SEPTEMBER 



13 



I am particularly attracted by the motions of 

 the serpent tribe. They make our hands and 

 feet, the wings of the bird, and the fins of the 

 fish seem very superfluous, as if nature had only 

 indulged her fancy in making them. The black 

 snake will dart into a bush when pursued, and 

 circle round and round with an easy and graceful 

 motion, amid the thin and bare twigs, five or six 

 feet from the ground, as a bird flits from bough 

 to bough, or hang in festoons between the forks. 

 THOREAU : Natural History of Massachusetts. 



14 



ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT, 1769. 



The rain, which had fallen heavily for hours, 

 light and fine now, drew a shimmering veil before 

 the trees, a veil like a Japanese bead-hanging, 

 which hides nothing, only the rain veil was more 

 diaphanous than anything fashioned by human 

 hands. It did not conceal, but enhanced the 

 charm of everything behind it, lending a glamour 

 that turned the woods into enchanted land. 



OLIVE THORNE MILLER: Little Brothers of the Air. 



