The life led by Darwin when at Downe was exceedingly quiet and regular, for he always went to bed at an early hour, and rising at six was enabled to get in a walk and breakfast before commencing work at eight o’clock.  At some other time of the day he would manage to get an opportunity for another walk, and part of the evening would be given up to his family and friends who were privileged to enjoy conversation with the great author of The Origin of Species.  Professor Haeckel, describing a visit to Darwin’s home, says, “There stepped out to meet me from the shady porch ... the great naturalist himself, a tall and venerable figure, with the broad shoulders of an Atlas supporting a world of thought, his Jupiter-like forehead, highly and broadly arched ... and deeply furrowed with the plough of mental labour; his kindly, mild eyes looking forth under the shadow of prominent brows.”

[Illustration:  Downe house at Downe, Kent.

The Home of Charles Darwin.]

EPSOM:  ITS RACES AND ITS SALTS

=How to get there.=—­From Waterloo, South-Western Railway.  From
  London Bridge or Victoria, London, Brighton, and South Coast Rly.
=Nearest Station.=—­Epsom. =Distance from London.=—­14 miles. =Average Time.=—­3/4 hour.

                    1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=—­Single 2s. 3d. 1s. 6d. 1s. 2d. 
          Return 3s. 0d. 2s. 6d. 2s. 2d.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=—­“King’s Head,” “Spread Eagle,” etc.

One must choose any other than a race-day if one wishes to see the charming old town of Epsom at its best.  But if, on the other hand, one wishes, to see something of the scene on the race-course depicted in Mr. Frith’s famous picture, one gets no suggestion of the great spectacle except on race-days.  On these occasions, at the Spring meeting and during Derby week, one has merely to follow the great streams of humanity which converge on the downs from the roads from London and from the railway stations.  On ordinary days the wide rolling downs are generally left alone to the health-giving breezes which blow over them.  In the town itself there is much to be seen of the seventeenth-century architecture associated with the days of Epsom’s fame as a watering-place.  The wide portion of the High Street at once attracts one’s notice, for with one or two exceptions its whole length is full of the quaintest of buildings with cream walls and mossy tiled roofs.  The clock-tower was built in 1848, when it replaced a very simple old watch-house with a curious little tower rising from it.  The “Spread Eagle” is one of the oldest of the Epsom inns; its irregular front and its position looking up the High Street make it more conspicuous than the “King’s Head,” an equally old and very interesting hostelry facing the clock-tower.  Pepys stayed there in 1667, for in his diary of July