Introduction 
go into Louisiana at all, either because he 
learned that no south-bound ship was avail- 
able at the mouth of the Mississippi, or because 
the unexpected appearance of the Island Belle 
in the harbor of Cedar Keys caused him to 
change his plans* 
In later years Mr. Muir himself strongly 
disparaged the wisdom of his plans with respect 
to South America, as may be seen in the chap- 
ter that deals with his Cuban sojourn. The 
judgment there expressed was lead-penciled 
into his journal during a reading of it long after- 
wards. Nevertheless the Andes and the South 
American forests continued to fascinate his 
imagination, as his letters show, for many years 
after he came to California. When the long de- 
ferred journey to South America was finally 
made in 1911, forty-four years after the first 
attempt, he whimsically spoke of it as the ful- 
fillment of those youthful dreams that moved 
him to undertake his thousand-mile walk to 
the Gulf. 
Mr. Muir always recalled with gratitude the 
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