INTRODUCTION 



As a companion Mr. Burroughs is just 

 as enjoyable as one would imagine him to 

 be from his writings. He likes the simple 

 things of life, has an affinity for old clothes 

 and broad-toed shoes, and for comfort al- 

 ways before style. Mr. Burroughs calls 

 himself a farmer rather than a writer, and, 

 in truth, he has quite the farmer look, and 

 in a casual acquaintance you might never 

 suspect him to be the man of letters that 

 he is. But, however that may be, you en- 

 joy the man himself. It is just as it is in 

 reading what he writes, — artificialities slip 

 away, and we become primitive and simple 

 and free. An excursion with him, in a 

 book or out of a book, is freshening and 

 helpful ; and if the pictures in this volume, 

 which accompany eight of John Burroughs's 

 essays, assist to a closer acquaintance with 

 him and the home regions he describes, 

 they serve their purpose. 



Clifton Johnson. 

 ix 



