Letters to a Friend 



numerous than those of Canada or Indiana. 

 With what fervid, unspeakable joy did I wel 

 come those flowers that I have loved so long! 

 Hundreds grow in the full light of our opening 

 that I have not seen since leaving home. In 

 company with my little friend I visited Muir's 

 Lake. We approached it by a ravine in the 

 principal hills that belong to it. We emerged 

 from the low leafy oaks, and it came in full view 

 all unchanged, sparkling and clear, with its 

 edging of rushes and lilies. And there, too, was 

 the meadow, with its brook and willows, and all 

 the well-known nooks of its winding border 

 where many a moss and fern find home. I held 

 these poor eyes to the dear scene and it reached 

 me once more in its fullest glory. 



We visited my millpond, a very Lilliputian 

 affair upon a branch creek from springs in the 

 meadow. After leaving the dam my stream 

 flows underground a few yards. The opening 

 of this dark way is extremely beautiful. I wish 

 you could see it. It is hung with a slender mea 

 dow sedge whose flowing tapered leaves have 

 [26] 



