THE ART OF BARTRAM 107 



Hussey continues, " became one of the sublime qualities " in 

 Burke's categories.* And vastness, it will be noted, is one of 

 the qualities that strikes Bartram as " sublime," " awful," of 

 " majestic." Thus he finds that an " ancient sublime forest . . . 

 intersected with extensive avenues, vistas and green lawns, 

 opening to extensive savannas and far distant Rice plantations, 

 captivates " his " senses by scenes of magnificence and gran- 

 deur " (Travels, p. 309). In fact, he is capable of losing him- 

 self in vastness, to the neglect of his business as a scientific 

 observer, which requires minute and close attention to specific 

 objects. Once, he confesses, standing on the top of a mountain 

 whence he enjoyed " a view inexpressibly magnificent and com- 

 prehensive," he became " wholly engaged in the contemplation 

 of this magnificent landscape, infinitely varied, and without 

 bound," until he realized that he was " insensible or regardless 

 of the charming objects more within . . . reach: a new species 

 of. . ." (pp. 335-6). 



It has already been stated that aesthetically William Bartram 

 saw nature with the eyes of a painter. It is important to note 

 to what extent this is true and how this quality influenced his 

 descriptions. He had an accurate eye for line and color; he 

 copied nature: turtles, vines, flowers, birds. It was therefore 

 logical enough that when he came to describe nature, using 

 words instead of paints as his medium, the methods and habits 

 of the painter should still persist. Always he sees his landscape 

 with the painter's eye, and always he translates his visual im- 

 pressions in terms of color, of lights and shades, using the con- 

 centrated impressionism and the economy of means of an artist 

 painting a canvas. Moreover, it is quite clear that he knew 

 paintings, had observed them not only with pleasure, but with 

 a retentive memory. Speaking of the Snake Birds which he saw 

 in the waters of Florida, he remarks, " I think I have seen paint- 

 ings of them on the Chinese screens and other India pictures " 

 (p. 132) . Or, again, watching fish and crocodiles in a fountain, 

 he comments: " This amazing and delightful scene, though real, 

 appears at first but as a piece of excellent painting; there seems 

 no medium." Besides the language of the painter in this 



'Ibid., ■p. 55. 



