22 FLOWER-FIELDS OF ALPINE SWITZERLAND 



remembered, we shall not be climbing higher than 

 this region : we do not propose to pursue Flora 

 as she ascends to the topmost pasture. As for 

 following the very general rule and coming only 

 in late July, it is quite out of the question. We 

 must come in May ; and it should be towards the 

 middle of the month — although the exact date 

 will, of course, be governed by the advanced or 

 retarded state of the season. Speaking generally, 

 however, the 15th is usually neither too early nor 

 too late. It is wiser to be a day or so too early 

 than otherwise, because at this altitude it is re- 

 markable how soon Nature is wide awake when 

 once she has opened her eyes. The earliest floral 

 effects are of the most fleeting in the Alps ; and, 

 like most things fleeting in this changeful world, 

 they are of the most lovely. To some it may 

 appear laughable to say that one day is of vast 

 importance ; but it is only the truth. Down on 

 the plains things are positively sluggish by com- 

 parison (though an artist, wishing to paint them 

 at their best, knows only too well how rapid even 

 are these). As in Greenland, up here, at 4,800 

 feet, vegetation adapts itself in all practical earnest 

 to the exigencies of shortened seasons. June's 

 glories are quick in passing ; so, alas, are July's ; 



