Their dates had been modest, but was that by preference, or because he had limited funding?

where he took the first prize in mathematics and physics; at the Ecole Polytechnique, where he stood first at the exit examination in 1819; and at the Ecole des Mines (1819-1822), where he began to show a decided preference for the science with which his name is associated.

By preference the Andamanese are exogamous as regards sept and endogamous as regards tribe.

He had an extraordinary memory, well stored with scientific knowledge, both modern and historical, a cool and impartial judgment, and a strong preference for facts as against theory of the speculative kind.

The rivers on the east coast are practically the only highways, the Malays always travelling by boat in preference to walking, but they serve their purpose very indifferently, and their great beauty is their chief claim to distinction.