TO 

 JOHN BURROUGHS 



DEAR OOM JOHN : Every lover of outdoor life must feel 

 a sense of affectionate obligation to you. Your writings appeal 

 to all who care for the life of the woods and the fields, whether 

 their tastes keep them in the homely, pleasant farm country or 

 lead them into the wilderness. It is a good thing for our peo- 

 ple that you should have lived ; and surely no man can wish 

 to have more said of him. 



I wish to express my hearty appreciation of your warfare 

 against the sham nature- writers those whom you have called 

 " the yellow journalists of the woods." From the days of JEsop 

 to the days of Reinecke Fuchs, and from the days of Reinecke 

 Fuchs to the present time, there has been a distinct and attrac- 

 tive place in literature for those who write avowed fiction in 

 which the heroes are animals with human or semi-human attri- 

 butes. This fiction serves a useful purpose in many ways, even 

 in the way of encouraging people to take the right view of out- 

 door life and outdoor creatures ; but it is unpardonable for any 

 observer of nature to write fiction and then publish it as truth, 

 and he who exposes and wars against such action is entitled to 

 respect and support. You in your own person have illustrated 

 what can be done by the lover of nature who has trained him- 

 self to keen observation, who describes accurately what is thus 

 observed, and who, finally, possesses the additional gift of writ- 

 ing with charm and interest. 



You were with me on one of the trips described in this 

 volume, and I trust that to look over it will recall the pleasant 

 days we spent together. 



Your friend, 



THEODORE ROOSEVELT. 



THE WHITE HOUSE, October 2, 1905. 



