Letters to a Friend 



purest Composite gold I ever beheld. Some 

 single plants had upwards of three thousand 

 heads. Their petal-surface exceeded their leaf- 

 surface thirty or forty times. Because of the 

 constancy of the winds all these flowers faced 

 in one direction (southeast), and I thought, as 

 I gazed upon myriads of joyous plant beings 

 clothed in rosy golden light, What would old 

 Linnaus or Mrs. Carr say to this? 



I was sorry to think of the loss of your letters, 

 but it is just what might be expected from the 

 wretched mail arrangements of the South. 



I am not surprised to hear of your leaving 

 Madison and am anxious to know where your 

 lot will be cast. If you go to South America 

 soon, I shall hope to meet you, and if you should 

 decide to seek the shores of the Pacific in Cali 

 fornia before the end of the year, I shall find 

 you and be glad to make another visit to the 

 Yosemite with your Doctor and Priest, accord 

 ing to the old plan. I know the way up the 

 rocks to the falls, and I know too the abode 

 of many a precious mountain fern. I gathered 

 [44] 



