Introduction 



go into Louisiana at all, either because he 

 learned that no south-bound ship was avail 

 able at the mouth of the Mississippi, or because 

 the unexpected appearance of the Island Belle 

 in the harbor of Cedar Keys caused him to 

 change his plans* 



In later years Mr. Muir himself strongly 

 disparaged the wisdom of his plans with respect 

 to South America, as may be seen in the chap 

 ter that deals with his Cuban sojourn. The 

 judgment there expressed was lead-penciled 

 into his journal during a reading of it long after 

 wards. Nevertheless the Andes and the South 

 American forests continued to fascinate his 

 imagination, as his letters show, for many years 

 after he came to California. When the long de 

 ferred journey to South America was finally 

 made in 1911, forty-four years after the first 

 attempt, he whimsically spoke of it as the ful 

 fillment of those youthful dreams that moved 

 him to undertake his thousand-mile walk to 

 the Gulf. 



Mr. Muir always recalled with gratitude the 

 [ xxii ] 



