234 VIRGINIA 



tiori, so far, at least, as a leisurely visit is 

 concerned. A man may see it and go, as 

 most tourists do ; but if he stays, he will 

 find that the region round about not only 

 has charms of its own, but is one of the 

 prettiest he has ever set eyes on ; and that, 

 I should think, though he be neither a bot- 

 anist, nor an ornithologist, nor any other 

 kind of natural historian. For myself, at 

 all events, I had already come to that con- 

 clusion, notwithstanding I had yet to see 

 some of the most beautiful parts of the 

 country, and was, besides, far too much con- 

 cerned about the birds (the absentees in 

 particular) and the flowers to have quieted 

 down to any adequate appreciation of the 

 general landscape. I have never yet learned 

 to see a prospect on the first day, or while 

 in the eager expectation of new things, al- 

 though, like every one else, I can exclaim 

 with a measure of shallow sincerity, " Beau- 

 tiful ! beautiful ! " even at the first moment. 

 As my mood now was, at any rate, fine 

 scenery did not satisfy me ; and on the 

 morning of May 4, after two days and a 

 half of botanical surfeit and ornithological 

 starvation, I packed my trunk preparatory 



