I IXTRODVCTIOX 21 



sweet things there is none so sweet as fresh 

 air -^ one great flower it is, drawn round about, 

 over, and enclosing us, like Aphrodite's arms ; 

 as if the dome of the sky were a bell-flower 

 drooping down over us, and the magical 

 essence of it filling all the room of the earth. 

 Sweetest of all things is wild-flower air. Full 

 of their ideal the starry flowers strained up- 

 wards on the bank, striving to keep above 

 the rude grasses that push by them ; genius 

 has ever had such a struggle. The plain road 

 was made beautiful by the many thoughts it 

 gave. I came every morning to stay by the 

 star-lit bank." 



■^ Passing to countries across the ocean, Hum- 

 boldt tells us that : " If I might be allowed to 

 abandon myself to the recollection of my own 

 distant travels, I would instance, amongst the 

 most striking scenes of nature, the calm sub- 

 limity of a tropical night, when the stars, not 

 sparkling, as in our northern skies, shed their 

 soft and planetary light over the gently heav- 

 ing ocean ; or I would recall the deep valleys 

 of the Cordilleras, where the tall and slender 

 palms pierce the leafy veil around them, and 



