"Then,"
said he, "every man should have a diversion as well as a profession. My
Natural History is my diversion." That took two hours a day more. The
men used to bring him birds and fish, but on a long cruise he had to
satisfy himself with centipedes and cockroaches and such small game. He
was the only naturalist I ever met who knew anything about the habits of
the house-fly and the mosquito. All those people can tell you whether
they are _Lepidoptera_ _Steptopotera_; but as for telling how you can
get rid of them, or how they get away from you when you strike
them,--why, Linnaeus knew as little of that as John Foy the idiot did.
These nine hours made Nolan's regular daily "occupation." The rest of
the time he talked or walked. Till he grew very old, he went aloft a
great deal. He always kept up with his exercise; and I never heard that
he was ill. If any other man was ill, he was the kindest nurse in the
world; and he knew more than half the surgeons do. Then if anybody was
sick or died, or if the captain wanted him to on any other occasion, he
was always ready to read prayers. I have remarked that he read
beautifully.
My own acquaintance with Philip Nolan began six or eight years after the
War, on my first voyage after I was appointed a midshipman.
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