204 HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS. 



horse language, "Had Tve not better rest a few minutes 

 under this tree while you pick me a mouthful of tender 

 grass, or gather for yourselves some of those pretty 

 elder blossoms or wild roses by the fence ? " She seldom 

 appeals in vain, as w^e are all in full sympathy with her, 

 believing that she appreciates the kindness, and more 

 than repays all extra consideration. There is nothing 

 she enjoys more than a day's picnicking in the woods, 

 where at lunch time she can stand near us and eat her 

 feed of oats w^hile we sit on the ground eating dinner. 

 Our journey is to take a month or more, much of it 

 over familiar ground, and through several counties of 

 Western and Central E'ew York. Our longest stopping 

 places are to be Honeoye Falls, Mount Morris, Portage, 

 Hammondsport, Cortland and Ithaca. On the way we 

 are to take in — figuratively of course — several of the 

 beautiful lakes that give such a charm to the scenery of 

 this part of the State. We are seeking pure air, sun- 

 shine and the fragrance of growing things, which we 

 shall find much more abundantly by this manner of 

 travel than by any other. We shall avoid what Ruskin 

 calls the great mistakes of travel, " Rushing by waving 

 meadows and green cornfields, on the cars, to have the 

 longer time to walk on heated pavements." We are 

 not in search of art galleries, cathedrals or ancient 

 ruins. The pictures will be such as are common in 

 country highways and byways — loads of hay and other 

 farm products, men and women going to or returning 

 from market, stages filled with dusty -looking passen- 

 gers, and people traveling in carriages or on horseback. 



