THE NATURAL MAN 269 



faction as to the funeral all done so beautifully ! 

 The finishing touch to a career of worth ! The cattle 

 drover, though at times he may scarcely look it, is very 

 human. No gallery of country characters, racy of the 

 soil, should be without his portrait. 



Here, I close my story of the wood and its wild life, 

 the great wood I always return to in thought and 

 loyalty after wandering far afield in search of new 

 things. The wood is nearly all my early years. I 

 am under no delusion as to the relative importance of 

 the things of which this book treats chiefly birds, 

 butterflies, flowers, landscape and the things that press 

 on our notice demand the best efforts of our thought 

 and energy alike in town and country. The latter are 

 paramount absolutely. There is not, and never will 

 be for the majority of us nor for the minority, I 

 think the wood or field life pure and simple, the life 

 undisturbed with Nature. It is a dream of impossible 

 reaction. The trend of things is away from this 

 direct and serene life. But though our future is 

 clearly not this, it is a great and pure refreshment to 

 give up ourselves at times to things of the open air and 

 wild. They help us to see life in its right perspective ; 

 and they help us to rest more often from the weight 

 of carnal cares which we make for ourselves through 

 the daily struggle. 



