Introduction 



made me willing to shrink into any corner of 

 the world, however obscure and however re- 

 mote." 



The injury to his eye proved to be less serious 

 than he had at first supposed. In June he was 

 writing to a friend: "I have been reading and 

 botanizing for some weeks, and find that for 

 such work I am not very much disabled. I leave 

 this city [Indianapolis] for home to-morrow, 

 accompanied by Merrill Moores, a little friend 

 of mine. We will go to Decatur, Illinois, thence 

 northward through the wide prairies, botaniz- 

 ing a few weeks by the way. ... I hope to go 

 South towards the end of the summer, and as 

 this will be a journey that I know very little 

 about, I hope to profit by your counsel before 

 setting out." 



In an account written after the excursion he 

 says: "I was eager to see Illinois prairies on my 

 way home, so we went to Decatur, near the 

 center of the State, thence north [to Portage] 

 by Rockford and Janesville. I botanized one 

 week on the prairie about seven miles south- 

 [ xii ] 



