COMPARING BEAUTIES 207 



innumerable variety of forms. The whole Beauty 

 is never manifested in any one particular feature or 

 region, but each has its unique aspect. Each feature 

 has its own peculiar beauty different from the beauty 

 of any other feature. And what men naturally do, 

 and what I would suggest geographers should 

 deliberately do, is to compare the beauty of one 

 region with the beauty of another, so that we may 

 realise the beauty of each with a greater intensity 

 and clearness. We can compare the beauty of 

 Kashmir ;with the beauty of Switzerland and Cali- 

 fornia. And the comparison will enable us to see 

 more clearly and to appreciate the distinctive 

 elements which make up the peculiar beauty of each 

 of those countries. It has been frequently noticed 

 that people who have always lived in the same place 

 are unable to see its full beauty. The inhabitants of 

 the Gilgit frontier, when I first went among them, 

 had never left their mountains, and were altogether 

 ignorant of the special grandeur of their beauty. 

 They thought all the world was just the same. But 

 men who have seen many varieties of Natural Beauty 

 and have taken pains to compare the varieties with 

 one another become trained to see more Beauty in 

 each feature. Fresh discoveries of Beauty are thus 

 made, and our knowledge of the Beauty of the Earth 

 is thereby increased. 



What I hope, then, is that this Society should 

 definitely recognise that learning to see the Beauty 

 in natural features and comparing the peculiar 

 beauties of the different features with one another 

 is within the scope of Geography, and will indeed 



