204 NATURAL BEAUTY 



knowledge of its beauty. I might have had the most 

 precise knowledge about the form and structure of 

 the crustal relief of this portion of the Earth, of the 

 productivity of the soil, of the distribution of its 

 population, and of animals and plants, and about the 

 effect of the crustal forms on the animals and plants, 

 and of the animals and plants upon the crustal forms 

 and of all upon man, and of man upon them all ; but 

 if I had had no knowledge of the beauty of these 

 crustal forms and of the influence which their beauty 

 has upon man, I should not have known what was 

 most worth knowing about Kashmir. My geo- 

 graphical knowledge of that country would have 

 been wanting in its most important particular. 



These illustrations will, I hope, make clear what 

 I mean when I urge that Beauty may be the most 

 valuable characteristic of the Earth's features, and 

 that the scope of Geography should certainly be 

 extended to include a knowledge of it. 



And there should be less hesitation in accepting 

 the latter half of this conclusion when we note that 

 Natural Beauty affects the movements of man, and 

 that man is having an increasing effect upon Natural 

 Beauty — spoiling it in too many cases, improving it 

 in many others, but certainly having an effect upon 

 it. There is thus a quite definite relation between 

 man and Natural Beauty, and it should therefore 

 be within the scope of Geography to take note of 

 this relationship. To an increasing degree man now 

 moves about in search of new Natural Beauty or to 

 enjoy it where it has been already found. From all 

 over the world men flock to Switzerland, drawn 

 there by its beauty. Here at home they go to the 



