This is the text present in Chapter 11 of H.G. Wells's The Time Machine as serialized in the New Review. It was cut from the book but later published on its own as a short story, "The Grey Man."
A simple test of whether something is only incidentally sci-fi, or not sci-fi at all despite being in a sci-fi setting, is whether the story could take place in a known society without changing its message.
"Creation is a process, and strangely, by looking at how everyone’s favorite plushy first-mate sprang into existence, we can learn a lot about any collaborative creative endeavor."