PEEFACE 



I HAVE deliberated a long time about coupling 

 some of my sketches of outdoor nature with a few 

 chapters of a more purely literary character ; and as 

 I have confided to my reader what pleased and en- 

 gaged me beyond my four walls, to show him what 

 absorbs and delights me inside those walls ; especially 

 as I have aimed to bring my outdoor spirit and 

 method within and still look upon my subject with 

 the best naturalist's eye I could command. 



I hope, therefore, he will not be scared away when 

 I boldly confront him in the latter portions of my 

 book with this name of strange portent, Walt Whit- 

 man, for I assure him that in this misjudged man he 

 may press the strongest poetic pulse that has yet beat 

 in America, or perhaps in modern times. 



Then these chapters are a proper supplement or 

 continuation of my themes, and their analogy in liter- 

 ature, because in them we shall " follow out these 

 lessons of the earth and air," and behold their appli- 

 cation to higher matters. 



It is not an artificially graded path strewn with 

 roses that invites us in this part, but let me hope 

 something better, a rugged trail through the woods 



