BARTRAM'S INFLUENCE ON LITERATURE 191 



They [rattle snakes] are supposed to have the power of fascination in 

 an eminent degree, so as to inthral their prey. It is generally believed 

 that they charm birds . . . and by stedfastly looking at them possess 

 them with infatuation ; be the cause what it may, the miserable creatures 

 undoubtedly strive by every possible means to escape, but alas! their 

 endeavors are in vain, they at last loose (sic) the power of resistance, 

 and flutter or move slowly, but reluctantly towards the yawning jaws 

 of their devourers, and creep into their mouths ... (p. 267). 



And is it another mere coincidence that the line 



Caught by the flower that closes on the fly ("' The Ring ") 



should have a parallel passage in Bartram: 



Astonishing production! see the incarnate lobes expanding, how gay 

 and ludicrous they appear! ready on the spring to intrap incautious 

 deluded insects, what artifice ! there behold one of the leaves just closed 

 upon a struggling fly . . . (p. xx) . 



Thomas Carlyle: 



Carlyle's tribute to Bartram, in his correspondence with Emer- 

 son,^^ has been quoted in the Preface. It indicates that he read 

 the Travels with great enjoyment and suggests that an inquiry in- 

 to the influence of Bartram on Carlyle might not prove fruitless. 



4. American Literature 



Bartram's work has apparently had less influence upon the 

 literature of his own country. This is only logical. His scene 

 has been a closer reality to the American writer and has there- 

 fore not had the exotic fascination it seems to have had for the 

 European. Nevertheless, Bartram's Travels could hardly have 

 been entirely overlooked by the American writer. Interest in 

 nature characterizes much of American literature; in fact, as 

 Professor Foerster has shown, "With only two or three excep- 

 tions, all our major writers have displayed both a striking 

 curiosity as to the facts of the external world — an intellectual 

 conscience in seeking to know them with exactness — and an 

 ardent emotional devotion to nature because of her beauty or 



" II, 228. 



