Letters to a Friend 



in the vicinity of Chicago agreed with Lesque- 

 reux's theory of the formation of prairies. We 

 spent about five hours in Chicago. I did not 

 find many flowers in her tumultuous streets; 

 only a few grassy plants of wheat and two or 

 three species of weeds, amaranth, purslane, 

 carpet-weed, etc., the weeds, I suppose, for 

 man to walk upon, the wheat to feed him. I 

 saw some new algae, but no mosses. I expected 

 to see some of the latter on wet walls and in 

 seams in the pavement, but I suppose that the 

 manufacturers' smoke and the terrible noise is 

 too great for the hardiest of them. 



I wish I knew where I was going. Doomed 

 to be "carried of the spirit into the wilderness," 

 I suppose. I wish I could be more moderate 

 in my desires, but I cannot, and so there is no 

 rest. Is not your experience the same as this ? 



I feel myself deeply indebted to you all for 

 your great and varied kindness, not any the 

 less if from stupidity and sleepiness I forgot on 

 leaving to express it. Farewell. 



J. MUIR. 

 [32] 



