Introduction 



good-bye. When they asked where I was going 

 I said, 'Oh! I don't know — just anywhere in 

 the wilderness, southward. I have aheady had 

 glorious gHmpses of the Wisconsin, Iowa, Mich- 

 igan, Indiana, and Canada wildernesses; now 

 I propose to go South and see something of the 

 vegetation of the warm end of the country, and 

 if possible to wander far enough into South 

 America to see tropical vegetation in all its 

 palmy glory.' 



"The neighbors wished me well, advised me 

 to be careful of my health, and reminded 

 me that the swamps in the South were full of 

 malaria. I stopped overnight at the home of 

 an old Scotch lady who had long been my friend 

 and was now particularly motherly in good 

 wishes and advice. I told her that as I was 

 sauntering along the road, just as the sun was 

 going down, I heard a darling speckled-breast 

 sparrow singing. The day's done, the day's 

 done.' 'Weel, John, my dear laddie,' she re- 

 plied, 'your day will never be done. There is 

 no end to the kind of studies you like so well, 

 [ xvii ] 



