
 
 It is not then, surprising, that this engaging and pro- • 
 selytising series of the rare and beautiful, combined 
 and associated with the unique and abnormal effusions 
 of the animated and organised world, by degrees artifi- 
 cially unfolding, developing, and unmistakeably disclosing 
 innumerably hitherto latent attractions, should have 
 created, affixed, and permanently secured the enthusiastic 
 and permanently devoted attachment of this good old 
 man to the captivating and enchanting objects of his 
 own inimitable handiwork. 
 
 This wonderfully harmonious and fascinating accumu- 
 lation of nature and of art — these numerous and far- 
 famed celebrities, the distinguished offspring of the 
 unwearied labour of the single-minded and perservering 
 "fine old English gentleman," had become, in the eyes 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 349 
 
 of the people, and indeed, in the unsought but highly- 
 appreciated estimation of naturalists of all grades and 
 from various nations, as it were an hereditary heir-loom, 
 a fixed and immovable portion of the freehold of the 
 Walton Hall -territory. 
 
 Hence, it requires no great stretch of imagination, 
 no far-fetched nor extravagant flight of fancy, to forcibly 
 idealise the pitiable condition of the residents in the 
 surrounding district, when mourning the loss of the 
 Museum, its founder and fabricator, that they should 
 be tempted to exclaim with Ovid, when writing a beau- 
 tiful and pathetic elegy on the death of his friend, — 
 
 " Jacet ecce Tihidus, \ 
 Vix inanet e toto parva rpiod uma capit" 
 
 " See, here Tibullus lies, 
 Of one so great there hardly remains enough to fill a little urn." 
 
 Painful and grievous as the bereavement of this univer- 
 sally esteemed veteran was, which event passed through 
 the whole district like a flash of lightning — widely, 
 deeply, and poignantly as his death was deplored, yet the 
 completion of an age far exceeding that short span 
 allotted in Scripture to man, had for some time previously, 
 forewarned his surviving friends, and indeed, all who 
 frequently came in contact with him, that they lived 
 only in disconsolate anticipation of the coming change 
 at no distant period. 
 
 "The leaves are faring, falling, 
 Solemnly and s'ow ; 
 Caw ! Ciw ! the Rooks are calling ; 
 It is a sound of woe, 
 A sound of woe." 
 
350 CHARLES WATERTON: — 
 
 The manifestly and very distinctly and painfully visible 
 drooping into the grave, so heart-rending to his numer- 
 ous admirers, had for a considerable time before the 
 fatal accident, gradually and extensively foretold the 
 anticipated fact, its shadow had been previously reflected, 
 and had consequently, by degrees, alleviated the 
 distress of his associates, so as to more calmly and sub- 
 missively surrender their feelings of anguish to the 
 evidently impending and irrevocable summons — to the 
 fiat of a Higher Power. " Prcevisus ante, mollior ictus 
 venit." "Seen beforehand, the blow comes more lightly." 
 
 But, that they should be so speedily called upon, and 
 so unexpectedly summoned by a firm and unalterable 
 edict, to sacrifice, relinquish, and surrender the very 
 object they adored — to summarily and so abruptly 
 indisputably realise the perennial deprivation of all 
 the Squire's- exquisite handiwork from their imme- 
 diate neighbourhood, from so appropriate and naturally 
 determined a site — to witness the desolating change in 
 the residence and in the grounds of the very birth-place 
 of this remarkable man, once, nay sp recently, monopo- 
 lising a positively magnetic influence and gaming the 
 admiration of all — to yield the Museum, the very idol of 
 the people — the elaborate toil of his own unaided mental 
 and physical powers — the result of the refined taste of this 
 son of nature to another arena, is lamentable in the 
 extreme, and has been productive of the assumption of 
 an aspect of the deepest regret in the surrounding district, 
 and of bitter disappointment to the philosopher and to 
 the man of science. 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 351 
 
 Is it possible, that the place which I have so recently 
 shadowed forth, and which I have had such inconceivable 
 yet melancholy pleasure in carefully and minutely 
 delineating, should have, in conformity with this de- 
 scription, ceased to be ? — that it is at this moment, a 
 myth, in reality a thing of the past — that it was, but 
 is not — that it has been not only deprived of the 
 laudable pride of its existence by the uncompromising 
 hand of death, which no human power can contravene. 
 "Nulla herba aut vis mortis tela frangit." "No herb 
 or power can break the darts of death ;" but, that it has 
 at last, been shorn of its pre-eminently attractive position 
 by forfeiture of the handiwork of its great inaugurating 
 roaster, the subject of the present Memoir, and the 
 unparalleled artificial preserver of nature, in whatever 
 character she presented herself? 
 
 Is it possible, that the multiplicity of objects ren- 
 dering Walton Hall so conspicuously unique and 
 deservedly worthy of its celebrity and world-wide fame — 
 so retrospectively fascinating in natural history to the 
 scientific stranger from every quarter of the globe 
 for so long a period, — Js it possible, that these, the 
 indisputable admiration of all, should have taken to them- 
 selves wings, and have literally realised their ever-to-be- 
 lamented flight from their birth-place to another region, 
 ^-that they should have deserted their native soil 
 and have been transported to a land of strangers, to 
 which there seems to be no indigenous nor connecting 
 link of attachment ? 
 
 It is now, I grieve to say, no longer a question hang- 
 
352 CHARLES WATEKTON : — 
 
 iug in anxious suspense, no longer in painful ambiguity, 
 as the days of this splendid and distinguished collection 
 have already been numbered, — it is a grave reality — 
 un fait accompli. Each niche, so recently proud of 
 its occupant, the handiwork of " the old Squire," is now 
 left desolate, to exhibit a melancholy blank, a mournful 
 recollection of the past, and an irreparable deprivation 
 of that which was recently so dear to us. 
 
 We now know, and most unfortunately to our deep 
 regret, the " ultimate fate " of what cost the Squire an 
 incalculable amount of time, of physical labour, and an 
 age to accomplish. We are cognisant of, and have to 
 reluctantly record a second, nay a twofold grief, which is as 
 unwelcome as it has been unexpected to the surrounding 
 district, and to the many, many, distant friends. 
 
 All our grief however, will not i-estore to us the loss 
 of that for which we vainly mourn. Submission to the 
 "fates decreed" is, or at all events ought to be on all 
 occasions, our sheet anchor, and although "lowering 
 our flag" is seldom an agreeable act, or gracefully 
 capitulated, yet it may be a politic and a just act. 
 Humanly speaking, we find it difficult to train our 
 unwilling minds to kiss the rod that inflicts the source 
 of our heart-ache, and even under wholesome correction, 
 to bravely but patiently meet and endure the worst, 
 yet after all, the only legitimate and I may truly 
 add, praiseworthy remedy we possess, is to " stoop to 
 conquer." 
 
 " Levitts fit palietitia, quid,[itui corrigers est nefas." 
 " What we cannot correct, becomes lighter by patience." 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 353 
 
 It was not njy intention to have inserted even another 
 fragment from my abundant store of Mr. Waterton's 
 Letters, but I am reluctantly tempted to introduce the 
 following, because their composition and peculiar character 
 of innate humour so faithfully evince to his old friends 
 an unmistakable recognition of the "old Squire,"' and 
 afford his deliberately expressed opinions on two or 
 three subjects hitherto not specially alluded to. He 
 thus refers, in an accidental way, to Church-rates, in 
 a letter to me : — 
 
 " My dear Sir, 
 
 " I return you my very best thanks for 
 your report on my brother's state of health. If it were 
 possible, I could really find in my heart to quarrel with you 
 for refusing your fee. It is well that you are far beyond 
 the want of it, and unlike Mother Church in Wakefield, 
 recently crying out most bitterly for a penny in the 
 pound. Eot her, she has got the day, and this we are 
 informed through the votes of some vagabond Catholics, 
 who have basely lent their shoulders to prop her up, 
 in order that by so doing they might repay the Dis- 
 senters, (rot them too,) for their scurrilous abuse in the 
 late affair of the Mavnooth grant. 
 
 " On the 8th of this month, we left the orthodox and 
 clear blue sky of the eternal city, and reached the gloomy 
 and heretical atmosphere of this tax-ridden country on 
 Wednesday last. We are all well. As for myself, I 
 fancy that I am getting fat and pot-bellied. The frog-soup, 
 goat-flesh, and snail-cream of Italy have been too much 
 for me, and unless I put myself immediately on a 
 
 AA 
 
354 CHAKLES WATERTON: — 
 
 lowering diet, I don't know how long I may be able to 
 ''swarm " up the pillar at the portico at the front of the 
 house. The three gentlemen you met the last time you 
 were here dined with us yesterday, and Mr. N com- 
 mitted the same rude vulgarity he always does, viz., that 
 of officiously commencing some rubbish when some other 
 gentlemen was, not only in possession, but actually 
 detailing that which was to the point, amusing and really 
 instructive. How this rude intrusibn betrays the hairy leg. 
 
 " I wrote to you from Eome. The Puseyites are doing 
 well for us. Like Balaam's ass they speak the truth, 
 but do not profit by it. 
 
 " Well then, Wednesday next we will punish your 
 larder, praise your cook, and thank you kindly for your 
 hospitality. But I must particularly request you not to 
 allow a beef-steak to be prepared for me on this occasion. 
 I certainly will not partake of it, as I have been living 
 on clover ever since my return to England, and it is high 
 time I should now feed on thistles, unless I should wish 
 to outdo in bulk your Ackworth patient. 
 
 " As you liberally leave the hour of dinner to our own 
 disposal, we will say, notwithstanding the heterodox fashion 
 of the present age, two o'clock. Perhaps it might be well 
 
 to meet Doctor H k some other day. You know our 
 
 humour, and we know yours, both perfectly harmless, but 
 should a stranger be present when we exchange shots, he 
 might receive a random arrow which perhaps would cause 
 a wound, ani this would not do. 
 
 "Ever sincerely, 
 
 "Chakles Watektjn." 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HAND1WOKK. 355 
 
 Some of Mr. Waterton's friends have been anxious to 
 know his opinion of the Puseyites. The foregoing letter 
 will satisfy them as to the estimation in which the Squire 
 held them. 
 
 The following Letter shows the Squire's ardent attach- 
 ment to the Priests, and his anxious desire that no earthly 
 labour should be spared for their welfare in a religious 
 point of view. It was written in 1847, when so many 
 Eoman Catholic Priests were suddenly cut off in Leeds 
 and Liverpool by a virulent fever : 
 
 "My dear Sir, 
 
 " It was most kind and friendly in you to 
 write to me on this melancholy occasion, and I shall never 
 forget the attention. Could I persuade myself that poor 
 Mr. Walmsley is still alive, I would be in Leeds this 
 morning, and at his bed-side, but the sad contents of 
 your letter convince me that all is over ere this. I got 
 your letter just in time to have him prayed for by the 
 Wakefield congregation. 
 
 " "What a mistake it is in the friends of sick people to 
 send for the Physician at the fiftieth minute of the 
 eleventh hour. This is too often the case. We are indeed 
 here now and gone in a moment. It is but the other day 
 that I saw Mr. Walmsley in full health, and requested him 
 to let Mr. Wilson come to Walton Hall, for change of air. 
 His reply was that he could not spare him on account of 
 the numbers of the poor sick Irish. I trust that the 
 charity which has most probably caused Mr. Walmsley 
 
■356 CHAELES WATERTON : — 
 
 ere this to be no longer amongst the living, will have 
 gained him an abode in the regions of everlasting bliss. 
 We shall be delighted more than I can express' to see 
 your horses drive up to the bridge. 
 
 " Believe me, 
 
 "My dear Sir, 
 
 " Ever sincerely yours, 
 
 "Charles Waterton." 
 
 All the facts which are stated in this Volume directly 
 or indirectly, as connected with Mr. Waterton personally, 
 have been carefully verified by the Squire himself when in 
 his eightieth year. With regard to the opinions that are 
 here entertained and expressed of the man, I may add that 
 they are stated by me with scrupulous sincerity, and from 
 a firm conviction of their real existence, and that they 
 have been deeply impressed by a frequent, most cordial, 
 and familiar intercourse of many 3'ears' duration. I also 
 hesitate not to affirm, which assertion gives me extreme 
 pleasure, that during this protracted "hand and glove" 
 intimacy, there was between us a reciprocal esteem, an 
 affectionate familiarity, and a mutually devoted attach- 
 ment rarely equalled ; and I may now, and I trust to the 
 last day of my existence, truly say with Cicero, " Vita 
 
HIS HOME, HABITS, AND HANDIWORK. 357 
 
 enim mortuorum in memorid vivorum est posita." " The 
 life of the dead is retained in the memory of the 
 living." 
 
 There is no necessity in my case, to stimulate nor to 
 officiously jog the memory, although treacherous on many 
 occasions, that it should bear in mind and dwell upon the 
 recollection of the countless happy hours and days that 
 we unitedly enjoyed. Everi now, with a mind closely 
 ahsorbed on a variety of other subjects, the Squire's 
 vividly remembered and deeply impressed figure — his 
 singularly pithy phraseology — his genuine warmth of 
 heart — and his countenance beaming with a smile of 
 inexpressible pleasure on the discovery of any thing new 
 to him in his favourite scientific pursuit, — all uninvitedly, 
 nay attractively, insinuate themselves into my mind's eye 
 and spontaneously flit before me as if scarcely an hour had 
 separated us on this earthly tenure. 
 
 Hence, under all the circumstances enumerated, 
 seasonably tinctured with the most agreeable recollec- 
 tions of by-gone days, of felicitous conversations and 
 associations with the ardent admirer of organised nature, 
 it has been a most grateful pleasure, on my part, and 
 I have felt it a duty absolutely incumbent upon me, 
 not to willingly allow the remembrance of my late 
 friend's generous and humane acts, coupled with 
 his disinterested and meritorious virtues, to pass un- 
 noticed. 
 
 It would hereafter grieve me, if I were now to 
 neglect acknowledging the pleasure derived from frequently 
 listening to the myriads of interesting and most amusing 
 
358 CHAELES WATEftTON:— 
 
 anecdotes, and to the variously thrilling incidents recounted 
 by the Squire, relative to the aristocracy of the broad- 
 acred county in which he was horn, in which he had 
 lived for so lengthened a period, where he had been 
 distinguished, honoured, and beloved by all grades 
 of society, and where his memory will long be 
 cherished with feelings of a most grateful recognition 
 and pleasure. 
 
 It would be ingratitude of the deepest dye, if I could 
 forget how delighted I had repeatedly been by the highly 
 entertaining narratives and adventures related by my late 
 friend with so much genuine zest, and especially on all 
 occasions with such delicacy of feeling for the memory of 
 the dead. It would, indeed, be an unpardonable oblivion 
 of sunny days gone by, the memory of which enjoyment 
 is still fresh and inextinguishably indulged by me, to 
 allow an undeveloped recollection of all these pleasures 
 to silently perish along with the crumbling to dust of their 
 Author. 
 
 " Quis desiderio til pudor aid modus 
 Tam cari capitis t " 
 
 " What moderation or limit can there be to our regret 
 at th e loss of so dear a friend ? " 
 
 " Like the dew on the mountain, 
 Like the foam on the river, 
 Like the bubble on the fountain, 
 He is gone, — and for ever." 
 
359 
 
 Not being able to do justice to the numerous Paintings 
 at Walton Hall, by any -written description of my own, 
 the least that my readers may anticipate, and which 
 expectation they are undoubtedly in a position to 
 reasonably calculate upon, is, that I should furnish them 
 with a copy of a Catalogue presented to me by Mr. 
 Waterton himself. 
 
 The interest associated with these Paintings, un- 
 fortunately and unavoidably deprived of an artistic 
 description, will be partially compensated by some 
 observations relative to them from the Squire's own 
 pen, and still further enhanced by the introduction of 
 an extract from a Letter addressed to Mr. Waterton, 
 by the celebrated George Ord, Esquire, President of 
 the Institute of Arts and Sciences in Philadelphia, 
 with whom I have the pleasure of being personally 
 acquainted. 
 
CATALOGUE 
 
 COLLECTION OE PAINTINGS, 
 
 AS PREPARED BY THE LATE MR. WATERTON, AND EXHIBITED 
 
 AT WALTON HALL DURING HIS LIFE, BUT REMOVED 
 
 ELSEWHERE AFTER HIS DECEASE. 
 
PREFATORY REMARKS. 
 
 One hundred and forty- eight of the Pictures in this Museum, 
 came from Bavaria in the year 1830. 
 
 I stopped at Wursburg on my return from a visit to Mr. 
 Foester, the Prince of Hohenlohe's secretary at Huttenheim ; 
 and hearing that there was a very fine private collection of 
 pictures to be seen in the town, I obtained permission to 
 inspect it ; not having any idea of purchasing it, as I did not 
 know that it was for sale. 
 
 It belonged to Mr. Bekwind, who was eighty-two years of 
 age, and in the bank of Wursburg. 
 
 The old gentleman received me with great politeness. He 
 said, his mortal course was nearly run ; that he had no 
 children ; and that, if he left it to his relatives, they would 
 sell it; and then the government would cheat them out of half 
 of the proceeds ; — and they themselves would fight for the 
 remainder. 
 
 Wherefore, he had made up his m\ind to sell it : — and, on 
 saying this, he went and fetched a printed catalogue from a 
 table in a corner of his room ; — put it into my hand ; — and 
 requested at the same time, that on my return to England, if I 
 had a friend, who wished to become possessed of a most choice 
 and valuable collection of pictures, I would recommend his 
 collection to him. 
 
 He added, that he had been unceasing in his exertions to 
 form the collection ; and that it had taken him fully thirty- 
 four years of his life to bring together what I saw before me. 
 
 He attended all the different sales of pictures far and near, 
 during the revolutionary war, when specimens were choice, and 
 buyers few ; — and thus, he had managed to form a collection 
 
364 PREFATORY REMARKS. 
 
 which was universally acknowledged to be the pride and orna- 
 ment of his native city. 
 
 I spent an hotir in his rooms ; and I begged permission to 
 revisit them at four o'clock in the afternoon. This was kindly 
 granted ; and ere the sun had set, I became the purchaser of 
 his collection. 
 
 Mr. Berwind sent it down the Rhine to Rotterdam. Thence 
 it went to London ; — and so on to "Walton Hall, which, I trust, 
 will be its last resting-place. 
 
 Eight other pictures, with an asterisk (*) before them, are 
 an invaluable present from my dear and excellent friend, 
 George Oed, Esq., of Philadelphia, the elegant biographer of 
 Alexander Wilson, the renowned ornithologist. 
 
 Charles Waterton. 
 
 [See his Letter, dated March 22nd, 1841, page 365.] 
 
 How strangely inconsistent has been the removal of this collection with tr>e 
 here expressed " trust," that their then Removal to Walton Hall, " will be its laBt 
 resting-place." 
 
EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM GEJORGE OED, ESQ. 
 
 "Philadelphia, March 22nd, 1841. 
 
 " These paintings are eight in number. 
 
 "The largest is a Fruit Piece by Campidoglio, a Roman 
 artist, greatly celebrated in his day for the natural effect of his 
 productions. This picture belonged to Bingham, the father of 
 Lady Baring. It was purchased at the sale of his paintings 
 by the late Thomas M. Willing, and from the last-named 
 gentleman it passed to me. It is a genuine picture ; but the 
 name of the artist was not discovered until I got it cleaned 
 when the signature and date became visible. They may yet be 
 seen, although indistinctly. 
 
 " The Virgin and Infants Jesus and John was another of 
 Bingham's pictures, also purchased by Mr. Willing, and by me 
 at the sale of the effects of the latter. I know not the author 
 of this picture, but from its style and execution I should 
 suppose it to be the work of an Italian master : it bears the 
 marks of genuineness about it. The English connoisseurs will 
 soon determine its parentage, if it be the production of an 
 eminent artist. , 
 
 "Tobit and the Angel has been pronounced a Breughel. 
 This is conjecture ; but from its peculiar style, it will doubtless 
 attract the attention of those capable of ascertaining its 
 paternity. It was one of Bingham's favourite pictures ; it 
 ornamented one of his parlours, and I myself bought it at the 
 sale of his family furniture, in December, 1805. It is a pity 
 that this fine picture was painted, as was customary in the age 
 of the artist, on two boards,* so loosely jointed, that they 
 now cease to adhere together. However, it is in good pre- 
 servation. 
 
366 LETTEE FROM GEORGE OKD, ESQ. 
 
 " The last pibture which I got out of the collection of 
 Bingham, is the figure of an ecclesiastic. This, I Halve no 
 doubt is a portrait, of some celebrated personage, perhaps one 
 of your distinguished authors. I have somewhere seen an 
 engraved head which resembled it, but can not recall 
 circumstances to mind. Should this prove to be an original 
 portrait of a great man, it will be an acquisition of no mean 
 value. There is something in its manner resembling that of 
 Le Brun's portraits. 
 
 " Jupiter and Europa is the work of a French artist. It is a 
 highly-finished picture, and it will be easily recognised by 
 those conversant in these matters. 
 
 " The two pieces by Jac. Van Es are in good preservation. 
 This was a celebrated Flemish painter. 
 
 " The Fruit and Flowers piece is said to be from the pencil 
 of J. B. Monnoyer, a French artist. I possess no means of 
 ascertaining the fact ; but the picture will speak for itself, as 
 to its merits. 
 
 "G. OKD." 
 
CATALOGUE. 
 
 No. . 
 
 1 Noah and his Daughters 
 
 2 The Holy Family 
 
 3 The Fortune-Teller 
 
 4 Landscape with Figures 
 
 5 Bacchus on a Barrel 
 
 6 Venetian Architecture . 
 
 7 Ditto . 
 
 8 A Landscape . 
 
 9 Ditto . 
 10 A Small Landscape 
 
 ' 11 Feast of the Dedication 
 
 12 The Blessed Virgin, with the Infant 
 
 Jesus and St. Joseph 
 
 13 St. John the Evangelist 
 
 14 St. James the Apostle 
 
 15 St. Francis in Contemplation 
 
 16 The Holy Family 
 - 17 St. Magdalen in Contemplation 
 
 18 A Mountain Landscape, with Figures . 
 
 19 The Bust of St. Francis 
 
 20 St. Sebastian .... 
 
 21 Judith with the Head of Holofernes . 
 
 22 The Resurrection of our Lord . 
 
 23 Falconer on Horseback 
 
 24 Ditto ..... 
 
 25 St. Jerome .... 
 
 26 A Storm at Sea 
 
 ( 27 Old Woman with a Candle 
 
 28 Old Man "Warming Himself ; . 
 
 29 A Small Landscape 
 
 30 Ditto 
 
 31 Church in Frankfort . 
 
 32 A Small Sea Piece 
 
 33 Bust of the ever Blessed Virgin 
 
 34 Charity ... 
 
 35 Vessels at Sea .... 
 
 36 St. Francis . . 
 
 37 A Portrait .... 
 
 BT 
 Henri Goltzius. 
 Sir Anthony Vandycl: 
 Zaganelli. 
 Vinchenbooms. 
 The Flemish Sclwol. 
 Van Hoeck. 
 Ditto. 
 
 Anthony Waterloo. 
 Ditto. 
 Genoels. 
 Droogsloot. 
 
 Moucheron. 
 
 Michael Angelo, Buonarotti. 
 
 Ditto. 
 
 Francis FrancTc. 
 
 The School of Corregio. 
 
 Dominic Feti, commonly called 
 
 Domenichino. 
 J003 Momper. 
 Bernardo Strozzi. ■ 
 Andrian Vander Werf. 
 Ducas Cranach. 
 Tlie German School. 
 Augustus Querfurt. 
 Ditto. 
 
 The School of Rubens. 
 De Vlieger. 
 Godefroi Schalchen. 
 Ditto. 
 
 Peter VanBemmel. 
 Ditto. 
 Stober. 
 
 Jean Bellevois. 
 Carlo Dolce. 
 Francis Floris. 
 William Vandervelde. 
 The Spanish School. 
 Jean Holbein. 
 
368 
 
 UATALUUUJi UH rlU'rUiUUS 
 
 No. 
 
 38 Portrait of Louis, Elector Palatine 
 
 39 Portrait of his Wife 
 
 40 A Landscape . v 
 
 41 Ditto . 
 
 42 Abraham and Jacob 
 
 43 Abraham and Hager . 
 
 44 A Landscape during a Tempest 
 
 45 A Landscape] . 
 
 46 Ditto . 
 
 47 Entrance into a Town . 
 
 48 A Landscape with Turkish Figures 
 
 49 Lucretia Stabbing Herself 
 
 50 A View in England 
 
 51 Ditto . 
 
 52 A Peasant Smoking 
 
 53 A Baker crying Bread . 
 
 54 Dead Poultry . 
 
 55 Our Saviour carrying His Cross 
 
 56 A Fruit Piece . 
 
 57 Ditto ' . 
 
 58 A Rustic Family 
 
 59 Country Musicians • 
 
 60 A Small Landscape 
 
 61 Ditto . 
 
 62 A Knight on Horseback 
 
 63 A Sea .Piece . 
 
 64 A Table with Bread and Fruit 
 
 65 A Brood Mare and Foal 
 
 66 Numidian Crane and other Birds 
 
 67 The Holy Family 
 
 68 St. Benedict Curing the Sick 
 
 69 A Beaver 
 
 70 The Birth of Christ 
 
 71 Adoration of the Three Sages 
 
 72 A Landscape 
 
 73 Ditto . 
 
 74 The ever Blessed Virgin and Dead 
 
 Christ 
 
 75 A Cavalry Attack 
 
 76 St. Sebastian 
 
 77 An Old Man . 
 
 78 Ditto . 
 
 79 Dead Game 
 
 80 Ditto 
 
 81 A Post Boy in the Snow 
 
 82 Cattle . 
 
 83 Running the Stag 
 
 BY 
 
 The German School. 
 
 Ditto. 
 
 Fisemann. 
 
 Ditto. 
 
 Jean Zick. 
 
 Ditto. 
 
 Fisemann. 
 
 Bredael. 
 
 Ditto. 
 
 Jean, Baptist, Tiepolo. 
 
 Jean Baptist, Tiepolo. 
 
 Lucas Cranach. 
 
 Stephonqff. 
 
 Ditto. 
 
 Brauwere. 
 
 Ditto. 
 
 Francis Kuyp. 
 
 Jean Wagenseil. 
 Ditto. 
 
 The School of Teniers. 
 Ditto. 
 
 William Van Bemmel. 
 Ditto. 
 
 Tlus Flemish School. 
 BacUtui/sen. 
 William Gahrom. 
 Dujardin. 
 Roland Saverg. 
 Augustine Garacci. 
 Januaire Zick. 
 Hamilton. 
 Jean Van Achen. 
 Ditto. 
 
 Christian SckiUz. 
 Ditto. 
 
 Jean Van Hemssen. 
 
 Christian Loicenstern 
 
 Raphael Mengs. 
 
 Adrian Van Ostade. 
 
 Ditto. 
 
 Wengal Brascli. 
 
 Ditto. 
 
 Watzdorf. 
 
 Ditto. 
 
 Wouverman. 
 
AT WALTON HALL, NEAE WAKEFIELD. 
 
 369 
 
 No. 
 
 84 A Halt in Stag Hunting 
 
 85 Landscape in Hungary 
 
 86 A Countryman . 
 
 87 St. Nicholas in Greek Costume 
 
 88 Triumph of Bacchus 
 
 89 A Landscape 
 
 90 Bust of a Persian Prince 
 
 91 The Holy Family and St. Catherine 
 
 92 Holy Family and the Three Sages 
 
 93 Countryman with a Pitcher 
 
 94 Ecce Homo 
 
 95 Sketch of St. Mark 
 
 96 Sketch of St. Matthew 
 
 97 A Landscape 
 
 98 Ditto 
 
 99 Shepherd and his Flock 
 
 100 A Landscape 
 
 101 Ditto • . 
 
 102 A Landscape 
 
 103 Ditto . 
 
 104 A Nest with Young Birds 
 
 105 Goldfinch on her Nest . 
 
 106 Blind Beggar and Boy 
 
 107 Snails . 
 
 108 The Last Judgment 
 
 109 St. Jerome 
 
 110 A Landscape 
 
 111 Ditto . 
 
 112 An Angel 
 
 113 Fruit Piece 
 
 114 Ditto . 
 
 115 Bible Piece 
 
 116 Interior of a Church 
 
 117 Ditto . 
 
 118 Dancing Party . 
 
 119 Crucifixion of our Lord 
 
 120 Flowers . 
 
 121 Marriage by a Greek Patriarch 
 
 122 A Nun at her Devotions 
 
 123 A Military Train 
 
 124 Fruit Piece 
 
 125 Working of the Mines . 
 
 126 Martyrdom of St. Erasmus 
 
 127 Bust of an Old Man . 
 
 128 Ditto . 
 
 BY 
 Wonverman. 
 Drillert. 
 Artist unknown. 
 Ditto. 
 
 Francis Franck. 
 Peter Molyn, commonly called 
 
 Tempesta. 
 Rembrandt. 
 Otto Van Veen. 
 Albert Durer. 
 Van Belmont. 
 Sir Anthony Vandt/ck. 
 Peter Paul Rubens. 
 Ditto. 
 
 Manshirsch. 
 Ditto. 
 
 The School of Bergltem. 
 The School of Breughel. 
 Ditto. 
 Resschey. 
 Ditto. 
 Hamilton. 
 Ditto. 
 
 Jamuare Zick. 
 Otto Marcellis. 
 Stolker. 
 Joseph Dorn. 
 Bockegger. 
 Ditto. 
 
 Francis Albano. 
 Catlierine Treu. 
 Ditto. 
 Seekatz. 
 
 Ditto. 
 Palamedes. 
 Christopher Schwartz. 
 DeviUe. 
 
 Paul Veronese. 
 Dionysius Calvart. 
 Christian Lowenstern. 
 Christian Striep. 
 Lucas Van Vakkenburg. 
 School of Poussin. 
 Anthony Arlaud. 
 Ditto. 
 
 BB 
 
370 
 
 CATALOGUE OF PICTURES 
 
 No, 
 
 129 Fruit, Vases, and Shells 
 
 130 Ditto 
 
 131 A Fire . 
 
 132 Ditto 
 
 133 Sketch of our Saviour, adored by the 
 
 ever Blessed Virgin, St. Peter, St. 
 Aloysius, and St. Dominiok. 
 
 134 Head of an Old Woman 
 
 135 Head of an Old Man 
 138 Landscape 
 
 137 A Battle 
 
 138 Ditto 
 
 139 Shepherds and Flock 
 
 140 Ditto 
 
 141 Ditto 
 
 142 Ditto 
 
 143 Portrait of Guibal 
 
 144 Holy Family 
 
 145 Feast of the People, cut in paper 
 145 Ditto .... 
 
 147 Academy of Sciences . 
 
 148 Entrance of Alexander into Babylon 
 
 149 The Itouli, or Nondescript 
 
 150 Head of the Howling Monkey 
 
 151 Family Portrait . 
 
 152 Ditto 
 
 153 A Sea Piece 
 
 154 "Jupiter and Europa . 
 
 155 St. Jerome 
 
 156 Family Portrait 
 
 157 Edmund Waterton 
 
 158 Sir John Bedingfeld, who, by his personal intrepidity, saved the life 
 
 of King George III. when attacked in his carriage by the mob in the 
 year 1796. 
 
 159 Family Portrait 
 
 160 Ditto 
 
 161 Ditto . 
 
 162 Charles Waterton 
 
 163 Head.of an Old Man . 
 
 164 Family Portrait 
 
 165 Ditto .... 
 
 166 The Ham of Apulia 
 
 167 An original Portrait of Queen Bess 
 
 168 Monkeys Shaving and Doctoring Cats 
 
 169 King James II. of England . 
 
 170 Son of King James II. 
 
 171 The Triumph of Faith 
 
 BY 
 
 Catherine Treu. 
 Ditto. 
 
 Christian Schutz. 
 Ditto. 
 
 Sebastian, Conca. 
 Voelk. 
 Ditto. 
 
 Anthony Krimm. 
 Augustus Querfurt. 
 Ditto. 
 
 Francis Londonio. 
 Ditto. 
 Wutzer. 
 Ditto. 
 By himself. 
 Kobell. 
 
 Charles Pinterics. 
 Ditto. 
 Stolker. 
 Dttto. 
 
 Captain E. Jones. 
 Ditto. 
 
 Ariutt unknown. 
 A rtist unknown. 
 Ditto. 
 
 Tr. H. Furze, Rome, 1841. 
 
 Sir Peter Lely. 
 
 Sir Godfrey Kneller. 
 
 Sir Peter Lely. 
 
 Peele, sen. In Philadelphia, 1824. 
 
 Rosa di Tivoli. 
 
AT WALTON HALL, NEAR WAKEFIELD. 
 
 371 
 
 No. 
 
 172 Pontefract Castle 
 
 173 Capture of the Cayman 
 
 174 Descent, from the Cross 
 
 175 Sir Thomas More 
 
 176 The Scourging of our Lord 
 
 177 High Priest of the Jews 
 17S St. Jerome 
 
 179 Pope Pius VII. 
 
 180 Canova's Venus 
 
 181 Head of an Old Man . 
 
 182 Head of a Man 
 ] 83 Don Quixote, from Londesbro' House 
 
 184 St. Catherine of Alexandria 
 
 185 Pork, painted in 1563 
 
 186 Dutch Cook 
 
 187 Bull-baiting 
 
 188 The Roebuck . 
 
 189 A Perch 
 
 190 Spanish Piece 
 
 191 Ditto 
 
 192 *Fruit . 
 
 193 A Drunken Bacchus and Satyrs 
 
 194 Wild Boar of Italy 
 
 195 Contents of a Larder 
 195 *Fruit Piece 
 
 197 *Lemon and Oysters 
 
 198 Dead Birds 
 
 199 Portrait of Luca Giordano 
 
 200 Dead Game from Moscow 
 
 201 *Fruit . 
 
 202 -To'oit and the Angel . 
 
 203 -Holy Family . 
 
 204 Fancy Piece 
 
 205 Monkey Cramming a Cat 
 
 206 'Portrait of an Ecclesiastic 
 
 207 Tryptich in Distemper, repr 
 
 Saviour surrounded by Angel 
 
 ture ; on the left is St. John the Baptist 
 
 " THADDEVS • DE • SENIS • PINXIT." 
 
 208 Madonna and Child 
 
 209 Cock of the Wood, from Moscow 
 
 210 German Hunting Piece 
 
 211 Vanity. Painted in 1678 
 
 212 Dutchman and his Owl . 
 
 213 St. John the Evangelist . 
 
 Captain E. Jones. 
 
 School of Huberts. 
 
 Hans Holbein. 
 
 Francis Franck. 
 
 Supposed to be by Rubens. 
 
 Artist unknoxvn. 
 
 Carved and bought in Turin. 
 
 Bartolini of Floi'ence. 
 
 Artist unknown. 
 
 Ditto. 
 
 Carlo Maratti. 
 J. B. 
 
 Jean de Fyt. 
 Van Limborch. 
 B. P. on tlie Rock 
 A dam Van Noordt. 
 Artist unknovm. 
 Ditto. 
 
 Campadiglio . 
 I.uca Giordano. 
 P. Vallatti. 
 Artist unhwitm. 
 Jac. Van Es. 
 Ditto. 
 Artist unknovm. 
 
 Beck. 
 
 J. B. Monnoyer. 
 J. Breughel. 
 
 A Copy from Carlo Maratti. 
 Miss Lucette Barker, of Thirkelby. 
 Captain E. Jones. 
 Artist unknown. 
 esenting the Blessed Virgin and our 
 On the right wing is St. Bonaven- 
 at the foot is embossed 
 
 School of Vandyck. 
 I. F. Grooth, 1774. 
 
 S.B. 
 
 214 Fruit and Lobsters 
 
 Antonio Amorosi 1737, in the 
 &\st year of his age. 
 
HER MAJESTY'S COUET OF PROBATE. 
 
 Extracted from the District Eegistry at Wakefield. 
 
 In the name of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity. 
 Amen. This is the last Will and Testament of me 
 Charles Waterton, of Walton Hall, in the County of 
 York, Esquire, I hereby revoke all former Wills by me 
 made. In pursuance of all powers enabling me, and 
 particularly in pursuance of the power given to me by 
 the Deed of Arrangement between me and my son 
 Edmund Waterton, Dated Twenty-fourth December, One 
 Thousand Eight Hundred and Eify-five. I give the 
 sum of Ten Thousand Pounds, which I am authorized, 
 and empowered to raise unto, and equally between my 
 dear sisters-in-law, Eliza Edmonstone, and Helen Edmon- 
 stone, absolutely as tenants in common, and in case 
 of the death of either of them before me, then I give 
 the said sum of Ten Thousand Pounds unto the 
 survivor of them absolutely, and I charge the said Ten 
 Thousand Pounds upon such real estate, as by the said 
 Deed I am authorised to charge the same upon. I give 
 all the rest of my personal estate whatsoever and where- 
 soever, and all my real estate unto my said dear sisters- 
 in-law, Eliza Edmonstone, and Helen Edmonstone, 
 absolutely as tenants in common, and in case of the 
 
THE WILL. 373 
 
 death of either of them before me, then I give the same 
 personal estate and real estate unto the survivor of them 
 absolutely. I give and devise unto my said dear sisters- 
 in-law, Eliza Edmonstone, and Helen Edmonstone, and 
 to my friend Samuel Fozard Harrison, of Wakefield, 
 Solicitor, their heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns, 
 all estates vested in me as Trustee or Mortgagee ; to hold 
 the same upon the trusts, and subject to the equities 
 affecting the same. And I appoint my said sisters-in- 
 law, the said Eliza Edmonstone, and Helen Edmonstone, 
 and the said Samuel Eozard Harrison, Executrixes and 
 Executor, of this, my Will. And I direct that the said 
 Samuel Fozard Harrison, notwithstanding his being a 
 Trustee and Executor of this my Will, shall be entitled 
 to make, and be allowed his proper professional charges 
 for all business done by him for my Trustees and 
 Executors, any rule of Law or Equity to the contrary 
 notwithstanding. In Witness whereof I have hereto 
 set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of May, One 
 Thousand Eight Hundred and Sixty-five. Charles 
 Waterton. (L.S.) Signed, sealed, declared and acknow- 
 ledged by the said Charles Waterton, as and for 
 his last Will and Testament, in the presence of 
 us present at the same time, who in his presence, 
 ' at his request, and in the presence of each other, 
 have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses, the 
 words " And I charge the said Ten Thousand Pounds upon 
 such real estate as by the said Deed I am authorized to 
 charge the same upon," having been first interlined in the 
 
374 THE WILL. 
 
 first page hereof. Eichard Browne, Clerk, Leeds. Alfred 
 Smith, Solicitor, Wakefield. 
 
 Proved at Wakefield, the 11th day of August, 
 1865, by Eliza Edmonstone, spinster, Helen 
 Eclmonstoiie, spinster, and Samuel Fozard 
 Harrison, the Executors. 
 
 Effects under £14,000. 
 Testator died 27th May, 1865. 
 
375 
 
 WOORALI POISON— See Page 68. 
 
 Beino in possession of some of the Woorali Poison, which was given 
 to me by the late Mr. Waterton, and which he obtained from the Macoushi 
 Indians in 1812, I am induced, for the benefit of Science, to furnish any 
 Hospital, Medical School, or any other Public Medical body, with small 
 portions of this poison for experimental purposes, if desired to do so. 
 
 It is obvious that I could not make such an offer to private individuals, 
 as the amount possessed would not guarantee the fulfilment of such an 
 open-handed course, nor could I be at all certain that its use would be 
 exclusively restricted to the purpose proposed. 
 
 RICHARD HOBSON. 
 
 Leeds, -Jay, 1866. 
 
 H. W. WALKER, PRINTER, BRIGGATE, LEEDS.