34 FLOWER-FIELDS OF ALPINE SWITZERLAND 



of Gentians ! Whilst painting the study of 

 Sulphur Anemones (facing page 96) about 

 May 20, my feet, camp-stool, and easel were 

 perforce crushing dozens of lovely flowers — 

 flowers which in England would have been fenced 

 about with every sort of reverence. But sacrifice 

 is the mot cVordre of a live and useful world ; 

 worship at any shrine is accompanied by some 

 *' hard dealing " ; and, sadly as it went against 

 the grain, there was no gentler way in which I 

 could effect my purpose. 



Looking at the close-set masses of blossom, it 

 is difficult to realise into what these slopes and 

 fields will develop later on. There seems no room 

 for a crop of hayfield grass. Amid this neat and 

 packed abundance there seems no possible footing 

 for a wealth of greater luxuriance. And yet, in a 

 few weeks' time, these fields will have so changed 

 as to be scarcely recognisable. What we see 

 at present, despite its ubiquity, is but a moiety 

 of all they can produce. June and July will 

 border upon a plethora of wonders, though they 

 will not perhaps be rivals to the exquisite charm 

 of May. 



