itherto won all the
bets." ("L.L." I. page 233.)

Not the least important of the educational results of the voyage to
Darwin was the acquirement by him of those habits of industry and method
which enabled him in after life to accomplish so much--in spite of
constant failures of health. From the outset, he daily undertook
and resolutely accomplished, in spite of sea-sickness and other
distractions, four important tasks. In the first place he regularly
wrote up the pages of his Journal, in which, paying great attention to
literary style and composition, he recorded only matters that would be
of general interest, such as remarks on scenery and vegetation, on the
peculiarities and habits of animals, and on the characters, avocations
and political institutions of the various races of men with whom he was
brought in contact. It was the freshness of these observations that gave
his "Narrative" so much charm. Only in those cases in which his ideas
had become fully crystallised, did he attempt to deal with scientific
matters in this journal. His second task was to write in voluminous
note-books facts concerning animals and plants, collected on sea or
land, which could not be well made out from specimens preserved in
spirit; but he tells us that, owing to want of skill in dissecting and
drawing, much of the time spent in this work was entirely thrown away,
"a great pile of MS. which I made during the voyage has proved almost
useless." ("L.L." I. page 62.) Huxley confirmed this judgment on his
biological work, declaring that "all his zeal and industry resulted, for
the most part, in a vast accumulation of useless manuscript." ("Proc.
Roy. Soc." Vol. XLIV. (1888), page IX.) Darwin's third task was of a
very different character and of infinitely greater value. It consisted
in writing notes of his journeys on land--the notes being devoted to
the geology of the districts visited by him. These formed the basis, not
only of a number of geological papers published on his return, but also
of the three important volumes forming "The Geology of the voyage of the
'Beagle'". On July 24th, 1834, when little more than half of the voyage
had been completed, Darwin wrote to Henslow, "My notes are becoming
bulky. I have about 600 small quarto pages full; about half of this is
Geology." ("M.L." I. page 14.) The last, and certainly not the least
important of all his duties, consisted in numbering, cataloguing, and
packing his specimens for despatch