C xxiii ] 



A man dwells in his native valley like a corolla in its 

 calyx, like an acorn in its cup." 



The simple facts are these. Concord is a typical 

 New England town. Outside of the village which 

 clusters around the post-ofBce, court-house, and 

 churches, the inhabitants are chiefly farmers, who 

 preserve much of the simplicity of early colonial days 

 — or they did in Thoreau's time — while considerable 

 areas of land still remain uncultivated. In its land- 

 scape features Concord presents a pleasing combina- 

 tion of field and meadow, hill and dale, lake and river, 

 swamp and woodland. In the spring and summer 

 there is everywhere a luxuriance 6f floral and animal 

 life, varied and lovely; in autumn there are the bril- 

 liant tints of departing foliage and an abundance of 

 fruits; in winter there is the soft purity of the snow 

 and the delicate beauty of frost crystals. The visitor 

 to Concord at any season of the year does not need 

 to discount Thoreau's enthusiasm to appreciate the 

 true charm of his surroundings. To be sure, the hills 

 of Concord are tame as compared with those found 

 in many towns of northern and western New England, 

 yet the views from their summits are peculiarly pic- 

 turesque and appealing. Not long ago the writer 

 piloted to the crest of Fair Haven Hill — one of 

 Thoreau's dearest shrines — an English friend with 

 whom he had recently been mountain-climbing in the 

 Canadian Rockies. This friend, a world-wide traveller 

 and an alpinist of international fame, notwithstanding 



