FIELD-DAYS IN CALIFORNIA 



a little bunch of wild roses which he carried in 

 his hand. They were fragrant, he said ; had I ever 

 noticed it ? And when I remarked that I should 

 have supposed them to be common in Tennessee, 

 he explained that at home he never went to 

 places where such things were to be looked for. 

 He had discovered the perfume of wild roses as 

 Thoreau discovered the sweetness of white oak 

 acorns, I thought to myself, and so far was in 

 good company. Then he told me that he had 

 arrived in the Valley on the noon of the day be- 

 fore, had found it grand and beautiful beyond all 

 his dreams, — " ravishing" was one of his words, 

 — and was going out again, not of necessity but 

 from choice, that very afternoon. I manifested 

 a natural surprise, and he explained that he 

 "did n't wish to lose the thrill." He had seen the 

 picture once and, consciously or unconsciously, 

 was following Emerson's advice never to look at 

 it again. So this time, too, he was in excellent 

 company. 



For my part, I cannot afford to be so sparing 

 in my use of good things. My aesthetic faculty, 

 it would appear, is less prompt than some other 

 men's. Its method is not so much an act as a 

 process. In the appreciation of natural scenery, 

 at all events, as I have before now confessed, I 

 am not apt to get very far, comparatively speak- 



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