Introduction 
OHN MUIR, Earth-planet, Universe.” — 
J tee words are written on the inside 
cover of the notebook from which the con- 
tents of this volume have been taken. They 
reflect the mood in which the late author and 
explorer undertook his thousand-mile walk to 
the Gulf of Mexico a half-century ago. No less 
does this refreshingly cosmopolitan address, 
which might have startled any finder of the 
book, reveal the temper and the comprehen- 
siveness of Mr. Muir’s mind. He never was and 
never could be a parochial student of nature. 
Even at the early age of twenty-nine his eager 
interest in every aspect of the natural world had 
made him a citizen of the universe. 
While this was by far the longest botanical 
excursion which Mr. Muir made in his earlier 
years, it was by no means the only one. He 
had botanized around the Great Lakes, in 
Ontario, and through parts of Wisconsin, 
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