Letters to a Friend 



not have anything less than a piece of pure 

 nature. I was reading Thoreau's "Maine 

 Woods" a short time ago. As described by him, 

 these woods are exactly like those of Canada 

 West. How I long to meet Linnaea and Chiog- 

 enes hispidula once more! I would rather see 

 these two children of the evergreen woods than 

 all the twenty-seven species of palm that Agas- 

 siz met on the Amazons. 



These summer days "go on" calmly and 

 evenly. Scarce a mark of the frost and snow 

 of the I5th is visible. The brackens are four or 

 five feet high already. The earliest azaleas have 

 opened, and the whole crop of bulbs is ready to 

 burst. The river does not overflow its banks 

 now, but it is exactly brim-full. The thermom 

 eter averages about 75 degrees at noon. We 

 have sunshine every morning from a bright 

 blue sky. Ranges of cumuli appear towards the 

 summits with neat regularity every day about 

 ii o'clock, making a splendid background for 

 the South Dome. In a few hours these clouds 

 disappear and give up the sky to sunny evening. 

 [ 84] 



