LETTER TO ELIE DE BEAUMONT. 445 



sions in all the neighboring country, from 

 which they returned laden with specimens, 

 plants, birds, etc. In this hospitable home 

 he passed his fortieth birthday, the first in 

 this country. His host found him standing 

 thoughtful and abstracted by the window. 

 " Why so sad? " he asked. That I am so 

 old, and have done so little/' was the answer. 



After a few weeks he was able to return to 

 his work, and the next letter gives some idea 

 of his observations, especially upon the traces 

 of glacial action in the immediate vicinity of 

 Boston and upon the shores of Massachusetts 

 Bay. Indeed, he never lost sight of these 

 features, which had caught his attention the 

 moment he landed on the continent. In one 

 of his later lectures he gives a striking ac- 

 count of this first impression. 



" In the autumn of 1846," he says, " six 

 years after my visit to Great Britain in search 

 of glaciers, 1 sailed for America. When the 

 steamer stopped at Halifax, eager to set foot 

 on the new continent so full of promise for 

 me, I sprang on shore and started at a brisk 

 pace for the heights above the landing. On 

 the first undisturbed ground, after leaving the 

 town, I was met by the familiar signs, the 

 polished surfaces, the furrows and scratches, 



