A naturalist's enthusiasm. 193 



which cannot be commanded nor controlled. Why one 

 man should have a powerful longing to behold a certain 

 sort of butterfly or to hear a particular bird, when he 

 cares nothing about the lion or the elephant ; why a fern 

 should fill one mind with strong emotion, and a spray 

 of moss another, while the magnificent palm leaves both 

 unmoved, we can give no reason but those peculiarities 

 of thought and feeling which constitute the individuality 

 of minds. Yet, that such is the fact, every admii-er of 

 nature who has an element of poetry in his soul will 

 admit. He weU knows that the distinct and promi- 

 nent points in memory, those which invariably start up 

 in association with certain scenes, are by no means 

 those — at least, not invariably or necessarily — which 

 are of most intrinsic importance, but such as to an- 

 other wiU often seem trivial and destitute of aesthetic 

 power. 



" The desire," says Humboldt, " which we feel to behold 

 certain objects is not excited solely by their grandeur, 

 their beauty, or their importance. In each individual this 

 desire is interwoven with pleasing impressions of youth, 

 with early predilections for particular pursuits, with 

 the inclination for travelling, and the love of an active 

 life. In proportion as the fulfilment of a wish may 

 have appeared improbable, its realisation afibrds the 

 greater pleasure. The traveller enjoys, in anticipation, 

 the happy moment when he shall first behold the constel- 

 lation of the Cross, and the !MageIlamc clouds circling 

 over the South Pole; when he shall come in sight of 



