INTRODUCTION. 13 



with you as I had. You may be lamed in 

 climbing rocks for plants or break your limbs 

 by a fall. You must cross and wade through 

 brooks, creeks, rivers, and swamps. In deep 

 fords or in swift streams you may lose your 

 footing and be drowned. You may be overta- 

 ken by a. storm, the trees fall around you, the 

 thunder roars and strikes before you. The 

 winds may annoy you, the fire of heaven or of 

 men sets fire to the grass or forest, and you may 

 be surrounded by it, unless you fly for your 

 life. 



You may travel over a unhealthy region or 

 in a sickly season, you may fall sick on the road 

 and become helpless, unless you be very care- 

 ful, abstenious and temperate. 



Such are some of the dangers and troubles 

 of a botanical excursion in the mountains and 

 forests of North America. The sedentary bo- 

 tanists or those who travel in carriages or by 

 steamboats, know little of them; those who 

 merely herborize near a city or town, do not 

 appreciate the courage of those who brave 

 such dangers to reap the botanical wealth of 

 the land, nor sufficiently value the collections 

 thus made. 



Yet although I have felt all those miseries, I 

 have escaped some to which others are liable. 

 I have never been compelled to sleep at night 

 on the ground, but have always found a shel- 

 ter. I have never been actually starved, nor 

 assailed by snakes or wild beasts, nor robbed, 

 nor drowned, nor suddenly unwell. Tempe- 

 rance and the disuse of tobacco have partly 

 availed me, and always kept me in health. 



In fact 1 never was healthier and happier 

 than when I encountered those dangers, while a 



