PREFACE. 
IX 
which I will not force upon the reader; neither will I 
intrude anything that is not actually necessary in the 
description of scenes that unfortunately must be passed 
through in the journey now before us. Should any¬ 
thing offend the sensitive mind, and suggest the unfit¬ 
ness of the situation for a woman’s presence, I must 
beseech my fair readers to reflect, that the pilgrim’s 
wife followed him, weary and footsore, through all his 
difficulties, led, not by choice, but by devotion; and 
that in times of misery and sickness her tender care 
saved his life and prospered the expedition. 
“ 0 woman, in our liours of ease 
Uncertain, coy, and hard to please, 
And variable as the shade 
By the light quivering aspen made j 
When pain and anguish wring the brow, 
A ministering angel thou ! ” 
In the journey now before us I must request some 
exercise of patience during geographical details that 
may be wearisome; at all events, I will adhere to facts, 
and avoid theory as much as possible. 
The Botanist will have ample opportunities of stray-' 
