2 WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA 



him; in the oountry his every-day walk may supply 

 him with an enjoyment costing nothing, but sur- 

 pyssed by none which wealth can procure; with 

 food for reflection however long he may live ; with 

 problems of which it will be an endless pleasure to 

 attempt the solution; with a spectacle of Infinite 

 Wisdom which will fill his mind with awe and with 

 a constantly increasing assurance of Infinite 

 Goodness, which will do much to help him in all 

 the trials of life. He who lives in the country and 

 has the love of outdoor natural history in his 

 heart, will never be lonely and never dull. Water- 

 ton himself thought that this love of natural his- 

 tory must be inborn and could not be acquired. 

 If this be so, they ought indeed to be thankful who 

 possess so happy a gift. Even if Waterton's 

 opinion be not absolutely true, it is at least certain 

 that the taste for outdoor observation can only be 

 acquired in the field, and that this acquisition is 

 rarely made after the period of boyhood. How 

 important, then, to excite the attention of children 

 in the country to the sights around them. A few 

 will remain apathetic, the tastes of some will lie 

 in other directions, but the time will not be lost, 

 for some will certainly take to natural history, 

 and will have happiness from it throughout life. 

 No study is more likely to confirm them in that 

 content of which a favourite poet of Waterton's 

 truly says : — 



"Content is wealth, the riches of the mind, 

 And happy he who can that treasure find.** 



Gilbert White and Charles Waterton are pre- 

 eminent among English naturalists for their com- 



