L^’ 
1876 
October 24 
Had Jim’s horse harnessed directly sfter dinner 
and took a long drive with Miss Fuller. Went first to Walden 
Pond and visited Thoreau’s abiding place, thence to Fair- 
haven cliffs where we remained till sunset, talking and 
looking out over the glorious landscape. 
The atmosphere, cleared of all haze by the recent 
rain, revealed distant objects with unusual distinctness, and 
just before sunset the wind died away completely and the 
whole lovely scene lay bathed in calm, restful quiet. So 
perfectly hushed were all sounds of ordinary prevalence that 
the chuck of a Chipmunk came distinctly to the ear from the 
opposite side of the valley below and even the rustling of 
leaves stirred by his bush ramblings was faintly audible. 
Voices of men engaged in collecting some scattered cattle in 
a pasture across the river and nearly a mile distant were 
plainly heard and some few words even distinguished, though 
they talked in tones not louder than common. 
Small Diptera flying over the river were visible 
at nearly half a mile’s distance, but this of course only when 
the slanting sunbeams lighted up their gauzy wings. I noticed 
occasionally also small birds passing across the path of 
the light in the same manner, when at such distances that 
they became invisible directly they crossed the illumined way; 
just as of a summer evening moths appear and disappear in 
the stream of light shed through a window or about the street 
Rough-legged Hawk 
gas lamps. . . At the cliffs a very large Archibuto lagopus 
sailed past us within 30 yards and without a single motion 
