WALKS , PATHS , ENTRANCES 69 
trip will choose, without stopping to think, a 
certain course — and all will choose practically 
the same course. Naturally we should expect 
this to be the most direct, all creatures being 
constituted similarly in that they are some- 
what averse to unnecessary effort; hence a per- 
fectly straight line between the two places. 
Actually, however, it almost never happens 
that a path follows a perfectly straight line — 
for which there must be a reason. 
Of course there is; and equally of course — 
when one stops to think — it is a reason that 
has its basis in that natural indolence just 
noted, common to man and beast. For the 
straight line is not usually the easiest way; 
and it is the easiest way that is followed, even 
though this must deviate from being the short- 
est for nothing more consequential than an ant 
hill or a rank tuft of grasses. The longer dis- 
tance is invariably less objectionable than the 
effort to surmount even so small an obstacle; 
feet instinctively seek the level. 
This element must be permitted free rein in 
planning walks, even in formal garden design, 
if they are to provide really satisfying strolls 
— and this is of course the ultimate purpose 
for which such walks should always be de- 
signed. Not that they may take their own 
