[In a letter addressed to Captain Fitz-Roy, before the Beagle sailed, my father wrote, “What a glorious day the 4th of November will be to me— my second life will then commence, and it shall be as a birthday for the rest of my life.”

The circumstances which led to this second birth— so much more important than my father then imagined— are connected with his Cambridge life, but may be more appropriately told in the present chapter. Foremost in the chain of circumstances which led to his appointment to the Beagle, was my father's friendship with Professor Henslow. He wrote in a pocket-book or diary, which contains a brief record of dates, &c., throughout his life:—

“1831. Christmas.— Passed my examination for B.A. degree and kept the two following terms.

“During these months lived much with Professor Henslow, often dining with him and walking with him; became slightly acquainted with several of the learned men in Cambridge, which much quickened the zeal which dinner parties and hunting had not destroyed.

“In the spring paid Mr. Dawes a visit with Ramsay and Kirby, and talked over an excursion to Teneriffe. In the spring Henslow persuaded me to think of Geology, and introduced me to Sedgwick. During Midsummer geologized a little in Shropshire.