It was long since we had had money at command; and the first use Mr. P. made of it was to enable me at once to visit the dear friends from whom I had been so many years separated, without waiting for the final arrangement of his affairs. I need scarcely tell you that the moment the property was ours we gave Nanina her freedom. I had intended to have proposed her remaining with me, but I learned that there had been a long attachment between her and a deserving young man; and before we left Jamaica I had the pleasure of seeing the faithful girl happily settled.
Just then the Phaëton was ordered to Brazil with despatches, and to proceed from thence to England. Captain M. was nearly related to Mr. P., and immediately offered me a passage, which, though much longer, was much more agreeable than if made in any other way. I need not tell you, Bertha, how greatly I enjoyed the time we remained at Rio, and how happy I was to have you for my companion during the remainder of our voyage.
Thank heaven, I found my dear father and mother well and strong; my children, too, had just come home from school for the vacation, and my happiness would have been complete had my dear Edward been with me. My boys have fine open generous minds, and I trust that in their education I shall take warning by my own early faults.
From this little history of my past life you will perceive, my dear Bertha, how much reason I have to be grateful for the afflictions with which Providence thought fit to correct me; and though your education has fortunately been very different from mine, still, this account of my follies and their consequences will point out numerous dangers to avoid, and new motives for continual watchfulness: every page of it will shew you the necessity of a vigilant self-control, and will, I think, amply demonstrate the value of homely virtues and of homely knowledge. Do not, however, imagine that I seek to depreciate the value of scientific or literary pursuits, or that my love for them has diminished;—far from it:—I would only keep them in their right place; for I have at last learned that the useful and the intellectual embellish each other; and that the female character is more or less imperfect if deficient in either.—G. P.
11th.—The dormouse seemed less inclined to sleep during the last return of frost, than before; and since the weather has become a little more mild and warm, it seems to have laid aside its sleepiness almost entirely. During one or two slight frosts, which lasted for only a day or two, it slept constantly; and I think I may say, from all our observations, that whenever the thermometer, which my uncle has attached to the cage, falls to 42°, the dormouse becomes inactive; and if it falls any lower, he remains insensible. When the warmth of the room rises to 47° he is affected by the slightest touch, and is sure to waken in the evening and to eat heartily of his store, which I keep supplied with nuts, biscuits, and a little milk and water. When he is too lazy to put his mouth down into the cup, he has a very amusing method of drinking; he dips his tail into the milk, and then draws it through his mouth. Last night he was so much alive that he very expertly repaired his nest, which had been a little deranged. On the whole, as my uncle says, it appears, that as soon as the necessity for sleeping is removed, by artificial warmth and plenty of food, the torpid propensity of this little creature vanishes.
My aunt remarked that there are many well-known facts of animals being compelled by circumstances to relinquish their strongest characteristics; for instance, the hyena lives on the roots of fritillary in the unfrequented parts of Africa, but in the neighbourhood of inhabited places he feeds on carrion:—and the pied flycatcher, which lives on soft seeds in this country, is well contented in Norway with flesh dried in smoke.
The rain, which was incessant for two days and nights, stopped yesterday, and a nice soft wind with a warm sun has so dried the ground, that we have been out almost all the morning. I find that spring is beginning to advance. The buds of several trees are visibly enlarging, though it will be many weeks before they burst; the catkins of the hazel, which appeared during the winter like little short green spikes, are now lengthened, and so much more open, that each floret is to be seen separately, though none are yet expanded. When we were rambling through the hazel thicket, Mary shewed them to me; and also the little buds which contain the flowers that afterwards produce the nuts, scattered up and down on the branches. It is curious that these flowers are so carefully preserved in buds, while the catkins are exposed without protection during the whole winter.
The flower-buds of the peach trees are much swelled, the scales are almost separating, and in some there is even a streak of red appearing.
The tufts of leaf and flower buds on the pear trees begin to shew themselves more distinctly; and on the larch trees, the little brown lumps are now growing larger, and preparing to let the nests of imprisoned leaves burst forth.
It is very odd how many interesting things are passed over and not observed. There was a young lady here last week who lives in the country, and yet had scarcely noticed any of these small circumstances in Natural History, which distinguish the changes of the seasons, though she diligently walked out every day for two hours round the garden and shrubbery.