THE EARLIEST FLOWERS. 131 
found as he roamed in the woods about Cummington 
brooding over ‘‘ Thanatopsis,” and of which he wrote: 
“When beechen buds begin to swell, 
And woods the bluebird’s warble know, 
The yellow violet’s modest bell 
Peeps from the last year’s leaves below. 
Ere russet fields their green resume, 
Sweet flower, I love, in forest bare, 
To meet thee, when thy faint perfume 
Alone is in the virgin air. 
Oft in the sunless April day, 
Thy early smile has stayed my walk ; 
But midst the gorgeous blooms of May, 
I passed thee on thy humble stalk. 
So they, who climb to wealth, forget 
The friends in darker fortunes tried. 
I copied them — but I regret 
That I should ape the ways of pride.” 
In Sir J. D. Hooker’s ‘‘ Himalayan Journals” there 
is a reference to one of the humbler plants in this list 
which is well worth quoting as one of the best expres- 
sions of the delights of scientific travel. He is writing 
under date of November 25th, 1848, on one of the 
passes of the Himalayas in East Nepaul, at an elevation 
