Preface. ' 5 



ically and geologically so many and so diversified points of interest, 

 that a whole lifetime of a competent investigator could not exhaust 

 and unravel all the problems and collect the various plants, min- 

 erals, and rocks. A prominent member of the United States Geo- 

 logical Survey, who is intimately acquainted with this region, as- 

 sured me in a recent correspondence that in the entire area of the 

 United States he knows of no part which, in an equal territory, 

 possesses so great a diversity and complication of structure. I en- 

 joyed and utilized industriously my opportunity, although with 

 great diffidence, in the results of my analyses, for want of scientific 

 botanical literature, especially of the American. 



Having been fifteen years in the saddle, traversing more than 

 one-half of East Tennessee, throughout the Cumberland Mountains 

 and all the valleys between Walden's Ridge and Smoky Mountain, 

 I held in my mind a well-connected panorama of the natural vista 

 at all seasons of the year. 



Possessed, as I believed- myself to be, of a moderate and quiet 

 enjoyment of intelligent and useful pursuits, it came suddenly to 

 pass that I had to bear my share of the agonies and convulsions of 

 the Civil War. 



Opposed to the disruption of the Union, knowing from experi- 

 ence the misery of a great nation split into petty principalities (as 

 was the ease with Germany for centuries), seeing in the growing 

 greatness of this government the future liberation of all nationali- 

 ties through its physical power and moral influence, I advocated 

 the cause of the Union, and created such displeasure to my former 

 friends that I found it advisable to leave my domicile and part with 

 my family. On a cold, starry March night, afoot, no money, with 

 a small satchel as traveling outfit, I wound my way through the 

 Ocoee gorge and reached the town of Cleveland, forty miles distant, 

 without an accident. 



The government in which I had put my faith and trust took 

 me under its care, sent me to Nashville, and put me into serv- 

 ice as an assistant surgeon. After the expiration of my term 

 and recovery from a severe malarial fever, which temporarily 

 disabled me for army duties, I accepted from the military Gov- 

 ernor, Andrew Johnson, the position of State Librarian, which 

 I held during five years, whereby I greatly improved my acquaint- 

 ance with scientific American literature. Moreover, I found such 

 helps in pursuit of making collections as I never before or after- 



