INTRODUCTION. 17 



and summits of lofty mountains, amid the dark lonely 

 recesses of forests, in the bright bosom of rivers and 

 lakes and waterfalls, on far-off unvisitfcd moors, where 

 heaven's serene and passionless blue is the only thing of 

 beauty, and in the mossy retreats of dell and dingle, 

 where Titania and her fays might sport away the dreamy 

 noontide hours. There he finds the pictures which the 

 soul treasures most lovingly; and in these by-ways 

 does he gain the truest insight into the mysteries of life. 

 In thus penetrating into the very heart of nature, with 

 much toil and exertion it may be, he seems to win her 

 confidence, and to earn the right to look into her arena. 

 By minute contact and continued commune with her 

 alone in the wilderness, he feels in all - its fulness and 

 depth the beautiful relationship that exists between the 

 outer and the inner life of creation. To others the land- 

 scape may be the mere background of a picture, in the 

 foreground of which human figures are acting ; to him 

 its charms are agencies and influences acting on his 

 heart and mingling with his life. The sportsman in 

 search of game frequently wanders into regions that 

 seem primeval in their solitude, and where " human foot 

 had ne'er or rarely been ; " but so absorbing is the pur- 

 suit in which he is engaged, that he seldom pauses 

 to watch the features of the surrounding scenery, or to 

 notice combinations of objects and effects of light and 

 shade which nature never displays except in such un- 

 frequented spots. But to the cryptogamist, on the other 

 hand, these very scenes of nature lend a nameless charm 

 and interest to the lowly plants he gathers, and are ever 

 after indelibly associated with them in his memory, and 



B 



