FIRST JOINT BOTANICAL STUDIES. 155 



prise his friend with it in the morning. It was a stiff mid- 

 night walk of at least thirty miles. 



John's delight in returning to Charles, after a more 

 distant ramble, with his bundle of treasures, was something 

 beautiful to see, as Charles has told me. His joy would 

 burst out, at the moment of meeting, in some characteristic 

 exclamation, such as " Sal, lad, I hae fund something this 

 time ! " He would then produce his specimens in succession, 

 naming them not unfrequently, especially in his earlier 

 efforts, by wonderful transformations of the technical terms, 

 which raised many a merry laugh, and recounting, in 

 humorous detail, the adventures he had had in search of 

 them. 



O the pure blessedness, the quiet ecstasy of such simple 

 tastes as were pursued by these humble students of flowers 

 and lovers of nature ! In very truth, to them Gray's joys 

 of convalescence were the delights of daily health : 



" The meanest floweret of the vale, 

 The simplest note that swelled the gale, 

 The common sun, the air, the skies, 

 To them were opening paradise." 



