iv PREFACE. 



they followed the Concord River to where it ente 

 the Merrimac, then went up that river to its sourc , 

 and finally back to the starting-place at Concor&amp;lt; 

 lii 1845 he built a hut in the woods by Walde.i 

 Pond, where he lived for two years, watching th 

 life in woods and pond and air. Walden 9 published 

 in 1854, is his most famous book, and contains the 

 record of his experience as a hermit. These two 

 books were the only ones by Thoreau published in his 

 lifetime, but he contributed occasionally to periodi 

 cals, and he kept full journals. After his death his 

 printed papers were gathered, and his journals drawn 

 from to make Excursions in Field and Forest, The 

 Maine Woods, Cape God, Letters to Various Per 

 sons, A Yankee in Canada, Early Spring in Mas 

 sachusetts, and Summer. The two papers which fol 

 low, as well as Emerson s sketch, are from the volume 

 of Excursions. 



