We now began to make nature collections, in which he took the keenest interest, many holidays and excursions being arranged to further these engrossing pursuits. One or two incidents occurred at "Nutwood" which have left clear impressions upon our minds. One day one of us brought home a beetle, to the great horror of the servant. Passing at the moment, he picked it up, saying, "Why, it is quite a harmless little creature!" and to demonstrate its inoffensiveness he placed it on the tip of his nose, whereupon it immediately bit him and even drew blood, much to our amusment and his own astonishment. On another occasion he was sitting with a book on the lawn under the oak tree when suddenly a large creature alighted upon his shoulder. Looking round, he saw a fine specimen of the ring-tailed lemur, of whose existence in the neighbourhood he had no knowledge, though it belonged to some neighbours about a quarter of a mile away. It seemed appropriate that the animal should have selected for its attentions the one person in the district who would not be alarmed at the sudden appearance of a strange animal upon his shoulder. Needless to say, it was quite friendly. A year or so before we left Godalming he enlarged the house and altered the garden. But his health not having been very good, causing him a good deal of trouble with his eyes, and having more or less exhausted the possibilities of the garden, he decided to leave Godalming and find a new house in a milder climate. So in 1889 he finally fixed upon a small house at Parkstone in Dorset.