INTRODUCTION BY 

 THE EARL OF LYTTON 



THOREAU once wrote of Friendship that all that could be said 

 of it was as botany to flowers. He meant the contrast to be 

 sharp. Botany and flowers how wide the difference ! A 

 study of the structure of plants no more produces a love of 

 Nature than the study of anatomy leads to a love of mankind. 

 For one person who studies Nature after the manner of the 

 Naturalist, there are probably thousands who love Nature after 

 the manner of the poet. The one is an affair of the brain, the 

 other of the heart. But if there be any who think that the 

 Naturalist cannot at the same time be a nature lover, the author 

 of this book is a witness who will convict them of error. Mr 

 Westell has the rare combination of head and heart which makes 

 him the sympathetic interpreter of Nature to the uninitiated. 

 Those who have only read his books cannot, perhaps, realise 

 to what extent this is true. But to hear him lecture, and, still 

 more, to have him as a companion for a day in the country, at 

 any season of the year, is a delightful experience for anyone who 

 is capable of appreciating the romance and fascination of the 

 countryside. 



There is much talk in these days of the problem of rural de- 

 population, and of how to bring people back to the land. Those 

 who have attempted to deal with the problem are always con- 

 fronted with the difficulty that, to those who have once felt the 

 attractions of a great city, the country is a dull place. 



The town dweller is glad enough to seek a short rest during 

 a holiday in the country, but fields and woods can never per- 

 manently compensate him for the loss of the excitement which 

 he derives from the crowded thoroughfares, the lighted shops, the 

 places of entertainment, and the busy companionship of fellow- 

 men. I am disposed to despair of ever reclaiming the man who 

 has once been captured by the attraction of a city life. But 

 I am no less strongly convinced that it ought to be possible, if 

 rightly attempted, to keep alive in those who have been born 

 and brought up in the country, a love of Nature which would 

 resist any temptation to emigrate into the town. The first step 



