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Thoreau J10f1 f2

This document is an excerpt from Henry David Thoreau's journal from May 13-18, 1855. It describes the changing of seasons from spring to early summer in Concord, Massachusetts through observations of plant blooming and leafing, and bird sightings and songs. Key events include hearing the first bobolink, seeing kingbirds and yellow warblers, and the trees and plants progressing further into leaf and bloom over the days recorded.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)

420 views256 pages

Thoreau J10f1 f2

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Joao

We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.

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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

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1

May 13th 1855

Pm.--down river--& to Yel. birch swamp

Yesterday was the first warm day for

a week or 2--& today it is much

warmer still & hazy-- As much like

summer as it can be without the

trees being generally leafed. I saw a

F hiemalis this morning.--& heard the

golden robin--now that the elms are

beginning to leaf. also the myrtle bird's

tealee. The earliest gooseberry in garden

has opened X

the still & hazy air--enjoying the

June-like warmth--See the first

king birds on the bare black willows

with their broad white breasts & white

tipped tails--and the sound of the

first bobolink was floated to us

from over the meadows--Now that

the meadows are lit by the tender

yellow green of the willows & the

silvery green fruit of the elms. I heard

from a female redwing that peculiar

rich screwing warble--(not O gurgle ee--)

--made with r not with l. The

whole air too is filled with the ring

of toads louder than heretofore--

30
31
32

As we float down the river through

Some men are already fishing--indis-

//
//

tinctly seen through the haze.

Under the hop-hornbeam below the
monument--observed a large pellet

ap. dropped by some bird of prey--consisting

of mouse hair--with an oat or 2 in it

undigested--which prob. the mouse

had swallowed. This reminded me that

I had read this kind of of birds digested

the flesh of the animals they swallowed

but not the vegetable food in the

stomachs of the latter. The air

is filled with the song of birds--

warbling vireo--gold-robin--yel-- birds

& occasionally the bobolink. The

gold robin just come is heard in

all parts of the village. I see both

//male & female. It is a remarkable1

dif. bet. this day & yesterday--that

yest. this & the bobolink were not

heard--& now the former at least

is so musical & omnipresent-- Even

//see boys a-bathing, though they

must find it cold. I saw yesterday

some of that common orange

//rust like fungus already on a poten-

tilla simplex leaf.-- Hear the first

//catbird more clear & tinkling than

the thrasher-- Left the boat below

N Barretts & walked inland. Saw

//several handsome red-winged grasshopers

in dif parts of our walk; but though

we saw where they alighted, yet several

times we could not find them in the

grass for all that. The bayberry

32
33

? ap will not open under a week

There are now a great many

remarkable: altered from remarkably; final e written over y

viola pedatas. The brook in Yel-- birch

Swamp is very handsome now--broad & full

with the light green hellebore 18 inches

high--& the small 2 leaved sol-- seal about

it--in the open wood-- Only a part of

the yellow birches are leafing--but not

yet generally the large ones. I notice

no catkins. One white birch sheds pollen XX

The white birches on the side of Ponkawtasset

are beginning to show faint streaks of

11
12
13

yellowish green here & there

A cooler & stronger wind from the east by mid afternoon.
The large bass tree now beg. to leaf.

the brown thrashers are particularly

musical--one seems to be contending

in song with another-- The chewinks

strain sounds quite humble in comparison.

gate--my night warbler. Never

heard it in the village before.

23
24

I doubt if we shall at any season hear more

Saw an Amelanchier with downy leaf (ap. oblongifolia) on the S E edge of Yel-- birch swamp

about 18 feet high & 5 or 6 inches in diameter--

A clump of them about as big as an apple tree.

birds singing than now.

A 9 1/2 Pm I hear from our

Now about 2 hours before sunset

May 14
Our peaches beg to bloom--others prob. earlier!

Domestic plums open--some may be yest. Missouri

currant open yest or day before. XX One apple on

a roof open XXX. The beech blossom in house opens

say tomorrow in woods X--& prob. will leaf generally

by the next day--2nd gooseberry in garden open XXX

//White ash begs to leaf--& wax work-- Clethra

//leafs. High blue berry open by Hubbs Bath XXX

//Black scruboak leafs--& chinquapin. Red

//choke-berry leafed say 2 days later than black

5
6

Pm to Cliffs via Hubb's Bath-//

See a male hen harrier skimming low

along the side of the river, often within

a foot of the muddy shore, looking

for frogs--with a very compact flock

of small birds, prob. swallows, in

pursuit. Occasionally he alights2 & walks

or hops flutteringly a foot or 2 over

the ground-- The lombardy poplar & Silvery abele

//leafed at least 2 days ago. V. vacillans leafed

//2 perhaps flowers opened? if that is one near W

F. Haven spring. Some hickories just opening

their leaves mak quite a show with

the red inner sides of the bud scales

turned back. All the oak leaves

//off the shruboak plain except. ap. a

few white oaks. Some gaylussacias

//leafed. Uva arsi at Cliffs out some

time--& some new shoots leafing.

24
25
26

Under the dead pine on which the fishon the 12th ult 1/2 mile from the river
hawk sat, I find a few fish bones--one

I am pretty sure from comparison, the jaw of

a pout. So that in 3 instances the only ones

observed this year, they were feeding on

pouts. Probably the mice &c had picked

up the rest of his droppings. Thus these

inhabitants of the interior get a taste

of fish from time to time--crumbs

//from the fish-hawk's table--Prinos verticilla

alights: altered from alight; final s added

leafs.

May 15--Pm to Beck Stow's--

Suddenly very warm-- Hear a humming-bird

in the garden. Pear blossomed--some perhaps yest.

Locust--black & scarlet oak--& some button

woods leaf. A yel-- butterfly. I hear from the

top of a pitch pine in the swamp--that loud

clear familiar whistle--which have sometimes

wrongly referred to the wood Pewee--Whip-ter-

phe-ee-- Is it the Whip-tom-kelly note which

Soane & Wilson give to the Red eye--but

which Nuttall says he never heard from it?

//
//

--Sometimes ter-phee e--This is repeated

at considerable intervals the birds sitting

quite still a long time. I saw it dart out

16
17
18

once & catch an insect & return to its perch

%prob M. Cooperi v. June 10th%
musicapa%^%like. As near as I could see it

had a white throat--was whitish streaked with

20
21
22

dark beneath--darker tail & wings--& maybe

bright
olivaceous shoulders--^yellow within bill.

Andromeda calyculata begs to leaf--separate twigs

from blossoming ones. Andromeda polifolia just open XXX

Buck-Bean ap. in 3 days (in house the 18th) X

The 13th saw large water-bugs (gyrinus) crowded

up high on rocks-- Watch a pine-warbler

on a pitch pine--slowly & faithfully searching

it creeper like-- It encounters a black

& white creeper in the same tree; they fly at

each other3--& the latter leaves, ap. driven off

by the first. This warbler shuts its bill each time

to produce its peculiar note. Rhodora will ap.

open in 2 or 3 days. See & hear for a moment

a small warbler-like bird in Nemopanthes

other: altered from -; other written over -

swamp which sings somewhat like--

//tchut a-worieter-worieter-worieter-woo.

The greater part of the large sug. maples

on the Common leaf. Large red maples generally

are late to leaf.

Minot says that some years ago, may

be 10 or 15, a man in Bedford climbed

to an owls nest--(prob a cat owls) & the

owl took out one of his eyes & nearly killed

him. He read it in the papers.

May 16

Pm--up Assabet--

//Bass leaf is an inch over--prob beg about the 14th

//Panic. andromeda leafed in some places

//prob a day or 2. Grape buds beg. to open.

//swamp white oak leaf--prob yest. silky cornel leaf--

18
19

Trees generally leafing. Black willow leafs

////24 days5 or 36

A woodcock--near river--A blue

//heron like bird--on a tree over river--but with

uniformly--fawncolored throat & breast

& reddish feet. We hear these last

2 or 3 warm days the loud sound of toads

borne on7 or amid the rippling wind.

A green bittern with its dark green coat

& crest--sitting watchful goes off with

a limping--peet weet flight--

May 17th

Waked up at 2 1/2 by the peep of robins--

which were aroused by a fire at the

Pail factory--about 2 miles west--

I hear that the air was full of birds

singing thereabouts-- It rained gently at the

same time--though not steadily.

over

2: altered from a; 2 written over a

days: altered from day; final s added

3: altered from 2

borne on: altered from come over; borne on written over come
6

1
2

May 18 55
Pm. Boat to Nut-meadow--

3
4
5
6
7

Large Devil's needle--sassafras well open

%l%
how long? Cetis will prob shed pollen to morrow
^
XXX--shoots already 1 inch long. Sorrel pollen XX

1st veery strain. Green briar leafed several days

Veronica serpyllifolia well out how long? at Ash

10
11
12

bank spring. Saw the yellow legs feeding on

NB. C. now thinks he has not seen it before-shore--legs not bright yellow--goes off with the

usual whistle--also utters a long monotonous

call as it were standing on the shore--not so whistling

Am inclined to think it the lesser yel-- legs

(though, I8 think the only one we see) Yet its

bill appears quite 2 inches long. Is it curved

18
19
20
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22

up? Observe a black birds (red wing's) nest

4 eggs in it on the 25th slightly
Bay wing
finished^-- At Clam Shell a song (?) sparrows
3 young partly^fledged the 26th
nest 4 eggs young^half hatched^--some black-

spotted others not. These last warmer

days a great many fishes dart away

from close to the shore--where they seem

to be now more than ever-- I see some

darting about & rippling the water there

with large back fins out either pouts

or suckers (not pickerel certainly)-- Ap. their

breeding season arrived. Is not this where

the fish hawks get them? Rhodora

prob some yesterday X Black scruboak pollen XXX

Fir balsam pollen XXX say begs to leaf at same time.

//
//

The clump of Golden willows west of new

stone bridge is very handsome now seen from hill--

with its light yellowish foliage--because the

stems of the trees are seen through it.

I: altered from the; I written over the

1
2

May 19th
//

Put my little turtles into the river--

They had not noticeably increased in size or

4
5
6

hardly--3 had died within a week

2 mud turtles--& 1 musk do
for want of attention^--2 were missing

1 mud & 1 musk--5 musk were put into the

river--

May 20--rains a little

10
11

May 21
//

Is that plump blue backed--rufous

12
13
14
15

Pm to Island. Salix nigra leafs--

//rumped swallow the Cliff S.? flying

Nuttall ap so describes it 5'2 x 12
with barn swallows &c over the

river-- It dashes within a foot of me--

//Lamb-kill leaf. a day or 2-- Choke-

//berry pollen--perhaps a day or more elsewhere-- V. pal-

//mata pretty common ap 2 or 3 days. Some

//button bush begins to leaf Cranberry well

started shoots 3/4 of an inch. Bluets whiten the

//fields--& violets are now perhaps in prime.

Very cold today--cold weather in

deed from the 20 to 23d inclusive-- Sit

by fires--& sometimes wear a great coat

& expect frosts.

May 22d

//Bank swallows--ashy brown above--have9

holes at Deep cut have not much dis-

tinguished them before, this season. Sage

32
33
34
35

Cerasus pumila in full bloom--how long?

//willow may have beg. to leaf a week or 10 days ago

////or more. Cuckoo--scared up a night
from the white on wings
hawk--^amid the dry leaves on the edge

have: altered from has; have written over has

of a copse on F.H. Hill--where ap it had

been scratching--the leaves looking as if they

had been turned up. Linaria Canadensis on Cliffs X

4
5
6

open. The deciduous trees leafing beg to clothe

a little
or invest the evergreens-- The oaks are^more than

in the gray-- Huckleberry open--possibly yesterday

Fringed polygala how long? herds? grass

on Channing bank--pollen-- Harris tells

Emerson my cicada is the Noveberacensis?10 known

to N. Yorkers-- Lupine not open yet for 2 or 3 days

not yet chinquapin oak--

May 23d

Am to Bayberry via river--

Myrica--not quite-- Lousewort11 pollen how long.

16
17

May 24
Am to Beck Stow's-- Button wood not open

Celandine pollen XX Butternut pollen ap a

////

day or 2. Agricultural--black oak pollen yest.

at least--XXX Scarlet oak the same but a

little later. The staminate flowers of the first are

on long & handsome tassels--for 3 or 4 inches

along the extremities of last years shoots

depending 5 inches (sometimes 6) x 4 in

width--& quite dense & thick. The scarlet oak

tassels are hardly half as long. The leaves

much greener & smoother--& now somewhat

wilted emit a sweet odor which those

of the black do not. Both these12 oaks

are ap. more forward at top--where I

cannot see them. Mt ash open ap. yesterday X

X-- In woods by-- And. polifolia the

chestnut sided warbler with clear yellow

Noveboracensis?: altered from Noveboracensis-; ? written over -

Lousewort: altered from lousewort; L written over l

Both these: altered from other; Both these written over other
9

brown & yellow on wings & chestnut sides--

It is exploring low trees and bushes often

along stems about young leaves--& frequently

or after short pauses utters its some

5
6
7

what summer yellow bird-like note-1 quick

say--tchip tchip, chip chip, tche tche

ter tcha--spray & rasping & faint.

Another--further off--

? Andromeda polifolia now in prime

--but the leaves are apt to be blackened

& unsightly--& the flowers though

delicate have a feeble & sickly look

rose white--somewhat crystalline-- Its

//shoots or new leaves unfolding say when

16
17

it flowered or directly after now 1 inch long.

? Buck bean--just fairly begun--though

prob-- first the 18th--a handsome flower

but already when the raceme is only half

blown some of the lowest flowers are brown

& withered deforming it-- What a pity!13

22
23

//? Juniper repens pollen not even yet--ap

? tomorrow. Ap put back by the

cold weather. Beach plum pollen

//prob. several days in some places--& leaves

//begun as long

Hear a rose breasted gross beak--at

first thought it a tanager--but

29
30
31

soon it perceived it more clear &

should say whistle if one could whistle like a flute
instrumental^--a noble singer reminding

me also of a robin--clear loud & flute-

like--on the oaks hill side S of Great

Fields14 Black all above except white

on wing--with a triangular red mark

on breast {drawing} but, as I saw, all white

pity!: altered from ~?; pity ? written over ~?

14
Fields: altered from fields; lower case f crossed at top to form
upper case F

beneath this. Female quite15 different

yellowish olivaceous where more like a musi-

capa. Song not so sweet as clear

& strong. Saw it fly off & catch an insect

like a fly-catcher-- An early thorn pollen

(not crus galli) ap yest. XX

7
8

Picked up a pellet in the wood path of

small birds feathers 1 inch in diameter &

loose--nothing else with them.--some slate--some

yellow. Young robins--some time hatched

1 minute without pause--loud & rich

on an elm over the street--another sing-

ing very faintly on a neighboring elm.

Conant. fever-bush had not beg. to leaf the 12th

the Carex Pennsylvanica--also 2 another

similar but later & larger in low ground

with many more pistillate flowers
^nearly a foot high 3-sided & rough culm-The 1st is smooth
^Also 3 an early sedge at Lees16 Cliff. with striped
not rigid
& pretty broad leaves^perhaps on 554 p. of Gray-4th

The rigid tufted are common in meadows with

cut grass like leaves. call it C. stricta though not

yet more than 1 foot high. or 18 inches.

I seem to have seen among sedge &c

18
19
20
21
22
23
24

Heard a purple finch sing more than

of Juncaceae perhaps Luzula Campestris

29
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the early umbelled purple leaved--low-%Foxtail%

& ap. of17 grasses--herd's grass--on C's bank.

Naked azalea shoots more than a week old

and other leaves say a week at least.

Pm to Cliffs

Wind suddenly changed to S this forenoon

& for first time I think of a thin coat--

It is very hazy--in consequence of the

quite: altered from female; quite written over female

Lees: altered from lees; L written over l

of: altered from her: of written over her

sudden warmth after cold. & I can-

//not see the mts. Chinquapin pollen XXX

4
5

Lupine not yet-- Black18 scrub oak tassels

some reddish some yellowish. Just before

//6 see in the N.W. the first summer

clouds methought piled in cumuli with

silvery edges--& westwardward of them

a dull rainy looking cloud advancing

& shutting down to the horizon--later

lightning in west & South--& a little

//rain-- Another king of frog spawn at Beck Stows

May 25th
A rather warm night the last--window19

13
14

//slightly open--hear buzz of flies in

the sultryish morning air--on awaking.

15
16

8 Am to Hill

//since S. nigra pollen a day at least--XX

19
20
21
22
23

//Wood pewee-- Ap. yel. birds nests just

1 egg in it the next morn. also a
? completed--one by stone bridge causeway^--another
red wing's nest op. Dodds--(1 egg in it the next morn i.e. 26th)
//in birch by mud turtle meadow-- Veronica

peregrina in Mackay's strawberries how long?

Most of the robins nests I have examined this year had

26
27

Late rose shoots 2 inches, say a fortnight

3 eggs--clear bluish green-//

A chip birds nest on a balm of gilead 8 feet

high--bet the main stem & a twig or 2 with 4 very

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31

pale blue-green eggs with a sort of circle of

brown black
dark^spots about larger end.

32
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34

Red wing's { } nest with 4 eggs--white very faintly

Red wings now generally beginning to lay
tinged with perhaps green & curiously & neatly marked
with brown black spots & lines on the large end.

Fever root 1 foot high & more say a fort-

//night or 3 weeks. Scared a screech owl

Black: altered from black; B written over b

window: altered from hear; window written over hear

out by an apple tree on hill--flew swiftly

2
3
4

off at first like a pig. woodpecker & lit

facing me
nearby^--was instantly visited & spied at by

a brown thrasher-- Then flew into a hole high

in a hickory near by--the thrasher following

close to the tree. It was reddish or ferruginous.

8
9
10

Choke-cherry pollen on island ap. 2 or 3 days

some in house to-day--say to-day XXXX
Hemlock20 pollen prob. tomorrow.^not yet leafing.

//
?

Aralia nudicaulis perhaps 2 days pollen XX

C. florida no bloom--was then year before

13
14
15

last? Does it not flower every other year?

Its leaf say just after C. sericea-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -Tupelo leaf before button bush--maybe a week

now-- Red oak pollen say a day or 2 before black

17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24

swamp wht oak pollen XXX

& eq. limosum
4 inch. below long stone
River about at summer level^-- Grass
& flags^--& Pontederia (8 inch high) & white lily pads now (after
yel.) red above, &c
patches conspicuous^--purplish polygonum
some
leaves in beds above water--& For a few

days the handsome phalanxes of the

equisetum limosum have attracted me.

The button bush hardly yet generally beg

to leaf-- Critchicrutches in prime.

29
30
31

Heard the first regular bull-frog's trump

1 in the evening-on the 18th none since--

32
33

Juniper plucked yest. sheds pollen in house today &

prob. in field XX

Is our White willow Gray's var 2nd Caerulea?

The Golden robin keeps whistling something like

36
37
38
39

//
?

Eat21 it Potter--eat it!

Carex exilis?? river shore op. Wheeler's gate--6 inch

high--but the culm smooth. some time.

Is that sweet-scented vernal grass just begun

to bloom at celtis shore?

41
42
43
44
45

Fir balsam beg to leaf. with flower-cottony

Wooly aphides on White pines-- Hear a quail
%a toad?%
& the summer spray frog,%^%amid the ring of toads

Hemlock: altered from Hem.; lock added

Eat: altered from eat; bottom loop added to e to form E

//
//
//

May 26th

8 Am by boat to Kalmia glauca & thence to Scouring

rush-Again a strong cold wind from the N by

4
5

west--turning up the new & tender

pads. The young white lily pads are

now red or crimson above while greenish

beneath. Night shade dark green

//shoots are 8 inches long. Button bush

//would commonly be said to begin to leaf.

//ap. about 2 or 3 days. Comandra pollen ap 2 days

//there-- Arenaria serpyllifolia & scleranthus how long?

//White oak pollen XXX-- The oaks ap. shed

pollen about 4 days later than last year

--may be owing to the recent cold weather.

At Clam Shell-- R. acris & bulbosus pollen

Interupted fern pollen22 the 23d may have been a day or 2

Cinnamon fern today-- Checkerberry shoots

//1 inch high. Carex stipata? close spiked

sedge in Clam shell meadow some time

Early willow on right beyond Hubb bridge--

//leafed since 12th say 19th or generally before button bush

//& leaf say before tupelo. White spruce pollen

//1 or 2 days at least. & now begs to leaf.

At Kalmia swamp-- Nemopanthes ap several days

To my surprise the Kalmia glauca--al-

most all out--perhaps began with Rhodora

A very fine flower--the more interesting

//for being early-- The leaf say just after the

lambkill. I was wading through this

white spruce swamp just look at the

leafs. The more purple rhodora rose

here & there above the small androme

pollen: altered from the; pollen written over the

da--so that I did not at first distinguish

the K. glauca-- When I did prob-- my eyes

at first confounded it with the

lambkill--& I did not remember that this

would not bloom for some time. There

were23 a few leaves just faintly startedg24.

But at last my eyes & attention both

were caught by those handsome Umbells

of the K. glauca--rising one to 3 together

at the end of bare twigs 6 inches or more

11
12
13
14
15
16

above the level of the andromeda & lambkill

NB The Rhodora did not accompany it into the more open & level & wet
1 1/2 inch diam.
&c--together with the rhodora^umbells
parts where was andromeda almost alone
of 5 to 18 flowers on red threads 3/4 to

an inch long--on the extrem at first deep-

rose color after pale rose--twigs bare except

19
20
21

2 or 3 small old leaves close to the end of

dry looking
corollas
the^twigs-- Flowers^not arranged in whirls about

22
23
24
25

the twig but rising quite above it. The larger flower
methinks
flower somewhat larger^& more terminal than lambkill
about 9/16 inch diam--^The whole about

2 feet high in sphagnum-- The lambkill

27
28
29
30
31

is just beginning to be flower budded.

neat
of grass merely
What that^song spar.-like nest in
wet
under the andromeda
the^sphagnum^there with 3 eggs--in that

very secluded place surrounded by the watery

swamp--& andromeda--from which

the bird stole like a mouse under the

35
36
37

Andromeda. v. egg It is narrower & more

& lighter a little--the brown less confluent
pointed at one end^than that of the song-

spar with one spot in breast which took

39
40
41
42
43

from ivy tree tuft 4 egg 1st seen I think the 22nd.
The last is bluish white very thickly spotted & blotched with brown
Swamp pink leaf before lambkill-- A mosquito.
from F. H. hill
Lupine in house^& prob in field. XX

were: altered from was; were written over was

started: altered from starting; ed written over in

1
2
3

A the screech owl's nest I now

slumbering
find 2 young^almost uniformly gray

4
5
6

above--about 5 inches long--with

dark
incipient
little^grayish tufts for^horns (?) Their

heads about as broad as their bodies--

I handle them without their stirring or

opening their eyes. There are the feathers

of a small bird & the leg of the

mus leucopus in the nest.

The partridge which on the 12th had

left 3 cold eggs covered up with oak leaves--

is now sitting on 8. She ap. deserted her nest

//for a time & covered it. Already the mouse

ear down begins to blow in the fields &

whiten the grass--together with the bluets.

18
19

In Conants thick wood on the White

//Pond-ward lane--hear the ev. forest

note--but commonly at a dist, only the

last notes--a25 fine sharp t t.

22
23

The nut Laurel near Scouring rush ap.

////just begun to leaf. Trientalis open ap X

//beautiful blue-backe & long tailed pigeon

26
27
28
29

Do I not hear a tanager? See a

sitting daintily on a low wht pine limb.

Eq. hiemale
I perceive no new life in the pipes^--except
//that some are flower-budded at top

& may open in a week--and on pulling

31
32
33

them up I find a new one just springbase at

ing from the^root. The flower bud is ap.

on those dry looking last year plants

which I thought had no life in them

36
37

Returning I lay on my back

again in Conant's thick wood--

a: altered from A: a written in darker lettering over A

Saw a red start--over my head there--black

with a sort of brick red on sides breast--spot

on wing & under root of tail--note heard once

next26 day--at kalmia swamp--somewhat like

avet avet avet avet-- In the mean-

while hear another note--very smart & some-

what sprayey rasping--tshrip tshrip tshrip

tshrip or 5 or 6 times with equal force each time

9
10
11

The bird hops near directly over my head--It is black

mark
with a large wht spot forward on wings--& a fiery

orange throat above & below27 eye & line on crown--yellowish

13
14
15

beneath--white vent--forked tail dusky legs & bill

(which are light beneath)
holds its wings^loosely-- It inclines to examine

about the lower branches of the white pines or

mid way up. The Blackburnian warbler

very plainly--whose note Nuttall knows nothing

about. 2 leaved sol seal pollen not long

in most places-- Ranunculus recurvatus at

21
22
23

corner spring ap several days at least pollen.

pollen
Trillium^may be several days Arum how long?

The ranunculus Purshii in that large

pool in the Holden swamp woods makes

quite a show at a little dist. now--

See today--(& saw the 23d) a larger peet weet-

like bird on the shore--with longer perhaps more

slender wings black or blackish without white

spots--all white beneath--& when it goes

off--it flies higher-- Is it not the Totanus

solitarius?28 which Brown found at Goose Pond.

I think that the red-fruited choke-berry has shed

pollen about a day--though I have not ex-

amined--. The leaves are a little downy beneath &

the crimson peduncle & the pedicels stout & quite

next: altered from nest; x written over s

& below: altered from -below; & written over -

solitarius?: altered from solitarius.; ? written above .

//
//
?

hairy--while the black-fruited is smooth--& glossy.

2
3

May 27
Pm To F H. Pond. taking boat op. Puffer's

4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Still a very strong wind from Northerly & hazy &

rather cool for season-- The fields now beg.
just
//to wear the aspect of June--this grass^beginThe light col. withered grass seen between the blades.
darker
ning to wave^--foliage thickening & casting shadows

over the meadows--elm tree tops thick in distance

--deciduous trees rapidly investing evergreens--haze

with the strong wind. How important the dark

evergreens now seen through the haze in

the distance & contrasting with the gauze-like

as yet

thin clad deciduous trees. They are like solid pro-

//tuberances of earth. A Thrasher's nest on

the bare open ground with 4 eggs which were

19
20
21

seen 3 days ago. The nest as open & exposed

slight
as it well can be--lined with roots--on a ridge

22
23
24

where a rail fence has been some rods from any

on one side
bush. Saw the yel. legs^flying over the

//meadow against the strong wind & at first

mistook it for a hawk-- It appeared now

quite brown with its white rump--& excepting

its bill & head I should have taken its for

29
30
31

a hawk--between the size of male harrier

male
& the^pigeon hawk--or say the size of a dove--

It alighted on the shore--And now again I think

it must be the large one

35
36

with the chestnut crescent on breast near my kalmia

//swamp nest. See a painted turtle on a hill

37
38

The blue yel-- back or parti col-- warbler still--

40 or 50 feet above river-- Prob. laying eggs.

Some mt. sumack has grown 1 inch--some not

started-- Some but. bush 3 inches--some not

started. The first must be just after the last.

Myosotis stricta under cliffs how long

The meadow fragrance today-- How

interesting the huckleberrys now generally

in blossom on the knoll below the Cliff--

Countless wholesome red bells--beneath the

fresh yel-green foliage-- The berry bearing

7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18

vaccinium-- It is a rich sight. Geranium

Carrion flower a foot high-- -- -- -- -- -at Bittern Cliff ap several days--& Arabis rhom7 or
boidea there in mead ap. still longer--say^8 days
but I am doubtful about the "slender style tipped with a
conspicuous stigma".
Crimson Gall on a shrub oak-A loose spiked sedge at Bittern Cliff meadow X forgot to bring--a
foot high
May 28
How-- Morus not yet ap for 2 or 3 days--though

the stigmas are obvious-- Buttonwood stigmas

are now brown--since the 24th

Pm to Middle Conant. Cliff.

Yesterday left my boat at the willow op. this Cliff

the wind NW. Now it is SE--& I can

sail back. Our quince open this morn X

possibly yesterday--And some others, I believe, much

earlier. Do I not hear a short snappish rasping.

note from a yel. throat vireo? I see a

tanger--the most brilliant & tropical looking

bird we have--bright scarlet with black

wings--the scarlet appearing on the rump again

between wing tips. He brings heat--or heat

him. A remarkable contrast with the green pines.

At this dist. he has the aspect & manners of

a parrot--with a fullness about the head &

throat & beak--indolently inspecting the limbs

& twigs--leaning of over to it--& sitting still

a long time.-- The female too is a neat

& handsome bird--with the same indolent

ways--but very differently colored from the

male all yellow below with merely

//
//
//
//
//

?
?

dusky wings & & a sort of clay? col-- on back--

While we sit by the path in the depths

3
4
5

of the woods 3/4 of a mile beyond Haydens-almost

confessing the influence of^the first sum-

mer warmth--the wood thrush sings

steadily for half an hour--now at

//2 1/2 Pm--amid the pines--lould &

clear & sweet--While other birds are

warbling between whiles & catching

their prey he alone appears to mak

a business of singing--like a true min-

strel. Is that one which I see at

? last in the path-- Above dusky olive

brown becoming feruginous on base of tail--

eye not very prominent with a white line

around it--some dark col feathers ap on

outer wing covers--very light col. legs, with

dashes on breast which I do not see

clearly. I should say it had not the large

black eye of the hermit thrush & I cannot

see the yellowish spot on the wings-- --Yet

it may have been this.

I find the feathers ap of a brown thrasher

in the path--plucked since we passed here

last night. You can generally find all

the tail & quill feathers in such a case.

//bush shoots are now 2 inches long. say beg.

//to leaf just before late willow. Black ash

31
32
33
34
35

The apple bloom is very rich now. Fever

shoots 3 inch long say with fern late willow.

//White pine & Pitch pine shoots from 2 to 5 inches
long-- Rubus triflorus at Miles swamp
//will ap open tomorrow-- Some Krigia
////done some days XXX-- Silene antirrhina XX

Barberry open X

(prob 2 or more days at Lees)

C. says he has seen a green snake--

//
//

Examined my 2 yel-- birds nests of the 25th

both are destroyed--pulled down & torne

to pieces prob. by some bird--though they

but just began to lay. Large yell--& black

butterfly-- The leaves of Kalmiana lily

obvious.

I have seen within 3 or 4 days 2 or 3

new warblers which I have not identified

--One today--in the woods--All pure white

beneath--with a full breast--& greenish olive yel (?)

13
14
15

above with a duskier head & a slight crest

very small
musicapa like on pines &c high.

16
17
18

Also one all lemon yellow beneath--

except whitish vent--& ap bluish above.

May 29th

19
20
21

Pm to Island Neck-- That willow by the

without doubt
rock S of Island (of May 2nd) appears to be^

22
23
24
25

the S. Sericea--the leaves beginning to turn black

June 6th the leaves as well to the account & the bitter bark
& brittle twig at base
quite soon--& the bark is very bitter--

There is then another small willow or

sallow with narrower & shining leaves very

28
29
30

common along river with longer catkins & very

smooth
long tapering^pods-- I mean the one I have as-

31
32
33

sociated with the S alba-Azalea nudiflora in garden XXX-- -- -- -There are a great many birds now

//
//

on the Island neck-- The red eye

its clear loud song in bars continuously

repeated & varied--all tempered white beneath

& dark yel. olive above & on edge of wings

with a dark line on side head or from root

of bill--dusky claws--& a very long bill

written diagonally across l. 9-15: %Perhaps young & female redstarts%

The long bill--& the dark line on the

side of the head with the white above

& beneath or in the midst of the white,

giving it a certain oblong swelled cheek

look--would distinguish in a side view.

There is als the warbling vireo

7
8
9

with its smooth flowing continuous one

with methinks a dusky side head.
barred--shorter strain--

10
11
12

Also the Yellow White throated vireo Its head

yellow
& shoulders as well as throat^(ap olive

yellow, above)--& its strain but little varied

& short not continuous. It has dusky

legs & 2 very distinct white bars on wings

(the male)

I see the first swamp sparrow of the

season--& prob heard its loud song--

19
20
21

clear broad undivided chestnut or bay?

clear
crown--&^dark ash throat & breast

& light perhaps yellowish line over eye--dark

bill--& much bay? or ! on wings Saw29 amid

the alders.

But what is that bird I hear much like

the first part of the yellow bird's strain--only

2/3 as long & varied at end--& not so

loud--a-che che che, che30-

or tche tche tche, tche-a or

ah tche tche tche, chit-i-vet

It is very small--not timid--but incessantly

changing its position on the pitch pines &c

Some a pure dull white, some tawny white,

beneath--some cinereous others more dusky

35
36
37

still above--with a flycatcher or musicappa

head rounded?
bill & head^^--but what is most re-

Saw: altered from saw; Upper loop added to s to form S

che-: altered from ch-; T. cancelled accent above e in che

markable--a very deeply forked or divided tail

with a broad black tip beneath & toward the

roots a fine brick color--this last color

much brighter on the sides of the breast--and

some of it on the wings in a broad bar--though

some perhaps have not the last mark-- Did

I see some of the yellowish on rump? Dark

ash above and some reddish brown (?) One is

very inquisitive hops down toward me lower

& lower on the P. pine twigs while I hold

out my hand till within 5 feet--but

in such a light that I can not dis-

tinguish its colors-- There are at least

half a dozen of them about--continually

15
16
17

flitting about some times in a circle of

one pursuing another, prob male & female,
a few rods diameter--back to near the same

spot--but I can hardly bring my glass

to bear on them before they change their

position-- It is undoubtedly--young

males & the females of the red start

--described by Wilson. Very dif. from the full

plumaged black males.

I see on the first limb of a white oak close to

the trunk & about 8 feet from the ground--squat-

ting as if asleep a chipping squirrel 2/3 grown.

The hole it came out of, apparently, is 4 or 5

feet from the base of the tree. When I am

about to put my hand on it, it runs feebly

up the tree--& rests again as much higher in

a similar place. When C. climbs after, it

runs out quite to the31 end of a limb--where

it can hardly hold on--& I think it will drop

the: altered from this; e written over is

every moment with the shaking of the tree.

May 30

4
5

side 7 feet high 1 egg

6
7

Hare bird's nest on an apple by road-

Cherry bird on a cherry--also pecking at

the apple blossoms. Minot says

//that within 2 or 3 days a stream of winged

ants came out from under his door

sill--& the hens & countless swallows--&

10
11

the kingbirds came & fed on them.

12
13
14

were not brown on the 24 but were the 28-- Say

about
then^the 26th

15
16

Button wood flowers now effete--festile flowers

Nuttall thus describes the note of the

? White eyed vireo-- It is much varied--

In March in Florida ss't (with a whistle)

wa wittee wittee we-w (the first part very

quick.)"
In June at Fresh Pond "tshippewee-wsay tship-

20
21

pewee-wee-was-say, sweetly whistled"--with

great compass of voice & loudness. &c &c

other variations. Also "whip te wol wee,

the last syllable but one considerably

lengthened & clearly whistled."

26
27
28
29

Lepidium virginicum ap X roadside bank at

Minot's.

bay berry
The myrica^plucked on the 23d--now first

30
31
32

sheds pollen in house XXX--the leaf being but little

Gray says "somewhat preceding the flowers,"
more expanded in the flowering shoot^. The catkins

about 1/4 of an inch long erect. sterile--oval

on the sides of last years twigs.

35
36
37
38

//
//

Pm Up RR
A strong w. wind & much haze.
Silvery Potentilla 4 or 5 days at least.
some done. In the thick of the wood

between RR & turnpike hear the Evergreen

forest note--& see prob. the bird--

black throat--greenish yellow or yellowish

green head & back--light slate(?) wings with

5
6
7

2 white bars. Is it not the Black-throated

small ovish
green warbler? I find close by a32^egg

on the forest floor with a slight perforation

9
10
11

white (with perhaps a tinge of flesh color? when

spots
full) & brown^& black spots marks at the

larger end. In Brewer's synopsis the egg of the

Black-throat--is described as33 "light flesh

color with purple spots"-- But these spots

are not purple-- I could find no nest--

16
17
18

Senecio in open meadows say yesterday. X

small
See a^black snake run along securely

through thin bushes alders & willows 3 or

4 feet from the ground--passing intervals

of 2 feet easily--very readily & gracefully

--ascending or descending. Cornus Canadensis

out--how long?

Green lice X--from birches? get on my clothes

Is it not summer now when the creak

26
27

of the crickets begins to be general?

Poison dogwood has grown 3 or 4 inches

at ends of last years shoots which are

3 to 6 feet from ground.

//
//

Hear a familiar warbler not recognized

for some years--in the thick copse in

Dennis' swamp. S of RR--considerably yellow

bird like--the note, tshe tshe tshar tshar

tchit, tchit tit te vet. It has ap.

a yellow head--bluish or slaty wings with

2 white bars--tail even wings dusky at tips

legs light bill dark--beneath all bright

a: altered from an; n cancelled

as: altered from is; loop of a added to i

yellow remarkably striped lengthwise with

dusky--more or less dark--in dif. specimens

Can it be the S. maculosa--or Black &

Yellow W. seen formerly--? I did not see

the black--(nor indeed the back at all,

well) It may have been a female not des.

by Wilson--Frequents the tops of trees.

9
10

Ladies slipper ap X
May 31st

Another windy--washing day--but warm

See a yel-- bird building a nest on a

white oak on the Island. She goes to

a fern for the wool-- In evening

14
15

//hear distinctly a tree-toad. (& again the 4th

of June

June 1st

A very windy day--the 3d--drowning

18
19
20

//the notes of birds--scattering the reRye to my surprise 3 or 4 feet high--& glaucous

maining apple blossoms-- Cloudy &

rain threatening withal--Surveying

at Holden Woodlot-- I notice the

//Equisetum Hiemale--its black scaled

flowerrets now in many cases separated

so as to show the green between--but

not yet in open rings or whorls like

the limosum p. they will be in 2 or 3 days

I find the Linnaea borealis growing

near the end of the ridge in this Lot

toward the meadow--near a large wht

pine stump recently cut. C. has found

32
33

//the Arethusa out at Hubb's close

say 2 or 3 days--at a venture--there being considerable

1
2

June 2nd
Still windier than before & yet

no rain. It is now very dry indeed &

the grass is suffering. Some springs com-

monly full at this season are dried up.

The wind shakes the house night

& day-- From That coccoon of the Atta-

cus Crecropia which I found--I think

it was on the 24th of May on a red

maple shrub 3 or 4 feet from the ground

on the edge of the Meadow by the New Bedford

Road34 just this side of Beck-Stows--came

out this forenoon a splend Moth.

I had35 pinned the cocooon to the sash

at the upper part of my window &

quite forgotten it. About the mid. of the

forenoon Sophia came in & exclaimed

that there was a moth on my window--

At first I supposed that she meant

a cloth-eating moth--but it turned out

that my A. Crecropia--had come out

& dropped down to the window sill, where

it hung on the side of a slipper (which

was inserted into another) to let its wings

hang36 down & develop themselves. At first

the wings were not only not unfolded

27
28
29

laterally--but not longitudinally, the thinner

of the forwards ones
ends^for perhaps 3/4 of an inch being

very feeble & occupying very little space.

It was surprising to see the creature unfold

& expand before our eyes--the wings gradually

elongating as it were by their own gravity

& from time to time the insect assisted

Road: altered from road; R written over r

had: altered from I; h written over I

hang: altered from hand; g written over d

this operation by a slight shake. It was

wonderful how it waxed & grew revealing

some new beauty every 15 minutes--which I

called Sophia to see--but never losing its

hold on the shoe--

young emperor just donning the most

splendid ermine robes--that ever emperor

ever has-- At first its wings appeared double

9
10
11

It looked like a

one within the other. At last it advanced

but feebly
so far as to spread its wings completely^

when we approached-- The wings every mo

ment acquiring greater expansion & their

1 at first wrinkled edge becoming more

tense-- This occupied several hours--

It continued to hang to the shoe with its wings

ordinarily closed erect behind its back--

the rest of the day--& at dusk--when

ap. it was waving its wings preparatory to

its evening flight-- I gave it ether--&

21
22
23

so saved it in a perfect state. As it lies

not spread to the utmost--it is 5 9/1038 inches x 2 1/4
Pm to Hill

Eq. linosum pollen a few ap 2 or 3 days.

The late Crataegus on the hill is in full

bloom while the other is almost entirely

out of bloom.

3 yel. birds nests--which I have marked since

the 25th of may--the only ones which I have actually

inspected--have now all been torn to pieces--Though

they were in places (2 of them at least) where no

boy is at all likely to have found them.

I see in the meadow grass a fine cobweb--or

//spiders nest 3 or 4 inches diameter & another--,

on 2 twigs--2 collections of little yellowish

It . . . approached: T. used numbers to indicate that The ...hours

(lines 12-15) should be transposed with It...approached (lines 5-12)
38

5 9/10: altered from 5/9/10; T. cancelled first /

1
2

about 1/2 as big as a pin head

spiders containing a thousand or more^--like

minute fruit buds or kernels clustered on the

twig {drawing}-- One of the clusters disperses when I stoop

over it & spreads over the nest on the fine lines.

Hemlock--leafed--2 or 3 days the earliest

young plants. The black-spruce beyond the

hill has ap. just begun to leaf. XXX but not

yet to blossom--Pinus rigida pollen a day or 2 or 3

on the plain--Sweet flag pollen about 2 days X

Mr Hoar tells me that Dea Farrar's son

tells him that a white robin robin has

her nest on an apple tree near their house.

Her mate is the usual color-- All the family

have seen her--but at the last accounts she has

not been seen on the nest.

Silene--or wild Pink--how long?

18
19
20

The azalea nudiflora now in its prime--what

glaucous
splendid manes of pink--with a few^green leaves

21
22
23

sprinkled here & there just enough for contrast.

%Nest in thorn on hill--& Cat birds by fallen birches%
June 3d

A rainy day at last-- Caroway in Garden ap.

3 days out.

26
27
28

June 4th
Pm to Hub's Close
Clears up in forenoon-- Some of the scouring

rush gathered the 1st begins to open its whirls in

stages in the chamber--says sheds pollen tomorrow. XXX

Not quite yet the How mulberry pollen--

White clover out prob some days--also red as

long-- It has just cleared off after this first

rain of consequence for a long time & now I

observe the shadows of massive clouds which

still floating her & there in the peculiarly

blue sky--which dark shadows on

field & wood--are the more remarkable

by contrast with the light yellow-green

foliage--now--& when they rest on ever-

greens they are doubly dark--like dark

6
7
8
9
10

rings about the eyes of June. Great

shadows of the clouds (which float in the cleared air) contrasting
white bosomed clouds darker beneath
with the sun-lit light green foliage.
float through the cleared sky--&

are seen against the deliciously blue

sky--such a sky as we have39 not

//had before-- Thus it is after the first im-

portant rain at this season. The song

of birds is more lively and seems to have

a new character--a new season has

commenced. In the woods--I hear the

18
19
20

//now generally gone to seed amid the

tanager--& chewink--& red-eye. It

& mosquitoes begin to sting in earnest
is fairly summer. I see the dandelions

grass their downy spheres-- There are now

//many potentillas ascendant--& the

//erigeron bellidifolium is 16 inches high &

25
26

quite handsome. by the RR. this side of turn off.

Redstarts still very common--in

the trillium woods (yest on assabet also)

note tche tche, tche vit &c I see some

dark on the breast.

? The Lycopodium dendroideum--now shows

//fresh green tips like the hemlock. Greenish

puffs on Panicled andromeda. Lint comes

33
34
35
36
37

off on to clothes from the tender leaves-clean dirt &

but it is^all gone when you get home
velvety
//& now the crimson^leafets of the black

oak--showing40 also a crimson edge on

the downy undersides are beautiful

have: altered from has; ve written over s

showing: altered from shown; i written over n

1
2

as a flow-- & the rose salmon a Wt oak.

The Linnaea borealis has grown an inch--

but are not the flowers winter killed-- I see

dead & blacked flower buds--perhaps it should

have opened before. Winter green has grown

2 inches--

See a warbler much like the black & white creeper

but perched warbler like on trees--streaked slate

white & black--with a large white & black mark

on wing--crown divided by a white line & then

chestnut(?) or slate or dark--& then white above

& below eye--breast or throat streaked down-

ward with dark--vest beneath white-- Can

it be the common black & white creeper--? Its

note hardly reminds me of that-- It is somewhat

like pse pse pse pse--psa psa,--weese weese

17
18
19

weese. or longer-- I did not occur to me that

other
it was the same till I could not find any^like

this in the book.

Cotton grass ap 2 or 3 days out. Geum ap some

days In the Clintonia swamp I

hear a smart brisk loud & clear whistling

warble--quite novel & remarkable--some-

thing like--te chit a wit, te chit a wit, tchit

a wit, tche tche. It is all bright

yellow or ochreous orange (?) below except

vest & a dark or black crescent on breast--

29
30
31

with a white line about eye--above it

nearly uniform
appears a dark blue slate legs light

bill dark (?) tail long & forked. I think

it must be the S. cana Canada Warbler

34
35
36

seen in '37 though that seems short for this

It is quite dif. from the warbler of May 30
The recent high winds have turned the edges of young

leaves by beating & killing them.

//
//

Ellen Emerson finds the Viola41 pubescens

//scarce today--but the Actaea alba in

3
4

full bloom. Eddy has brought a

? great Polygonatum from Medford which

he says grew in the woods there. I do

not find a satisfactory account of it.

It differs from the Pubescens of Gray--in that

8
9
10

the leaves can hardly be called downy beneath-& are clasping

--the peduncles are 2 to 5 flowered (instead

of 1-2--) & the Perianth is 4/5 of an inch

long instead of 1/2) Perianth white or

whitish with green lobes.

14
15
16

It differs from the Canaliculatum in not being

obviously
channelled^--(though angled between the leaves)

the filaments not being smooth--nor inserted in the

mid of the tube.

Carex scoparia? in meadows some days.

June 5th

Pm. to Clam Shell by river

Yel. Beth42 Star in Prime. Aphylon or

//Orobanch well out ap several days. Nuphar

? Kalmiana budded above water. Green briar

//flower out ap 2 or 3 days Low blackberry

//out in low ground ap X. That very early (or in

winter green rad leaf) plant by ash is the myo-

//sotis laxa open since the 28th of May say June 1st

//Ranunculus reptans say 2 days out--river

//being very low-- Common cress well out

//along river. Side-fl. sandwort ap 3 days out

//in Clam Shell flat meadow. some oxalis done--

say 2 or 3 days. on ditch bank. Ranunculus

//repens in prime--Yel-- clover well out.

//some days43.Flowering ferns reddish green

//show on meadows. Green oak balls

Viola: altered from V; iola added

Beth: altered from beth; upper loop of B added to form B

days: altered from time; time written over days

Walking along the upper edge of the flat

Clam Shell meadow--a bird, prob. a

song spar (for I saw 2 chipping about im-

mediately after) flew up from between my

feet & I soon found its nest remarka-

bly concealed--It was under the thickest

of the dry river wreck with an entry

low on one side full 5 inches long

& very obscure44-- On looking close I

detected the eggs from above by looking down

through some openings in the wreck about

as big as sparrow eggs through which

I saw the eggs 5 in number. I

never saw a45 nest so perfectly concealed.

I am much interested to see

how nature proceeds to heal the wounds

where the turf was stipped off this meadow--

There are large patches of where nothing

remained but pure black mud--

nearly level or with slight hollows like

a plate in it. This the sun and air had

cracked into irregular polygonal figures

a foot more or less in diameter. The

whole surface of these patches here

is now covered with a short soft & pretty

dense--moss-like vegetation springing up

& clothing it. The little hollows & the

28
29
30

cracks are filled with a very dense growth

reddish
of^grass or sedge--about 1 inch high--the

growth in the cracks making pretty reg-

ular figures as in a carpet--While

the intermediate spaces are very evenly but

34
35
36

much more thinly covered with minute

whitish
sarothra &^gnaphalium uliginosum. Thus the wound

obscure: altered from obscurer; final r cancelled

a: altered from the; large lower case a written over the

is at once scarred over. Ap. the seeds of

that grass were heavier & were washed

into the hollows & cracks-- Or Is46 it likely

that the owner has sprinkled seed here?

5
6
7
8
9

June 6th
Pm up. Assabet by boat to survey Hosmer's field.
On the Island I hear still the red start-sometimes
tsip tsip tsip tsip, tsit-i-yet, or^tsip

tsip tsip tsip, tse vet. A young male.

It repeats this at regular intervals

for a long time--sitting pretty still now.

//Wax work open & pollen 1 or 2 days. I notice

//a clam lying op & 2 or 3 cleared or light

//colored places ap. bream nests commenced.

You see the dark eye & shade of June

on the river as well as on land--and

//a dust-like lint on river ap. from the

young leaves & bud scales--covering the

waters which begin to be smooth--& imparting

//a sense of depth. Blue-eyed grass may

be several days in some places. 1 thimble-

//berry blossom done prob. several days. There

24
25
26

are now those large swarms of black

1/2 inch long with 2 long streamers ahead.
//wingled winged millers(?)^fluttering 3 to 6

inches over the water--not long methinks--

also other insects. I see a yel-- spot tor-

29
30
31

//toise 20 rods from river & a painted one

4 rods from it which has just made a
//hole for her eggs. 2 catbirds nests

in the thickest part of the thicket on

the edge of Wheelers Meadow near Island.

One dove laying (I learn after) 4 eggs

green--much darker green than the robin's

& more slender in proportion-- This is

Is: altered from is; I written over i

1
2
3
4

broad
loosely placed in the forks of an^alternate
or silky?
^cornel bush about 5 feet from the ground

& is composed of dead twigs & a little stubble

then grape-vine bark--& is lined with

dark root fibers. Another 8 rods beyond

rests still more loosely on a vib. dentatum

9
10
11
12
13

& birch--has some dryd47 leaves with the

the birds hops within
twigs & 1 egg--about 6 feet high-- 5 feet.
This egg gone on the 9th
The White maple keys are about half

fallen-- It is remarkable that this happens

at the time the emperor moth (cecropia)

comes out. Carex crinita(?) a few days

along bank of Assabet. White weed

Merrick's pasture shore 2 or 3 days.

The Salix cordata (which ap. blossomed

some days after the S. sericea) is very com-

mon on Pritchard's shore & also Whitings--also

at the last place is a small shrub--a little

of it--perhaps S. lucida--which

ap blossomed about same time or a day or 2 after

the sericea.

June 7

Rain-- In Pm--mizzling weather

//
//

to Abel Hosmer woods. Cistus ap. yest open.

A yel-- birds nest on a willow bough against

a twig 10 feet high--4 eggs. I have

heard no musical gurgle-ee--from black-

birds for a fortnight-- They are so busy

breeding.
June 8 Am48. Goose Pond.

34
35
36

High blue berry X A crow 2/3 grown tied

up for a scare-crow. A tanagers (?) nest

dry: altered from dead; dry written over dead

Am: altered from Pm; A written over P

//
//

in the topmost forks of a pitch pine

about 15 feet high by49 Thrush Alley--

the nest very slight--ap. of pine needles

twigs &c can see through--it, bird on.

In that pitch pine wood see 2 rabbit

6
7
8

forms(?) very snug & well roofed retreats

dead
formed by the^pine needles falling about

the base of the trees where they are upheld

on the dead stubs from the buds at from 6

inches to a foot from the ground--as if

the carpet forest floor were puffed

13
14
15

up there--gnawed50 acorn shells in them.

F. pusilla
//
2 baywings nests in my red potatoe

16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

field at the foot of little white pines

This bird is ash side head--ferruginous above--mahogany
each--made of dried grass lined with hair-bill & legs--2 whitish bars. eggs do not agree with account?
snug in the sod 4 eggs to each--one lot
Nuttall says this birds eggs are so thick with ferruginous as
to appear almost wholly of
nearly hatched--with reddish brown spots especthat color!!
ially toward larger end--but a light

opening quite at that end--smaller

slenderer & less spotted than the song-

28
29
30

//sparrow's. A Jay's nest with 3 young

white
half fledged--in a pitch pine 6 feet high (in it)

31
32

by the Ingraham cellar. Made of coarse

//sticks. Hear I am pretty sure a rose-

33
34

breasted gross beak sing-- See ap. a

//summer duck in Goose pond. C. says
E say 2 other dark ducks here yesterday.

35
36

A great many devils needles in woods

within a day or 2. G. Brooks told me

on June 1st that a few evenings before

he saw as many as a thousand chimney

40
41

//swallow pour down into Goodknow's

chimney.

by: altered from in; by written over in

gnawed: altered from Gnawed; g written over G

A catbirds nest--on the peninsula of

Goosepond 4 eggs in a blueberry bush

4 feet from ground--close to water--as usual

4
5
6
7
8
9
10

of sticks--dry leaves--& bark lined with roots.

little
What was that^crest--on the ridge
fine
few
near-by made of^grass lined with a little
eggs--(2 hatched the 11th)
hairs & containing 5 smalls^nearly as broad

as long yet pointed white with fine dull brown

spots especially on the large end--nearly hatched.

13
14
15
16
17
18
19

The nest in the dry grass under a shrub--remarka(June 11th It is a Maryland-Yel-- Throat. runs & flies along
bly concealed-- the ground away just like a night-hawk--cant trace
it off--it goes so low in the grass &c at first.
Found in this walk--of nest--one tanager-very shy it is-2 baywing--1 blue-jay--1 catbird--& the last named.

20
21
22
23

June 9th
Pm. to Wheeler azalea swamp--across
meadow. Early primrose done--say 2 days XX
An orchis--prob. yellowish will be common

//
?

in Wheeler's Meadow--Side saddle up a day or 2

petals hang down-- A song spar's nest low

in Wheeler meadow with 5 eggs--made

of grass lined with hair. Rhus Toxicoden-

dron ap. X on Island rock.

The nest prob. of the small pewee--looking

from the ground like a yel-- birds showing reddish

wool of ferns--against a small white

32
33
34

birch on a small twig 18 feet from ground

little
4^eggs all pale cream color before blowing

white after--fresh.

36
37
38
39

A yel-- bird's nest 8 feet from ground in crotch

//
//

of a very slender maple

A chip bird in a white thorn on the Hill

one egg.

A catbirds nest 3 eggs in a high

2
3
4

blue berry 4 feet from ground with rather

above assabet spring
//more dry leaves than usual--^Lambkill

//ap. X out. Catbirds nest 1 egg on

a blueberry bush 3 feet from ground--

of as usual sticks--leaves bark--roots

//Another near51 same (also in V. Muh-

lenbergii swamp) on a bent white birch

& andromeda 18 inch from ground 3 eggs

stubble of weeds mainly instead of twigs

//otherwise as usual. A chewink's nest

sunk in ground under a bank covered

with ferns dead52 & green & huckleberry bushes

15
16
17

composed of dry leaves then grass

very slender
stubble & lined with a^few^reddish moss-

stems 4 eggs--rather fresh--merely

enough moss stems to indicate its choice.

Fever root perhaps several days--

See very few hawks for several weeks--

Found today of nests 1 song spar-- 1 small

pewee(?) 1 yel-- bird 1 chip bird--3 cat birds

1 chewink--1 robin (the last on a black willow

2 feet from ground 1 egg

I think I have hardly heard a bobolink

for a week--or 10 days.

June 10th

29
30

Pm. to Owl's nest-//

A remarkably strong wind from the SW

all day--wracking the trees very much

& filling the air with dust-- I do not

remember such violent & incessant

gusts at this season. Many eggs if

not young must have been shaken

near: altered from is; near written over is

dead: altered from &; dead written over &

out of birds nests--for I hear of some

fallen. It is almost impossible to hear

birds--or to keep your hat on-- The

4
5
6

waves are like those of march-%on our bank red-top?? June grass%
That common grass^which was in

blossom a fortnight since & still on

riv bank--began a week ago to turn

white here & there killed by worms. Veronica

scutellata ap a day or 2 X Iris Versicolor

11
12
13

also a day or 2 X A red maple leaf

those
with^crimson spots Clintonia ap 453 or 5

4 days (not out at Hub's close the 4th.

A catbirds nest of usual construction

1 egg 2 feet high on a swamp pink. and

old nest of same near by on same.

18
19

Some viola cucullatas are now 9 inches

high & leaves nearly 12 inches wide.

Archangelica staminiferous umbellets say

yest. X but some ap. only. pistilliferous ones

look some days at least older--seed vessel pretty

large.

Oven birds nest with 4 eggs 2/3 hatched

under dry leaves--composed of pine needles

& dry leaves & a hair or 2 for lining about 6 feet

S.W. of a white oak which is 6 rods SW of

the Hawk pine. The young owls are gone

The Kalmia glauca is done before

30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38

the lambkill is begun here--ap was done

very
some days ago. A^few rhodoras linger.
wood
Nest of a king bird or Peweee on a
prob. of Musicappa Cooperi or Pe-pe disc. by Nuttall(?)
white spruce in the Holden swamp about
%V. May 15%
15 feet high on a small branch near

the top--of a few twigs & pine needles &

an abundance of pine usnea {

}heavily

4: altered from 3; 4 written over 3

composing & lining & overflowing from it

Very open beneath & carelessly built--with

a small concavity with 3 eggs pretty

fresh--but ap. all-told--cream color

before blowing with a circle of brown

spots about larger end. The female (?)

looked darker beneath than a king bird &

uttered that clear plaintive till tilt like

a robin somewhat--sitting on a spruce.

C. finds an egg today somewhat like

a song sparow but a little longer

12
13
14

& slenderer or with less dif. between the

& th or thickly & regularly
ends in form--& more finely^spotted all

over with pale brown. It was in a

peurile nest of grape vine bark--on the

low branch of a maple--prob. a cow-

//birds.--fresh laid

He has found in nests of grass in

20
21
22

thick bushes near river--what he

%yes%
thought red wing eggs--but they are

pale blue with large black blotches

24
25
26

one with a very large black spot on

%Prob red wings%
//one side-- Can they be bobolinks? or what?

My partridge still sits on 7 eggs.

The black-spruce which I plucked on the 2nd ult

expanded a loose rather light brown cone on

the 5th say--can that be the pistillate flower--

The white spruce cones are now a rich dark

purple more than 1/2 inch long.

33
34
35

Nuttall thus describes the Musicappa Cooperi

Olive-sided Flycatcher or Pe-pe
"Sp. Ch. Dusky-brown, head darker without

discolored spot; sides olive-grey; lateral

space beneath the wing white; lower man-

dible purplish brown color; tail nearly even, &

extending but a little beyond the closed wings."

No white on tail--2aries & coverts edged

with whitish. "rictus bright yellow as well as

the inside of the mouth & tongue." chin

white. "Sides dusky olive, a broad line down

the middle of the breast, with the

abdomen and rump yellowish white; a

broadish white space on the side, beneath

10
11

the wing towards the back--"

"This species though of the size of the

King bird, is nearly related to the wood pewee,

yet perfectly distinct."

Of note-- -- -- --her "oft repeated, whining

call of pu pu, then varied to pu pip, and

pip pu, also at times pip pip pu, pip pip

pip, pu pu pip, or tu tu tu, & tu tu. This

shrill, pensive, & quick whistle sometimes

dropped almost to a whisper, or merely pu.

The tone was in fact much like that

of the phu phu of the fish hawk.

The male, however, besides this note,

at long intervals, had a call of

eh'phb, or h'pheba, almost exactly

in the tone of the circular tin whistle,

or bird call,--"

27
28

June 11th
How's Morus--staminate flowers ap only a

day or 2 pollen--the pistillate a long time.

The locust ap 2 or 3 days. open.

When I would go a visiting I find

that I go off the fashionable

street--not being inclined to change

my dress--to where man meets man

& not polished shoe meets shoe.

Ac to Holland's Hist of Western

Mass-- In Westfield "In 1721, it was voted

that the pews next the pulpit should be

highest in dignity. The next year it was voted that

persons should be seated in the meeting house

according to their age & estate, and that so

much as any man's estate is increased by

his negros, that shall be left out. If a

man lived on a hired farm, or hath ob-

tained his property by marrying a widow, it

shall be reckoned only one-third, that is,

he shall have only 1/3 as much dignity

as if he owned his farm, or had ac-

quired his money by his own industry."

--What if we feel a yearning

to which no breast answers? I walk

alone-- My heart is full--feelings

impede the current of my thoughts--

I knock on the earth for my friend--

I expect to meet him at every turn--

but no friend appears--& perhaps

none is dreaming of me.

I am tired of frivolous society--in

which silence is for ever the most

natural & the best manners. I

would fain walk on the deep waters

but my companions will only

walk on shallows & puddles.

I am naturally silent in the

midst of 20 from day to day--from

year to year-- I am rarely reminded

of their presence-- 2 yards of po-

liteness do not make society for

me.

One complains that I do not take

his jokes-- I took them before he had

done uttering them & went my way.

One talks to me of his apples & pears

& I depart with my secrets untold.

His are not the apples that tempt me.

Now (Sep 16th 55) after 4 or

5 months of invalidity & worthlessness

I begin to feel some stirrings of life

in me--

Is not that Carex Pennsylvanica-like

with a long spike (1 inch long x 1/2 inch wide)

19
20
21

C. bullata?

and another's-- C. finds one long as a

robin's but narrow with large black spots

on larger end & on side on or bet. the bushes

by river side--like the red wings--another

much shorter with a large black spot

on the side. Both pale blue ground.

red wing
What a diff. between one^black bird's egg

The early willows at the bridge

are ap. either S. discolor or Eriocephala

or both.

I have noticed the green oak balls

some days.--

evergreen of June.

Now observe the dark

//The target leaf is eaten above

In order to get the deserted tanager's

nest at the top a pitch pine which

was too weak to climb--we carried

a rope in our pockets & took 3 rails

1/4 of a mile into the woods, & there

rigged a derrick by which I climbed

to a level with54 the nest--& could see

if there were eggs in it. I have the

nest. Tied the three tops together and

spread the bottoms.

Carex cephalphora?? on Heywood's Peaks

That fine dry wiry wild grass in hollows

in woods & sproutlands--never mown--

is ap-- the C. Pennsylvanica or early sedge.

16
17
18
19

There are young blue-birds.

Tuesday June 12th 55

down River to Swamp E-- of Poplar Hill
I hear the toad, which I have called spray

frog falsely--still-- He sits close to

the edge of the water & is hard to

find--hard to tell the direction though

you may be within 3 feet. I detect

him chiefly by the motion of the great

swelling bubble in his throat--A

peculiarly rich sprayey dreamer--now

at 2 Pm--How serenely it ripples

over the water! What a luxury life is to

him! I have to use a little geometry to de-

tect him--Am surprised at my discovery

at last--while C. sits by incredulous--

Had turned our prow to shore to

search. This rich sprayey note possesses

all the shore. It diffuses itself far

and wide over the water--& enters into

with: altered from of; with written over of

every crevice of the noon--& you cannot tell

whence it proceeds.

Young redwings now begin to fly feebly amid

the button bushes--& the old ones chatter their

anxiety. At mouth of Mill Brook55--a red-

wings nest tied on to that thick high grass

& some low willow--18 inch from ground--with

4 eggs--variously marked--full of young.

In a hedge thicket by meadow near Peter's

path a Catbird's nest--1 egg--as usual

in a high blueberry--in the thickest & darkest

of the hedge--& very loosely built beneath on

13
14
15

joggle sticks.
thick
In the^swamp behind the hill I look at

16
17
18
19
20

the vireo's nest which C found on the 10th

forked
ult. within reach on a red maple^twig-8 feet from ground
^He took one cow bird's egg from it & I now

take the other which he left-- There is no

vireo's egg--& it is said they always desert their

nest when there are a cow birds eggs laid

in it. I saw a red-eye lurking near. Have

the nest. Near by in a part of the swamp

which had been cleared & then burnt ap.

by accident--we find the nest of a

veery on a tussuck 8 inches high--which

like those around has been burnt all off

close & black-- The nest is directly in the

top the outside burnt-- It contains 3

eggs which have been scorched discolored

& cooked--1 cracked by the heat.

though fresh. Some of the sedge has

since sprung up green 8 inches high around

here & there. All the lower part of the

Brook: altered from brook; B written over b

nest is left--an inch thick with

dead leaves--maple &c & well lined

3
4
5

with moss stems (??) It is a dry swamp.

high
In a^blueberry bush--on the Poplar

Hill-side 4 ft from ground--a

//Catbirds nest with 4 eggs--40 feet

high up the hill. They even follow the

blue berry uphill.

A Field sparrow's nest with 3 young--on

a v. vacillans--rose & grass--6 inches from

ground--made of grass & hair.

A C. Tomentosa Hickory on the hill well

out--& froth on the nuts--almost all

out & black--perhaps 3 or 4 days.

16
17

A Hawthorn grows near by--just out

of bloom. 12 feet high. C. oxyacantha

? A veronica at Peetweet Rock--forget which

//kind. A crow b. bird's nest high in

an elm by river side just below the Island.

C. climbed to it & got it. I have it

There were eggs. Bottom of mud & coarse

grass & sedge--lined with finer grass &

//dry weed-stems. Another in an elm seen

of Lorings--in a recess where a limb was

once broken off open on one side 18 ft

high-- Young with heads out almost

ready to fly

Nuttall says--of the Cowbird's egg-- "If

the egg be deposited in the nest alone,

it is uniformly forsaken;"--has seen

"sometimes 2 of these eggs in the same

nest, but in this case one of them com-

monly proves abortive."--"is almost

oval, scarcely larger than that of the blue bird."

He says it is "thickly sprinkled with points & con

fluent touches of olive brown, of 2 shades, somewhat

more numerous at the greater end, on a white

ground tinged with green. But in some of these

eggs the ground is almost pure white, and the

spots nearly black."

7
8
9

June 13th
C. finds a pigeon woodpecker's nest in
an appletree 5 of those pearly eggs about

6 feet from ground--could squeeze your hand

in-- Also a peetweets--with 4 eggs in

Hubbards meadow beyond the old swamp

oak site--& 2 kingbirds nests with eggs in

an apple & in56 a willow by river side.

15
16

Thursday June 14th

Up river-- See young redwings--like

grizzly black vultures--they are still so bald--

See many empty redwing nests now amid

the Cornus sericea. The blue-birds nest high

in the black willow at sassafras shore has

5 eggs. The gold robins nest which I could

pull down within reach just beyond has 3

eggs. I have one. I told C to look into

in old mortice hole in Wood's bridge

for a white bellied swallow's nest--as

we were paddling under--but he

laughed incredulous-- I insisted--& when

he climbed up he scared out the bird.--

5 eggs-- You see the feathers about

do you not? yes said he.

Kalmiana lily several days. The little

galium in meadow say 1 day--A song spar's (?)

nest in ditch bank under Clam Shell57 of coarse

grass lined with pine--& 5 eggs nearly hatched & a

in: altered from -; in written over -

Clam Shell: altered from Clamshell; S written over s

//
//

peculiar dark end to them--have one or more

& the nest. The bird evidently deserted the

nest when two eggs had been taken. Could

not see her return to it--nor find her

on it again--after we had flushed

//her-- A king-birds nest with 4 eggs

on a large horizontal stem or trunk of

a black willow 4 feet high over the edge

of the river--amid small shoots from

the willow-- outside of mikania, roots,

& knotty sedge--well lined with root fibres

//& wiry weeds. Vib. dentatum ap not long--say

//2 days & carrion flower the same.

Looked at the Pewee's nest which

C. found yesterday. It was very difficult

to find again in the broad open meadow--no

nest but a mere hollow in the dead cranberry

leaves the grass & stubble ruins--under

a little alder. The old bird went off at last

from under us--low in the grass at first

& with wings up making a worried sound

which attracted other birds. I frequently

noticed others afterward flying low over the

meadow--& alighting & uttering this same note

of alarm. There only 4 eggs in this nest

yesterday & today to C's surprise--there

are the 2 eggs which he left & a young

pewee beside--a grey pinch of down

with a black centre to its back--but

already so old and precocious that

it runs with its long legs swiftly off

from squatting beside the 2 eggs &

hides in the grass-- We have some

trouble to catch it. How came it here

with these eggs--which will not be hatched

for some days--C. saw nothing of

it yesterday. J Farmer58 says that young

peetweets run at once like partridges &

quails & that they are the only birds

7
8
9

he knows that do. These eggs were

had
not addled (I^opened one C another) Did

this bird come from another nest--or did

11
12
13
14
15

it belong to an earlier brood.

16
17
18

%v 16%
A cherry birds nest & 2 eggs%^%in an apple
of Peetweet
2 tree 14 feet from ground--eggs^White with
black spots here & there all over & some dim at
1 great end
1 egg round black spots & a few oblong

about equally about equally but thinly

dispersed over the whole--& a dim internal

purplish tinge about the large end. It

is difficult to see any thing of the bird--for

she steals away early--& you may neither

see nor hear anything of her while examining

the nest--& so think it deserted-- Approach

very warily & look out for them a dozen

or more rods off.

It suddenly began to rain with great vio-

lence--& we in haste drew up our boat

30
31
32

on the Clamshell shore upset it & got

quite
under sitting on the paddles--& so were^dry

while our friends thought we were being

wet to our skins. But we had as good

a roof as they-- It was very pleasant

36
37
38

to be there a half an hour close to

& hear
the edge of the water & see^the great

drops patter on the river, each making

Farmer: altered from farmer; F written over f

a great bubble--the rain seemed

much heavier for it-- The swallows

at once & numerously began to

fly low over the water in the rain--

as they had not before--& the toads

//spray rang on it-- After it began to

hold up the wind veered a little to the

8
9
10

east & ap. blew back the rear of the

a 2nd
cloud & blew the rain somewhat in upon us--

As soon as the rain was over I

crawled out--straightened my legs--&

stumbled at once upon a little patch

//of strawberries within a rod--the sward

red with them. These59 we plucked while

the last drops were thinly falling.

Silena antirrhina out on Clam Shell how long?

Friday June 15th '55

//feet high--young nearly grown--Hair birds

21
22

To Moore's Swamp. Robin's nest in apple tree 12

nest on main limb of an appletree--horizontal

//10 feet high. Many polly-wogs an inch long.

In the swamp--a catbird's nest in the darkest

//& thickest part in a high blueberry. 5 feet

from ground--2 eggs--bird comes within 3

feet while I am looking.

Viburnum nudum how long? not long.

Wool(?) grass X

I see a strange warbler still in this swamp

A chestnut & grey backed bird 5 or 6 inches

long with a black throat & yellow

crown--note--chit chit chill le le--

(or) chut chut a wutter chut a wut--

che che

Crimson frosting on maple leaves.

These: altered from Then; n written over se

The swamp pyrus twigs are in some places

curving over & swolen--& curling up at ends

forming bunches of leaves.

4
5

Saturday June 16th

The cherry birds egg was a oatin color or

very pale slate--with an internal or what

would be called black-& blue ring about

large end.

9
10

Pm to Hub's Grove on River-a Sparrow's nest with 4 grey eggs in bank

beyond ivy tree--Have one or more for she deserted them

--nest low in ground. 4 cat-birds half fledged

in the green-briar near bathing place--hung

14
15
16

3 feet from ground. Grape ap X

black willow over edge of river-- 4 feet from ground

2 eggs. W. of oak in Hubb's meadow-- Catbird's nest

in an alder 3 feet from ground--3 fresh eggs.

13th ult
Examined a kingbirds nest found before^in a

See young & weak striped squirrels now a days

with slender tails--a sleep in horizontal boughs

above their holes--or moving feebly about--

Might catch them. Red starts in the swamp

there-- Also see there a blue-yellow-

green backed warbler, with an orange breast

& throat--white belly & vent--& forked tail--in-

digo blue head &c.

//
//

Ground nut how long?

A painted tortoise just burying 3 flesh colored

eggs in the dry sandy plain--near the thresher's

nest--It leaves no trace in the surface-- Find

near by 4 more--about this business--When

seen they stop stock still in whatever position &

stir not nor make any noise--just as their

shells may happen to be tilted up--

June 18th to Hemlocks--

//wings-- Wood cock--

5
6
7

Sparganium. A yellow-bird feigns broken

At 3 p.m. as I walked up the bank

by the hemlocks I saw a painted tortoise
//just beginning its hole-- Then another

a dozen rods from the river on the bare

barren field near some pitch pines--where

10
11
12

the earth was covered with a thin sod

mixed
covered with cladonias cinquefoil--sorrel

&c-- Its hole was about 2/3 done. I stooped

down over it, and to my surprise after a

slight pause it proceeded in its work,60

directly under & within 18 inches of my face.

I retained a constrained position for 3/4

of an hour or more for fear of alarming

it. It rested on its fore legs, the front part

of its shell about one inch higher than

the rear, & this position was not changed,

essentially to the last. The hole was oval

broadest behind, about 1 inch wide

& 1 3/4 long, and the dirt already re-

25
26
27

moved was quite wet or moistened. It

made the hole &
^removed the dirt with its hind legs only, not

using its tail or shell,--which last of

course could not enter the hole--though

there was some dirt on it. It first scratched

2 or 3 times with one hind foot; then took

up a pinch of the loose sand & deposi-

ted it directly behind that leg--pushing

it back ward to its full length & then

deliberately opening it--& letting the dirt

work,: altered from work-; T used - to form ,

fall. Then the same with the other hind

foot. This it did rapidly using each

leg alternately with perfect regularity,

standing on the other one the while, &

thus tilting up its shell each time now to

this side then to that. There was half a min-

ute or a minute between each change.

8
9

The hole was made as deep as the feet

could reach, or about 2 inches. It was

very neat about its work, not scattering

the dirt about any more than was necessary

The completing of the hole occupied per-

haps 5 minutes.--

drew its head completely into its shell, raised

the rear a little, and protruded & dropt

a wet flesh colored egg into the hole, one

end foremost--the red skin of its body

being considerably protruded with it. Then it

19
20
21

put out its head again a little slowly--& while

hind
it place the egg a one side with one^foot.

After a delay of about 2 minutes it again

drew in its head & dropt another, & so on

to the 5th--drawing in its head each time.

& pausing somewhat longer between the last.

The eggs were placed in the hole without any

particular care--only well down flat62 & out

of the way of the next, & I could plainly see

them from above.

It then without any pause

After these 10 minutes or more, it with-

31
32
33

out pause or turning began to scrape

moist
the^earth into the hole with its hind legs

and when it had half filled it it

carefully pressed it down with the

edges of its hind feet dancing

It...above: T. marked for a new paragraph

flat: altered from &; f of flat written over ?

on them alternately, for some time,

as on its knees--tilting from side to seed,

pressing by the whole weight of the

rear of its shell. When it had drawn

in thus all the earth that had been

moistened, it stretched its hind legs further

back & to each side, & drew in the dry

& lichen-clad crust, and then danced

upon & pressed that down, still not

moving the rear of its shell more than

one inch to right or left all the while, or

changing the position of the forward part

at all. The thoroughness with which the

covering was done was remarkable-- It

persevered in drawing in & dancing on the

dry surface which had never been disturbed

long after you thought it had done

its duty--but it never moved its fore-

feet nor once looked round--nor saw

the eggs it had laid. There were fre-

quent pauses throughout the whole--

when it rested, or ran out its head

& looked about circumspectly, at

any noise or motion-- These pauses

were especially long during the covering

of its eggs--which occupied more than

half an hour-- Perhaps it was

hard work.

When it had done it immediately started

for the river at a pretty rapid rate (The

suddenness with which it made these

transitions was amusing), pausing

from time to time & I judged that

it would reach it in 15 minutes.

It was not easy to detect that the ground

had been disturbed there-- An Indian could

not have made his cach more skillfully.

In a few minutes all traces of it would be lost to the eye

The object of moistening the earth

was perhaps to enable it to take it up

in its hands (?) & also to prevent its falling

back into the hole. Perhaps it also helped

to make the ground more compact & harder

when it was pressed down. v. Sep 10th

Tuesday June 19th 55

Pm. up Assabet--

A Pewee's nest (bird ap small Pewee--nest ap

wood Pewee's) on a white maples nearly hori-

15
16
17

zontal bough 18 feet above water op. Hem& hemlock (?) twigs
locks--externally of lichens^from the maple

18
19
20

trunk--Very inconspicuous--like lichen covered

empty on July 25th
knot.^I hear many wood pewees about here--

21
22
23

Young song sparrows flutter about.

saddled
or slanting down amid twigs
A yellow-bird's nest^on a horizontal^branch of

a swamp White oak within reach--6 feet high--

of fern down & lint--a sharp cone bottom--4 eggs

just laid--pale flesh color with brown

spots--have one.

There are a great many glaucous & also

hoary & yellowish green puffs on the

andromea paniculata now--some 4 inch

in diameter. Wood tortoises united

with heads out of water--

33
34
35
36

Did I enumerate the sharp shinned hawk among

//
//

ours?
Mr Bull found in his garden this morning
a snapping turtle about 20 rods from the

brook--which had there just made

a round hole (ap with head) 2 1/2 inches

in diameter & 5 x deep in a slanting di-

rection. I brought her63 home & put her64

into a pen in the garden that she might

lay--(she weighed 7 lbs 5 oz.) but she

climbed over an upright fence of smooth stakes

22 inches high.

June 20

11
12
13

pine in Emerson's Heater Piece--partly of

saddled
//paper-- A Summer yel-- bird's^on an apple

of cotton wool lined with hair & feathers

3 eggs white with flesh colored tinge.

//& purplish brown & black spots. 2 hair birds

17
18

A catbird's nest 8 ft high on a pitch

nests 15 feet high on apple trees at R. W. E's

//(one with 2 eggs.) A robin's nest with young

which was lately in the great wind blown

down & somehow lodged on the lower part

of an evergreen by arbor--without spilling

the young.!

23
24
25
26

June 21st
//
//

Saw a white lily XXX in Everett's Pond.

deep
Sparrow's nest 4 eggs^in the moist bank

beyond cherry birds nest (have 3) of peculiar

color--she deserted the nest after one was taken.

Outside of stubble scantily lined with fibrous

//roots.-- Clams abundant within 3

//feet of shore & bream nests-- The early

grass is ripe or browned & clover is drying--

--Peetweets make quite a noise calling

34
35
36

to their young with alarm.

On an apple at R.W.Es a small

pewee's nest on a horizontal branch

her: altered from him; her written over him

7 feet high--almost wholly of hair--cotton

without--not incurved at edge--4 eggs

pale cream color.

4
5
6

June 22nd
A 6 Pm the temperature of the air 77E at
River one rod from shore 72E. Warmest day yet

7
8
9

June 23
Prob. a red starts nest? on a white

oak sapling 12 feet up on forks against

stem--Have it See young red starts about.

Hear of flying squirrels now grown.

June 25th

13
14
15

Under65 E Wood's Barn--A phoebe's nest with 2

barn
birds ready to fly--also barn-swallow's nest

lined with feathers hemisphere a cone against

side of sleeper--5 eggs--delicate as well--

White bellied swallows.

//
//

June 26

20
21
22

C. has found a Wood pewee's nest on a horismall

zontal limb of a^swamp wht oak 10 feet high

with 3 fresh eggs cream colored with spots

of 2 shades in a ring about large end-- Have

nest & an egg.

26
27

June 28
On River. 2 redwing's nests66 4 eggs & 3--one

without any black marks-- Hear67 & see young

gold robins which have left the nest--now peeping

with a peculiar tone--shoals of minnow 1/2 inch

long. Eel-grass washed up.

32
33
34

June 30
2 Pm Thermometer North side of house 95E-in river where 1 foot deep 1 rod from shore 82E

Under: altered from E; Under written over E

nests: altered from nest; final s added

Hear: altered from See; Hear written over See

1
2

July 2nd 55
//

Young bobolinks are now fluttering over

the meadow--but I have not been

able to find a nest--so concealed in

the meadow grass.

At 2Pm. Thermometer N side of house

93E

Air over river at Hub's bath

88E

water 6 feet from shore & 1 foot deep

84 1/2E

" near surface in middle where up to neck

83 1/2E

" at bottom in same place--pulling it up quickly 83 1/2E

Yet the air on the wet body--there being a

strong SW wind--feels colder than the water.

July 3d

4 Pm--air out of doors generally 86E

On the sand between rails in the Deep Cut

103E-- Near the surface of Walden

15 rods from shore 80E--3 feet below

the surface there & everywhere nearer

shore (and prob further from it) 78E

July 4th

To Boston on way to Cape Cod with C.

The Schooner Melrose was advertised to

make her first trip to Provincetown

this morning at 8-- We reached City (?)

Wharf at 8 1/2. Well Capt. Crocker

how soon do you start? To morrow

morning at 9 o'clock-- But you

have advertised to leave at 8 this

morning. I know it--but we are

going to lay over till tomorrow.!!!

So we had to spend the day in Boston--

at Atheneum gallery--Alcott's--

& at the regatta. Lodged at Alcotts--

Who is about moving to Walpole

July 5th

In middle of the forenoon sailed

in the Melrose-- We hugged the Scitu-

ate shore as long as possible on account

of wind-- The great tupelo on the edge

of Scituate is very conspicuous for many

miles about Minott's Rock68. Scared

up a flock of young ducks on the

Bay--which have been based hereabouts--

Saw the petrel.

Went to Gifford's Union House--(the

old Tailor's Inn69) in Provincetown-- They have

built a townhouse since I was here--the

first object seen in making the port.

Talked with Nahum Haynes who is making

fisherman's Boots there. He came into

the tavern in the evening. I did not

know him--only that he was a Haynes.

He remembered 2 mud turtles caught

in a seine with shad on the Sudbury

meadows 40 years ago--which would weigh

100 lbs each-- Asked me "Who was that

man that used to live next to Bulls,

24
25
26

--acted as if he were crazy or out--?"

V. story
Talked with a man who has the largest

patch of cranberries here--10 acres-- There

are 15 or 20 acres in all--

29
30

The fishermen sell lobsters fresh for 2

cents apiece.

31
32
33
34
35

July 6th
Rode to N. Truro very early in the
stage or covered wagon--On the new road
just
which is^finished as far as E. Harbor Creek--

Rock: altered from rock; Rock written over rock

Inn: altered from inn; I written over i

Passed black fish on the shore-- Walked from

P.O. to Light House-- Fog till 8 or 9--& short

grass very wet. Board at James

Smalls--the light house--at $3 1/2 the

week.

6
7
8
9
10
11

Polygala polygama well but flat ray-wise

//all over the fields--Cakile Americana-the large weed of the beach

Sea Rocket--^Sometime & going to seed--on beach
Cirsium pumilum
//Pasture thistle^out some time. A great many white ones-The boy Isaac Small got 8070 bank swal-

12
13

low's eggs out of the Clay bank--i.e above

the clay--(V. story) Small says there are

? a few Great Gulls here in summer--

//I see Small (?) Yel legs-- Many Crow. b. birds

in the dry fields hopping about-- Upland

18
19
20

plover near the light house breeding-wing

Small once cut off one's legs when mowing

in the field next the lighthouse as she sat

//on her eggs. Many seringo birds--ap like

ours. They say mackerel have just

left the Bay & fishermen have gone to the

Eastward for them. Some however are

catching cod & halibut on the backside.

Cape Measures 2 miles in width here on

the great Chart.

July 7th

Smilax Glauca in blossom running

//over the shrubbery-- Honkenya peploides

sea sandwort just out of bloom on beach.

the thick leaved & dense tufted--upright plant

//Salsola Kali Saltwort--prickly & glaucous

//in bloom. Beach Pea (Lathyrus Maritimus)

going out of bloom.

80: altered from 8; 0 added

C. says he saw in the Catalogue of the Mercantile

Library N.Y. Peter Thoreau on Book-keeping

London--

4
5
6
7

The piping plover running & standing on the beach-& a few mackerel gulls skimming over the sea
do not cook them
& fishing. Josh pears (Juicy suggests Small) just

8
9
10

begun XXX--few here compared with Provincetown.

S. Semper virens
Seaside goldenrod^not nearly yet

11
12
13

Xanthium echinatum Sea Cockle-Burr

or Sea Burdock
^not yet--(I saw its burrs early71 in Oct. in New Bedford)

What that smilacina like plant very

common in the shrubbery--a foot high with

now green fruit big as peas at end of spike

17
18
19

with reddish streaks-- Uncle Sam calls it

%{
}%
Make-Corn--%^%brought home some fruit

//
//

Just south of the light house near the

21
22
23
24
25

bank on a steep hillside the savory leaved

Diplopappus linarifolius & mouse-ear G. plantaginifolia
aster^forms a dense sward--being short &
out July 10th X
thick--not yet out--^Scarlet pimpernel

or Poor Man's Weather Glass Anagallis arvensis

in bloom same time--very common on sandy

fields & sands & very pretty--with a peculiar

scarlet.

30
31

//
//
//

July 8th
A N.E. storm-- A great part of beach

bodily removed & a rock 5 feet high ex-

posed--before invisible op. light house--(V

story) The black-throated bunting

common among the shrubbery-- Its note much

like the Maryland Yel-- throats--Wittichee

te chea--tche te tchea--tche--

38
39
40

The Eupetrum Conradii Broom crowberry

Corema
is quite common at edge of higher bank just south

early: altered from in; early written over in

1
2
3
4
5

of the light house-- It is now full of small

Small pin head size It spreads from a center raying out &
green fruit^. It forms peculiar handsome
rooting every 4 or 5 inches. {drawing}
shaped mounds 4 or 5 feet in diameter--

6
7
8

x 9 inches or a foot high {drawing}

springy
--very soft^beds to lie on--A woodman's

bed already spread.

I am surprised at the number or large

light colored toads every where hopping over

these dry & sandy fields.

Went over to Bay side-- That pond at

Pond village 3/8 of a mile long & densely

filled with cattail flag 7 feet high--

Many red wing black birds in it. Small

says there are two kinds of Cattail there one

the barrel flag for coopers the other shorter

for chairs--he used to gather them.

See the Kildeer a dozen rods off in pasture

anxious about its eggs or young--with its

shrill squeaking note--its ring of white

about its neck & 2 black crescents on breast--

They are not so common & noisy as in June.

//A milkweed out some days. For shells

26
27

see list--(For shells see story)

Hudsonia Tomentosa the downy still lingering

The last is perhaps the most common--

30
31
32

ericoides even yet up to 17th

Euphorbia polygonifolia sea-side spurge-small & flat on pure sand-- Did nt notice flower

//Lemna Minor Duck weed-- Duck-meat covering

the surface at the Pond--Scale-like-- See a

night-hawk at 8 am sitting lengthwise on

a rail. Asked Small if 1/4 of the fuel

of N Truro was drift wood-- He thought it

was--beside some lumber--

1
2
3

None of the {mya} arenaria on back side--but

Mesoderma arctata
a small thicker shelled clam--^with a golden yel-

low epidermis--very common on the flats--which

S. said was good to eat. The shells washed up were

commonly perforated--could dig them with your hand.

S. said that 19 small yel-- birds (prob. gold-

finches) were found dead under the light

in the spring early

10
11

July 9th-Peterson brings word of black fish-- I went over

& saw them &c--(v. story.) The largest about

14 feet long. 19 yrs ago 380 at this (Great)

Hollow in one school. Sometimes eat

15
16
17
18

Small says they generally come about the last of July

them-- some yield 5 barrels--average one barrel
by
A kind of Artemisia or sea wormwood near Bayside

on sand hills--not out. Bay-wings here.

I find the edible muscle generally in bunches as they

were washed off the rocks 30 or 40 together held

together by their twine-like byssus. Many little mus-

cles on the rocks exposed at low tide.

Uncle Sam72 Small half blind--66 years

old--remembers the building of the Light house

& their prophecies about the bank wasting.

Thought the now overhanging upper solid

parts might last 10 years. His path had

some-times lasted so long (??--Saw him making

a long diagonal slanting path with a

hoe--in order to get up a small pile of

stuff-- --on his back--(There lay his hooked

pike staff on the bank ready for immediate

use)-- But this path was destroyed before

we left-- told of a large rock which

was carried along the shore half a mile.

He gets all his fuel on the beach.

Sam: altered from sam; S written over s

At flood tide there is a strong inshore current

to north-- We saw some perhaps bales of grass

or else dried bits of marsh 6 feet long carried

4
5
6

along thus very fast 1/4 of a mile out. Told us

12
of man eating sharks--one 14 feet long which

he killed & drew up with his oxen--

No quahogs on this side

Now with a clear sky--& bright weather--we

see many dark streaks & patches where

the surface of the ocean is rippled by fishes mostly

menhaden--far and wide--in countless

myriads-- Such the populousness of the

sea-- Occasionally when near can see their shining

sides appear--(& the mackerel gulls dive

probably for brit?) Also see bass--whiting

cod &c turn up their bellies near the shore.

The distant horizon a narrow blue line from

distance (?) like mts. They call peet weets

shore birds here. Small thought the

waves never ran less thant 7 or 8 feet on

the shore here--though the sea might be

perfectly smooth. Speaks of mackerel

gulls breeding on islands in Wellfleet Har-

bor--

26
27
28
29
30
31
32

July 10
The sea like Walden is greenish within half
then blue. The purple tinges near the shore run far up or down
a mile of shore--^-- Walked to Marsh head
//of E. Har. Creek-- Marsh Rosemary-Statice limosum "meadow root" says small out
sometime with 5 reddish petals. Also see there

//Samphire of 2 kinds herbacea & muccronata.

//Juncus Gerardii Black grass in bloom. The

Pig weed about sea shore is remarkably white

& mealy-- Great Devils needles above the

//bank ap. catching flies. I see a brood

of young peeps running in the heath under

the sand hills.--ahead of me-- Indigo out X

Heard a cannon--which from the sea

which echoed under the bank dully as

if a part of the bank had fallen--then

a distant outw saw a pilot boat

standing down & the pilot looking through

his glass toward a distant outward

bound vessel which was putting back

to speak with him. The latter sailed

many a mile to meet her-- She put

her sails aback & communicated along

side.

14
15
16

July 11th
piping
See young^plover running in a troop on

the beach like peet weets-- Patches of

shruboaks bay-berry--beach plum & early

wild roses over run with woodbine-- What

a splendid show of wild roses--whose sweetness

is mingled with the aroma of the bayberry!!

22
23

Small made 3000 shingles of a mast--worth

6 dolls. a thousand.

A bar wholly made within 3 months--

first exposed about 1st of May--as I paced

now 75 rods long & 6 or 8 rods wide at

high water--& bay within 6 rods wide-- The

bay has extended 2c as far but is filled up.

An arenaria(?) still amid shrubbery.

29
30

Lespedeza Stuvei(?) or procumbens (?)

I see 5 young swallows dead on the

sand under their holes--fell out & died in the

storm?

The upland Plover hovers almost

stationary in the air with a quivering note

of alarm-- Above dark brown interspersed with

//
//

1
2

darkest in rear
white^--gray-spotted breast--white beneath

bill dark above--yellowish at base beneath & legs

yellowish. Totanus Bartramius--"Gray"--"grass"--"field" P.

Bank at light house--l70 feet on the slope

perpendicular 110 say shelf slopes 4 & ordinary

tide fall73 is 9--makes 123 in all. Saw

8
9
10

bank south 15 to 25 feet higher.

%for quintel%
Small says cantle. Mackerel fishing

not healthy like cod fishing-- Hard work pack-

ing the mackerel--stooping over--

July 12

Peterson says he dug 126 dols-- worth of

small clams near his house in Truro one winter--

25 buckets full at one time. One man

40. Says they are scarce because they feed

pigs on them. I measure a

horseshoe on the backside 22 inches

x 11. The low sand--down bet E Harbor

head & sea methinks covered with beach

grass--seaside goldenrod & beach pea--

Fog74 wets your beard till 12 o clock.

//Harbor head. Solanum (with white flowers)

26
27
28

//nigrum? in marsh. Spergularia rubra

great Many little shells by edge of marsh Auricula bidenvar. marina-- tata? and Succinea avara?

Long slender sea side plantain leaf? At E.

Great variety of beetle dawbugs &c on beach--I

have one green shining one. Also butterflies over bank

Small thought the pine land was worth

25 cts an acre. I was surprised to see

great spider holes in fine sand & gravel

with a firm edge--where man could not

make a hole without the sand sliding

36
37
38

in--in tunnel form.

are
They^gone off for mackerel & cod--also

fall: altered from is; fall written over is

Fog: altered from fog; cross added at top of f to form F

catching mackerel, halibut & lobsters about

here for the market.

The upland plover begins with a quivering note somewhat like

a tree toad and ends with a long clear somewhat plaint-

ive (?) or melodious (?) hawk-like scream. I never heard this

6
7
8

very near to me. & when I asked the inhabitants about

v side75
it they did not know what I meant.^It hovers on

quivering wing & alights by a steep dive.

10
11
12

My pape so damp in this house I cant press flowers

without mildew--nor dry my towel for a week-Small thought there was no stone wall W of orleans.

Squid the bait for bass. Small said the black-fish

ran ashore in pursuit of it. Hardly use pure salt

at Smalls. Do not drink water-- S. repeates a

tradition that the backside was frozen out 1 mile

over in l680 (?) Often is on Bay--but never since

on Atlantic.

19
20

July 13
About 33000 dols have been appropriated for

the protection of Prov. Harbor. N. E winds the

strongest-- Caught a box tortoise-- It ap-

peared to have been feeding on insects--their wing case &c

in its droppings--also leaves. No undertow on

the bars because the shore is flat.

26
27
28
29

July 14
The Sea has that same streaked look that
our meadows have in a gale
Go to Bayside--stench of black fish. The

lobster holds on to the pot himself. Throw away

the largest-- Find76 French Crown-- I was

walking close to the water's edg just after the

tide had begun to fall--looking for shells &

pebbles--& observed on the still wet sand--under

the abrupt curving edge of the bank--this dark

colored round flat--Old button?--

75
Thoreau wrote the following in four lines vertically up the left
margin: Frank Forester in Manual for Young Sportsmen '56 p 308 says "This bird
has a soft plaintive call or whistle of 2 notes, which have something of a
ventriloquial character, and possess this peculiarity, that when uttered close
to the ear, they appear to come from a distance, and when the bird is really 2
or 3 fields distant, sound as if near at hand."
76

Find: altered from find; Cross added at top of f to form F

I cheated my companion by holding up round scu

tella parmas on the bars between my fingers.

High hill--where town house?--in Prov. ac to big map

109 feet high.

5
6

When numerous you may count about 80 vessels

at once. A little kelp & rock weed grow off shore

//here. Nest of Grass? bird--grass stubble lined with grass &

root fibers 3 eggs half hatched under a tuft of beach grass

1/4 mile inland Have an egg. Measured apple trees

10
11

at Uncle Sam's.
They say the keeper of Billingsgate Light a few days

ago put his initials in 1000 dols worth of black fish in

one morning--& got that of Provincetown {for them}

Another some years ago got 100 in a morning & sold them

15
16
17

for 1500 dols Got a fox's skull. 36 feet

Light
from base to center of this light.^called in book 171

feet above sea?

19
20
21

Found washed up & saw swimming in the cove where we

bathed yound%g% mackerel 2 inches long.
Uncle Sam says there's most drift in the spring--

W in our river-- He calls his apple trees he

July 16

24
25
26

Why not have one large reflector instead of

many small ones--for a strong light. Uva ursi
//berries begin to redden-- Beach grass grows on the

highest land here. Uncle Sam tells of sea turtles

which he regarded as natives--as big as a barrel

found on the marsh--of more than one kind.

Call the fishing Captains skippers-- The oak

wood North of Rich's or Dyer's Hollow say 20 years

old 9 feet high-- Red? oaks &c Can see soil

on edge of bank covered 5 feet deep with sand

which has blown up--on the highest half of bank.

1
2

See 3 black snakes on sand just behind

edge of bank. Blue berrys only 1 inch high

July 18

4
5

Leave Smalls. Corn cockle or Rose Campion

a handsome flower by East77 Harbor marsh. Lychnis

6
7
8
9
10

Githago--how long?-- Perfect young horse shoe

Goose foot by marsh very spreading with entire obovate leaves
crab shells there.^Came up in the Olata Capt.
a fine yacht
Freeman--^little wind--were from half past

eight with candle light on water-- Melrose & anothe

which started with us were 10 miles astern when

we passed light boat--kept pace awhile

with a steamer towing one of Tram's ships far

in the north-- The steamer looked very far from

ship & some wondered that the interval continued

the same for hours Smoke stretched perfectly

horizontal for miles over the sea--& by its

direction warned me of a change in the wind

before we felt it

July 19th in Concord.

Young bobolinks--one of the first autumnalish

notes. The early meadow aster out.

//
//

July 21st

A red-eyed vireo nest on a red maple on Island

Neck--on meadow edge 10 ft from ground 1 egg

half hatched and one cowbird's egg nearly fresh!

a trifle larger. The first white (the minute

brown dots washing off--) sparsely black dotted

at the large end. Have78 them.

July 22nd

32
33
34

I hear that many of those balls have been found

small
at Flints Pond within a few days. See^flocks of

redwings--young & old--now over the willows.

The pigeon woodpeckers have flown Dog-day

weather begins.

East: altered from east; Top loop of E added to e

Have: altered from have; h crossed and right side added to form
69

1
2

July 25th
//

Many little toads about

That piece of hollow kelp stem which

I brought from the Cape is now shrivelled

up & is covered and all white with crystal

of Salt 1/6 of an inch long--like frost--on

all sides.

"Morrhua Vulgaris" is the cod of Europe &

Newfoundland. Those caught off our coast

are the M. Americana.

July 30
79

Saw the the lightning on the Telegraph battery

& heard the shock about sundown

from our window--an intensely bright

white light.

July 31st

Our Dog-days seem to be turned to a

rainy season. Mr. Derby whose points

of Compass I go to regulate tells me

that he remembers when it rained

for 3 weeks in haying time everyday but

Sundays80--

Rode to J Farmers-- He says that on

a piece of an old road on his land--

discontinued 40 years ago--for a

distance of 40 rods which he plowed 281

or 3 dollars in small change-- Among

the rest he showed me an old silver piece

29
30
31

about as big as a ten cent piece--with the

&c &c
word skilli^on it ap-- a Danish Shilling?

32
33
34

His boy has a republican swallow's egg

Dove's
long & much spotted--a pigeons egg

35
36

//Found a baywings nest & got an egg-- 3 half

hatched
with dark spots not lines

Saw...battery marked for transposition with heard...shock

Sundays: altered from sundays; S written over s

2: altered from 3; 2 written over 3

1
2

low in grass of stubble lined with root fibres & then horse-hair
in a dry field of his-- He gave me what he

3
4
5

called the seringo's egg (He calls it

%Does he mean whitliche--Maryland Yel throat%
chick-le-see--) Pointd82 out the bird

to me-- Says that she enters to her nest

by a long gallery sometimes 2 or 3 feet

long under the grass--& the nest is very

hard to find. Gave me a small pure white

10
11

Farmer showed me that every wilted or diseased pig weed had green lice on its root

He says he sometimes finds the marsh wren's

nest in meadows hung to the grass & hole

on one side-- Hears it almost every night

near the marsh beyond Dr Bartletts.

Has found larks nest covered over.

Found lately on his sand 2 arrow heads & close

by, a rib, & a shoulder blade & knee pan? he thinks

of an Indian.
His son Edward gave me a Bluejay's egg

as well as the seringo's above named--also

another rounder & broader egg--found in that

open field without any nest--may be the same

kind--somewhat similarly marked, but whiter

at one end & browner at the other.

egg--(the boy thought it a small pewee's?)

Mr Samuel Hoar

tells me that about 48 years ago,

or some 2 or 3 years after he came to

Concord, when he had an office in the

yellow store--there used to be a great

many bull frogs in the mill-pond

which by their trumping in the night

disturbed the apprentices of a Mr

Joshua Jones who built & lived in

the brick house nearby--& soon after

Pointed: altered from pointed; P written over p

set up the trip-hammer. But as

Mr H. was going one day two or

from his office--(he boarded this side

the mill-dam) he found that the

apprentices had been round the pond

in a boat knocking the frogs on

the head got a good sized tub

nearly full of them. After that

scarcely any were83 heard, and the

trip-hammer being set up soon after,

they all disappeared as if frightened away

by the sound-- But perhaps the

cure was worse than the disease

For I know of one then a young min-

ister studying divinity--who boarded in

that very brick house--who was

so much disturbed by that trip ham-

mer that out of compassion he was

taken in at the old parsonage.

Mr H. remembers that blackfish

oil which was used at84 the tanyards--

was sold to put on horses & keep the flies off.

24
25

Tree toads, sing more than

before Have observed the twittering

//over of gold-finches for a week

I am pleased to see that the lower & larger

leaves of the water andromeda

27
28
29
30
31
32

Aug 1st 55
//

Pm. to Conantum by boat-- Squirrels have eaten

& stripped pitch-pine cones-- Small rough

a day or 2
////sunflower--Diplopappus Cornifolius how long?

at Conants Orchard Grove. In the spring there

which has not been cleared out lately I find

any were: altered from anywhere; line crosses out h and connects
w to e
84

at: altered from to; at written over to

a hair-worm 8 or 9 inches long--& big as a

pin wire--is biggest in the middle--& tapers

thence to tail--at head is abruptly cut off--

Curles in your fingers like the tendril of a

vine. I spent half an hour overhauling

the heaps of clamshells under the rocks there.

Was surprised to find the anodon & the green-

rayed clams there.

9
10
11

Pennyroyal & Alpine enchanters night shade

Young Adams of Waltham tells me he has been

moose-hunting at Chesuncook--hunted with

a guide in evening--without horse--it being

too early to call them out-- Heard the water

dropping from their muzzles when they lifted

their heads from feeding on the pads--as

they stood in the river.

Aug 2nd
Silas Hosmer tells me of his going a

spearing in Concord River up in Southboro

once with some friends of his--It is a mere

brook there & they went along the bank with-

out any boat-- One carrying a large

basket of pine & another the crate--&

a third the spear-- It was hard work.

He afterward showed them how they did

here by going in midsummer with them

& catching a great many.

29
30

well out how long?

Aug 4
Just after bathing at the rock near

the Island this p.m.--after sunset--

I saw a flock of thousands of barn-

swallows85 & some white bellied & perhaps

swallows: altered from swallows ?; ? erased

others, for it was too dark to distinguish

2
3
4

them. They came flying over the river in

loose
loose array--wheeled & flew round in a

great circle over the bay there about

80 feet high with a loud twittering as

if seeking a resting place--then flew

8
9
10
11
12
13
14

up the stream. I was very much surprised

Hearing a buzzing sound
at their numbers. Directly after^we found
Dense
them all alighted on the^Golden Willow
par. with the shore
hedge at Shattuck's shore--^quite densely

leaved & 1886 feet high. They were generally

perched 5 or 6 feet from the top amid the

thick leaves--filling it for 8 or 10 rods.

They were very restless fluttering from

one perch to another & about one another--

& kept up a loud & remarkable buzzing.

or squeaking--breathing or hum--

with only occasionally87 a regular twitter--

now & then flitting along side from

one end of the row to the other-- It was

so dark we had to draw close to to see them.

At intervals they were perfectly still for

a moment--as if at a signal-- At

length after 20 or 30 minutes of

bustle & hum--they all settled quietly to

rest on their perches-- I supposed for the

night. We had rowed up within a

rod of one end of the row--looking up

so as to bring the birds between us & the sky--

but they paid not the slightest attention

to us-- --What was remarkable

was 1st their numbers--2nd their

perching on densely leaved willows--

18: altered from 16; 8 written over 6

occasionally: altered from a; o written over a

3dly their buzzing or humming like a hive

of bees--ever squeaking notes--& 4th their

disregarding our nearness.

4
5
6

I supposed that they were preparing to migrate--being the early broods

Aug 5--

4 Am on river to see swallows

They are all gone-- Yet Fay saw them there last

night after we passed. Probably they started very

early. I asked Minott if he ever saw swallows

migrating--not telling him what I had seen--

& he said--that he used to get up & go out

to mow very early in the morning on his meadow

as early as he could see to strike--& once at

that hour hearing a noise he looked up

& could just distinguish high over head

50 000 swallows-- He thought it was

in the latter part of august.

What I saw is like what White says

of the swallows in the autumn roosting

"every night in the osier beds of the aits" of

the River Thames.--& his editor Jessie

says "Swallows in countless numbers still

assemble every autumn on the willows

growing on the aits of the river Thames."

And Jardine in his notes to Wilson says

that a clergyman of Rotherham describes

28
29
30

in an anonymous pamphlet their assembling

(in the words of the pamphlet)
^"at the willow ground, on the banks of

the canal, preparatory to their migration.--"

early in Sep. 1815--daily increasing in num-

bers until there were tens of thousands. Di-

vided into bands every morning & sought

their food. They finally left R. the 7th October.

1
2

As I was paddling back at 6 Am

//saw nearly 1/2 a mile off a blue heron

standing erect on the topmost twig of the

great buttonwood on the street in front

of Mr. Pritchard's house-- While perhaps

all within were abed and asleep-- Little did

they think of it--& how they were presided over--

He looked at first like a spiring twig against

the sky--till you saw him flap his wings--

Presently he launched off--& flew away

over Mrs Brooks' house.

It seems that I used to tie

a regular granny's knot in my shoe-

strings. & I learned of my self--redis-

covered--to tie a a true square-knot or

what sailors sometimes call a reef-knot.

It needed to be as secure as a reef knot

in any gale--to withstand the wringing

& twisting I gave it in my walks.

The common small violet lespedeza

out--elliptic leaved 1 inch long. The Small

//white spreading polygala 20 rods behind Wyman

site. sometime. Very common this year.

23
24

//dark foliage Hear a yellow legs flying

26
27

It is the wet season--& there is a luxuriant

over--ph phe phe-- ph phe phe.

8 Pm

on river to see swallows.

At this hour the robins fly to high thick

oaks (as this swamp-wht oak) to roost for the

night. The wings of the chimney swallows

flying near me make a whistling sound like

a ducks-- Is not this peculiar among the

swallows. They flutter much for want of tail.

I see martins about. Now many swal-

lows in the twilight after circling 8 feet high

come back 2 or 3000 feet high & then go

down the river--

4
5

Aug 6th
Pm-- Down twice to Tarbel Hill--with C.

Saw a sternothaerus odoratus88 caught

by the neck & hung in the fork bet a

twig & main trunk of a black willow

about 2 feet above water--ap. a month

or two being nearly dry. Probably in its haste

to get down89 had fallen and was caught90.

I have noticed the same thing once or twice before

Hear the autumnal crickets--At Balls91

Hill92 see 5 summer ducks a brood now

grown93--feeding amid the pads on the oppo-

site side of the river--with a whitish ring per-

haps nearly around neck--a rather shrill

squeaking quack when they go off-- It is

remarkable how much more game you

will see if you are in the habit of

sitting in the fields & woods. As you pass

along with a noise it hides itself.--but

presently comes forth again.

The Ludwigia Sphaerocarpa out may be a week

I was obliged to wade to it all the way from

the shore--the meadow grass cutting my

feet above & making them smart-- You

must have boots here.

The Lespedeza with short heads--how long?

These great meadows through which I wade

have a great abundance of hedge hyssop now

in bloom in the water--Small st Johns worts--

& Elodeas94--lanceolate loose strife--arrowheads

--small climbing bellflower--also horse mint on

odoratus: altered from in; od written over in

down: altered from to; down written over to

caught: altered from to; caught written over to

Balls: altered from balls; Top loop added to b to form B

Hill: altered from hill; H written over h

grown: altered from grew; grown written over grew

Elodeas: altered from elodeas; E written over e

//
//

1
2

the dryer clods-- These all over the meadow.

I see 7 or 8 night hawks together--dull

buff breasts with tails short & black beneath

//The mole-cricket creaks along the shore

Meadow haying on all hands.

Aug 7th to Tarbell Hill again

with the Emersons a-berrying. very few

berries this year-

10
11

long.
//

12
13

Aug 8. Blue curls how long? not

Aug 9th Elecampane ap-several days. River is risen & fuller & the

//weeds at bathing place washed away some-

what--fall to them.

Dana says--A sprit is the diagonal boom

or gaff & never a sprit sail. Most fore &

aft sails have a gaff & boom.

Aug 10 Pm. to Nagog--

Middle of huckleberrying.

20
21
22
23

Aug 19
//

See painted tortoise shedding scales

10th &
--1/2 off & loose. Again Sep.^ 15th

24
25
26
27
28
29

Aug 22nd
//

I hear of some young barn swallows in the

nest still in R. Rices barn Sudbury.
Aug. 24 Scare up a pack

//of grouse.
Aug. 25 In Dennis' field

//this side the river I count about 150 cow

birds about 8 cows.--running before their

noses--& in odd positions awkwardly walk-

ing with a straddle--often their heads down

& tails95 up along line at once--occasionally flying

to keep up with a cow--over the heads of

tails: altered from tail; s added

the others--& following off after a single cow--

They keep close to the cows head & feet &

she does not mind them.--but when all

went off in a whirring (rippling?) flock at

my approach the96 cow (about whom they were

all gathered) looked off after them

for some time as if she felt deserted.

8
9
10
11

Aug. 29th
Saw 2 green-winged teal--some what pigeonlow
like on a flat^rock in the Assabet.

12
13

Aug 31st
First frost in our garden. Passed in boat

within 15 feet of a great bittern standing

perfectly still in the water by the river side--with

the point of its bill directly up--as if it knew

that from the color of its throat &c it

was much less likely to be detected in that

position--near weeds.

20
21
22

Small locusts touched by frost--prob of the 31st

aug. nothing else in the woodland hollows.

Wednesday Sep. 5
A stream of black ants 1/6 inch long in

the steep path beyond the springs--Some going

others returning--diagonally across the

path 2 rods. & an inch or more wide--their

further course obscured by leaves in the woods.

29
30

Sep 2nd

23
24

Sep 10
I can find no trace of the tortoise eggs

of June 18th--though there is no trace

of them having been disturbed by skunks.

They must have been hatched earlier.

C. says he saw a painted tortoise 1/3 grown

with a freshly killed minnow in his mouth as

the: altered from a; the written over a; and the preceded by

cancelled (

long as himself--eating it.

Thinking over the tortoises I gave these names

Rough tortoise--scented do--Vermillion

(rain-bow--rail?) Yellow Box--

Black Box--& yel-- spotted.

Sep 11

7
8

Loudly the mole-cricket creaks by mid

//afternoon-- Muskrat houses begun

9
10

Sep. 12
//

A few clams freshly eaten--some grapes ripe.

Sep. 14th

12
13
14
15

Pm to Hubbards Close-- I scare from an

//oak by the side of the Close a young hen hawk
launching off with a scream & a heavy flight
which^alights on the topmost plume of a large

16
17
18
19

p. pine in the Swamp--northward.--bending it

Where it might be mistaken for a plume against
the sky {the} light makes all things so black.
down with its back toward me.^It has a red

tail black primaries--scapulars & wing coverts

gray-brown back showing much white & whitish

head. It keeps looking round--first this side

then that.--warily.

I see no fringed gentian yet

It costs so much to publish--would it

not be better for the author to put his

MSS in a safe.

Sep 15

Pm up Assabet

See many painted tortoise scales being shed--

half erect on their backs. An E. insculpta which

I mistook for dead--under water near shore--head

& legs & tail hanging down straight-- Turned it

over & to my surprise found it coupled with

another. It was at first difficult to separate

them with a paddle.

37
38

I see many scales from the sternum of

tortoises

Three weeks ago saw many brown thrashers

catbirds--robins &c on wild cherries-- They

are worth raising for the birds about you

though objectionable on ac. of caterpillars.

Sep 16.

As I go up the Walden road--at Breeds

Hubbard driving his cows through the weed

field--scares a woodchuck which comes

running through the wall & down the road

quite grey & does not see me in the road a

rod off-- He stops a rod off when I move

in front of him. Short legs & body flat

toward the ground--i.e. flattened out at

sides.

15
16

Sep 19th
Up Assabet. Do I see Wood tortoises on

this branch only? About a week since

Mr Thurston told me of his being car-

ried by a brother minister to hear some music

on the shore of a pond in Harvard--produced

by the lapse of the waves on some stones.

Sep. 20

First decisive frost--killing melon's

& beans--browning button bushes & grapes97 leaves

P. m. up mainstream--

The great bittern--as it flies off from near

the RR. bridge filthily drops its dirt--

& utters a low hoarse kwa kwa Then

runs & hides in the grass--& I turn and

search within 10 feet of it--before

It rises-- See larks in flocks on

meadow--see blackbirds (grackle or red

wing or crow b-bird?)--

Tried to trace by the sound a mole cricket

grape: altered from grapes; e written over es

thinking it a frog--advancing from 2

sides--& looking where our courses intersect

but98 in vain.

Opened a new & pretty sizeable muskrat

house with no hollow yet made in it. Many

tortoise scales upon it. It is a sort of

tropical vegetation at the bottom of the river.

The palm like potamogeton--or ostrich plume.

Sep 21st

10
11
12

Stopped at the Old Hunt House with Ricket

of oak
son & C. The rafters are very slender^yet

13
14
15

quite sound-- The laths of split cedar (?) Yet

& straight
long^& as thin or thinner than our sawed ones--

Between the boards & plastering in all

the lower story at least large sized bricks

are set on their edges in clay--Was it not

partly to make it bullet proof? They had--

ap. been laid from within after boarding--(from

21
22
23

the fresh marks of the boards on the clay)

or frame
An Egyptian shaped fire place^in the

24
25
26

chamber {drawing} & painted or spotted panels

Large
& bolts
to the door-- --^old fashioned latches^black smith

made? The upper story projects in front

& at ends 7 or 8 inches over the lower--&

the gables above a foot over this.

No weather-boards at the corners

31
32

Sep 22nd
//

Many tortoise scales about the river now

Some of my drift wood floating rails

&c one scented with muskrats--have been

their perches.--and also covered with a thick

clean slime or jelly.

37
38
39

Sep 23
//

Small sparrows--with yellow on one side above

eye in front & white belly--erectile (?) crowns

but: altered from yet; but written over yet

divided by a light line. Those weeds &c on the

bared meadow came up spontaneously.

8 P.m. I hear from my chamber a

screech owl about Monroes house--this bright

moonlight night--a loud piercing scream much

like the whinner of a colt perchance--a rapid

trill--then subdued or smothered--a note or two.

8
9

A little wren like (or female gold finch)--bird on

bright yel rump--when wings open--& white on tail.

Could it have been a yel-rump-warbler?

a willow at Hubbs causeway--eating a miller with

For continuation see the other end of

this book.

1
2

For beginning V. other end.

Sep 24th 55

Pm up river to Conantum

with C. A very bright & pleasant

fall day-- The button bushes pretty well

6
7
8

browned with frost.--(though the maples

pale yellowish season past. Now

are but just beginning to blush--) their

a-days remark the more the upright

11
12
13

& fresh green phalanxes of bullrushes

mostly
when the pontederias are^prostrate.

The river is perhaps as low as it has

been this year-- Hardly can I say

a bird sings except a slight warble

17
18
19

perhaps from some kind of migrating

%prob a song spar%
sparrow-- was it a tree-sparrow not seen?

The slender white spikes--of99 the p.

hydropiperoides--& the rose-col-- ones

of the front-rank kind--and rarely

of the P. amphibium--look late &

cool over the water-- See some

Kalmiana lilies still freshly bloomed

see coming from the south in

loose array some 20 ap. black

29
30
31

ducks--with a silveriness to the

%in the light%
undersides of their wings%^%-- At first

they were in form like a flock of black

birds; then for a moment assumed the

outline of a fluctuating harrow.

36
37
38

Above the Hubbard Bridge we

Some still raking--others picking

cranberries.
I suppose it was the solitary sandpiper

(Totanus solitarius) which I saw feeding at the

of: altered from &; of written over &

waters edge on Cardinal shore--like

a snipe-- It was very tame--we did

not scare it even by shouting-- I

walked along the shore to within 25

feet of it--& it still ran toward me

in feeding--& when I flushed it, it

flew round and alighted bet. me &

C. who was only a fe 3 or 4 rods off.

9
10
11

It was about as large as a snipe

bluish
had a^dusky bill about 1 1/4 inches

long ap. straight which it kept thrus-

ting into the shallow water with a nibbling

14
15
16

motion--a perfectly white belly-& black

dusky green legs--bright brown^above

with duskier wings-- When it flew

its wings which were uniformly dark

hung down much & I noticed no white

above--& heard no note.

Brought home quite a boatload

of fuel--1 oak rail--on which fishers

had stood in wet ground at Bittern Cliff--

a white pine rider (?) with a square

hole in made by a woodpecker anciently

so wasted the sap as to leave the knots

projecting--several chestnut rails

& I obtained behind Cardinel

shore a large oak stumped

which I know to have been bleching

there for more than thirty years--

--with 3 great gray prongs sprinkled

with lichens. It bore above

34
35
36
37

the marks of the original burning.

There was a handful of hazel nuts under it emptied by the ground (?) squirrel--a
pretty large hole in the rough & thin stem end of each--where the bur was attached.

Also at Clam Shell Hill shore a Chestnut

boat post with a staple in it--which

the ice took up last winter though

it had an arm put through it 2 feet

under ground-- Some much decayed

perhaps old red maple stumps at

Hub. bath place. It would be a

triumph to get all my winter's wood

thus. How much better than to

buy a cord coarsely of a farmer--

seeing that I get my money's worth--

Then it only affords me a momentary

satisfaction to see the pile tipped

up in the yard-- How I derive a

separate & peculiar pleasure from

every stick that I find--each has

its history of which I am reminded

18
19
20
21
22
23

when I come to burn it--& under

got home late
what circumstances I found it.
C & I supped together after our work at wooding & talked it over
with great appetites.
Dr Aikin in his "Arts of Life"

says that the "acorns of warm climates

are fit for human food."

Sep 25th

A very fine & warm pm after

a cloudy morning. Carry Aunt L & Sophia

a-barberrying to Conantum-- Scare up

the usual great Bittern above the

31
32
33

RR Bridge--whose hoarse qua qua

as it flies heavily off
^a pickerel fisher on the bank imi-

tates-- Saw 2 marshhawks skimming

low over the meadows--& another

or a hen-hawk100 sailing on high.

100

hen-hawk: altered from hen-hawkawk; final awk cancelled

//Saw where the moles had been

2
3
4

working in Conants meadow-heap

some 8 inches in diam.
of fresh meadow mould^on the green

surface--& now a little hoary.

We got about 3 pecks of barberries

from 4 or 5 bushes--but I filled my

fingers with prickles to pay for them.

With the hands well defended, it

would be pleasant picking--they are

so handsome--and beside are so

abundant & fill up so fast.

I take hold the end of the drooping

twigs with my left hand raise them

& then strip downward at once

as many clusters as my hand

will embrace--commonly bringing

18
19
20

away with the raceme one or 2

green
small^leaves or bracts---which I do

not stop to pick out-- When

I come to a particular thick &

handsome wreath of fruit I pluck

the twig entire & bend it around

the inside of the basket. Some

bushes bear much larger & plumper

berries than others--some also are

comparatively green yet. Meanwhile

the cat-bird mews in the alders by

my side--& the scream of the jay

is heard from the woodside.

When returning about 4 1/2

P.m. we observed a slight misti-

ness--a sea-turn advancing

from the east--& soon

after felt the raw east wind quite

a contrast to the air we had before--

& presently all the western woods were

partially veiled with the mist. Aunt

thought she could smell the salt-

marsh in it. At home j after sundown

7
8
9

I observed a long low & uniformly

slate-col.
level^cloud reaching from north to

south through out the western horizon

which I supposed to be the sea turn

further inland. for we no longer

felt the east wind here.

In the evening went to Welch's (?)

Circus with C. Approaching I per-

ceived the peculiar scent which belongs--

to such places--a certain sour-ness

in the air--suggesting trodden grass

& cigar smoke.

The curves of the great tent--at least

21
22
23

8 or 10 rods in diameter--the main

it rested on
central curve & wherever^a post

suggested that the tent was the

origin of much of the oriental

architecture--the arabic perhaps.

--There was the pagoda in perfection.

It is remarkable what graceful

attitudes feats of101 strength & agility

seem to require--

31
32

Sep 26-Went up Assabet for fuel

One old piece of oak timber looks as if

it had been a brace in a bridge.

I get up oak rails here & there

101

of: altered from &; of written over &

1
2

%as lead%
and almost as heavy%^%--& leave

them to dry somewhat on the bank.

Stumps partially burned which were

brought by the freshet from some

newly cleared field last spring--bleached-

oak102 trees which were once loped

for a fence--alders & birches which

the river ice bent & broke by its weight

last spring-- It is pretty hard and

dirty work-- It grieves me to see how

rapidly some great trees which have fallen

or been felled waste away when left

on the ground. There was the large

oak by the Assabet103--which I remember

to have been struck by light--& afterward

blown of over being dead-- There is

It used to be with its top downhill &

partly in the water & its but far up.

Now there is no trace of its limbs--

& the very core of its trunk is the only

solid part--concealed within a spongy

covering-- Soon only a richer mould

will mark the spot.

Sep 27th.

Collecting fuel again this

pm up the Assabet. NB Yesterday I

traced the note of what I have falsely

thought the rana palustris or cricket

frog to its true source-- As usual

it sounded loud & incessant above

32
33
34

all ordinary crickets--& led me

&
at once to a base^soft sandy

shore-- After long looking &

102

oak: altered from oaks; final s cancelled

103

Assabet: altered from assabet; A written over a

listening with my head directly over the

spot from which the sound still

came at intervals, (as I had often

done before) I concluded as no creature

was visible, that it must issue

from the mud or rather shiny sand--

I noticed that the shore near the water

was upheaved & cracked as by a small

mole track--& laying it open with

my hand I found--A mole

cricket Gryllotalpa brevipennis.

Harris says that their burrows

"usually terminate beneath a stone

or clod of turf"-- They live on the

roots of grass & other vegetables & in

Europe the corresponding species does

a great deal of harm. They "avoid

the light of day, and are active

chiefly during the night." Have their

burrows "in moist & soft ground, par

ticularly about ponds," "There are

no house crickets in America."

Among crickets "the males only are

musical." The "shrilling" is produced

by shuffling their wing coverts together

lengthwise. French call crickets

cri-cri. Most crickets die on ap-

proach of winter but a few survive

under stones.

30
31
32

See furrows made by many clams

now moving into deep water--

Some single red maples now fairly make

a show--along the meadow-- I see a blaze

of red reflected from the troubled water.

Sep. 29th

Go to Daniel Ricketson's New Bed-

3
4

ford-At Nat Hist Lib. saw Dr Cabot

5
6
7

who says that he has heard either

else
the hermit, or^the olivaceous thrush,

sing,--very like a wood thrush but

softer-- Is sure that the hermit thrush

10
11
12

sometimes breeds hereabouts.

De Kay in the New York Reports
thus describes the Black Fish--

"Family Delphinidae

Genus Globicephalus, Lesson.

The Social Whale,

Globicephalus Melas. De Kay.

Delphinus melas Trail, Nicholson's Journal--

D. Globiceps Cuvier. Mem. Mas Vol. 19

D. Deductor Scoresby, Arctic Regions

D. Intermedius Harlan.

Phocena Globiceps. Sampson, Am. Journal."

Length 15 to 20 feet--

"shining bluish black above"--a narrow

light grey stripe beneath--"remarkable

for its loud cries when excited."

"Black Whale-fish"--"Howling Whale"

"Social Whale" & "Bottle-head." Often

confounded with the Grampus.-- Not

known why they are stranded. In 1822

100 stranded in one herd at Wellfleet.

First described in a History of Greenland.

In the Naturalists'

Library--Jardine--I find--

Globicephalus deductor or Melas

"The Deductor or Ca'ing Whale"--First

accurately described by Trail in 1809. 16 to

24 feet long. In 1799 200 ran

ashore on one of the Shetland Isles.

In the winter of 1809-10 1110 "approached

the shore of Hvalfiord, Iceland, & were cap-

tured." In 1802 were used as food

by the poor of Bretagne. They visit

the neighborhood of Nice in May &

June.

Got out at Tarkiln Hill or Head

of the River Station 3 miles this side

of the New Bedford-- Recognized an

old Dutch-barn. R's sons Arthur

& Walton were just returning from Tau-

tog fishing in Buzzards Bay & I

tasted one at supper--Singularly carved from

snout to tail.

Sep 30th Sunday-- Rode with R. to Sassa-

Cowens Pond--in the North part of

New Bedford--So called from an Indian

on the Taunton road. Called also Toby's

24
25
26

Pond from Jonathan Toby who lives

famous
close by--who has a^lawsuit about

a road he built to Taunton years ago

which he has not yet paid for-- In

which suit, he told us, he had spent

30000 dollars--employed Webster104--

Toby Toby said the pond was called

32
33
34

from the last of the Indians who

100 or 150 yrs ago
lived there^--& that you can still see

his cellar hole &c on the west side

104

Webster: altered from webster; W written over w

of the pond. We saw floating in

the pond the bottom of an old log-

canoe--the sides rotted off. &

some great bleached trunks of trees

washed up-- Found two quartz arrow-

heads on the neighboring fields.

Noticed the Ailanthus105 or Trees of Heaven

about Toby's house--giving it a

tropical look.

Thence we proceeded to Long Pond

stopping at the S end which is in Free-

town about 8 miles from R's-- The main

13
14
15
16

part is in Middleborough-- It is about

2nd106 & 15 ft deep or 20 some places
(a man nearby said 5) measuring on the map of Mid. and of the State
4^miles long by 7/8 wide,^with at least

3 islands in it. This and the neigh-

18
19
20
21
22
23
24

boring107 ponds were remarkably low

soft
We first came out on to a fine^white
2 rods wide
sandy beach^near the SE end--&
It was very wild & not a boat to be seen.
walked westerly.^The sandy bottom in

the shallow water from the shore to 3108 or

4 rds out or as far as we could see,

was thickly furrowed by clams--chiefly

the common arno, & a great many

were left dead or dying high & dry within

30
31
32

a few feet of the water. These furrows

Though headed different ways--all ways
--with each its clam at the end^--described

various figures on the bottom--some

pretty perfect circles {1 drawing} figure 6's

& 3's Whiplashes curling to snap--bow-knots--

serpentine lines--& often crossing each

others tracks109--like the paths of rockets

or bombshells-- I never saw these

furrows so numerous-- Soon

105

Ailanthus: altered from ailanthus; A written over a

106

In MS, two dots appear under 2nd, probably to indicate the order in which the
interlineation should be read, i.e. measuring on the map of Mid. and of the State & 15 ft deep
or 20 some places
107

neighboring: altered from neighborings; s cancelled

108

3: altered from 4; 3 written over 4

109

tracks: altered from traces; traces written over tracks

we came to a stoney & rocky shore

abutting on a low meadow fringed

with wood--with quite a primitive

aspect--with the stones the clams ceased--

Saw 2 places where invisible inhabitants

make110 fires & do their washing on the shore.

--some barrels or firkins &c still left.

8
9
10
11

Some of the rocks at high water mark

were very large & wild--which the water
had undermined on the edge of the woods.
Here too were some great bleached

trunks of trees high & dry--Saw a box

13
14
15

tortoise which had been recently killed on

in all
the rocky shore. After walking^about 1/3

or 1/2 a mile came again to a sandy shore

where the sand bars lately cast up &

18
19
20

saturated with water sank under us. There

dead
great
we saw, washed up,^a^pickerel 23

inches long (we marked it on a cane)

& there was projecting from its111 mouth

the tail of another pickerel. As I wished

to ascertain the size of the last but could

not pull it out with out for I found

it would part first at the tail it

27
28
29

was so firmly fixed, I cut in to the

though it was very offensive
large one--^& found that the head

& much more was digested--& that

the smaller fish had been at least 15

inches long. The big one had evidently

been choked by trying to swallow too large

a mouthful. Such was the penalty

it had paid for its voracity-- There

were several suckers & some minnows

also washed up near by.

110

make: altered from makes; s cancelled

111

its: altered from his; its written over his

They get no iron from these ponds now

Went to a Place easterly from the S

end of this Pond called Joes Rock--

just over the Rochester line-- Where one

a cousin of Marcus Morton told us that

one Joe Ashly secreted himself in the revolution

amid the fissures of the rocks--& being sup-

plied with food by his friends--could not

be found though he had enlisted in the

army. Returning we crossed the

Acushnet River where it took its rise

coming out of112 a swamp-- Looked

for arrow heads in a field where were

many quahog, oyster, scollop--clam--

& winkle, (pyrula) shells--prob. brought

16
17
18

by the Whites 4 or 5 miles from the salt

Also saw these in places which Indians had frequented
water--^Went into an old deserted

house the--Brady House--where

some 2 girls who had lived in the

family of R. & his brother--had been

born & bred--their father Irish their

mother Yankee-- R. said that

they were particularly bright girls--&

lovers113 of nature--had read my

Walden-- Now keep school--

Have still an affection for their old

house. We visited the spring they had

used--saw the great Willow tree at

the corner of the house--in which one

of the girls an infant in the cradle

thought that the wind began

as she looked out the window & heard

the wind sough through it.-- Saw

112

of: altered from at; of written over at

113

lovers: altered from fond; lovers written over fond

how the chimney in the garret was eked

out with peat stones--bricks being

dear.

Arthur Ricketson showed me in his collection

what was ap.(?) an Indian mortar--

6
7
8

which had come from Lampsons in

dark
Middleborough. It was a^granite like

stone some 10 inches long by 8 wide &

4 thick with a regular round cavity

worn in it 4 inches in diameter & 1 1/2 deep

--also a smaller one opposite on the

other side

He also shewed me the perfect shell of

an Emys guttata--with some of the

internal bones--which had been found

17
18
19

between the plastering & boarding of a114

at the Head of the River (in NB)
meeting house^which was 75 or 80 years

old--and115 was torn down 15 or 20 years

ago. Supposed to have crawled in

when the meeting house was built--

though it was not116 very near water.

It had lost no scales--but was bleached

to a dirty white--sprinkled with spots

still yellow.

Oct 1st

Among R's Books is

Bewicks117 "Aesops Fables" On a

leaf succeeding the title page

is engraved a fac-simile of B's

hand writing to the following effect--

114

a: altered from an; n cancelled

115

and: altered from at; and written over at

116

not: altered from was; not written over was

117

In Minkas diss, theres an unnecessary EM here, from Berwick. The

MS reads Bewick; the w is odd but theres no r. In the post-defense EM
file Ive noted that this EM, 96.28, should be omitted. BW 1/15/07
96

"Newcastle, January, 1824.

To Thomas Bewick & Son Dr.

3
4
5

To a Demy Copy of sop's Fables L 5 d

"18"
Received the above with thanks

Thomas Bewick Robert Elliot Bewick."

Then there there was some fine red sea

moss adhering to the page just over the

view of a distant church & windmill

(prob. Newcastle) by moonlight--&

at the bottom of the page--

"No 809

Thomas Bewick

his {drawing} {drawing} mark"

It being the im-

pression of his thumb.

A cloudy somewhat rainy day. Mr.

R. brought me a snail-- Ap.118

helix albolabris or possibly thyroidus.

which he picked from under a rock

where he was having a wall built.

It had put out its stag or rather giraff

-like head & neck out about 2 inches

--the whole length to the point behind

being about 3.-- Mainly a neck of a

26
27
28
29
30

somewhat buffish white or grayish buff

or bulb brown
color^shining with moisture--with a short
or tentacula
head--deer like--& giraffe like horns^in

118

Ap.: altered from ap.; A written over a

its top black at lip--5/8 of an inch long--&

ap 2 short horns on snout. Its neck &c

3
4
5

flat beneath--by which surface it draws

or slides
^itself along in a chair. It is surprisingly

long & large to be contained in that

shell--which moves atop of it-- It moves

at the rate of an inch or half an inch

a minute over a level surface--whether

horizontal or perpendicular--& holds quite

light to it--the shell like a whorled dome

to a portion of a building. It's119 foot (?) ex-

tends to a point behind--It commonly touches

by an inch of its flat underside--flattening

out by as much of its length as it touches.

Shell rather darker mottled (?) than body.

The tentacula become all dark as they are

drawn in--& it can draw them or contract

them straight back to nought-- No ob-

vious eyes (?) or mouth.

Pm. Ret to New Bedford &

called on Mr Green a botanist but

had no interview with him. Walked through

Mrs Arnolds Arboretum. Rode to the

beach at Clark's Cove where Gen. Gray

landed his 4000 troops in the Revolution.

Found there in abundance--Anomia

ephippium (?) their irregular golden colored

shells--Modiola plicatula (rayed muscle)

crepidula fornicata (?) worn-- Pecten-- Con-

31
32
33

centricus alive & one or two more.

new
Returned by the^Point Road 4 miles long

& R said 80 feet wide (I should think

from recollection more) & cost $50 000.

A magnificent Road--by which NB.

119

Its: altered from It; s added

has appropriated the Sea. Passed

2
3
4

salt works still in active operation-series of

windmills--going-- A^frames with layers

of bushes one ahother another to a great

height--ap. for filtering.

7
8
9

Went into a spermaceti candle &

oil factory-Arthur R has a soap stone pot (Indian)

about 9 inches long more than an inch thick

{drawing} with a kind of handle at the

ends.--or protuberances. A. says he uses

13
14
15

//fresh water clams for bait for perch &c

I think it was today someone saw geese go over here
in ponds.
so they said.

16
17
18

Oct 2 Rode to "Sampsons"

a cloudy day-in Middleborough^13 miles. Many

quails in road. Passed over a narrow

neck between the two Quitticus

Ponds--after first visiting Great

Quitticus on right of road--& gathering

clam shells there as I had done--

at Long Pond--& intend to do at Assa-

wampset-- These shells labelled will

26
27
28

be grand mementos of the ponds.

It was a great wild pond with large islands in it.
^Saw a loon on Little or West Quitti-

cus from road. An old bird with a

black bill--The bayonet--or rain-

bow rush was common along120 the shore

32
33
34
35

there
In Backus's Ac. of Mid. Hist. Coll. Vol 3d 1st series.
"Philip once sent an army to waylay Capt. Church in Assowamset Neck;
which is in the South part of Mid." Perhaps this was it.
Just beyond this neck, by the road-

side--between the road & West Quitticus

Pond--is an Old Indian Burying121

ground--R thought it was used before

the whites came--though of late

120

along: altered from on; al and g added to on

121

Burying: altered from burying; top loop added to b to form B

by the praying122 Indians-- This was the

old stage road from New Bedford

to Boston. It occupies a narrow strip

between the road & the pond about

a dozen rods wide & at the north

end. & narrower at the S--& is about

30 or 40 feet above the water--now

covered with a middling growth of

oak--birch hickory &c-- Chestnut

oaks--(perhaps Q Montana) grow

near there. I gathered some leaves & one

large acorn--from the buggy.

13
14
15

There were two stones with inscriptions

R. copied one as follows-- V scrap.
The purport of the other was

that Lydia Squeen died in 1812 aged

75. The other graves were only faintly

marked with rough head & foot stones

--all amid the thick wood. There

were one or two graves without any

marks stones ap not more than 5 or

6 years old.

We soon left123 the main road &

turned in to a path on the right leading

to Assawampsett Pond a mile distant.

There too--was a fine sandy beach

the south shore of the pond 3 or 4 rods

wide. We walked along the part

29
30
31
32
33

called Betty's Neck-- At len This pond

by The map of Middle borough a little more than
is^3 miles long & more in a straight line
across Dockshire nearly
NW124 & SE^& about 2 wide-- We saw

the village of Middleborough Four125 Corners

far across it-- Yet no village on the shore.

122

praying: altered from prayed; ing added; i written over d

123

left: altered from crept acro; left written over crept and
acro cancelled
124

NW: altered from SW; N written over S

125

Four: altered from four; Cross added to f to form F

100

As we walked easterly the shore

became stoney-- On one large slate (?)

rock--with a smooth surface sloping

toward the pond at high water mark--

were some inscriptions or sculptures--

which R had copied about 10 years

since--thus

8
9
10

1749 {drawing} B. Hill Israel felix

%comparatively%
The B. Hill is%^%modern. R said that

11
12
13
14

Israel Felix was an old Indian Preacher-Ac. to Backus in Hist. Coll. Vol 3d 1st series Thomas Felix was an
Ind. teacher in Mid. once
The foot appeared very ancient, though

pecked in only 1/2 an inch. It has squarish

form & broad at the toes--& is like the

representation of some sculptures in rocks

at the West, For a long time we could

discern only 1749 & B. Hill. At length

we detected the foot--& after my companion

had given up--concluding that the

water & the ice had obliterated the rest

within 10 years-- I at last rather felt

with my fingers than saw with my eyes

the faintly graven & moss lichen126 covered

letters of Israel Felix' name. We

had looked on that surface full

15 minutes in vain--yet I felt out the

letters after all with certainty--

30
31

In a description of Middleborough in
the Hist. Coll vol 3d 1810--signed

126

lichen: altered from &; lichen written over &

101

Nehemiah Bennet Middleborough 1793

it is said--"There is on the east-

erly shore of Assawampsitt Pond, on

the shore of Betty's Neck two rocks

which have curious marks thereon

(supposed to be done by the Indians)

which appear like the steppings of a

person with naked feet, which settled

into the rocks; likewise the prints of

a hand on several places, with a

number of other marks; also there

is a rock on a high hill, a little

to the eastward of the old stone

fishing wear, where there is the

print of a person's hand in said rock".

Perhaps we might have de-

tected more on these same rocks had

we read this before--for we saw that

there was something on the next rock--

--we did not know of the wear.

The same writer speaks of a settlement

of Indians at "Betty's Neck (which place

took its name from an ancient Indian

woman by the name of Betty Sase-

more, who named that neck) where

there is now eight Indian houses

and eight families." between 30 &

40 souls.

I was interested by some masses of pudding

stone further along the shore-- These were

above a few large flat sloping slate (?) rocks

I saw a small Emys picta, and

a young snapping turtle--ap hatched

102

this summer--the whole length when

swimming about 3 inches-- It was

larger than mine last April127 & had

10 very distinct points to its shell behind.

I first saw it in the water next the

shore-- The same Bennet quoted

above adds in a postscript--

8
9

In the year 1763, Mr Shubael Thompson found a land turtle in the

northeast part of Middleborough, which

by some misfortune had lost one

of its feet, and found the following

marks on its shell, viz. I.W. 1747--

He marked it S.T. 1763, & let it go. It

was found again in the year 1773, by

Elijah Clap, who marked it E.C. 1773,

& let it go. It was found again

in the year 1775, by Captain Wm Shaw,

in the month of May, who marked it

W.S. 1775. It was found again by

said Shaw the same year, in Sep-

tember, about one hundred rods

distance from the place where he let

it go. It was found again in the

? year 1784, by Jonathan Soule, who

marked it J.S. 1790, & let it go.

It was found again in the year 1791,

by Zeno Smith, who marked it Z. S. 1791

& let it go; it being the last time it

was found; 44 years from the

time the first marks were put

on128."129

127

April: altered from April; A written over a

128

on: altered from one; e cancelled

129
Written vertically in left-hand margin: %Joseph Soule found it in
1790 by Haywards Gazetteer--v. Hist. Coll. again%

103

We saw 5 loons diving near the

2
3
4

shore of Betty's Neck--which instead

within 10 rods
of swimming off--approached^as if

to reconnoitre us--only one had a

black bill & that not entirely so--

anothers was turning-- Their throats

were all very white-- I was surprised

to see the usnea hanging thick

on many apple trees & some pears

in the neighborhood of this & the

other ponds--as on Spruce. Sheep

are pastured hereabouts.

Returning along the shore we saw a

man & woman putting off in a small

boat--the first we had seen-- The man

was black--he rowed & the woman

steered. R called to them-- They approached

within a couple of rods in the shallow

water-- "Come nearer" said R. "Don't be

afraid;130 I aint agoing to hurt you--131"

The woman answered "I never saw

the man yet that I was afraid of.

The man's name was Thomas Smith132

25
26
27

and in answer to R's very direct questions

he was of
as to how much^of^the native stock said

that he was 1/4 Indian. He then asked

the woman who sat unmoved in the

stern with a brown dirt colored dress on

--a regular country woman with half

an acre of face--(squaw like)--having

first inquired of Tom if she was

his wife woman--how much Indian

blood she had in her-- She did not

130

afraid;: altered from afraid.; ; written over .

131

you--: altered from you.; -- written over .

132

Smith: altered from smith; S written over s

104

answer directly so home a question

--yet at length as good as acknowledged

to 1/2 Indian--& said the she came

from Carver--where she had a sister133--

the only--halfbreeds about here--

Said her name was Sepit but could not spell it

R. said "your nose looks rather Ind-

iany." Where will you find a Yankee

& his wife going a fishing thus. They

lived on the shore. Tom said he had

seen turtles in the Pond that weighed

between 50 & 60. had caught a

pickerel that morning that weighed

4 or 5 pounds--had also seen them washed

up with another in their mouths.

Their boat was of peculiar construction--

--& T said it was called a sharper %X%

--with very high sides & a very remarkable

run on the bottom aft--& the bottom

boards were laid across coming out flush

& the sides set on them-- An ugly

model {drawing}

Tom said that Assawampsett was 15 to 20

feet deep--in deepest part-- A Mr Sampson

good authority told me 9 or 10 on an average

& the deepest place said to be 30 or more.

R. told the squaw that we were

interested in those of the old stock now

they were so few--"Yes" said she "& you d be

glad if they were all gone." This

boat had a singular "wooden grapple"

as Tom called it made of a in the form

of a cross--thus {drawing} or {drawing}--with

34
35

a stone within %Sharpie%

%W.R.%

133
a sister: altered from an I; n cancelled leaving a and I
cancelled; sister added

105

1
2

{drawing}
The stones on which we walked about

all the ponds were covered now the

water was low with a hoary sort

of moss--which I do not remember

to have seen in Concord-- very fine &

close to the rock.

8
9

Great shallow lakes--the surrounding

county hardly rising anywhere to more

than 100 feet above them. Ac. to

Bourne's Map these are in Middleborough

12
13
14

57.937 1/2 acres of land

5.250
63.187 1/2

water
total

15
16
17

Backus says that Iron was discovered

Hist. Col. vol 3d 1st series
at the bottom of Assawampsett Pond

about 1747 "Men go out with boats,

& make use of instruments much like those

with which oysters are taken, to get up

the ore from the bottom of the pond."

--"it became the main ore that was

used in the town." Once one man got

out 2 tons a day--in 1794 1/2 a ton. Yet

there was then--in 1794 plenty of it in an

adjacent pond which was 20 feet deep. Much

of it far better than the bog ore they

had been using.

29
30
31

Dr Thatcher says that Assawampsett Pond

once afforded annually 600 tons of ore.
A man afterward discovered it in a pond

in Carver--by drawing up some with a

fishline accidentally.--& it was extensively used.

106

1
2

I did not hear of any being obtained now.

There were 3 Praying134 Indian villages

in Middleborough--Namassekett--Assa-

womsit--& Ketchiquut (Titicut).

The last in the N W part on Taunton

R. where was an Ind. near.

Winslow & Co on a visit to Massasoit

8
9
10

in June 1621 stopped at Nemasket

before
--15 miles--the 1st night--"conceived by us

to be very near, because the inhabitants

flocked so thick upon every slight

occasion amongst us." &c &c q.v.

R. is a man of feeling--as

we were riding by a field in which a

man was shackling a sheep--which strug-

gled--R. involuntarily shouted to him--&

asked what would you do?

We left our horse & buggy at John

Kingman's & walked by Sampsons to

a hill called King Philips Lookout--

From which we got a good view of Assa-

wampsett & Long Ponds. There was

a good sized sail boat at Samp-

son's house now kept by a Barrow-- %X%

The shores were now surrounded with

now pale wine colored foliage--of maples

&c--& in land were seen the very fresh

green & yellow of pines contrasting

with the red (rubus) blackberry. The

highest land appears to be about the

NW end of the Ponds.

33
34

I saw at Kingman's long handled

but small scoopnets for taking young %{Barrow X}%

134

Praying: altered from praying; P written over p

107

alewives for pickerel bait-- They think

2
3
4

the white perch one of the best fish like a

5
6
7

Elders Pond--a little further north is said

%Not so deep as {shad}%
to be the deepest & clearest.%^%Walking

along the N. end of Long Pond--while

R. bathed-- I found amid the Rain-

cod--

bow rush--pipe wort (eriocaulon &c) &c

11
12
13

on the now broad flat shore--a very

pinkish rose-color
beautiful flower^new to me--& still

14
15
16

quite fresh--the Sabbatia chloroides

10 stamens & petal divisions
about 1 foot high
referred to Plymouth.^I also observed there

the very broad & distinct trail of an otter

in the wet sand to & from the water--with

the mark of its tail--though Kingman

did not know of any now hereabouts.

21
22
23

The arrowheads hereabouts are commonly

white quartz.
R. says gamble roof--this should be

gambrel--ap from the hind leg of a

horse--crooked like it.

Oct.3d

Copied the map of

Middleborough. Somewhat rainy--

28
29
30
31
32

Walked along shore of Acushnet

R pointed out to me the edible mushroom which he says
looking for shells. The shore was all
he loves raw even-- It is common now-alive with fiddler crabs, carrying their

fiddles--on one side--& their holes nearly

an inch over were very common & earth

35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45

heaped up. The samphire was turned

Atkinson in his Siberian & Steppe travels speaks of the
"Salsola plant" turned a
red in many places yielding to the
bright crimson-- On the Kirghis Steppes he says "in the
distance I could see salt lakes: I knew them to be
autumn-- Got some Quahogs--&
salt lakes by the crimson margins which encircled them." p 425.
Modiola plicatula (rayed mussel) the
] diggers135
also some pyrulas which are dug up alive by [
last was very abundant--^Gathered there

135

BW note from Morgan visit 1/02: Q. 108.43 alive by {rowed}--1906

hassand [?] prob. sand but cant tell; doesnt really look like sand-could it be abbreviation for something? looks like sproed. or spread. A.
This one is tough; I don't have an answer right now. I'm figuring there'll be
time to look at it again on another trip, when inspiration may strike. I
think the line should read also some pyrulas which are dug up alive by [
]
diggers (are instead of we), but I'm not positive. I want to think about
what that adjective could be. If the word is are instead of we, it could
be the name of a birddoesn't mean Thoreau and Ricketson didn't dig them up,
but that these ___ diggers do also.
108

ap. Wild Germander (Teucrium) out

of bloom & Iva frutescens--or high water

shrub--do. Sailed back up

the river in Arthur's whale boat with

3 sails-- Her side drank water through

a crack-- He gave 3 dollars for her

& spent 10 more in repairs--20 feet

long & worth originally perhaps $75.

9
10

If I had stayed longer we should

probably have gone to Cutty hunk in this--

P. m. Rode to see some

old houses in Fair Haven &c &c How

beautiful the evergreen leaf of the prinos

14
15
16

glabra--slightly tooth toward end!

1/4 of a mile
The Old Woods Place^off the road

17
18
19

looked like this {drawing} this part projects a little

%yet of stone%
the end showed the great stone

chimney--all stone to top--except

about hearth. The upper

story overlapped about 18 inches with the orna-

mental points of timbers dropping from it.

above this in from the shingles were rounded

{drawing} scale like-- There was one half of a

diamond window left in front--set

27
28
29

in lead--very thin lead with a groove in each side.

%for firing thro?%
for sash--& a narrow slit window--also another on

farther end. Chimney Mortarred. The old latch

to front door was primitive--ap. made by

village blacksmith.

33
34
35
36
37
38

Also an old house in the village of

Fair Haven said to have been standing
a ten footer
in Philips war-- A small house^
& chimney
with one end^wholly of stone--

109

1
2
3

The chimney quite handsome of this form

looking down on it {drawing}
Visited the studio in Fair Haven--of

a young Marine painter--built over

the waterthe dashing & gurgling of it com-

ing up through a grating in the floor.

He136 was out, but we found their painting

Van Best a well knon Dutch painter

of Marine pieces whom he has attracted

to him-- He talked & looked particularly

Dutchman-like. Then visited Fort %(%Nobscot%)X%

on a rocky point.

Oct 4

Rode to Westport--where R

wished to consult the Proprietors Records of

Dartmouth to find the names &c of

his ancestors. Passed through Smiths Mills

village--the older settlements--in Dartmouth

on the stream which comes from Sassacowens

Pond--then Westport137 about 3 miles beyond--

& crossed the Westport River to Giffords

a mile beyond, where the Records were.

Returning lunched by Westport Pond

in Dartmouth--said to contain 60

acres--but to only about 2 feet deep--

Saw a blue heron in it some rods from

the shore.--where the water did not

come up to its body--perhaps it might

have waded any when in it. It stood with

the side of its head toward us being wary of

us. When it moved walked with a peculiar

stooping & undulating gait in the water--

At length thrust its bill in as if feeding.138

136

He: altered from The; Th crossed to form H

137

Westport: altered from westport; W written over w

138

Written in left-hand margin: %x Phoenix%

110

that must be a rare place for it

to catch frogs & perhaps minnows in--

--though we were told that there only

turtle snakes--& pouts in it.

The vanes on this ride were often

a whale--rather a lumpish form, but

reminding us that the farmer had per-

haps been a whaler.

Oct 5th Rode to Plymouth with R in

his buggy-- After pas In the north

part of Rochester went into an old

uninhabited house which once belonged

to John Shearman. It had the

date 1753 engraved on an oblong

square stone in the stone chimney--

--though the chimney top had been

rebuilt with the old stone. The

18
19
20

house had a singular musty scent

joints above
when we opened it. The bare^rafters

in the kitchen all black with smoke.

In the cellar grew the apple Peru

Nicandra physaloides--then in bloom.

24
25

A short datura like blossom with a

large fruit like capsule.

After passing the neck between the

2 Quitticus Ponds we turned to the right

& passed by the Point Road between

the Great quitticus & Pockshire Ponds

This was a mere bar 1/2 a mile long

2 or 3 rods wide & built up above

high water with larger stones. We

rode with one wheel139 in the water--

There was in one place a stream

139

wheel: altered from well; wheel written over well

111

crossing it--& 2 or more bridges pre-

pared for high water-- Scared up

5 ap. black ducks. Continued

on towards Carver by small

winding country roads--via where

was once Nelsons' Meetinghouse--.

7
8
9

& along the east side of TispaThis was the name of the old Sachem of Namaskett
quin Pond^--near which in a field

R. picked up a young E picta's (?)

shell--which I have-- Beyond this

the country was almost uniformly

level sandy--oak wood with few

dwellings. Lunched near the boundary

of Carver. Passed Johns Pond--

16
17
18

& Wenham Pond--& others in Carver-passing a mile or more S of Carver Green

^& afterward Clear Pond in Plymouth.

We heard the blasting of at the Quincy

quarries--(so Watson told us) during

this ride--I think even as far back

as New Bedford Township--very distinctly.

Ac. to Bennet, writing 1793, (v Hist Coll)

Snipatuct Pond in Rochester has one

stream emptying into the sea at Matta

poisett Harbor & another 3/4 of a mile

long emptying into East Quitiquos Pond,--

--"So that the alewife fish come into Snip-

atuct pond from both streams."

In a description of Carver in the IV vol.

2nd series of the Hist. Col.--I read--"The

cast iron tea kettle was first cast

at Plympton (now Carver) between

1760 & 1765. So modern is this very

common utensil in New England.

112

Wrought iron imported tea kettles were

used before a copper tea kettle was

first used at Plymouth, 1702."

also

"A place called Swan Holt'

by the first planters, a little south-east

of Wenham Pond, denotes the former

visits of that bird, the earliest harbinger

of Spring; for before the ice is yet

broken up the swan finds an open

resting place among the osier holts, while

the kildee*, flying over the land from

the sea shore, soon after confirms the

vernal promise." A note adds--

*"A species of plover, probably the 'que ce

qu'il dit? of the French. It may be

added that Kildee is the Danish word

for a spring."

Lodged at Olneys (the old Hedge)

House140 in Plymouth.

Oct 6th

Nat. Hist. Library.

Return to Concord via--

De Kay calls the Pine marten the American

Sable.

24
25
26
27

Oct 8th
//

On River-- Flocks of tree-sparrows-by river--slightly warbling-- Hear141 a song-

//sparrow sing. See ap. White throated

sparrows hopping under covert of

the button bushes. Found my

boat yesterday full of willow

leaves after the rain. See no

tortoises now on the rocks & boards

It is too cold--

140

House: altered from house; H written over h

141

Hear: altered from hear; H written over h

113

Oct 10th

A young man has just

shown me a small duck which he

shot in the river from my boat.

I thought it a blue winged teal.

but it has no distinct beauty spot.

The bill broad & I would say from

8
9
10

remembrance--bluish black as are

& feet
the legs^not red or yellow or flesh-

color--webbed thus {drawing} Above black

& brown with no bright colors or

13
14
15

distinct white-- Neck brown beneath

tipped
& breast-- Secondaries pale bluish edged

with white. A little greenish perhaps on

the scapulars.

Mr Wm Allen--now here--tells me

18
19
20
21

that when some years ago a stream

in E. Bridgewater
near his house^--emptying into the Taunton

River was drained he found a plant

on the bottom very similar to sponge--

of the same form & color--say 6 inches

wide.

Oct 12th Pm up Assabet--

The leaves fallen ap. last night now

28
29
30

lie stuck on the water next the shore-Prob. maple chiefly--the Leaf Harvest call it.
concealing it--fleets of dry boats--blown

with a rustling sound. I see a painted

tortoise still out on shore-- Three142 of his

33
34
35

back scales are partly turned up & show

ready
fresh black ones^beneath. When I try to

draw these scales off they tear first in

my hand. They are covered as are all

the posterior ones--with a thick shaggy

142

Three: altered from Some; Three written over Some

114

& muddy fleece of moss (?) No wonder

they must shed their scales to get rid of

this. And now I see that the

six main anterior scales have already

been shed-- They are fresh black & bare

of moss. Ap. no fresh scales on the

sternum. Is not this the only way

they get rid of the moss &c which ad-

here to them?

Carried home a couple of rails which

I fished out of the bottom of the river

& left on the bank to dry about

3 weeks ago. One was a chestnut

which I have noticed for some

years on the bottom of the Assabet

16
17
18

just above the spring on the E side-deep

in a^hole-- It looked as if it had been

there a hundred years. It was so

heavy that C & I had as much as

we could do to lift it covered with

mud on to the high bank-- It was

scarcely lighter today--and I amused

myself with asking several to

lift one half of it after I had sawed

it in towo. They failed at first, not

being prepared to find it so heavy, though

they could easily lift it afterward. It

29
30
31

was a regular segment of a log & though

comparatively
the thin edge was^firm & solid the

sap wood on the broad & rounded side,

now that it had been lying in the

air was quite spongey--& had

opened into numerous great

115

chinks 5/8 of an inch wide by an

inch deep. The whole was of a

rusty brown externally having imbibed

some iron from the water. When split

up--it was of a dark blue black

if split parallel with the layers--

or alternately black & light brown

if split across them-- There were con-

centric circles of black as you looked

at the end coinciding nearly with

the circles of pores--perhaps 1/16 of an

inch wide-- When you looked at these

on the side of a stick split across the

circles--they reminded you of a striped

15
16
17

waistcoat--or sheepskin. But after

a little while
being exposed to the air^the whole

18
19
20

turned to an almost uniform pale

after a few weeks it became quite uniform
slate color^--the light brown turning

slate & the dark stripes also paling

into slate. It had a strong dye-stuff

like scent. & a

The other was a round oak stick &

though it looked almost as old as the first

was quite round even to the bark--& evidently

quite recent comparatively--though full

as heavy. The wood had acquired no

29
30
31
32
33
34

peculiar color-Some farmers load their wood with gunpowder to punish thieves.
Theres no danger that mine will be loaded.
Pieces of both of these sank at once in
On the 18th they floated after drying in my chamber-a pail of water.

Oct 13th Pm. To Conantum

The maples now stand like smoke along

the meadows.-- The bass is bare. A thick carpet

of white pine needles lies now lightly--1/2 an

116

inch or more in thickness above the

dark reddish ones of last year. Larks

in flocks in the meadows--showing the

white in their tails as they fly--sing sweetly

as in spring. Methinks I have seen one or

two Myrtle birds--sparrow-like.

Oct 14

Some sparrow-like birds--with yellow on

rump--flitting about on woodpile-- One

flies up against the house--& alights

on the window sill within a foot of me

inside--black bill & feet--yellow rump--

brown above--yellowish brown on head--cream-

colored chin--2 white bars on wings--tail

//black edged with white--the Yellow rump

warbler or Myrtle bird without doubt--

They fly to several windows though it is not

cold.

19
20

Pm up Assabet-//

The muskrats143 eat a good many clams

now--& leave their pearly shells open on

the shore-- Sometimes I find a little

one which they have brought ashore

in the night but left entire & alive.

The green-rayed ones are they not

a peculiar light blue within?

I still see the E. insculpta coupled.

the upper holding with its claws under the

edge of the lower shell.

Oct 15

Pm. Go to look for white-pine cones

but see none. Saw a striped squirrel

on a rail fence with some kind

143

muskrats: altered from muskrat; s added

117

1
2

%Was it milkweed seed?%

of weed in his mouth--%^%At length he

scud swiftly along the middle rail past

me. & instead of running over or around

the posts--he glided through the little hole

in the post left above the rails--as

swiftly as if there had been no post in

the way-- Thus he sped through 5 posts in

succession straight line--incredibly

quick--only stooping & straightening himself at the holes.

11
12
13
14
15
16
17

The hornets' nests are exposed, the maples

but the hornets are gone
being bare^I see one a very perfect
like a pitch pine cone
cone^--uninjured by the birds--about 12
by a marsh
feet from the ground--^3 feet from the

end of a maple twig--& upheld by

19
20
21
22
23

it alone passing through its top about

A few sere maple leaves adorn & partly conceal the crown at
an inch deep--7 1/2 inches wide by 8
the ends of slight twigs which are buried in it
long. What a wholsome color--some-

what like the maple bark--(& so again

25
26
27

concealed) laid on in successive layers

1/10 of an inch wide
in arcs of circles^eye-brow-wise--gray or

28
29
30
31
32

even white or brown. of various shades.

With a few dried maple leaves sticking out
the top of it.
Oct 16th
Pm to the White Pine Grove beyond Beck

Stow's. What has got all the cones? How

evenly the freshly fallen pine needles are

spread on the ground quite like a carpet

throughout this grove--no square foot

is left bare. I dug down with a

stick & found that the layers of 3

or 4 years could be distinguished with

considerable ease--& much deeper

118

the old needles were raised in flakes

or layers still. The topmost or this

years' were fauncolored--last years dark

dull reddish--& so they went on growing

darker & more decayed, till at the

depth of 3 inches--where perhaps the needles

were 15 or 20 years old they began to

have the aspect of a dark loose lying

virgin mould mixed with roots, (pine

cones & sticks--a little higher). The

freshly fallen needles lay as evenly strewn

as if sifted over the whole surface--giving

it a uniform neat faun color--tempting

one to stretch himself on it. They rested alike

on the few green leaves of pads--and the

fallen cones--& the cobwebs between them. In

every direction across one another like joggle

sticks. In course of years they are beaten by

rain & snow into a coarse thick matting

or felt--to cover the roots of the trees with.

I look at a grass bird on a

wall in the dry Great Fields-- There is

a dirty white or creamcolored line above the

24
25
26

eye & another from the angle of the mouth

close
beneath it & a white ring^about the eye--

The breast is streaked with this creamy white

& dark brown in streams as in the cover

of a book.

30
31
32

Oct 17th
Pm up River-- A fine Ind. sum//mer afternoon-- There is much gossamer

on the button bushes now bare of leaves

and on the sere meadow grass

119

looking toward the sun--in countless

parallel lines--like the ropes which con-

nect the masts of a vessel.

I see the roots of the great yellow

lily lying on the mud where they have

6
7
8

made a ditch in John Hosmer's Meadow

gray-colored when old & dry
for the sake of the mud.^Some are 3 1/2

inches in diameter with their great eyes

on protuberant shoulders where the

leaf-stalks stood in quincunx order around

them What rank vigor they suggest

--like serpents winding amid the mud

of the meadow-- You see where the

ditchers spade has cut them into masses

about as thick as long. What are those

clusters of cuplike cavities between the

eyes--some nearly a quarter of an inch in diam-

eter with a pistil like prominence within--?

I saw behind (or rather in front of)

me as I rowed home a little dipper

appear in mid river as if I had passed

right over him. It dived while I

looked--& I could not see it come

up anywhere--

26
27
28

Oct 18th
%after%
Last night I was reading Howitts

account of the Australian gold diggings--

& had in my mind's eye the numerous

31
32
33

valleys with their streams--all cut up

%from%
with deep foul pits%^%10 to 100 feet deep

34
35
36
37
38

& half a dozen feet across as close as

%half filled%
they can be dug--& half full of water-%{the
to which}%
where men furiously rushed to probe

120

for their fortunes. Uncertain where

they shall break ground--not knowing

but the gold is under their camp

itself. Sometimes digging 160 feet

before they strike the vein--or then

missing it by a foot-- Turned into de-

mons & regardless of each others rights

in their thirst after riches-- Whole

vallies for 30 miles suddenly honey-

combed by the pits of the miners so that

hundreds are drowned in them. Standing

in water & covered with mud & clay they

13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21

work night and day--dying of exposure &

%I say%
disease-- Having read this %^%--& partly for%accidentally%
gotten it--I was thinking%^%of my own
doing as others do
unsatisfactory life-- My eye but fixed
%and not keeping my {
} star constantly in sight%
without any fixed star habitually

22
23
24
25
26

in my eye--my foot not planted on

%&%
any blessed isle-- Then with that vision
%still%
of the diggings%^%before me I asked my-

self why I might not be washing

28
29
30

some gold daily--though it were

or %Why I%
only the finest particles--^might not

sink a shaft down to the gold

32
33
34
35
36
37

within me & work that mine.

There is a Ballarat or Bendigo for you-- What though it were
%solitary &%
Pursue some path--however %^% narrow &
a "Sulky Gully".
crooked--in which you can walk with

love & reverence-- Wherever a man

39
40
41
42
43

separates from the multitude &

%indeed%
goes his own way--there%^%is a fork in
%ordinary%
%may%
the road--though the travellers along

the high way see only a gap in

the paling--

144

%V 5 ps forward%144

Written vertically in left-hand margin: %At any rate--%

121

Pm. To Great meadows

to observe the hummocks left by the

ice. They are digging the pond at the

New Cemetery. I go by Peter's path--

How charming a foot path--Nihil

humanum &c-- I was delighted to find

a new foot path crossing this toward

Garfields. The broad & dusty roods

do not remind me of man so much

as of cattle & horses. There are a

great many crows scattered about

on the meadow-- What do they get

to eat there. Also I scare up a dozen

larks at once-- A large brown marsh-

hawk comes beating the bush along the

river--& ere long a slate col. one (male)--

with black tips is seen circling against

distant woodside. I scare up in

midst of the meadow a great

many dark colored sparrows--one

or 2 at a time--which go off with

22
23
24

a note somewhat like the lesser redpoll's

%prob-- what I think must be these larks in fall of 58%
--Some migrating kind I think,

There is a hummock--in the lower part

26
27
28

of the meadow near the river--every 2 or

%where they appeared so thick last year%
3 rods--sometimes consisting of that coarse

meadow grass or sedge--but quite

as often of145 the commoner meadow sod--

31
32
33

Very often it has lodged on one of those

the
yellowish circles of sedge--it being higher.

--Last winters hummocks are not much

flattened down yet. I am inclined

to think that the coarse sedgy

145

of: altered from or; of written over or

122

hummocks do not fall so round

at first but are wont to grow or

3
4
5

spread in that wise when a fragment

Perhaps the sedge is oftenest tipped because it is so coarse
has been dropped.^There is no life

perceptible on this broad meadow ex-

cept what I have named-- The crows

are very conspicuous--black against the

green-- The maple swamps bare of

leaves here & there about the meadow

look like smoke blown along the

edge of the woods. Some distinct

maples wholly stripped--look very whol-

some & neat--nay even ethereal.

Today my shoes are whitened with the

gossamer which I noticed yesterday on

the meadow grass. I find the white

18
19
20

fragments of a tortoise shell in the

30 or 40 pieces--straight sided polygons
meadow^--which ap. a hay cart

passed ove-- They look like broken

crockery. I brought it home & amused

myself with putting it together.

It is a painted tortoise. The variously

formed sections or component parts

of the shell are not broken but

only separated-- To restore them

to their places is like the game which

children play with pieces of wood com-

pleting a picture. It is surprising to ob-

serve how--these different parts are knitted

together by countless minute teeth on their

33
34
35

edges-- Then the scales which are

& therefore larger commonly
not nearly so numerous^are so placed

over the former as to break joints

123

always, as appears by those indented

lines at their edges--& the serrations of

the shell. These scales too slightly

over lap each other--i.e. the foremost

over the next behind--so that they may

not be rubbed off. Thus the whole

case is bound together like a very stout

band-box-- The bared shell is really

a very interesting study. The sternum

10
11
12

in its natural position looks sor like

well contrived
a^drag--turned up at the sides where it

is in one solid piece.

Noticed a single wreath of a blood red

black berry vine on a yellow sand slope

very conspicuous by contrast.

When I was surveying for Le Gross

as we went to our work in the morn-

ing we passed by the Dudly family tomb.

& Le Gross remarked to me all in

good faith--"Would'nt you like

to see old Daddy Dudley-- He lies

in there-- I'll get the keys if you'd

like-- I sometimes go in and look

at him.

The upper shell of this tortoise is formed

of curved rafters or ribs which are flatted out

to half an inch or 5/8 in width--but the

rib form appears in an elevated ridge

30
31
32
33
34

along the middle & in a spine at the lower

an
end fitting firmly into a deep hole in the edge
or process?
bone--& also a projection to meet the spinal

column at the upper end-- Some of these plates (?)

I fitted together far more closely & wonderfully

124

considering the innumerable sharp serrations

than any childs wooden sections of a

picture-- Yet it is impossible to put

the whole together again--so perfectly

do the plates interlock & dovetail into

each other at different angles--& they

could only have grown together & shrunk

apart. It is an admirable system of

breaking joints both in the arrange-

ment of the parts of the shell & in that

of the scales which overlap the serrations of

the former--

The sternum consists of 9 parts--there

being an extra triagonal or pentagonal

piece under the head or throat. The two

middle pieces on each side curve146 up-

ward to meet the edge bones--without any

18
19
20

serration or joint at the lower edge of

Nor is there any joint in the scales there.
the sternum there.

In the upper shell there appear to be 8 or

22
23
24

9 small dorsal pieces--about 16 rib pieces, &

or lateral marginal
about 22 edge^pieces-- But of the parts of the

upper shell I am not quite certain.

The sternum of the box turtle, & the

stink pot--are much flatter i.e. not

so much curved up at the sides & are nearer

to the upper shell--the Painted tortoise has

the flattest back--the C. Carolina the

highest & fullest (with a ridge) the stinkpot

the sharpest--the C. Blandingii is very

regularly arched-- The E insculpta--is of

moderate elevation (with a ridge).

These bright-red marks on the

146

curve: altered from curves; large e written over es

125

marginal scales of the painted tortoise

{drawing} remind me of some Chinese147 or

other oriental lacquer work--on

waiters (?)-- This color fades to a pale-

5
6
7
8

yellow-- The color is wholly in the

of the brightest colors, the yellow marks on tortoise
shells are the fastest.
scale above the bone.

How much beauty in decay-- I pick

up a white oak leaf--dry & stiff but

yet mingled red & green--october-like--

whose pulpy part some insect has eaten

beneath--exposing the delicate network

of its veins. It is very beautiful held up

to the light--such work as only an

insect eye could perform-- Yet perchance

to the vegetable kingdom such a revela-

tion of ribs is as repulsive as the skeleton

in the animal kingdom-- In each case

it is some little gourmand working for

21
22
23
24

its own another end--that reveals the

There are countless oak leaves in this
wonders of nature. condition now--& also with a sub-marginal
line of network exposed.

Men rush to California & Australia

as if there chiefly the true gold was to

be found in that direction--but that

is to go to the very opposite extreme to

that where it lies-- They go prospecting

further & further away from the true

31
32
33

lead--& are most unfortunate when

%they think themselves%
^most successful-- Is not our native

soil auriferous-- Does not a stream

from the golden mountains flow

36
37
38

through our native valley--& has it

%this%
not%^%for more than geologic ages

been bringing down the shining particles

147

Chinese: altered from chinese; C written over c

126

1
2

%forming%
and%^%the nuggets--%?% Yet strange

to tell if a digger steal away prospecting

for this true gold into the unexplored

5
6
7
8

solitudes, there is no danger alas

any
that^will dog his steps--& endeavor
to supplant him-- He may claim &

9
10
11
12
13

undermine the whole valley even

%uncultivated%
%both% the cultivated & uninhabited portions
%for%
the whole world
^ his whole life long in peace--& no

one will ever dispute his claim148--

They will not mind his cradles or

his toms. He is not confined to a

claim 12 feet square as at Ballarat--

but--but may mine anywhere &

19
20
21

wash the whole wide world in his tom. %v 5 ps

forward%
To rebuild the tortoise shell

is a far finer game than any geograph-

ical or other puzzle--for the pieces

do not merely make part of a plane surface

25
26
27

--but you have got to build a roof

the connecting walls
& a floor--& connect them-- These

are not only thus dovetailed & braced &

knitted & bound together--but also

held together149 by the skin & muscles within.

It is a band-box.

32
33

Oct 19th
Pm. To Pine Hill for chestnuts.

It is a very pleasant afternoon--

quite still & cloudless--with a thick

haze concealing the distant hills-- Does

not this haze mark the Indian Sum-

mer? I see Mrs Riorden & her

little boy coming out of the woods

148

claim: altered from claims; s cancelled

149

together: altered from by; together written over by

127

with their bundles of faggots on their

backs-- It is surprising what great

bundles of wood an Irish woman

will contrive to carry-- I confess that

though I could carry one-- I should

hardly think of making such a bundle

of them. They are first regularly tied

up & then carried on the back by

a rope--somewhat like the Indian

women & their straps. There is a strange

similarity--& the little boy carries his

bundle proportionally large. The sticks

about 4 feet long. They make haste

to deposit their loads before I see them

for they do not know how pleasant

a sight it is to me-- The Irish woman

does the squaw's part in many respects.

Riorden also buys the old rail-

road sleepers at 3 dolls a hundred--

but they are much decayed & full

of sand. Therien tells me--when

I ask if he has seen or heard any

large birds lately--that he heard

a cock crow this morning--a wild

one in the woods-- It seems a dozen

fowls (chickens) were lost out

of the cars here a fortnight ago.

Poland has caught some &

they have one at the shanty--but

this cock at least is still abroad

& cant be caught. If they could

survive the winter I suppose we

should have had wild hens before

128

now-- Sat and talked with Therien

at the Pond--by the RR-- He says

that James Baker told the story

of the perch leaping into a man's

throat &c. of his father or Uncle (Amos?)

The woods about the pond are

now a perfect October picture--Yet

there have been no very bright tints

this fall. The young white & the

10
11
12

shrub-oak150 leaves were withered before

late
the frosts came.--perhaps by the^drought

after the wet Spring.

Walking in E's path West of the

pond--I am struck by the conspicuous

wreathes of waxwork leaves about

the young trees--to the height of

12 or 15 feet. These broad & hand-

some leaves are still freshly green

though drooping or hanging more

closely about the vine--but con-

trast remarkably with the bare

trunks & the changed leaves above.

& around.

I hear many crickets by this path

& see many warily standing on the qui

vive in awkward positions--or runing

their heads under a chip--or prying

into a hole--but I can see none

30
31
32
33
34
35

//creaking. I see at last a few

%open%
white pine cones%^%on the trees--but almost
all appear to have fallen. The chestnuts
//are scarce & small--and ap. have but
just begun to open their burs--

150

shrub-oak: altered from shrub-oaks; s cancelled

129

1
2
3
4
5

That globular head of pale yellow

along the wood road
spheres of seed parachutes^(down)
is
seems to be the rough hawkweed

The single heads of savory leaved aster

7
8
9

are of the same color now-at 5 o clock

When returning^I pass the pond in

the road I see the sun which is about

entering the grosser hazy atmosphere

above the western horizon--brilliantly

reflected in the pond--a dazzling sheen

--a bright golden shimmer--his broad

sphere extended stretches the whole

length of the pond--toward me-- First

in the extreme distance I see a few sparkles

of the gold on the dark surface--then

begins a regular & solid colum of shimmering

gold--straight as a rule--but at

one place--where a breeze strikes the

surface--from one side it is remarkably

spread or widened--then recovers its straight

ness again-- Thus {drawing} Again151 it is

remarkably curved--say

thus {drawing}--then broken into

27
28
29
30
31

several pieces--then straight

Then spread and blown aside at or point like smoke from
a chimney
thus {drawing}
& entire again.^Of course

if there were eyes enough to oc-

33
34
35
36
37

cupy all the east side of the pond the

shore
whole pond would be seen a one dazzling
Such beauty & splendor
shimmering lake of melted gold. adorns our walks.

I measured the depth of the needles

under the pitch pines E of the RR--

(behind the old shanties) which as I remem

ber are about 30 years old--in

151

Again: altered from of; Again written over of

130

one place it is 3/4 of an inch in all

to the soil--in another 1 & 1/4--& in

a hollow under a larger pine about

4 inches. I think the thickness of the

needles old and new is not more than

1 inch there on an average. Then pines

are only 4 or 5 inches thick.

8
9
10

See slate col. snow birds.

Talking
Arguing with Bellew this evening about

Fourierism152 & communities--I said that

I suspected any enterprise in which 2

were engaged together. But said he

it is difficult to make a stick stand

unless you slant 2 or more against

it-- Oh no, answered153 I, you may

17
18
19

split its lower end into 3--or drive

which the last is the best way-it single into the ground^--but most

men when they start on a new en-

terprise not only figuratively but

actually really pull up stakes. When154

The sticks prop one another none or

only one--stands erect.

He showed me a sketch of Wachusett--

spoke of his life in Paris &c-- I asked

him if he had ever visited the Alps & sketched

there-- He said he had not. Had he been

to the White Mountains--"No" he an-

swered, "the highest mountains I have

31
32
33

ever seen were the Himalayas. Though

It seems that he
I was only 2 yearl old then"-- I was born

in that neighborhood."

35
36

He complains that one Americans have

attained to bad luxuries, but have

152

Fourierism: altered from fourierism; Top line added to f to form

153

answered: altered from said; answered written over said

154

When: altered from when; W written over w

131

1
2

no comforts.
Howitt says of the man who

found the great nugget which

weighed 28 pounds at the Bendigo

diggings in Australia "He soon began

to drink; got a horse and rode

all about, generally at full gallop,

and when he met people, called

out to inquire if they knew who

he was, and then kindly informed

them that he was the bloody wretch

that had found the nugget.' At last

he rode full speed against a tree,

14
15
16
17
18
19

and nearly knocked his brains out.

In my opinion There was no danger for
%{of that though}%
He is a hopelessly ruined man;--"^He
%{added Howitt}%
had already knocked his brains out

against the nugget-- But he is a

type of the class-- They are all fast men.

Hear some of the names of the places

where they dig--"Jackass Flat--"Sheep's-head

24
25
26
27
28
29

Gully."--"Sulky Gully" "Murderer's Flat" &c

%Bar%
%Is there no permanent {satire} in these names.-- Let
Let them carry their ill-gotten wealth where they will--Whether to
Beacon St. or Broadway it will still be Jackass flat &c &c where they live.%
Oct 20th
P. m.

31
32
33
34
35

To Nawshawtuck. Agreeable
withered &
to me is the scent of the^decaying leaves
pontederias
& pads^on each side as I paddle up

the river this still cloudy day--with the

faint twittering or chirping of a sparrow

still amid the bare button bushes--

It is the scent of the year passing

away like a decaying fungus--but

leaving a rich mold I trust.

On the 18th ult I found the Great

132

Meadows wet--yet Beck stow's was

remarkably dry-- Last summer

the case was reversed.

I find here & there on the hill apples

5
6
7

sometimes 3 or 4--carried to the mouth of

4 or 5 rods from the tree
a striped squirrel's hole^--with the marks

of his teeth in them--by which he carried them--

and the chankings or else fragments

of the skin of others there. There is no

heap of sand to betray these little holes

but they but they descend perpendicularly

in the midst of a clean sod.

I was at first admiring the beauty of

15
16
17

//the wild apples--now is the time--some

freckled &
^with blood red spots--othe & perhaps also

touched with a greenish rust here & there

like a fine lichen or fungus.

I see on the dead top of a hickory

twittering very much like swallows--18 &

more blue-birds--perhaps preparing

to migrate

I have collected & split up now quite

25
26
27

a pile of drift wood--rails--& riders--&

& stumps
stems^of trees--perhaps 1/2 or 3/4 of a tree.

It is more amusing not only to collect

this with my boat & bring up from

the river on my back--but to split it

also--than it would be to speak

to farmer for a load of wood--

& to saw & split that. Each stick

I deal with has a history & I read

it as I am handling it--and last

of all I remember my adventures

133

in getting it while it is burning in

the winter evening-- That is the most

interesting part of its history-- It has made

part of a fence or a bridge per chance

or has been rooted out of a clearing &

bears the marks of fire on it. When

I am splitting it I study the effects of

water on it--and if it is a stump the

curiously winding grain--by which it

separates into so many prongs--how

to take advantage of its grain--&

split it most easily.

a dry oak stump will split pretty ea-

sily in the direction of its diameter--but

not at right angles with it--or along

its circles of growth.-- I got out

some good knees for a boat--

I find that

Thus one half the value of my wood

is enjoyed before it is housed--and the other

half is equal to the whole value of an

equal quantity of the wood which

I buy.

Some of my acquaintances have been

wondering why I took all this pains

--bringing some nearly 3 miles by water--&

have suggested various reasons for it.

I tell them in my despair of making

28
29
30

them understand me, that it is a

%which it has proved%
profound secret--%^%yet I did hint to

them that one reason was that I

wanted to get it.

33
34

I take some satisfaction in eating my

food, as well as in being nourished by it.

134

I feel well at dinner time as well

as after it.

The world will never find out why you

dont love to have your bed tucked up

for you--why you will be so perverse.

I enjoy more drinking water

at a clear spring, than out of a goblet

8
9
10

at a gentleman's table-- I like best the

bread
cake which I have baked--The gar-

ment which I have made--the shelter

which I have constructed--the

fuel which I have collected gathered.--

It is always a recommenda-

tion to me to know that a man has

ever been poor--has been regularly born

into this world--knows the language.

I require to be assured of certain

philosophers that they have once been

bare-footed--foot sore--have eaten

a crust because they had nothing

better--& know what sweetness

resides in it.

I have met with some barren accomp-

lished gentlemen who seemed to have been

to school all their lives & never had

a vacation to live in. Oh If they could

only have been stolen by the Gypsies!

& carried far beyond the reach of

30
31
32

their guardians! They had better have

& been buried under the leaves
died in infancy--^their lips besmeared

with blackberries & cock-robin

for their sexton--

135

Oct 21st

It began to rain about 10 o'clock

last evening after a cloudy day--&

4
5
6
7
8

it still rains gently but steadily this

The wind must be east--for I hear the church bell very plainly-morning.^Looking into the yard I see
Yet I sit with an155 open window it is so warm.
the currant bushes all bare of leaves,

as they have been some time--but the

goose berries at the end of their row are

covered with reddened leaves. This grad-

ualness in the falling & changing156 of

the leaves produces agreeable effects

& contrasts. The currant row is bare

15
16
17

but the goose berries at the end are full of

%scarlet%
red leaves--still.

I have never liked to have so many rich

fruits ripening at the same season--

When porter apples, for instance, are

ripe--there are also other early apples

& pears & plums & melons &c-- Nature

by her bounteousness thus disgusts us

with a sense of repletion--and un-

cleanness even-- Perhaps any one of

these fruits would answer as well as

all together. She offers us too many

good things at once.

I enjoyed getting that large oak stump

from Fair157 Haven some time ago & bringing

it home in my boat. I tipped it in with

the prongs up & they spread far over the

sides of the boat. There was no passing

amid ships-- I much enj-oyed this easy

carriage of

aquid159 from far--I enjoyed every stroke

158

it floating down the Musket-

155

an: altered from &; an written over &

156

falling & changing: T. marked these words for transposition with a

wavy line
157

Fair: altered from fair; top line added to f to form F

158

it...port (lines 136.34-137.2) numbered by T. for transposition

with I...paddle (lines 137.3-8)
159

Musketaquid: altered from musketaquid

136

1
2
3
4
5
6

of my paddle every rod of my progress

so easily
which advanced me^nearer to my port-It was a great stump & sunk my
boat considerably & its prongs were

so in the way that I could take

but a short stroke with my paddle.

9
10
11

It was as good as to sit by the best

still
oak wood fire. I^enjoy such a convey-

ance--such a victory--as much as boys

do riding on a rail. All the upper-

14
15
16

part of this when I came to split it--I

reduced to
found to be very finely honey-combed--^a

coarse cellular mass ap. by shrinkage

& wasting--but it made excellent fuel

never the less--as if all the combustible

part remained. %Only the earthy had returned to earth%

When Allen was here the other day I

found that I could not take 2 steps

with him. He taught school in Concord

17 years ago & has not been here since--

--He160 wished much to see the town again

but nothing living & fair in it-- He

had I should say a very musty recollection

of it. He called on no living creature among

all his pupils--but insisted on going into

the New161 Burying Ground & reading all

31
32
33

the epitaphs. I waited at the gate

that ground
telling him that it^did not smell

good I remembered when the first

body was placed in it. He did however

36
37
38

ask after one or two juvenile scamps

& one idiotic boy
^who came to schoold to him--how they

had turned out--& also after a

160

He: altered from he; H written over h

161

New: altered from new; N written over n

137

certain caged fool--since dead since he was

here--who had lived near where he boarded--

3
4
5

also after a certain ancient tavern since

now
pulled down--this at odd intervals, for

he improved all the rest of his time while

he was here in attending a sabbath school

convention.

I have been thinking over with father the

old houses in this street-- There was the

Hubbard (?) house at the fork of the roads--

The Thayer (Bo house--(now Garrisons) The Sam

Joness now Channings-- Willoughby Prescots

(a bevel roof--which I do not remember) where

Lorings is-- (Hoars was built by a Prescott)--

Ma'm Bonds. The Jones Tavern (Bigelow's)

The old Hurd (or Cumming's?) house-- The Dr

Hurd House-- The Old Mill--& The Richardson

Tavern (which I do not remember-- On this

side-- The Monroe house in which we lived

21
22
23

--The Parkman House in which Wm Heywood

20 years ago
told me^that he helped raise the rear of

60 years before--(it then sloping to one story

25
26
27
28
29

behind) & that then it was called an

Dr Ripley said that a Bond built it.
old house^. The Merrick house-- A roughBetty?162
cast house where Bates is^--& all the

S side of the mill dam-- Still further

from the center--the old houses & sites are

about as numerous as above-- Most

of these houses--slanted to one story behind--

Pm up Assabet.

A damp cloudy day only after all & scarcely

any rain-- A good day for all Hunters to be

out--especially on the water.

162

Betty: altered from betty; B written over b

138

The yellowish leaves of the black oak

incline soon to a decayed & brown-look--

The red oak is more red. But the

scarlet is very bright & conspicuous--

5
6
7

How finely its leaves are cut against

with sharp points
the sky--^especially near the top of the

tree-- They look somewhat like double

or treble crosses. The squirrels appear

to have stript this tree entirely & I find the

fragments of nut shells beneath it-- They

have also eaten the white--& red--& black

oak acorns very generally--but there are

more of the last left-- Further up

on the big red maple in Wheelers swamp

I see 2 gray squirrels chasing each

other round & round the trunk of the

tree--now close to each other--now

far apart--one stealing off behind

a limb--& now resting on opposite sides

of the trunk--where they might not be

noticed being of the same color with

the bark--indifferently with their heads

down or up. Then away goes one

out on a twig & leaps in to the

next tree & the other swiftly follows

& sometimes when the twig is slight or

chiefly leaves they leap into--they have

to make a swinging someseret of it

to save themselves while they cling to it.

At length they separate to feed &

I see them running up to the very

tops of the Swamp White oaks & out

to the extremities of the bows & jumping

139

at the extreme twig which bears acorns

which they cut off & devour--sitting on

a firmer limb. It is surprising how rapidly

they devour one after anothe droping

the cups & scales--& bits of the meat.

It is surprising also to observe when one

wishes to reach a certain part of a neigh-

boring tree how surely he runs back to the

trunk & then selects the right limb by

which to reach it--without any hesitation

as if it new the road.

You see around the muskrat houses

a clear spaces where they have cut off

the pontederias of which they are built--&

now after last nights rain--the river

is risen some--& the pontederia roots &c

which have been eaten by them are washed

up together next the shore.

That ap. shell-less snail or slug which

is so common this damp day under

21
22
23

apple trees--eating the apple--is evidently

the division gasteropoda
one of the naked Mollusca^--a limax.

perhaps the limax tunicata of Gould

--he describes but one other species.

26
27
28

Almost all wild apples are handsome

or on the stem side
Some are gnurly & peppered all over^with fine

crimson spots--on a yellowish white

ground--others have crimson blotches or

eyes more or less confluent & fiery when wet

--for apples like shells and pebbles are

handsomest in a wet day. Taken from

under the tree on the damp sward

they shrivel & fade-- some have these

140

spots beneath a reddened surface with

obsure rays. Others have hundreds

3
4
5
6
7
8
9

of fine bloodred rays running regularly

the
though broken from stem to blossom
dimple the
like meridian lines--on a straw colored
perfect spheres
ground--^Others are a deep dark red

with very obscure yet darker rays--others

a uniform clear bright red approaching

to scarlet.

Oct 22nd

Another cloudy day without rain.

P. m. to Fair Haven Hill via Hubbards

Grove--

How welcome this still cloudy day--

an inward sunniness more than

makes up for the want of an

20
21
22

external one. As I pass this grove

open
I see the^ground strewn & colored

with the yellow leaves which have

been wafted from a large black

birch 10 rods within the wood.

I see at a distance the scattered

birch tops like yellow flames amid

the pines--also in another direction

the red of oaks in the bossoms of

30
31
32

a pine wood--& in sproutlands

& uniform
on Fair Haven the deep^red of young

oaks.

34
35

I sat on a bank at the brook crossing be//yond the grove to watch a flock of seringos

perhaps savannah sparrows--which with some

F hiemalis & other sparrows were actively flitting

about amid the alders & dogwood

141

At last I saw one resting a moment

to prune himself--& in this operation he

opened his plumage very thoroughly to me--

Distinct yellow eye brows extending round

beneath the bill--tail blackish and dusky--

primaries bay or chestnut--2ndaries? edged

with white--some white lines on shoulders--

8
9
10

pale-flesh col-- bill & legs--toward vent

%Was I sure?%
beneath pure white. Suddenly a pigeon%^%-

hawk dashed over the bank very low &

within a rod of me & striking its wings

13
14
15

against the twigs with a clatter close

sparrow
to a bird which escaped--it alighted amid

the alders in front within 4 rods of me--

It was attracted attracted by the same

objects which attracted me. It sat a

few moments balancing itself & spreading

its tail and wings--a chubby little

fellow-- Its back appeared a sort of

deep chocolate brown. Every sparrow at once

concealed itself apparently deep in the bushes

next the ground-- Once or twice he dashed

down there amid the alders & tried to

catch one. In a few minutes he skimmed

along the hedge by the path--& disappeared

westward-- But presently hearing the sound

of his wings amid the bushes I look up

& saw him dashing along through

the willows & then out & upward high

over the meadow in pursuit of a

sparrow (perhaps a seringo)--the sparrow

flew pretty high & kept doubling

142

1
2

within a dozen or 15 rods of me.

When it flew direct the hawk gained and

got within 2 or 3 feet of it--but

when it doubled it gained on the hawk--

so the latter soon gave up the chase

& the little bird flew off with high

over my head with a panting breath &

a rippling ricochet flight toward the

9
10
11

high pine grove-- When I passed

the path
along^10 minutes after I found that

all those sparrows were still hid

under the bushes by the ditch side

close to the ground--& I saw nothing of

15
16
17
18
19
20

them till I scared them out by going

No doubt they warned each other
within 2 or 3 feet. by a peculiar note.
What a corsair the hawk is to them! A little fellow hardly
bigger than a quail.
Birds &c163 certainly are afraid of man--they

all other creatures cows & horses &c--

excepting only or or 2 kinds birds or

beasts of prey to come near them, but

not man-- What does this fact

signify? Does it not signify that

man too164 is a beast of prey to them?

Is he then a true lord of creation

whose subjects are afraid of him

& with reason? They know very well

that he is not humane, as he pre-

tends to be.

In Potters pasture as you go to

F. H. Hill--where he had grain in

the summer--the great mullein leaves

are strewn as thick as planted turnips

that have been sown-- This the first

year. The next I suppose they will blossom.

163

&c: altered from -; &c written over -

164

too: altered from to; o added

143

They have felled & carted off that middling sized

white oak just beyond-- I count about 120

rings of growth. In potters maple swamp--

where the red maple leaves lie in thick

beds on the ground what a strong--

mustiness--even sourness in some places--

Yet I like this scent--With the present

associations sweet to me is the musti-

ness of the grave itself. I hear a hyla

The swamp pyrus--Amelanchier--is leafing

again-- One opening leaflet is an

inch long while the reddish yellow

13
14
15

leaves still hold on at the end of

Its
the twig above-- These green swolen

buds are generally conspicuous curving

round the stems. There is a twig full of those

dead black leaves on one. It is a

new spring there. I hear the sound

of the first flail from Wm Wheeler's

barn. I mark the gray diverging

stems of the dogwood which is now

bare--topped with the long recurved

dry panicles like loose barbs.

//
//

I think that the trees generally have not

worne very brilliant colors this month--

but I find today--that many small

shrubs in the which have been protected by

the forest--are remarkably fair & bright.

30
31
32

--They perhaps have not felt the drought

They are the best preserved and the most delicately tinted
nor been defaced by insects--^I see the

33
34
35

maple viburnum leaves a dark dull

%spotted%
%^%crimson toward the edges--like some

wild apples--

I distinguish it from the red-

144

maple at first only by its downy feeling

2
3
4

beneath & the simple form of some leaves

These have also a short petiole & not a sharp sinus
^Then there is the more or less crimson

nudum viburnum--passing from scarlet 1

6
7
8

through crimson--to black spotted 2

The blackness spreads very fast in one night
crimson in its decay.^The^scarlet

blueberries & the redder huckleberries--

glossy

--the scarlet choke berry or vermillion

some red maples which ar yellow

with only scarlet eyes. But still in

the shade & shelter of the woods as

14
15
16
17
18

fair as anything the leaves of the

so clear of injury from insects
wild cherry--^passing from green
cherry red
through yellow or a^reddish yellow

19
20
21
22

to the palest & purest imaginable

The palest fawn with a mere of tinge of cherry--with their fine
over lapping serrations
twisted
cherry color^-- Those great^yellow

leaves of hickory sprouts--yellow &

green from which I used to drink--

& here is165 a very handsome orange

26
27
28

red high blackberry leaf with its 5

all perfect--most are dark red
leafets--^But all these like shells

& pebbles must be seen on their own

seashore. There are 2 seasons

when the leaves are in their glory

their green & perfect youth in June

& this their ripe old age. Some of

the very young oak leaves have the deepest

35
36
37

lustreless or inward scarlet of any.

reddish
in the woods
Most of the^oak leaves now^are spotted

mildewed as it were by the drip from above.

Brought home the 3 kinds of Lechea

whose pretty whorls of radical shoots or branches

are now methinks more conspicuous than

165

is: altered from a; is written over a

145

before. I should distinguish the 2 lesser

by the one having larger pods--& being

more slender taller & more simple every-

way--the other low bushy--spreading--the

Branches making a larger angle with the

stems--fine leaved, small & few pods--&

the radical shoots (alone of the 3 specimens

I have) very densely branched & leafed. Those

of the other two are simple. All have a

10
11
12

part of the radical leafets above recurved.

The Plymouth fishermen have just come home from the Banks except one
Oct 23d

Pm to Saw Mill Brook.

The streets are strewn with buttonwood

leaves--which rustle under your feet

and the children are busy raking

them into heaps--some for bonfires--

The large elms are bare--not yet

the buttonwoods-- The sugar maples on

the common stand dense masses

21
22
23

of rich yellow leaves with a deep scarlet

far more than blush-- They are remarkably brilliant this year
blush^on the exposed surfaces. The last

are as handsome as any trees in the

street. I am struck with the hand

some form & clear though very pale

say lemon yellow of the black birch

leaves on sprouts in the woods--finely

serrate--& distinctly plaited--from

30
31
32

the mid rib. I plucked 3 leaves from

%an underwood%
the end of a red maple shoot %^% each

successively smaller than the last--the

brightest & clearest scarlet that

I ever saw-- These & the birch attracted

universal admiration when laid on

146

1
2
3
4

& passed round the supper table

a sheet of white paper^& several inI never saw such colors painted.
quired particularly where I found them.

5
6
7
8

--They were without spot--ripe leaves

Yet some spots appeared & they were partly wilted the next morning
%{so delicate are they}%
The small willows 2 or 3 feet high

9
10
11

by the roadside in woods--have some

chrome
with a gloss
The sprouts are later to
rich deep^yellow leaves^-ripen & richer colored.

The pale whitish leaves of hore hound

in damp grassy paths with its spicy fruit

in the axils--are tinged with purple or lake

more or less

Going through what was E. Hosmers

Muck hole pond now almost entirely

dry--the surface towards the shore

is covered with a dry crust more

or less cracked--which crackles

under my feet-- I strip it up

like bark in long pieces 3/4 of an

inch thick & a foot wide & 2 long--

It appears to be composed of fine mosses

& perhaps utricularia & the like such as

grow in water. A little sphagnum is

quite conspicuous erect, but dry, in it.

Now is the time for chestnuts166.

A stone cast against the tree shakes

them down in showers upon ones head

& shoulders-- But I cannot excuse

myself for using the stone-- It is

not innocent--it is not just so to

maltreat the tree that feeds us--

I am not disturbed by considering that

if I thus shorten its life I shall

not enjoy its fruit so long--but

am prompted to a more innocent

166

chestnuts: altered from chestnut; s added

147

course by motives purely of humanity--I

sympathize with the tree-- Yet I heaved

a big stone against the trunk, like

a robber--not too good to commit murder--

I trust that I shall never do it against

These gifts should be accepted not merely

with gentleness but with a certain humble

gratitude. The tree whose fruit we

would obtain should not be too rudely

shaken even-- It is not a time of distress

when a little haste & violence even might

be pardoned-- It is worse than boorish

it is criminal to inflict an unnecessary

injury on the tree that feeds or

shadows us-- Old trees are our

parents--& our parents' parents perchance.

If you would learn the secrets of

Nature you must practise more

19
20
21
22
23

humanity than others.

Faded white-ferns now at Saw Mill brook-The thought that I was robbing
they press--yellow or straw color-myself by injuring the tree did not

occur to me--but I was affected as if

I had cast a rock at a sentient being

with a duller sense than my own

it is true--but yet a distant re-

lation. Behold a man cutting down

a tree to come at the fruit--! What

is the moral of such an act?

Ah we begin old men in crime--

would that we might grow innocent

at last as the children of light.!

A downy woodpecker on an apple tree

utters a sharp shrill rapid--tea te t,t,t,

t t t t t.

148

1
2
3
4
5

Is that tall weed in Mrs Brook's

Cacalia Suaveolens??
//Yard Nabalus Cropidineus?
Yet stem more angled than grooved. 4 or 5 feet high--Some time ago.
Cousin Charles writes that his horse

drew 5286 pounds up the hill

from Hales Factory at Cattle show

in Haverhill the other day.

9
10

Oct 24th
Rained last night & all this day

for the most part--bringing down

the leaves--button woods & Sugar

maples in the street. The167 rich yellow

& scarlet leaves of the sugar maple

on the Common--which now thickly

cover the grass in great circles about

the trees--1/2 having fallen--look

like the reflection of the trees in

19
20
21

water--& light up the common reflectsurrounding

ing light even to the common houses.

The gentle touch of the rain brings

down more leaves than the wind.

Looked at the old picture

of Concord at Mrs Brooks--she says

by a Minott an uncle (or grand uncle?)

of hers--

There are the British marching into

town in front of the meeting house--&

facing about in front where the

Tavern now stands-- Scattered Britons168

going up the Main street & about the

town--& 2 officers on the Burying Hill

looking N with a spy glass--

The meeting house stands as I

remember it--but with 3 stories of windows

door in front toward common--

167

The: altered from &; The written over &

168

Britons: altered from britons; B written over b

149

1
2

horse sheds & noon? houses behind & one side.

and no porches or spire--^The Jarvis

house then Wrights tavern very plain-- A

Bevel roofed house endwise to the road where

5
6
7
8
9

the Middlesex House169 is--which Mrs B-- calls

%Yes & Pres. Langdon lived there%
the Dr. Minot House?? then a little hut then
%the same altered was the tavern I knew--%
the Old Courthouse about where the brick

school house is--(This the extreme right)--

Left of the bevel roofed house is a small house

where the stable & sheds are, some say Betty Harts-

hornes Then a small building on the Milldam170--

--then the Old mill-- The Vose House plain

3 stories, another house just beyond & ap. in front

of it-- E. Hubbards plain & a small house

back & towards the Vose House & a dozen

or 15 provincials there-- Then some

houses prob Peter Wheeler 3 or 4 Store Houses--

Whence Redcoats are rolling barrels in to

the pond--& may be partly from E Hubbard's.

& Perhaps that is the Timothy & after

Peter Wheeler House seen a little further east--

Where N Stow's house is now-- A large house

ap. Where the brick house is--& a row seen

behind it up the street-- Dr Hurd house

& 4 small buildings far behind it. &

others seen up street behind Hurd house--

But we see no further up in the street than

where N. Brooks now lives-- Beyond the

town appears well wooded--Lee's Hill

also on this side-- Great & little Wachu-

sett are seen in the horizon & Nobscot.

169

House: altered from house; H written over h

170

Milldam: altered from milldam; M written over m

150

1
2

Oct 25th
Quite cold it has cleared up after

the rain-- Pm. I row up the river

which has risen 8 or 9 inches-- After

those171 pleasant & warm days it

is suddenly cold & windy--& the

risen waters have an angry look--

It is uncomfortable rowing with

wet hands in this wind-- The

muskrats must now prepare for

winter in earnest-- I see many places

where they have left clam shells re-

cently. Now gather all your ap-

ples--if you have not before--or the

frost will have them. The willows

16
17
18

along the river now begin to

somewhat
look faded &^bare and wintry.

The dead wool-grass &c characterizes

the shore-- The meadows look sere &

straw colored.

22
23

Oct 26 Pm to Conantum.
Another clear cold day--though

not so cold as yesterday. The light

& sun come to us directly & freely as

if some obstruction had been removed--

the windows of heaven had been washed.

The old house on Conantum

is fast falling down. Its chimney laid

30
31
32

in clay measures on the lower floor-across the hearth oven & a small fireplace
12 1/2 feet in breadth^--parrallel with

the end of the house-- On a level with

the chamber floor it measures on the

front side 8 feet.

171

The mantle

those: altered from the; cross added at top of t to form T

151

tree of a small fire place in the a

chamber is an oak joist with the

inside corner sloped off thus {drawing}. That

of the great Kitchen fire place is

a pine timber 10 inches by 13 also with

a great sloped surface within showing

traces of fire. {drawing} The small girders (?)

of the roof overlap a foot or more on

the rafters (?)172. I see some farmers now

cutting up their corn. The sweet vibur-

num leaves hang thinly on the bushes and

are a dull crimsonish red. What apples

are left out now I presume that the

farmers do not mean to gather-- The

witch-hazel is still freshly in flower--&

near it I see a houstonia in bloom

The hill side is slippery with new fallen

white pine leaves-- The leaves of the oaks

& hickories have begun to be browned--lost

their brilliancy. I examine some frost

weed there near the hazel. It is still quite

22
23
24

alive--indeed just out of bloom. & its

the leaves now a purplish brown.
bark at the ground is quite light &

entire-- Pulling173 it up I find bright

pink shoots to have put forth 1/2 an inch

long--& starting even at the surface of the

sod. Is not this as well on its second

blossoming, somewhat peculiar to this

plant--? & may it not be that when

at last the cold is severe the sap is

frozen & bursts the bark & the breath

of the dying plant is frozen about

it?

172

(?): altered from -

173

Pulling: altered from pulling

152

I return by way of the Mockernut

2
3
4
5
6

trees-- The squirrels have already begun

trees
on them, though they^ are still covered
& the nuts do not fall
with yellow & brown leaves.^It is sur-

prising to see how they have gnawed

in two & made wrecks of the great hard

nuts--not stopping to take any advantage.

A little this side I see a red squirrel

dash out from the wall--snatch an apple

12
13
14

from amid many on the ground, &

swiftly
running^up the tree with it proceed

proceed to eat it--sitting on a

smooth dead limb with its back to

the wind--& its tail curled close over its

back. It allows me to approach within

8 feet-- It holds up the apple between its

two fore paws & scoops out the pulp

mainly with its lower incisors making

a saucer-like cavity--high & thin at the

edge where it bites off the skin & lets

it drop. It keeps its jaws agoing very fast--

from time to time turning the apple

round & round with its paws--(as it eats)

like a wheel in a plane at right angle

to its body. It holds it up & twirls

it with ease. Suddenly it pauses--having

taken alarm at something--then drops

the remainder of the apple in hollow of

the bough & glides off by short snatches

uttering a faint sharp bird-like

note.

35
36

The song sparrow still sings on

a button bush.

153

A columbine leaf curiously marked by the

eating of an insect--a broad white trail cor-

responding mainly to the lobes of the leaf.

That little grayish green & rigid moss-

like plant on top of Lee's Cliff now dropping

fine orange colored pellets or spores (?) seems to be

the Selaginella rupestris.?

8
9

I sometimes think that I must go off

to some wilderness where I can have a

better opportunity to play life--where can

find more suitable materials to build

my house with--and enjoy the pleasure

of collecting my fuel in the forest.

I have more taste for the wild sports

of hunting fishing--wigwam building--

making garments of skins & collecting

wood wherever you find it--than

for butchering--farming--carpentry--

working in a factory--or going to a

wood market.

21
22

Oct 27 Pm-A-chestnutting down the Turnpike--

There are many fringed gentians, now

considerably frostbitten, in what was E.

Hosmer's meadow between his dam &

the road. It is high time he came

a-nutting for the nuts have

nearly all fallen--and you must

29
30
31

depend on what you can find on the

%left by the squirrels-- & cannot shake down any more to speak of%
ground%^%. The trees are nearly all bare of

leaves as well as burs. The wind comes

cold from the N.W. as if there were

snow on the earth in that di-

154

1
2
3

I try one of the wild apples in my desk-//rection. Larches are yellowing

It is remarkable that the wild apples

which I praise as so spirited & racy when

eaten in the fields & woods--when brought

into the house have a harsh and crabbed

taste-- As shells and pebbles must be

beheld on the sea shore, so these October

fruits must be tasted in a bracing walk

amid the somewhat bracing airs of late

October-- To appreciate their wild & sharp

12
13
14

flavors it seems necessary that you

or November
be breathing the sharp October^air--

The outdoor air & exercise which the

walker gets give a different tone to his

palate--& he craves what the a fruit

which the sedentary would call harsh

and crabbed even. The palate rejects

a wild apple eaten in the house--(so

of haws & acorns)--and demands

a tamed one--for here you miss that

October air which is the wine it is

eaten with. I frequently pluck wild apples

of so rich & spicy a flavor that I wonder

all orchardists do not get a scion from

them--but when I have brought home

28
29
30

my pockets full & taste them in the house-unexpectedly

they are^harsh crude things. They must

be eaten in the fields when your sys-

tem is all aglow with exercise-- The

frosty weather nips your fingers (in Novem-

ber) the wind rattles the bare boughs &

rustles the leaves--& the jay is heard

screaming around.

155

1
2

So there is one thought for the field,

another for the house.

I would have my thoughts--like wild

apples, to be food for walkers--& will

not warrant them to be palateable

if tasted in the house.

To appreciate the flavor of those wild apples

requires vigorous & healthy senses--papillae

firm & erect on the tongue & palate--not

easily tamed & flattened. Some of those apples

11
12
13
14

might be labelled--To be eaten in the wind."

%It takes a healthy out-doors appetite--to relish the apple of life
--the apple of the world.%
Oct 28th

P. m. By boat to Leaning hemlocks-- I think

it was the 18th ult that I first noticed

snow fleas on the surface of the river amid

the weeds at its edge-- Green leaves are

now so scarce that the polypody at

20
21
22

the Island rock-- is174 more conspicuous.

& the terminal shield fern (?) further up
As I paddle under the hemlock bank this

cloudy afternoon--about 3 o'clock--I

see a screech owl sitting on the edge of

a hollow hemlock stump about 3 feet

high, at the base of a large hemlock.

It sits with its head drawn in eyeing me

with its eyes partly open--about 20 feet

29
30
31

off--

great glaring golden iris-- You see 2

whitish triangular lines above the eyes meeting

at the bill--and acc with a sharp reddish

brown triangle between & a narrow curved

hue of black under each eye-- At

this175 distance & in this light you see

When it hears me move--it turns its

perhaps
head toward me--^one eye only open--with its

174

is: altered from are; is written over are

175

this: altered from the; this written over the

156

only a black spot where the eye is

& the question is whether the eyes are

open or not. It sits on the lee side

of the tree this raw & windy day-- You

5
6
7

would say that this was a bird withshort

out a neck-- Its^bill which rests upon

its breasts scarcely projects at all--but

in a state of rest the whole upper part

of the bird from176 the wings is rounded off

smoothly excepting the horns--which

stand up conspicuously or are slanted

back. After watching it 10 minutes from

the boat I landed 2 rods above

& stealing quietly up behind the hem-

lock--though from the windard--I looked

carefully round it & to my surprise saw the

owl still sitting there--so I sprang round

quickly with my arm outstretched and

caught in my hand-- It was so sur-

prised that it offered no resistance at

first--only glared at me in mute

astonishment with eyes as big as saucers

--But erelong it began to snap its bill

--making quite a noise--& as I rolled it

up in my handkerchief & put it in

my pocket--it bit my finger slightly.

28
29
30

--I soon took it out of my pocket

it
& tying the handkerchief left^on the

bottom of the boat

So I carried it home & made a

small cage in which to keep it for

a night. When I took it up it clung

so tightly to my hand as to sink its

176

from: altered from is; from written over is

157

1
2

claws into my fingers & bring blood.

When alarmed or provoked most it

snaps its bill and hisses-- It puffs

up its feathers to nearly twice its usual

size stretches out its neck--& with

wide open eyes stares this way & that

moving its head slowly & undulatingly

from side to side--with a curious

motion. While I write this evening

I see that there is ground for much

superstition in it. It looks out on me

from a dusky corner of its box with its

great solemn eyes--so perfectly still.

its self. I was surprised to find that

I could imitate its note as I remember

it--by a guttural whirrering.

A remarkably squat figure--being very

broad in proportion to its length--with a

short tail--& very catlike in the face

20
21
22

with its horns & great eyes. Remarkably

thickly
large feet & talons--legs^dotted with

whitish down down to the talons--It brought

blood from my fingers by clinging to them.

It would lower its head--stretch out its

neck & bending it from side to side

peer at you with laughable circum-

spection--from side to side as if to catch

or absorb into its eyes every ray of light

strain at you with complacent yet

earnest scrutiny

Raising & lowering its head & moving it

from side to side in a slow & regular manner

after at the same time snapping its bill

smartly perhaps--& faintly hissing--and

158

puffing itself up more & more--Catlike--

turtle-like--both in hissing & swelling.

The slowness & gravity--not to say solemnity

of this motion are striking. There plainly

is no jesting in this case.

(I saw yesterday at Saw Mill brook a

common salamander on a rock close to the

water--not long dead--with a wound in the

9
10
11

top of its head.)

12
13

the feathers centered with black

brown.^Perches with 2 claws above & 2 below

the perch. It is a slight body covered with

a mass of soft & light lying feathers. Its

head muffled in a great hood-- It must

17
18
19

be quite comfortable in winter.

& bones (?)
& dropped a pellet of fir^in his cage. He sat

not really moping but trying to sleep

in a corner of his box all day--yet with

one or both eyes slightly open all the while--

23
24
25

I never once caught him with his eyes shut.

ordinarily stood rather than sat on his perch-Oct 29th

a rather & perhaps slightly

General color of the owl^pale^reddish

P. m. Up Assabet-- Carried my owl

to the hill again-- Had177 to shake him out

of the box--for he did not go out of his

own accord-- (He had learned to alight

on his perch--& it was surprising how

31
32
33

lightly & noiselessly he would hop

he
upon it.) There^stood on the grass

at first bewildered--with his horns

pricked up & looking toward me.

In this strong light the pupils of

his eyes suddenly contracted & the iris

expanded till they were two great

177

Had: altered from had; right side and cross added to h to form
159

brazen orbs with a centre spot merely--

His attitude expressed astonishment

more than anything-- I was obliged

to toss him up a little that he might

feel his wings & then he flapped away

low & heavily to a hickory on the hill

side 20 rods off. (I had let him out

in the plain just east of the hill)

Thither I followed & tried to start him again.

He was now on the qui vive--yet

would not start-- He erected his head

showing some neck--narrower than the

round head above-- His eyes here broad

brazen rings around bullets of black--

His horns stood quite an inch high

--as not before-- As I moved around

him he turned his head always toward

me till he looked directly behind himself

--as he sat cross-wise on a bough--

He behaved as if bewildered & dazzled

gathering178 all the light he could

and ever straining his great eyes

toward to make out who you are-- --

--but not inclining to fly. I had to

lift him again with a stick to make

him fly--& then he only rose to a higher

perch--where at last he seemed to

seeck the shelter of a thicker cluster

of the sere leaves--partly crouching there.

He never appeared so much alarmed

as surprised and astonished.

32
33

When I first saw him yesterday he

sat on the edge of a hollow hemlock

178

gathering: altered from gathered; dot added to e to form i and

ng added
160

stump about 3 feet high at the bottom

of a large hemlock--amid the darkness

of the evergreens that {

--(It threatened to rain every moment). At

the bottom of the hollow or 18 inches be-

6
7
8

neath him--was a very soft bed of the fine

(hypericum)
green moss^which grows on the bank

close by--probably his own bed. It had

10
11

} cloudy day.

been recently put there.

When I moved him in his cage he would

cling to the perch though it was in a

perpendicular position--one foot

above another--suggesting his habit

15
16
17

of clinging to & climbing the inside of

I do not remember any perpendicular line in
hollow trees. his eyes--as in those of the cat.

18
19
20

I see many aphides very thick & long tailed

////on the alders. Soap wort gentian
//& Pasture thistle still. There are

many fresh election cake toadstools

22
23
24

amid the pitch pines there--& also

higher
very regular^hemispherical ones with

a regularly warted or peppered surface.

26
27
28

As I was passing Merricks Pasture179

I saw & counted about a hundred crows
//advancing in180 a great rambling

flock from the SE & crossing the river

on high--& cawing.

There is a wild apple on the hill

which has to me a peculiarly pleasant

33
34
35

bitter tang--not perceived till it is 3/4

It remains on the tongue. As you cut it it smells like a squash-bug
tasted.^I like its very acerbity-- It is

a sort of triumph to eat & like it--

an ovation-- In the fields alone

179

Pasture: altered from pasture: P written over p

180

in: altered from a; in written over a

161

are the sours & bitters of Nature ap-

preciated-- Just as the woodchopper

basks in a sun eats his meal

in a sunny glade in middle of

a winter day--with contentment--

in a degree of cold which experienced

in the house would make the student

miserable--Basks in a sunny ray

and dreams of Summer--in a degree

of cold which felt in a chamber would

make a student wretched. They who are

12
13
14

abroad at work are not cold-- It is they

as with cold & heat
who sit shivering in houses. so with sweet & sour--

15
16
17

This natural raciness--sours & bitters &c

which the diseased palate refuses
^--are the true casters--and condiments.

What is sour in the house a bracing

walk makes sweet. Let your condiments

be in the condition of your senses-- Apples

which the farmer neglects & leaves out as

unsaleable--and unpalateable to those

who frequent the markets--are choicest

fruit to the walker.

When the leaves fall the whole earth

is a cemetery pleasant to walk in--

I love to wander & muse over them

in their graves returning to dust again.

Here are no lying nor vain epitaphs

The scent of their decay is pleasant to

me. I buy no lot in the cemetery which

my townsmen have just consecrated--

with a poem & an auction--paying

so much for a choice-- Here is

room enough for me--

162

The swamp White oak has a fine firm

leathery leaf with a silver underside--

now half of them now turned up.

//Oaks are now fairly--brown--very few

//still red-- Water Milkweed discounts.

I have got a load of great hard-wood

stumps. For sympathy with my neigh-

bors I might about as well live in

China--they are to me barbarians--

with their committee-works--& grega-

riousness.

Returning I scare up a blue heron from

the bathing rock this side the Island-- It

is whitened by its droppings in great

splashes a foot or more wide. He has evi-

dently frequented it to watch for fish

there. Also a flock of black of

//black birds fly eastward over my head from

the top of an oak--either red-wings

or grackles.
Wednesday181 Oct 30th

21
22

Going to the New Cemetery--I see that

//the Scarlet oak leaves have182 still some brightness

--perhaps the latest of the oaks.

Thursday Nov183 1st

25
26

Pm-- Up Assabet--a-wooding

After a rain-threatening morning

//it is a beautiful Indian summer

day--the most remarkable hitherto--

& equal to any of the kind. Yet we

kept fires in the forenoon--the warmth

not having got into the house-- It

181

Wednesday: altered from Tuesday; Wed written over T

182

have: altered from has; s altered to form v and e added

183

Thursday Nov: altered from Wednesday Oct; Thursday Nov

written over Wednesday Oct
163

is akin184 to sin to spend such a day in the

house-- The air is still & warm-- This

too is the recovery of the year-- As if the

year having nearly or quite accomplished

its work--and abandoned all design

were in a more favorable and poetic

7
8
9
10
11

mood--and thought rushed in to fill the

Whole schools of little minnows leap from the surface
vacuum-- The^river perfectly smooth-- The
at once with a silvery gleam.
wool-grass185 with its drooping head & the

slender withered leaves dangling about its

stem--stands in in little sheaves upon its

tussucks--clean dry straw--and is thus

reflected in the water--This is the novem-

ber shore-- The maples and swamp oaks

& willows are for the most part bare

but some of the oaks a partly clothed

Yet with withered ones--I see one wht-

maple quite thick & green--& some

black willows are thinly clad with green

leaves--& many yellowish leaves are

seen on the sallows rising above the

bare button bushes-- Yet I see no

25
26
27

painted tortoises out--& I think it is

%see forward Nov 11%
about a fortnight since I saw any%^%.

As I pushed up the river past Hil-

dreths I saw the blue-heron, probably of

30
31
32

last tuesday Monday--arise from the shore

with heavily flapping wings
& disappear^around a bend in front--

The greatest of the bitterns (ardeae)

with heavily undulating wings low over

the water--seen against the woods

--just disappearing round a bend in

front.

184

akin: altered from a sin; a sin joined and k written over s

185

wool-grass: altered from wood-grass; l written over d

164

With a great slate-colored expanse

of wing--suited to the shadows of the stream

--A tempered blue--as of the sky & dark

water commingled. This is the aspect

under which the Musketaquid

might be represente at this season

--A long smooth lake--reflecting

the bare willows & button bushes--

the stubble & the wool-grass186 on its

tussuck--A muskrat cabin or

two conspicuous on its margin--

amid the tops of unsightly187 of pontederia

--& a bittern disappearing on undu-

lating wing around a bend--

15
16
17

The wood I get is pretty rotten-of an oak

The under sides188^which have lain for years

18
19
20

on the miry bank is turned almost189

in this & find ants.
to mould^while the upper--is hard

& dry-- Or else it is stumps whose fangs

have so rotted off that I can kick

them over at last--but then I must

then I must shake out a half a

peck or more of mould. I made

out to get one great & heavy stump

to the water--20 rods distant--by ant

like--turning it over & over laboriously

--It sunk my craft low in the water.

Others are boughs which in the winter

fell or were dragged down by the

ice--their tops in the water & their

buts on shore. These I saw off where

they dip into the water, though the

saw pinches.

186

wool-grass: altered from wood-grass; l written over d

187

tops marked with a wavy line for transposition with unsightly

188

sides: altered from side; s added

189

almost: altered from to; almost written over to

165

1
2

Returning in the twilight I see a

bat over the river--

3
4
5
6

Nov 4th
Pm. to Hill by Assabet190

black
This forenoon the boys found a little kitten^about

1/3 grown on the Island or Rock--but

could not catch it. We supposed that

some one had cast it in to drown it-- This

P. m. as I was paddling by the Island I saw

what I thought a duck swimming

down the river diagonally to the S shore

just below the grassy island opposite

the rock--then I thought it two ducks

--then a muskrat. It passed out of sight

round a bend. I landed & walked along

shore & found that it was the kitten--

which had just got ashore-- It was

quite wet excepting its back-- It swam

quite rapidly the whole length of its back

out--but was carried down about

as fast by the stream. It had probably

first crossed--from the rock to the

grassy island--& then from the lower end

of this to the town side of the stream

--on which side it may have been attracted

by the noise of the town. It was quite rather

28
29
30

weak & staggered as it ran--from

being wet
starvation or cold^or both-- A very pretty

little black kitten.

It is a dark almost rainy day. Though

the river appears to have risen considerably

it is not more than 9 or 10 inches above

35
36

the lowest summer level--as I see by the bridge

Yet it brings along a little drift wood--Whatever rails

190

Assabet: altered from assabet; A written over a

166

1
2
3
4
5

or boards have been left by the waters edge--the river silently takes
up & carries away.
The Winter is approaching--the
Much small stuff from the pail factory.
birds are almost all gone-- The note

of the dee de de sounds now more

distinct--prophetic of winter--as I go

amid the wild apples in Nawshaw-

tuct.-- The autumnal dandelion shelterd

by this apple tree trunk--is drooping &

half closed--& shows but half its yellow

this dark late wet day in the fall.

Gathered a bag of wild apples-- A great

part are decayed now on the ground--

The snail slug is still eating them. Some

have very fiery crimson spots or eyes on

a very white ground. Returned & went

//up the main stream-- Larches are now

19
20

quite yellow--in the midst of their fall

The river brink--at a little distance at

least) is now all sere & rustling--

except a few yellowed sallow leaves

23
24
25
26
27

though beyond in the meadows there

fresh
is some^greenness--but cattle seem
They are turned into the meadows now where is all the greenness
to stray wider for feed than191 they did--^New

fences are erected to take advantage of

all the fall feed-- But the rank

--herbage of the river's brink was192 more

tender & has fallen before the frosts.

Many new muskrat houses have been

erected this wet weather--& much

gnawed root is floating-- When I look

away to the woods--the oaks have a

36
37
38

dull dark red now--without brightness

tops
--the willow193^on causeways have a pale bleached

silvery--or wool-grass like look--

191

than: altered from -; t written over -

192

was: altered from is; was written over is

193

willow: altered from willows; s cancelled

167

See some large flocks of F. hiemalis which

fly with a clear but faint chinking chirp--

& from time to time you hear quite a

strain half warbled from them. They rise

in a body from the ground & fly to the trees as

you approach-- There are a few tree sparrows

with them-- These and one small soaring

hawk are all the birds I see.

I have failed to find white pine seed this

year though I began to look for it a month

ago-- The cones were194 fallen & open. Look

the first of September.

From my experience with wild apples I can

understand that there may be reason for

a savage preferring many kinds of food

which the civilized man rejects. The former

has the palate of an outdoor man

It takes a savage or wild taste to appreciate

a wild apple. I remember 2 old maids

to whose house I enjoyed carrying a

21
22
23

purchaser to talk about buying195 their

in the winter
farm^--because they offered us wild apples.

--though with an unnecessay apology for

their wildness.

26
27

Nov. 5th
I hate the present modes of living & get-

ting a living-- Farming196 & shopkeeping

and working at a trade or profession are

all odious197 to me-- I should relish get-

ting my living in a simple primitive fashion

The life which society proposes to me

to live--is so artificial and complex

bolstered up on many weak supports

194

were: altered from are; we written over a

195

buying: altered from by; bu written over by

196

Farming: altered from I; F written over I

197

odious: altered from so; odious written over so

168

and sure to topple down at last--that

no man surely can ever be inspired to

live it--& only "old fogies" ever praise

it. At best some think it their duty

to live it-- I believe in the infinite

joy & satisfaction of helping myself--and

others to the extent of my ability-- But

what is the use in trying to live simply

raising what you eat--making

what you wear--building what

you inhabit--burning what you

12
13
14

cut or dig--when those to whom you

insanely
are allied^want & will have a thou-

sand other things which neither you

nor they can raise & nobody else

perchance will pay for-- The fellow-man

to whom you are yoked is a steer that

is ever bolting right the other way.

was suggesting once to a man

who was wincing under some of the

consequences--of our loose & expensive way of

living--but you might raise all

your own potatoes--&c &c-- At which he

We had often done it at our house

& had some to sell-- At which he

demurring--I said setting it high

you could raise 20 bushels even.

But said he I use 35. How large

is you family--a wife & 3 infant

children-- This was the real family

I need not enumerate those who were

hired to help eat the potatoes & waste

them. So he had to hire a man

to raise his potatoes.

169

Thus men invite the devil in at

every angle and then prate about the

garden of Eden & the fall of man.

I know many children to whom I would

fain make a present on some one of

their birth days--but they are so far gone

in the luxury of presents--have such

perfect museums of costly ones--that

it would absorb my entire earnings

for a year to buy them some thing which

would not be beneath their notice.

Pm to foot of F. H. Hill--

via Hubbard's Grove-- I see the shepherds purse

hedge-mustard & red clover--November198

flowers-- Crossing the Depot Field Brook

I observe the downy fuzzy globular tops

of the aster puniceus--they are slightly tinged

with yellow--compared with the hoary grey

of the gray golden rod-- The distant willow

tops are yellowish like them in the right

light.-- At Hubbards Crossing I see

a large mail hen harrier skimming

over the meadow--its deep slate some-

what sprinkled or mixed with black--per-

haps young-- It flaps a little. & then sails

straight forward. So low it must rise

at every fence-- But I perceive that

it follows the windings of the meadow

over many fences-- I pass a great

white pine stump--half a cord in it &

more turned up out of a meadow--

I look upon it with interest--and wish I

had it at my door--for there are many

warm fires in that.

198

November: altered from November; N written over n

170

You could have many thoughts & tell

many stories while that was burning.

Walked through Potters199 swamp--That

white birch fungus--always presents its

face to the ground--parallel with it--

For here are some in an upright dead

birch whose faces or planes are at

right angles with the axis200 of the tree

as usual--looking down--but others

attached to the top of the tree which

lies prostrate on the ground have their

12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19

planes parallel with the axis of the

Where the epidermis is cracked ap. as they grew they are watered
tree--as if looking round the birch.
handsomely
with white streams 1/8 an inch wide above.
They have remarkably thick necks.
They protrude through a rent in the bark carrying it along with
their necks a little way.
generally
//The brightness of the foliage^ceased

pretty exactly with october-- The still

bright leaves which I see as I walk

along the river edge of this swamp

are--birches clear yellow at top--

high blueberry--some very bright scarlet red

still--Some sallows--Vib. nudum fresh

dark red--Alder sprouts large green

leaves Swamp pink buds

//now beg. to show-- The late growth

29
30

of the pyrus is now checked by the frost.-//

The bark of many frostweeds is now cracked

or burst off & curled backward in 5 or 6

strips for about an inch leaving

the woody part bare at or an inch above

34
35
36

the ground sometimes 5 or 6 inches above

I suspect the frost is the dying breath of the weed--congealed
the ground.

37
38
39

I am pleased to see that the lower & larger

4 or 5 leaves of the water andromeda on the edge

of the meadow next the swamp--are pretty commonly

199

Potters: altered from potters; P written over p

200

axis: altered from axes; dot added to form i

171

1
2

just as they fall

& dotted
turned a dark^scarlet now^--confirming my old

impression. I have not observed for some years.

A nest made very thick of grass & stubble & lined

with finer grass & horse hair as big as a kingbirds on

an alder within 18 inches of ground close to the water at

7
8
9

cardinal shore The alder had been broken down at

& the nest rested on the stub ends
that height by the ice.^I took a few dead leaves

10
11
12

out & to my surprise found an egg.--very pale

%no%
greenish-blue--Probably the Wood thrush%^%if not the Olivaceous

one--whose eggs I have not seen described. Not quite so big as a blue

14
15
16
17
18

birds. This egg popped & burst suddenly with a noise

or like a pop gun
about as loud as popping corn^--while I held it in
it had been addled when new
my hand in my chamber--^I had another pop

in the chamber some months ago-- So you must

20
21
22

blow them before you bring them into a warm room-V. Nov 13
I am puzzled with the lecheas

23
24
25

are there not 4 kinds. 1st there is the L. Major

2nd
with broad leaves--& then the least with fine spreading

branches--& with branched shoots at base. 3d there is

27
28
29

the very common one intermediate in size--with large fruit and

4th (?)
linear lanceolate leaves now commonly fallen-- But I see^this

p.m. one 15 inches high (half a dozen rods from Cardinal shore)

& stout with leaves like the 3d but fruit but fruit very small

32
33
34

& abundant. There is ap. a little recent growth opening of

some rad. shoots on stem 6 inches from ground!!
leaves at the extremities of it--^& 5th close by a slender one

35
36
37
38
39

a foot high with leaves elliptic pointed 1/2 inch x 1/6

& generally
& larger fruit than last, at top^(May be a var. of L. Major?)
(it has some leaves like it)
It is perhaps the 3d kind which when only 3 or

4 inches high now has much dense linear leaves 1/2

inch plus long--pine201 tree like & spreading

42
43

branches just above rad. shoots.

%V July 30 56%

201

pine: altered from &; p written over &

172

I find that one of my old oak logs which was

lying on the damp bank of the river half rotted

through below--contained many great black

4
5
6
7
8
9
10

//ants gone into winter quarters in those great eaten cells

Yet this would have been covered with water in the winter.
of the rotten wood.^Those with wings were 3/4 inch or
more long. They move but slowly when exposed.
In one I stump on splitting in the yard I find a clam shell carried
in by a muskrat
Nov.202 6th

A mizzling rain from the east drives me

home from my walk. The gnawel

in the sand on the R. R. causeway grows

in dense green tufts like the hudsonia 6 or

8203 inches in diameter & 1 or 2 high. It is

16
17
18
19
20
21

//still in bloom-- The gooseberry leaves

at the end of the currant row--being wet
are a still more brilliant scarlet.
or mizzling
//
A great many rainy^days the last fortnight-yet not much rain.

Pennyroyal has a long time stood withered a

dark-blackish brown in the fields--yet scented.

24
25
26

I can hardly resist the inclination to collect

of various kinds
drift-wood--to collect a great load^which

will sink my boat low in the water, &

paddle or sail slowly home with it-- I love

this labor so much that I would gladly

collect it for some peron of simple habits

who might want it.

Men ordinarily do not have the pleasure--

of sawing & splitting their wood ever--for

while they are buying it an Irishman

stands by with his saw horse on his

back--the next thing I see him

in their yards him & his understrapper

sawing for dear life & 2 shillings a

cut.

202

Nov.: altered from Aug.; Nov. written over Aug.

203

8: altered from 10; large 8 written over 10

173

When I think too of the many decaying stumps

& logs--which the coming freshets will carry off to

sea perchance to sea--Rails & posts & bits

of boards and boughs are carried far into

the swamps.

Nov 7th

Another drizzling day--as fine a

8
9

mist as can fall.

P. m. Up Assabet I see a painted

tortoise swimming under water & to my surprise

another after ward out on a willow trunk

this dark day-- It is long since I have seen

one--of any species except the insculpta.

14
15
16

They must have begun to keep below & go %?%

%Come out again--V. Nov. 11%
into winter quarters (?) about 3 weeks ago.

--Looking west over Wheelers204 Meadow

I see that there has been much gossa-

mer on the grass & it is now revealed

by the dewy mist which has collected on

it. Some green briar leaves still left

a dull red or scarlet--others yellowish--

also the silky cornel is conspicuously

dull red--and others yellowish red--And

the sallow on rivers brink (not cordata)

with a slen narrow leaf pointed at both

ends--shows some clear chrome yellow

leaves a-top. The White birches lose

their lower leaves first & now their

tops show crescents or cones of bright

yellow--(spiring flames) leaves--some

of the topmost even green still.

33
34

The black willows almost every where entirely

bare-- Yet205 the color of their twigs

204

Wheelers: altered from wheelers; W written over w

205

Yet: altered from yet; Y written over y

174

gives them the aspect of the crisp brown weeds

of the rivers brink-- How completely crisp

& shrivelled the leaves & stems of the polyg-

onum amphibium var terrestre--still stand-

ing above the water & grass.

The river has risen a little more--

the North Branch especially--& the

pail-stuff which has drifted down it

has been carried a few rods up the main

stream above the junction. It rises

& falls very suddenly--& I was surprised

to see the other day a line of saw dust

more than a foot above the water's

edge--showing that it had risen to

that hight & suddenly206 fallen without my

knowledge. Opened a muskrat house

nearly 2 feet high--but there was no

hollow to it. Apparently--they do not form

that part yet.

I find it good to be out this still dark

mizzling afternoon-- My walk or voyage

is more suggestive & profitable than

in bright weather. The view is contracted

by the misty rain--the water is per-

fectly smooth & the stillness is fa-

vorable to reflection. I am more open

to impressions more sensitive--(not

callused or imdurated by sun & wind) as

if in a chamber still. My thoughts

are concentrated--I am all compact--

31
32
33

The solitude is real too for the rain

weather
keeps other men at home. This mist

is like a roof & walls over & around

206

suddenly: altered from sudden; ly added

175

& I walk with a domestic feeling-- The sound

of a wagon going over an unseen bridge

is louder than ever--& so of other sounds.

I am compelled to look at near objects--207 All

things have a soothing effect--the very

clouds & mists brood over me. My power

of observation & contemplation is much in-

creased. My attention does not wander.

The world & my life are simplified.-- What

10
11

now of Europe & Asia?

Birds are pretty rare now. I hear a few tree

sparrows in one place on the trees & bushes near

the river a clear chinking chirp & a half strain--

a jay at a distance--& see a nuthatch flit

with a ricochet flight across the river & hear

his gnah half uttered when he alights.

A gray squirrel208--(as day before yesterday)

runs down a limb of an oak and hides

behind the trunk--& I lose him-- A red

one runs along the trees to scold at me

boldly or carelessly--with a chuckling bird

like note--& that other peculiar sound

at intervals between a purr & a grunt. He

is more familiar than the grey--& more noisy--

What sound does the gray make?

Some of my drift wood is the burnt

timbers of a mill--which the swolen river

28
29
30

has gleaned for me.

which has been burned over to get rid of the weeds before digging-Found dead in Wheeler's potatoe209 field^near the

hemlocks by river--a little mouse dead. Whole length

3 inches (minus) tail hardly 7/8 of an inch so short

(less than half the body) I thought at first it had been

bitten off by some animal. General color above

207

objects--: altered from objects.

208

squirrel: altered from squirrels; s cancelled

209

potatoe: altered from potatoes; s cancelled

176

1
2

or tawny brown
a rust of brown^with mouse color seen

through it--beneath rather hoary mouse

color, but nowhere white--The fur dark

slate. Snout & head blunt--the latter large.

Hind legs longest. Ears quite concealed in

the fur. It answers to Emmon's Arvicola

hirsutus or Meadow Mouse210--except that

9
10
11
12
13

it is smaller-- It is a young one? tips of incisors

partly
//light yellow. Hemlock cones all closed--but open^next day in
chamber--& entirely in a day or 2
Nov. 8th

A quite warm & foggy morning. I can

sit with my window open--& no fire-- Much

warmer than this time last year--Though

there is quite a fog over the river--& doubtful

weather behind--the reflection of the wool grass

&c is quite distinct--the reflection from the

fog or mist making the water light for a

21
22
23
24
25

background.
Nov 9th
7 Am grass white & stiff with frost
9 AM211 With Blake up Assabet
A clear & beautiful day after frost
Looking over the meadow westward from Mer-

rick's Pasture shore--I see the alders beyond

Dodd's--now quite bare & grey (almost

maple-like) in the morning sun

(The frost melted off though I found a little

//ice on my boat seat)--that true Novem-

ber212 sight--ready to wear frost leaves.

& to transmit (so open) the tinkle of tree

sparrows-- -- How wild & refreshing

to see these old Black Willows of the

river brink--unchanged from the first--

which no man has neve cut for fuel

or for timber. Only the muskrat

tortoises--blackbirds & bitterns swallows

210

each word

Meadow Mouse: altered from meadow mouse; M written over m in

211

AM: altered from Pm; AM written over Pm

212

November: altered from november; N written over n

177

use them.

2 black birds fly over pretty near with

a chuck (either redwings or grackles) but

I see no red. See a painted tortoise & a

wood tortoise in different places out on the bank!

still!

Saw in the pool at the hemlocks what I

8
9
10

at first thought was a brighter leaf moved

of the smooth dark water
by the zephyr on the surface^--but it was

a splendid male summer duck which

allowed us to approach within 7 or 8 rods--sailing

up close to the shore, & then rose & flew up the

curving stream-- We soon over hauled it again,

and got a fair & long view of it still near--

It was a splendid bird--a perfect flating

17
18
19

gem--& Blake who had never seen the like

splendid a bird was found in this part

of the world. There it was constantly moving

back & forth by invisible213 means & wheeling

on the smooth surface--showing now its

breast--now its side now its tail--%rear%

so
was greatly surprised--not knowing that such

It had a large rich flowing green burnished

crest--a most ample headdrees

--2 crescents of dazzling white on the

side of the head & the black neck

(the {drawing} white where the black is) a pinkish?214

red bill (with black tip) & similar irides--

& a long white mark under & at wing

point on sides--the side as if the fin

of wing at this distance light bronze or

greenish brown {drawing}--but above all

its breast when it turns into the right

213

by invisible: altered from --&; invisible written over --&

214

pinkish?: altered from pink; ish? added

178

1
2

or ruby %?%
light all aglow with splend purple %?%

reflections--like the throat of the

humming bird. It might not ap-

pear so close at hand. This was the

most surprising to me. What an

ornament to a river--to see

that glowing gem floating in con-

tact with its waters--as if the hum-

ming bird should recline its ruby

throat &215 its breast on the water--

--like dipping a glowing coal in

water-- It so affected me--

It became excited--fluttered or flapped its wings

with a slight whistling noise, & then arose

& flew 2 or 3 rods and alighted-- It sailed

cose up to the edge of a rock--by which it

lay pretty still--& finally sailed fast

19
20
21

up one side of the river by the willows

now & then stop turning & sailing back a foot or 2
&c off the duck swamp beyond the Trinity,^while

22
23
24

we paddled up the opposite side a rod in

for 20 or 30 rods
the rear--^At length we went by it-- & it

flew back low a few rods--to where we roused

it. It never offered to dive. We came

equally near it again on our return.

Unless you are thus near & have a glass

the splender and beauty of its colors will not be

discovered.

Found a good stone jug--small size--floating

stopple up--I drew the stopple & smelled

as I expected molasses and water or something

stronger (black strap?) which it had con-

tained-- Probably some Meadow hay-makers

jug left in the grass which the

215

&: altered from --; & written over --

179

recent rise of the river has floated off-- It

will do to put with the white pitcher--

I found & keep flowers in-- Thus I get

my furniture.

Yesterday I got a perfectly sound oak

timber 8 inches square & 20 feet long

which had lodged on some rocks-- It had

probably been the sill of a building. As it was

too heaver to lift aboard I towed it.

As I shall want some shelves to put my Orien-

tal books on--I shall begin to save some boards

now--

I deal so much with my fuel, what with

finding it loading it--conveying it home--

sawing & splitting it--get so many

values out of it, am warmed in

so many ways by it--that the heat

it will yield when in the stove--is of

a lower temperature & a lesser value

in my eyes--(though when I feel it

I am reminded of all my adventures)

22
23
24

I just turned to put on a stick--I had

in the box gray
my choice^of^chestnut rail--black

& brown snag of an oak stump--dead White

pine top grey & sound with stubs of limbs--or

else old bridge plank--& chose the

last.-- Yet I lose216 sight of

the ultimate uses of this wood

& work--the immediate ones are

so great--& yet most of mankind

--those called the most scccessful in ob-

taining the necessaries of life--getting

their living--obtain none of

216

lose: altered from loose

180

this except a mere vulgar &

perhaps stupefying warmth.

I feel disposed--to this extent--to do

the getting a living & the living--for

any 3 or 4 of my neighbors--who

really want the fuel--& will ap-

preciate the act--Now that I

have supplied myself-- There was a

fat pine plank heavy as lead--I gave217

10
11

to Aunt L.--for kindling.

That duck was all jewels com-

bined shewing different lustres as it turned

on the unrippled element in various lights--

Now--brilliant glossy green--now dusky violet

now a rich bronze--now the reflections

that sleep in the ruby's grain.

I see floating just above the Hemlocks

the large sliding door of a RR car burnt

to a cinder on one side--& lettered in

large bright yellow letters on the other

"Cheshire 1510". It may have been cast

over at the RR Bridge.

I affect what would commonly

be called a mean & miserable way

of living-- I thoroughly sympathize

with all savages & gupsies in as far

as they merely assert the original

right of man-- to the productions of

nature & a place in her-- The

man moves into town--sets up

a shanty on the RR-land--& then gleans

the dead wood219, from the neighboring

forest--which would never get to

218

Irish

217

gave: altered from have; g written over h

218

Irish: altered from irish; I written over i

219

wood: altered from of; wood written over of

181

market-- But the so called owner

forbids it & complains of him as a

trespasser. The highest law220 gives a

thing to him who can use it.

5
6

Nov.11th--55
P. m. Up Assabet-- As long as the sun is out

it is warm & pleasant-- The water is smooth--

I see the reflections, not only of the wool-

grass, but the bare buttonbush--with its

brown balls beginning to crumble & show the

lighter inside--and the brittle light brown

twigs of the black willow--& the coarse

rustling sedge--now completely withered--(&

hear it pleasantly whispering) & the brown

& yellowish sparganium blades curving over

like well tempered steel--& the gray cottony

mikania.

18
19
20

The bricks of which the muskrat builds

or wads
his house are little masses^of the dead

weedy rubbish on the muddy bottom which

it probably takes up with its mouth-- It con-

sists of various kinds of weeds--now agglu-

tinated together by the slime & dried confervae

threads utricullaria, hornwort221, &c--a streaming

tuft-like wad. The building of these cabins

appears to be coincident with the commence-

ment of their clam diet--for now their vegeta-

ble food222 excepting roots is cut off. I see many

small collections of shells already left

along the rivers brink223-- Thither they resort

with their clam to open & eat it-- But if

it is the edge of a meadow which is

34
35

being over-flowed, they must make

raise

220

law: altered from laws

221

hornwort: altered from &; h written over &

222

food: altered from foot; d written over t

223

brink: altered from bring; k written over g

182

it & make a permanent dry stool there.

--For they cannot afford to swim far

with each clam-- I see where one has

drop left 1/2 a peck of shells--or

perhaps the foundation of an old stool

which or a harder clod--which the

water is just about to cover--& he has

begun his stool by laying 2 or 3 fresh

wads upon the shells--the foundation

of his house. Thus their cabin is

first ap. intended merely for a stool--

& after ward when it is large is perforated

as if it were the bank! There is no

14
15
16

cabin for a long way above the

low
hemlocks where there is no^meadow

bordering the stream.

The clamshells freshly opened are hand-

somest this month (or rather are most

observable--before the ice & snow

conceal them) & in spring--

22
23
24

I am surprised to see quite a

//number of painted tortoises out
on logs & stones & to hear the wood-

25
26
27

tortoise rustling down the bank.

& sluggish
//
Frogs are rare^as if going into winter

//quarters. A cricket also sounds rather

rare & distinct. At the hemlocks I

see a narrow reddish line of hemlock leaves

31
32
33
34
35

& half an inch below a white line of sawdust

present
both mathem 6 inches above the^surface--on
upright
the^side of a rock--both mathematically

level-- This chronicles the hemlock fall

which I had not noticed we have so

183

few trees--& also the rivers rise-- The224 north

branch must have risen suddenly before

the South--for I see much pail stuff from

the Fort Pond brook--which has been carried

18 rods up the latter stream above the Rock--

or as far as it runs extends immediate

ly due west there-- By pail stuff I mean

the curved & groved pieces which form the

sides & the flat ones for the bottom & their

trimmings-- High blueberry leaves

still conspicuous bright scarlet--also

duller & darker green briar leaves hold

on on the Island.

I hear gray squirrels coursing about

on the dry leaves pursuing one another

& now they come in sight coursing from

pine to pine on their winding way--on their

unweariable legs-- On their undulating

& winding course-- It is a motion interme-

diate between running & flying-- I hear

but a tree sparrow & a chicadee this

voyage.

23
24
25

Nov 13
10 3/4
In mid forenoon 70 or 80 geese in 3

26
27
28
29

harrows successively smaller, flying S West-a completely overcast occasionally drizzling forenoon
pretty well west
^over the house--^I at once heard their clangor

& rushed to & opened the window-- The three harrows

were gradually formed into one great one

before they were out of sight-- The geese shifting

their places without slacking their progress.

Pm to Cardinal Shore

Going over Swamp bridge brook at 3 Pm

224

The: altered from I; T written over I

184

I saw in the pond by the road side a

few rods before me--the sun shining

//bright a mink swimming--the whole

length of his back out-- It was a rich brown

fur glowing internally as the sun fell

on it--like some ladies boas--not black

as it sometimes appears especially on

ice-- It landed within 3 rods showing

its long some what cat-like neck &

I observed was carring something by its

mouth--dragging it over land-- At

first I thought it a fish--maybe

an eel--& when it had got half a

dozen feet--I ran forward & it dropped

its prey & went into the wall. It

was a muskrat the head & part

of the fore legs torn off & gone--but

the rest still fresh & quite heavy

including hind legs & tail-- It had

probably killed this muskrat in the

brook--eaten so much & was dragging

the remainder to its retreat in the wall.

A fine clear afternoon--after

the misty morning & heavy rain of

the night. Even after all this rain--

//I see the streaming lines of gossa-

mer from the trees & fences-- From Fair225

28
29
30

Haven Hill the air is clear & fine-grained-russet

& now it is a perfect^November

landscape--(including the reddish brown

of the oaks) excepting where the

winter rye-fields & some low meadows

show their green--the former quite

225

Fair: altered from fair; cross added to f to form F

185

bright--& also the evergreen patches

of pines-- Edged in the N. W. by the

blue mt ridges.

Got the Wood thrush's (?) nest of Nov 5 It is about

5 inches diam. from outside to outside--& 2 1/2 with-

in. Outside of some weedy tufts (beneath) weedy

7
8
9

stems & stubble--(some dry galium stems, small--) &

a little
lined with^fine grass & horse hair-- I found the egg

partly concealed by some dry alder leaves which had

fallen into the nest.

12
13
14

Nov. 14th
Minott hears geese to day-Heard today in my chamber--about 11

Am--a singular sharp crackling sound

by the window--which made me think of

the snapping of an insect (with its wings

or striking some thing)-- It was produced

by one of 3 small pitch-pine cones

which I gathered on the 7th ult & which

lay in the sun on the window sill. I noticed

a slight motion in the scales at the

apex--when suddenly with a louder

crackling it burst or the scales separated

with a snapping sound on all sides of

it. It was a general & sudden bursting

or expanding of all the scales with a sharp

crackling sound & motion of the whole cone--

as by a force pent up within it. I suppose

the strain only needed to be relieved in

one point for the whole to go off.

I was remarking today to

Mr Rice on the pleasantness of this

November226--thus far-- When he remarked

226

November: altered from november; N written over n

186

that he remembered a similar

season 54 years ago--& he

remembered it because on the 13th

4
5
6

of November that year he was en& saw wild geese go over

gaged in pulling turnips^when one

came to tell him that his father

was killed by a bridge giving way

when his team was crossing it & the

team falling upon him walking

at its side.

Pm--

Up Assabet with Sophia--

A clear bright warm after noon--

15
16

A painted tortoise swimming under water-//& a wood tortoise out on the bank--

The rain has raised the river an

additional foot or more & it is creeping

//over the meadows-- My boat is 2/3

full & hard to come at. The old

weedy margin is covered & a new

grassy one acquired. The current

is stronger though the surface is

pretty smooth-- Much small rubbish

is drifting down & slowly turning

in the eddies. The motion of my boat

sends an undulation to the shore--

which rustles the dry sedge half

immersed there--as if a tortoise were

tumbling through it. Leaves & sticks

& billets of wood come floating down

in middle of the full still stream

turning round in the eddies--&

I mistake them for ducks at

187

first. See 2 red wing black birds

2
3
4

alight on a black-willow.
Nov 15. The river rising I see a spearers light tonight
Nov 16

Minott speaks of the last fortnight

--as good weather to complete the harvest-

ing--corn--potatoes--turnips carrots &c

8
9
10

It seemed late for harvest but some

of the above crops were not gathered.
Fo part of today & yesterday I have been

making shelves for my oriental books

which I hear today are now on the

Atlantic in the "Canada"--

Mr. Rice asked me tonight if I

knew how hard a head a goat had. When

he lived in Roxbury a man asked him

to kill a goat for him. He accordingly

struck the goat with a hatchet hard

enough as he supposed to dash his

brains out--but the goat instantly

with a bleat, leaped on to a wall &

ran 20 rods on the wall faster than

they could on the ground after him--and

he saw him as much as a month after-

ward none the worse for the blow--

He thinks that muskrats have

always even in the winter a dry bed

in the bank--as well as the wet

place to eat in their cabins. Told

me again the story of the muskrat

which he saw resting under the

ice--he himself lying flat and still

upon the ice--& the muskrat

188

having a long way to go from the bank

to his cabin. As soon as he stopped with

his nose against the ice a bubble

issued from his mouth & flatted out

to 3 inches in diameter against the

ice--& he remained for half a

minute with his mouth in it. Then

drew it in all but a little--& pro-

ceeded.

He spoke of the mud-turtle resting

on the "river-bush" (meaning the

button-bush)--in the Spring so near the

top of the water that he could put

his snout out when he pleased--

Has taken them in April--formerly-on Fast227 day.

16
17

I think that by the "swamp robin" he means

the veery

I see many more nests in the alders now

than I suspected in the summer--

21
22

Nov 17th 55
//

Just after dark the first snow is

falling after a chilly afternoon with

cold grey clouds--when my hands

were uncomfortably cold.

It is interesting to me to talk with Rice

he lives so thoroughly & satisfactorily to him-

self-- He has learned that rare

art of living--the very elements of

which most professors do not know.

His life has been not a failure

but a success-- Seeing me going

to sharpen some plain irons--

227

Fast: altered from fast; cross added at top of f to form F

189

and hearing me complain of the

want of tools he said that I ought

to have a chest of tools-- But I said

it was not worth the while I should

not use them enough to pay for them--

--"You would use them more, if you had

them, said he. When I came to do a piece

of work I used to find commonly that I

wanted a certain tool, and I made it

a rule first always to make that tool,

I have spent as much as $3000 thus

on my tools." Comparitively speaking, his

life is a success--not such a failure

as most men's. He gets more out of

any enterprise than his neighbors,

for he helps himself more--& hires less.

Whatever pleasure there is in it, he

enjoys. By good sense & calculation

he has become rich--& has invested

his property well--Yet practices a

fair & neat economy--dwells not

in untidy luxury. It costs him less

to live & he gets more out of life

than others. To get his living or keep

it is not a hasty or disagreeable

toil. He works slowly but surely en-

joying the sweet of it

piece of meadow at a profitable

rate--works at it in pleasant

weather he & his son when they are

inclined--goes a fishing or a bee-hunting

or a-rifle-shooting--quite as often

He buys a

190

& thus the meadow gets redeemed & po-

toes get planted perchance--& he is very

sure to have a good crop stored in his

cellar in the fall--& some to cell. He

always has the best of potatoes there.

In the same spirit in which he & his son

tackle up their Dobbin (he never keeps

a fast horse) & go a-spearing or

a-fishing through the ice--they also tackle

up & go to their Sudbury228 farm to

hoe or harvest a little--& when

they return they bring home a load of

stumps in their hay-rigging which impeded

their labors--but perchance supply them

with their winter wood-- All the wood-

chucks they shoot or trap on229 the bean-

field are brought home also--&

thus their life is a long sport & they

know not what hard times are.

Rice says there are no bees

worth hunting about here now--

he has sometimes been to a large

wood in the W. part of Sudbury & also

to Nagog--Yet there was little honey there.

25
26

Saw Goodwin this p. m.

//returning from the river with 2 minks

one trapped the other shot, & half a

dozen muskrats.-- Mink seem to be

more commonly seen now--& the

rising of the river begins to drive out

the muskrats.

32
33

Labaume says that he wrote his

journal of the Campaign in Russia

228

Sudbury: altered from sudbury; S written over s

229

on: altered from in; o written over i

191

each night in the midst of incredible

danger & suffering with "a raven's quill, &

a little gun-powder, mixed with some melted

snow, in the hollow of my hand,"--the quill

cut & mended with "the knife with which I had

carved my scanty morsel of horse-flesh"--

Such a statement promises well for

the writers qualifications to treat such a

theme.

10
11

Nov. 18
About an inch of snow fell last night

--but the ground was not at all frozen

or prepared for it-- a little greener grass

& stubble here & there seems to burn its

way through it this forenoon--

It clears up at noon & at

2 Pm

18
19

I go to

Fair Haven Hill via Hub's Grove.

As I sat in the house I was struck

with the brightness & heat of the sun re-

flected from this230 our first snow-- There

was an intenser light in the house & I

felt an uncommon heat from the

sun's rays on my back. The air is

very clear & the sky heavenly with a

few floating downy clouds-- I am pre-

pared to hear sharp screaming notes

rending the air, from the winter birds. I do in

fact hear many jays--and the tinkling

like rattling glass from chicadees & tree

sparrows-- I do not detect any pe-

culiar brightness whatever in the

osiers on the Hubbard causeway-- They

230

this: altered from --; this written over --

192

are scarcely if at all brighter than

the tops of the trees. Now first mark

the stubble & numerous withered weeds

rising above the snow They have sud-

//denly acquired a new character. Tansy

still shows its yellow disks--but yarrow

//is particularly fresh & perfected cold &

8
9
10

chaste--with its pretty little dry-looking

rounded
^white petals & green leaves. Its very color

gives it231 a right to bloom above the snow

--as level as a snow crust on the top

of the stubble. It looks like a virgin wear-

ing a white ruff.

The snow is the great track-revealer--

I come across the tracks of persons

who at a different hour from

myself have crossed--& perhaps

often cross some remote field on

their errands--where I had not

suspected a predecessor--& the track

22
23
24
25

of the dog or staff are seen too.

The cattle have tracked their whole pasture over.--as if there
had been a thousand
I have thus silent but unerring evi

dence of any who have crossed the

fields since last night-- It is pleasant

to see tracks leading towards the woods

to be reminded that any have engage-

ments there. Yet for the most part

the snow is quite untrodden-- Most fields

have no track of man in them-- I only

see where a squirrel has leaped from

the wall. I now remark how

the perfectly leafless alder thickets

are much darker than the maples

231

it: altered from its; s cancelled

193

--now that the ground is whitened. The pas-

ture directly under my face is white--

but seen aslant a few rods off mostly

russet. Gathered a bag-full of fair

apples on F. H. showing their red cheeks

6
7
8

above the snow--

that the heat it finally yielded when burnt

in spirit
I was so warmed^in getting my wood

was coldness in comparison-- That first

is a warmth which you cannot buy.

These apples which I get now adays

--russetts & baldwins--are the ripest of all

--being acted on by the frost--& partly left

because they were slightly over ripe for keeping--

I come home with a heavy bag-ful & rob

17
18

no one.
Instead of walking in the wood-market

amid sharp visaged teamsters--I float

over dark reflecting waters--in which

I see mirrored the stumps on the bank--

& am dazzled by the beauty of a summer

duck. Though I should get no wood, I

should get a beauty perhaps more val-

uable-- The price of this my wood however

high is the very thing which I delight

to pay. What I obtain with the most labor

--the most water-logged & heaviest wood

which I fish up from the bottom warm &

split & dry warms the most-- The greater

too the distance from which I have conveyed

it the more I am warmed by it

in my thought-- All the intervening

shores glow & are warmed by it

194

as it passes--or as I repass them in

2
3
4

my mind.--& yet men will cut

& burn it with lucifer matches
their wood with sorrow.^This was where

I drove my team afield--& instead

of the gray fly--I heard the wood-

tortoises even yet rustling through

the sedge to the water--or the gray-

squirrel coursing from maple to maple--

One man thinks that he has a

right to burn his 30 cords in a year

because he can give a certain sum

of money in exchange for them--but

that another has no right to pick

up the faggots which else nobody

would burn. They who will remember

only this kind of right--do as if they stood

under a shed & affirmed that they were

under the unobscured heavens. The shed

has its use, but what is it to the heavens

above?

So of the warmth which food shelter &

clothing afford or might afford--

if we used economical stoves-- We

might burn the smoke which now puts

our eyes out-- The pleasure, the warmth

is not so much in having--as in a

true & simple manner getting these

necessaries.

Men prefer foolishly the gold to that of which

it is the symbol.--simple--honest--independent

labor-- Can gold be said to buy food, if

it does not buy an appetite for food?

It is fouler & uglier to have too much

195

than not to have enough--

Nov. 19

3
4
5
6
7
8

A cold gray day--once spitting snow-- Water

froze in tubs enough to bear last night.
had 2 cats on his knee--one given away without his knowledge a
Minot^says he would not kill a cat
fortnight before had just found its way back-- He232
for 20233 dollars--no, not for 50--finally

9
10
11
12
13

he told his women folks that he would not

He thought they loved life as well as we--Johnny Vose wouldnt do it.
do it for 500 or any sum-He used to carry down
milk to a shop every day for a litter of kittens.
Speaking of geese--he says that Dr Hurd

told a tough story once-- He said that

when he went out to the well there

came a flock of geese flying so low

that they had to rise to clear the well-

sweep. M. says that there used to be

a great many more geese formerly

--he used to hear a great many flocks

in a day go "yelling" over. Brant too he used to see

Told me of his fishing for pickerel

once--in the brook when a mink leaped

into the water toward his bait (a frog)

but seeing the end of his pole he dived &

made off. Some years ago he saw

a mink steal out of the brook--which

being disturbed dropt a pout half grown

which it had caught--this was in his rye

then 5 or 6 inches high-- Presently it returned

& carried the pout to the wall by the

elm at R.234 W. E's bound. He followed looked

under a rock & saw 2 young minks.

He has taken the jackets off many a

one--but they smell so rank--it is un-

pleasant work.

232

He: altered from he; H written over h

233

20: altered from 50; 2 written over 5

234

R.: altered from E.; R. written over E.

196

Rice says that that brook which crosses

the road just beyond his brother Israel's

is called Cold Brook-- It comes partly

from Dunge Hole-- When the river is

rising it will flow up the brook

a great way.

Rice told his turtle story the other night--

"One day I was going through Boston

Market & I saw a huddle of men around

something or other. I edged my way between

them & saw that they had got a great

12
13
14

mud turtle on a plank--& a butcher

over him
stood^with a cleaver in his hand. Eh

said, I, what are you trying to

do?-- We are waiting for him to

put out his head so that we may

cut it off-- Look out, they said,

dont come so near--or he'll bite

you-- Look here, said I, let me

try--I guess I can make him

put his head out.-- Let him

try-- Let him try they said, with

a laugh-- So I stepped into the

ring & stood astride of the turtle

while they looked on to see the sport--

After looking at him a moment

I put down my hands & turned

him over onto his back--whereupon

he immediately ran out his head

& pushed against the flank to turn

himself back-- --but as they were

not ready to cut at once--his neck

was not in a good position--I

197

seized his head in both hands & putting my

feet against his breast bone drew235 his

head out the full length of his neck--

& said now cut away--only take care

you dont cut my fingers. They cut &

I threw the head down on the floor. As I

walked away--some one said, I guess that

fellow has seen mud-turtles before today."

9
10

Nov 20th 55
Again I hear that sharp crackling

snapping sound & hastening to the

window find that another of the p. pine

cones gathered Nov. 7th-- lying in the sun

or which the sun has reached--has separated

its scales very slightly at the apex-- It is

only discoverable on a close inspection--but

while I look the whole cones opens its scales

with a smart crackling--& rocks & seems

to bristle up--scattering the dry pitch on

the surface-- They all thus fairly loosen

& open though they do not at once spread

wide open-- It is almost like the disintegration

of glass-- As soon as the tension is relaxed

in one part, it is relaxed in every part.

A cold day--the snow that fell

Nov 17 in the evening--is still seen on the

ground.

28
29

Nov 24th
Geese went over on the 13th & 14--on the

17th the first snow fell--& the 19th it began

to be cold & blustering-- That first

slight snow has not yet gone off!--&

very little has been added-- The last 3 or 4

235

drew: altered from I

198

days have been quite cold--the side walks

a glare of ice & very little melting--

To-day has been exceedingly blustering &

disagreeable--as I found while surveying

for Moore. The farmers now bring

the apples they have engaged--(& the cider)

it is time to put them in the cellar

& the turnips--.Ice236 has frozen pretty thick

in the bottom of my boat--

Nov 26th

Bottom of boat covered with ice--

The ice next the shore bore me & my

boat.

Nov 27th

Pm--by river to J. Farmers--

He gave me the head of a gray rabbit

which his boy had snared. This rabbit

is white beneath the whole length--

reddish brown on the sides--& the

same spotted with black above--the

hairs coarse & homely--Yet the fur

22
23
24

beneath thick & slate-colored as usual.

well defended from the cold.
--Sides I might say pale-brick color

--the--brown part-- The fur under the

feet dirty yellowish as if stained

by what237 it trod upon-- He makes

28
29
30
31
32

no use of their skins or fur-- The

The tail short & curled up is white on the
skin is very tender. inside like that of the deer described by
Loskiel q.v. Ind. book
He showed me the preserved skin of

the heads of a double headed calf--

still-born--also the adjoining portion

of the spine--where 2 short spinal columns

2 or 3 inches long merged in one--

236

Ice: altered from I; ce added

237

what: altered from it; w written over it

199

Only one body & other organs.

I told him I saw a mink--

He said he would have given me

1.50 & perhaps something more for him

I hear that he gives 1.75 and sells them

again at a profit-- They are used to

trim ladies coats with--among other things.

A mink skin which he showed me

was a darker brown than the one I

10
11

saw last--(He says they changed

suddenly to darker--about a fortnight

since.) And the tail was nearly all

black.

He said that his grandfather, who could

remember 125 years before this--told him

that they used to catch wolves in what

is now Carter's Pasture by the North River

(E of Dodge's Brook) in this manner--

They piled up logs cob-house fashion

beginning with a large base 8 or 10

feet square & narrowing successively each

tier so as to make steps for the

wolves to the top--say ten feet high-- Then

they put a dead sheep within. A wolf

soon found it in the night, sat down

outside & howled till he called his

comrades to him--& then they238 ascended

step by step & jumped down within--

--but when they had done they could not

get out again. They always found one

of the wolves dead--& supposed that

he was punished for betraying the

others into this trap.

238

they: altered from then; tail added to n to form y

200

A man in Brighton whom he fully

believes told him--that he built

a bower--near a dead horse--& placed

himself within to shoot crows-- One

crow took his station as sentinel on

the top of the tree--and 30 or

40 alighted upon the horse. He fired

& killed 7 or 8-- But the rest instead

of minding him immediately flew to

their sentinel & pecked him to pieces

before his eyes. Also Mr Joseph

Clark239 told him that as he was going

along the road he cast a stick

over the wall & hit some crows in

a field--whereupon they flew directly

at their sentinel on an apple tree &

beat and buffeted him away to the

woods as far as he could see.

There is little now to be

heard along the river but the sedge

rustling on the brink-- There is a

little ice along most of the shore

throughout the day.

Farmer told me that some one told

him he found a pickerel washed up in the

river choked by a bream which it had endeavord

to swallow.

28
29
30

Nov 30

& elsewhere
River skimmed over behind Dodd's--got

in my boat. River remained iced over all

day--

33
34

This evening I received Cholmondeley's

gift of Indian books--44 vols

239

Clark: altered from clark; C written over c

201

in all--which came by the Canada

reaching Boston on the morning

of the 24th ult. Left Liverpool

the 10th--

Goodwin & Farmer think that a dog will not

touch the dead body of a mink it smells so

strongly. The former after skinning them throws

8
9
10

the carcass in to a tree for the crows.

He has got 11 this fall--shot 2 & trapped the rest.
On the 27th when I made my

last voyage for the season--I found

a large round pine log about 4 feet

long--Off floating & brought it home.

Off the larger end I sawed 2 whells

about a foot in diameter & 7 or 8 inches

thick--And I fitted to them an axel-

tree made of a joint which also

I found in the river--& thus I had

a covenient pair of wheels on which

20
21
22

to get my boat up & roll it about.

called me into their office &
The Assessors^asked me this year

if I had & said they wished to get

an inventory of my property--asked

if I had any real estate-- No--

any notes at interest or RR shares

--No-- any taxable property--

None that I knew of-- I have own

a boat--I said--& one of them

thought that that might come under

the head of a pleasure carriage--which

is taxable-- Now that I have wheels to

it--it comes nearer to it.

34
35

I was pleased to get my boat in by

this means rather than on a borrowed

202

wheel barrow-- It was fit that the

river should furnish the material--

& that in my last voyage on

it when the ice reminded me that

it was time to put it in winter quar-

ters.

I am waiting for colder weather to

survey a swamp, now inaccessible on

ac. of the water.

I asked aunt L to-night why

Scheeter Potter was so called--

She said, because his neighbors who re-

garded him as a so small a man

that they said in jest--that it was

his business to make mosquito's

bills. He was accused of catching

his neighbors hens in a trap &

taking them-- But he was crazy.

Wm Wheeler says that

he went a-spearing on the 28th (night

before thanksgiving--& besides pouts

& pickerel caught 2 great suckers

He had one of the last stuffed & baked

for Thanksgiving & made himself

sick by eating too heartily of it.

26
27

Monday Dec 3d
A pleasant day-- no snow yet

(since that first whitening which lasted so

long) nor do I see any ice to speak of.

30
31
32

Hear & see of birds only a tree

sparrow in the willows in the turnpike.
Met Goodwin going out with his

203

gun-- He shot (evidently) some cross-

bills once in Roxbury-- He sometimes

gets a skunk--drowned in his musk-

rat or mink traps & so can get at

their secretion without being disturbed

by the scent. He too has heard that it is

a sure cure for the phthisick.

8
9

The fields & woods seem now

particularly empty & bare-- Now

cattle in pasture--only here & there

a man casting or spreading manure.

Every larger tree which I knew

& admired is being gradually culled

out & carried to mill-- I see one

or 2 more large oaks in E. Hubb's

wood lying high on stumps waiting

for snow to be removed. I miss them

as surely and with the same feeling

that I do the old inhabitants

out of the village street. To me

they were something more than timber

--to their owner not so.

23
24

Dec 4th
Melvin says that he shot a shelldrake

once in the act of swallowing a perch 7 or

8 inches long. He had got nothing today

for he forgot his caps.

A pleasant day & yet no snow nor

ice. The younger osiers on Shattuck's

row do shine.

31
32

Dec 6th
10 Pm Hear geese going over

204

Sat. Dec. 8th

Still no snow--(nor ice noticeable). I

3
4
5

might have left my boat out till now

I have not worn gloves yet
This P. M. I go to the woods

down the RR-- seeking the Society of Some

flock of little birds, or some squirrel--

but in vain. I only hear the faint

lisp of prob-- a tree sparrow--I go

through empty halls--ap. unoccu-

pied by bird or beast-- Yet it is cheering

to walk there while the sun is

reflected from far through the

aisles with a silvery light from

the needles of the pine. The contrast

of light or sunshine & shade, though

the latter is now so thin--is food

enough for me. Some scarlet-oak

leaves on the forest floor when I

stoop low, appear to have a little blood

in them still-- The shrivelled Sol-

seal berries are conspicuously red

amid the dry leaves-- I visited the door

24
25
26

of many a rabbits squirrel's burrow

& cone scales
& saw his nutshells^& tracks in the

sand--but a snow would reveal

much more. Let a snow come & clothe

the ground & trees & I shall see

the tracks of many inhabitants now

unsuspected & the very snow covering240

up the withered leaves will supply

the place of the green ones which

are gone. In a little busy flock

of lisping birds--chicadees or

240

covering: altered from covered; ing written over ed

205

lesser redpolls--even in a nuthatch

or downy woodpecker--there would

have been a sweet society for me

--but I did not find. Yet I had the

sun penetrating in to the deep hollows

through the aisles of the wood--&

7
8
9

the silvery sheen of its reflection from

wht
masses of^pine needles--

Met Therien coming from Lincoln

on the RR. He says that he carried

a cat from Jacob Bakers to Riordens

shanty--but she in a bag in the night,

but she ran home again. Had they

not a cat in the shanty, I asked.

Yes said he, but she was run over

by the cars & killed--they found her

head on the track separated from her

body--just below the pond. That cat of

Bakers used to eat eggs, & so he wished

to get rid of her. He carried her in a

bag to Waltham241, but she came back.

Therien had several times seen where

tortoises had ben run over-- They lie just

under the rail & put their heads out

upon the rail to see what is coming

& so their heads are crushed. Also he has

seen snakes cut in two.

the road told him that small birds

were frequently run over.?

The men on

Jacob Farmer brought me

the head of a mink tonight--&

took tea here. He says that par-

tridges sometimes fly against a house

241

Waltham: altered from waltham; W written over w

206

in the night--he thinks when started

by a fox-- His man found one

in his barn this fall which had

come in in the night--& caught it

before it could get out.

The mink has a delicate pard-like

nose--catlike-- The long hairs

are black or blackish--yet the

gen. aspect is brown.

Farmer says he can call a male

quail close to him by imitating the

note of the female--which is only

a single faint whistle.

14
15
16

He says--if you take eggs out of

& put them back
a partridge nest--^you will find just

as many cast out afterwards--

as you took out.

Dec. 9th

A still completely gray overcast

21
22

chilly morning. at 8 1/2 a fine snow

//begins to fall increasing very gradually

perfectly straight down till in 15

minutes the ground is white--the

smooth places first--& thus the

winter landscape is ushered in. And

now it is falling thus all the land

over-- sifting down through the tree

tops in woods--and on the meadow

& pastures where the dry grass &

weeds conceal it at first--& on the

river & ponds in which it is dissolved--

But in a few minutes it turns

to rain--& so the wintry landscape

207

is postponed for the present--

Dec 10th to Cambridge.

Dec 11th

Pm to Holden Swamp Conantum

For the first time I wear gloves, but

6
7

I have not walked early this season-I see no birds--but hear methinks 1 or

2 tree sparrows. No snow--scarcely any ice

to be detected it is only an aggravated Novem-

ber-- I thread the tangle of the spruce swamp

admiring the leafets242 of the swamp pyrus

which had put forth again now frost{-}

bitten--the great yellow buds of the swamp

pink--the round red buds of the high blue-

berry & the fine sharp red ones of the pannicled

Andromeda-- Slowly I worm my way amid

the snarl, the thicket of black alder--&

blueberry &c

rabbits at the foot of maples--& cat

birds' nests now exposed in the leafless thicket.

See the forms ap. of

Standing there though in this bare

november landscape--I am reminded

of the incredible phenomenon--of small

birds in winter. That ere long amid the

cold powdery snow--as it were243 a fruit of

the season will come twittering a flock

of delicate crimson-tinged birds (lesser

red-polls) to sport & feed on the seeds &

buds now just ripe for them on the

sunny side of a wood--shaking down

the powdery snow there in their cheerful

social feeding--as if it were high

242

leafets: altered from leaves; fets written over ves

243

were: altered from a; w written over a

208

mid summer--to them. These crimson

aerial creatures have wings which would

bear them quickly to the regions of sum

mer, but here is all the summer they

want. What a rich contrast--tropical

colors--crimson breasts--on cold white snow.

Such etherealness such delicacy in their

forms--such ripeness in their colors

in this stern & barren season-- It is as

surprising as if you were to find a brilliant

crimson flower--which flourished amid

snows-- They greet244 the chopper & the

hunter in their furs. Their maker gave

them the last touch & launched them

forth the day of the Great Snow.

He made this bitter imprisoning cold

before which man quails--but he

made at the same time these warm

& glowing creatures to twitter & be at home

in it. He said not only let there

be linnets in winter--but linnets

of rich plumage--& pleasing twitter

bearing summer in their natures.

The snow will be 3 feet deep--the

ice will be 2 feet thick--& last night

perchance--the mercury sank to

30 degrees below zero-- All the fountains

of nature seem to be frozen sealed up--

29
30
31

The traveller is frozen on his way-- But

birch
will be
under the edge of yonder^wood--is

a little flock of crimson breasted lesser

red polls--busily feeding on the seeds of

the birch & shaking down the powdery

snow!

244

greet: altered from great; ee written over ea

209

1
2
3

As if a flower were created to be now in bloom

a peach to be now first fully ripe on its stem-I am struck by the perfect confidence

& success of nature-- There is no question

about the existence of these delicate creatures

--their adaptedness to their circumstances-- There245

is super added superfluous paintings & adorn-

8
9
10

ments. A crystalline Jewel-like health & soundness

like the colors reflected from ice crystals-When some rare northern bird like the

Pine gross-beak, is seen thus far south

in the winter--he does not suggest

poverty--but dazzles us with his

beauty.-- There is in them a warmth akin

to the warmth that melts the

icicle. Think of these brilliant warm-

colored & richly warbling birds--birds of

paradise--dainty-footed--downy-clad--in the

19
20
21

midst of a New England--a Canadian

now somewhat solitary
winter. The woods and fields^being de-

serted by their more tender summer residents

are now frequented by these rich but

delicately tinted & hardy northern imigrants

of the air-- Here is no imperfection

to be suggested. The winter--with its snow

& ice--is not an evil to be corrected. It

is as it was designed & made to be--

for the artist has had leisure to add

beauty to use. My acquaintances--

angels from the north-- I had a

vision thus prospectively of these birds

as I stood in the swamp246. I saw this

familiar--too familiar--fact at a

different angle--& I was charmed &

245

There: altered from Their; ere written over eir

246

swamp: altered from swamps; s cancelled

210

haunted by it. But I could only at{-}

tain to be thrilled & enchanted--as

by the sound of a strain of music

dying away--I had seen into para{-}

disaic regions--with their air & sky--

& I was no longer wholly or merely a

denizen of this vulgar earth-- Yet had

I hardly a foot-hold there--I was only

sure that I was charmed, & no mistake--

It is only necessary to behold thus the least

fact or phenomenon--however familiar--

from a point a hair's breadth aside

from our habitual path or routine

to be overcome--enchanted by its Beauty &

significance-- Only what we have

touched & worne is trivial our scurf--

--repetition--tradition--conformity--

To perceive freshly--with fresh senses is

to be inspired. Great Winter it-

self looked like a precious gem--reflecting

rainbow colors from one angle.

My body is all sentient--as I go

here or there I ge am tickled by

this or that I come in contact

with--as if I touched the wires of a

battery-- I can generally recall have

fresh in my mind several scratches last

received-- These I continually recall--to

mind--reimpress--& harp upon. The

age of miracles is each moment thus

returned-- Now it is wild apples--now

river-reflections--now a flock of

lesser red-polls. In winter too resides

211

immortal youth--& perennial summer

its head is not silvered--its cheek is not

blanched--but has a rusty tinge to it.

If any part of nature excites our pity--it

is for ourselves we grieve--for there is eter-

nal health & beauty. We get only transient

& partial glimpses of the beauty of the

world. Standing at the right angle

we are dazzled by the colors of the rain

bow in colorless ice-- From the right point

of view every storm & every drop in it is a

rain-bow. Beauty & music are not

mere traits & exceptions-- They are the

rule & character. It is the exception

that we see & hear. Then I

try to discover what it was in the vision

that charmed & translated me-- What

if we could daguerreotype our thoughts

& feelings! For I am surprised &

enchanted often by some quality which

I cannot detect. I have seen an attri-

bute of another world & condition of

things. It is a wonderful fact

that I should be affected--& thus deeply

& powerfully--more than by aught else

in all my experience--that this fruit

should be borne in me sprung from

a seed finer than the spores of fungi--

floated from other atmospheres!--finer

than the dust caught in the sails of

vessels a thousand miles from land--

--here the invisible seeds settle & spring

& bear flowers & fruits of immortal

beauty.

212

1
2

Dec 13th
//

This morning it is snowing & the

ground is whitened-- The countless flakes

seen against the dark evergreens--like

a web that is woven in the air--im-

part a cheerful & busy aspect to nature--

It is like a grain that is sown, or like

leaves that have come to clothe the bare

trees-- Now by 9 'o clock it comes

down in larger flakes for & I appre-

hend that it will soon stop.-- -- --It does

How pleasant a sense of preparedness

for the winter--plenty of wood in the shed

--& potatoes & apples &c in the cellar--

& the house247 banked up-- Now it will

be a cheerful sight to see the snows

descend & hear the blast howl.

Sandborn tells me that he was

waked up a few nights ago in Boston

about midnight by the sound of

a flock of geese passing over the city--

prob. about the same time night

I heard them here-- They go honking

24
25
26

over cities where the arts flourish--waking

the inhabitants
^over state-houses & capitols where legis-

latures sit--over harbors where fleets

lie at anchor.-- Mistaking the city

perhaps for a swamp or the edge of

30
31
32
33

a lake-- about settling in it. %not suspecting that

%(it is preoccupied% Dec 14 %by) greater geese than they%
%have settled there%
It began to snow again last evening

34
35
36

//but soon ceased--& now it has turned

with half an inch of snow on the ground
out a fine winter morning--^the air

247

house: altered from house--; -- cancelled

213

full of mist through which the

smokes rise up perfectly straight &

the mist is frozen in minute leaflets on the

fences & trees--& the needles of the pines sil-

vering them.

I stood by Bigelow the Blacksmith's248 forge

yesterday & saw him repair an axe-- He

burned the handle out--then with a chisel

cut off the red hot edge even--there being

some great gaps in it--& by hammering

drew it out & shaped it anew-- All

in a few minutes-- It was interesting to

see performed so simply & easily by the

aid of fire & a few rude tools, a work which

would have surpassed the skill of a tribe

of savages.

Pm. to Pink azalea woods--

The warm sun has quite melted the thin

snow on the south sides of the hills--

but I go to see the tracks of animals

that have been out on the north sides--

First getting over the wall under the

wallnut trees on the south brow of

the hill I see the broad tracks of

squirrels, probably red, where they

have ascended & descended the

trees--and the empty shells of wal-

nuts which they have gnawed left

on the snow-- The snow is so very

shallow that the impression of their

toes is the more distinctly seen--

It imparts life to the landscape

to see merely the squirrels track in the

snow at the base of the walnut tree

248

Blacksmiths: altered from blacksmiths; B written over b

214

You almost realize a squirrel at

every tree. The attraction's of nature

are thus condensed or multiplied.

You see not merely bare tree & ground

which you might suspect that

a squirrel had left--but you

have thus unquestionable & significant

evidence of that a squirrel has

9
10
11
12

been there since the snow fell--as

had seen
conclusive as if you saw him
A little further I heard the sound a

downy woodpecker tapping a pitch

pine in a little grove--& saw him in-

clining to dodge behind the stem-- He

flitted from pine to pine before me. Fre-

quently when I pause to listen I hear this

sound in the woo orchards or streets--

This was in one of these dense groves

of young pitch pines.

Suddenly I heard the screwing mew

22
23
24

& then the whirr of a partridge on

decaying
or beneath an old^apple tree which

the pines had surrounded. There were

several such--& another partridge

burst away from one-- They249 shoot off

swift & steady showing their dark edged

tails--almost like a cannon-ball.

I saw one's track under an apple

tree & where it had pecked a frozen

thawed apple.

Then I came upon a fox track made

last night--leading toward a farm

house--(Wheeler's--where there are many

hens)--running over the side of the

249

They: altered from I: T written over I

215

hill parallel with Wheeler's250 new wall--

He was dainty in the choice of his ground

for I observed that for a mile he had

adhered to a narrow cowpath, in which

the snow lay level--for smoothness. Some

times he had cantered--& struck the

snow with his foot beneath between his

tracks-- Little does the farmer think

of the danger which threatens his hens.

In a little hollow251 I see the sere gray

penny-royal rising above the snow

which rubbed reminds me of garrets

full of herbs.

Now I hear half a mile off the

hollow sound of wood-chopping--the

work of short winter days begun--which

is gradually laying bare & impoverish-

ing our landscape. In two or three

thicker woods which I have visited

this season I was driven away by

this ominous sound.

{//}

Further over toward the river I see

the tracks of a deer mouse on a rock

which suddenly came to an end where

ap. it had ascended a small pine

by a twig which hung over it. Some-

times the mark of its tail was very

distinct. Afterwards I saw in

the pasture westward where many

had run about in the night.

In one place many had cross the

cowpath in which I was walking--

in one trail--or the same one had

250

Wheelers: altered from wheelers; W written over w

251

hollow: altered from how; oll interlined with a caret between

h and o
216

come & gone many times. In the large

hollows where rocks have been blasted--

& on the sides of the river--I

see252 singular spaces of dark ice bare

of snow--which was frozen after the

snow ceased to fall. But this

ice is rotten & mixed with snow--

The river I am surprised to see the

9
10
11

river frozen over for the most part

thin & rotten snow
with this^ice--& the drooping or bent

alders are already frozen in to this253

slush--giving to the stream a very

wintry aspect.

15
16
17

I see some squirrel tracks about a

hole in a stump.
At the azalea meadow or swamp--

the red tops of the osiers which are

very dense & of a uniform height

are quite attractive in the absence

of color at this season. Any brighter

& warmer color catches our eye at

this season. I see an elm

there whose bark is worn quite

smooth & white & bare of lichens

showing exactly the height at which

the ice stood last winter.

Looking more closely at the light

snow there near the swamp--I found

that it was sprinkled all over with

(as with pellets of cotton) with regular

star-shaped cottony flakes with 6

points--about 1/8 of an inch in

diameter {drawing} & on an average 1/2 an

252
253

see: altered from seen; n cancelled

this: altered from thin; s written over n
217

inch apart. It snowed geometry.

How snug & warm a hemlock looks in the

winter-- That by the azalea looks thus--

{drawing} There is a tendency in the

limbs to arrange themselves

ray-wise about a point 1/3

from the base to the top-- What singu-

lar regularity in the outline of a tree!

I noticed this morning successived banks of

9
10

frost on the windows--marked by their

irregular waving edges--like the successive

5 10 & 15 fathom lines which mark

the depth of the shores on charts.

14
15

Thus by the snow I was made aware

in this short walk of the recent presence there

of squirrels--mice a fox & countless mice

whose trail I had crossed--but none of

which I saw, or probably should have seen

before the snow fell.

Also I saw this P. m. the track of

one sparrow--prob-- a tree sparrow

which had run among the weeds in the

road.

25
26

Dec 15
This morning it has begun to snow

ap. in earnest-- The air is quite

thick & the view confined-- It is quite

still yet some flakes come down from

one side & some from another crossing

each other like woof & warp--{drawing}

ap-- as they are falling in dif-

ferent eddies & currents of air.

218

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

In the midst of it I hear & see

a few little chicadees prying about
the twigs of the locusts in the graveyard. They have come into town with
They now & then break forth into a short sweet
the snow. strain & then seem suddenly to check themselves
as they had done it before they thought.
//
The boys have skated a little within

2 or 3 days--but it has not beeen

thick enough to bear a man yet--

How like a bird of ill omen

the crow behaves! Still holding its ground

in our midst like a pow-wow that is

not to be exterminated! Sometimes when

I am going through the Deep254 Cut--

I look up & see half a-dozen black

crows flitting silently across in front

& ominously eyeing down--passing from

one wood to another--yet as if their

passage had reference to me.

The snow turned to rain--&

this Pm I walk in it Down to255 RR--

& through the woods-- The low grass &

weeds bent down with a myriad little

crystaline drops--ready to be frozen perhaps

are very interesting but wet my feet

through very soon. A steady but gentle

warm rain.

30
31
32

Dec 16th
warm
Steady gentle^rain all the

forenoon & mist & mizzling in

the afternoon--. When I go round

by Abel Hosmers & back by the RR.

The mist makes the near trees

dark & noticeable like pictures

254

Deep: altered from deep; D written over d

255

Down to: altered from down the

219

and make the houses more interesting

revealing but one at a time-- The

old apple trees are very important

to this landscape--they have so much body

and are so dark. It is very pleasing

to distinguish the dim outline of

the woods more or less distant through

the mist--Sometimes the merest

9
10
11

film & suspicion of a wood-- On256 one

plump & but soft
side it is the^rounded^masses of pitch

pines--on anothe the brushy tops of

maples--birches &c Going by Hosmer's

the very heaps of stones in the pasture

are obvious as cairns in one of

Ossian's landscapes-- Saw two red squirrels

on the fence--one on each side of his

house--particularly red along their backs

& top of head--& tail. They are remark-

ably tame. One sits twirling ap. a

21
22
23

dried apple in his paws with his tail

as if to keep it warm
curled close over his back^--fitting its

curve--{drawing} How much smothered

sun-light in their wholesome brown red

this misty day-- It is clear New England

Nov-anglia--like the red sub-soil.

It is spring-like--

As we go over the bridge admire

the reflection from of the trees & houses

from the smooth open water over the

channel--when the ice has been dissolved

by the rain.

Dec. 17

9 1/2 Am. to Hill-- A remarkably

256

On: altered from One; e cancelled

220

//fine spring-like morning. The earth

all bare-- The sun so bright &

warm--the steam curling up from

every fence & roof & carried off at

angle by the slight N westerly air-- After

these rainy days the air is ap. un-

commonly clear & hence (?) the sound

of cockcrowing is so sweet--& I hear

the sound of the sawmill even at the

door--also the cawing of crows. The

is a little ice which makes it as

yet good walking in the roads. The

peculiar brightness & sunniness may

be partly owing to the sun being re-

flected through the cleansed air from

the more than russet--the bleached

surfaced of the earth. Methinks every

squirrel will be out now-- This

is the morning. Ere long the wind

20
21
22

will rise & this season will be over.

There will probably be some wrack in the P.m. sky.
Columella says you must

be careful not to carry out seeds in

your manure & so have segetes

herbidas weedy crops.

26
27

Dec 18th
Saw today a dark colored spider of

the very largest kind on ice--the

Mill pond at E. Woods in Acton.

J. Farmer says that he once tried

to kill a cat--by taking her by the

legs & striking her head against

a stone--but she made off--&

in a week was about again

221

ap. as well as ever--& he did not meddle

with her again.

3
4
5

Dec 20
Still no Snow--& as usual I wear no
gloves--

Pm--to Hubb's skating meadow--

A few chicadees busily inspecting the buds at

the willow row--ivy tree--for insects--with

a short clear chink from time to time, as if

10
11

to warn me of their neighborhood.

Boys are now devoted to skating--after

school at night--far into evening--going

without their suppers-- It is pretty good

on the meadows which are somewhat

overflown--& the sides of the river--but the

the greater part of it is open-- I walk

along the side of the river on the

ice beyond the Bath-Place-- Already

there is dust on this smooth ice--on its

countless facets--revealed by the sun.

How warm the dull red cranberry

vine rises above the ice here & there.

I stamped & shook the ice to detect the

holes & weak places where that little

brook comes in there-- They were plainly

revealed--for the water beneath being

agitated proclaimed itself at every

hole far & wide or for 3 or 4 rods.

--The257 edge of the ice toward the

channel is either rubbed up or edged

with a ridge of frozen foam.

32
33

--I see some gossamer on the weeds above

the ice. Also in now hard dark ice

257

The: altered from I; T written over I

222

the tracks ap of a fox made when it

was saturated snow--so long his trail

is revealed--but over the pastures no

hound can now trace him. There

has been much overflow about every

tussuck in the meadow making

that rough opaque ice--like yeast

I mark the many preparations

for another year which the farmer has

made--his late plowings--his muck

heaps in fields perhaps of grass which

he intends to plow & cultivate--his ditches

to carry off the winter's floods--&c.

How placid--like silver or like steel

in258 diff. lights--the surface of the

still living water between these borders

of ice--reflecting the weeds & trees--

& now the warm colors of the sunset

sky! The ice is that portion of the

flood which is congealed & laid up in

our fields for a season.

22
23

Dec 21st
Going to the P. O. at 9 AM259 this very

pleasant morning-- I hear & see

tree sparrows on Wheildon's pines--& just

beyond scare a downy woodpecker & a brown

//creeper in company from near the base

of a small elm within 3 feet of me-- The

former dashes off with a loud rippling

of the wing--& the creeper flits across the

street to the base of another small elm

whither I follow-- At first he hides behind

the base--but ere long works his way

258

in: altered from on; i written over o

259

AM: altered from a

223

upward & comes in sight-- He is a gray. brown.

A low curve from point of beak to end

of tail. {drawing} resting flat against the tree--

Pm--

Via Hubbs grove & river to FH Pond-- Return

by Andromeda Ponds-- See only a jay? flying

high over the fields & chicadees. The last

rarely seem to mind you keeping busy at

work--yet hop nearer & nearer-- Hubb's barren

pasture under Fair260 H. Hill whose surface

is much broken--alternate sod & bare sand--

is now tinged with the pale leather or

cinnamon color of the 2nd sized pin-weed--

which thickly covers it.

I been take to the river side. The broader

places are frozen over--but I do not trust

them yet-- Fair Haven is entirely frozen over

prob some days. Already some eager

fisherman has been here this morning or

yesterday--& I hear that a great pickerel

was carried through the street. I see

close under the high bank on the

E. side a distinct tinge of that red

in the ice for for a rod.

I remark the dif pale colors to which

26
27
28

the grasses have faded & bleached-Those

Some coarse sedges amide the button

bushes--are bleached particularly light--

Some more slender in the pleasant

meadow is quite light with singular

reddish or pinkish radical blades making

a mat at the base-- Some dense

sedge or rushes in tufts in the Androme--

260

Fair: altered from fair; cross added at top of f to form F

224

ponds {drawing} have a decided greenish tinge

somewhat like well-curved hay.

A few simple colors now

prevail--even the apples on the

trees--have assumed the brown color

of the leaves.

I do not remember to have seen the

Andromeda Ponds so low--the weedy

& slimy bottom is for the most part

exposed. The slime somewhat clay colored

is collected here & there into almost or-

ganic forms--swamalike with a skin

to it--

I make a nosegay of the sphagnum

15
16
17

which must suffer from this unusual

It is frozen stiff at the base
exposure--^--What rugged castelled forms

it takes at the base of the andromeda

which springs from it-- Some is green

or yellowish-green--, Some bright

crimson--some brown--some quite

white--with dif. shades of all these

colors-- Such are the temples & cheeks of

these soft crags What a primitive

& swampy wilderness for the wild mice

to run amidst-- The andromeda Woods!

27
28
29
30
31

Walden is skimmed over all but

an acre in my cove. It will prob. be finished
no, it proved too warm-tonight.
No doubt the healthiest man in the

world is prevented from doing what he

would like by sickness.

34
35

Dec 22nd
Dull over cast morning so warm that

225

it has actually thawed in the night--&

there is a wet space larger than the ice

on the side-walk. It draws forth crowing

from cockerels--as spring does rills from

glaciers.

6
7
8
9

Pm warm rain & frost coming out & muddy

walking.
In reading Columella
I am frequently reminded not only

by the general tone by but even by the

particular warnings & directions--of the

our agricultural journals & reports of

farmers' clubs-- Often what is last &

most insisted on among us, was261 most

insisted on by the Romans.

16
17
18

a little land well than a great dill deall ill.

& quotes the poet--"laudato ingentia rura

-- --Exiguum colito."-- -- -- --

21
22
23

"Modus ergo, qui in omnibus rebus, etiam parandis

168
agris adhibebitur: tantum enim obtinendum est, quanto

est opus, ut emisse videremur quo potiremur,

non quo onerarenur ipsi, atque aliis fruendum

eriperemus, more praepotentium, qui possident fines

Gentium262, quos ne circumire equis quidem valent,

sed proculcandos pecudibus, et vastandos, ac populandos

feris derelinquunt, aut occupatos nexu civium, et

ergastulis tenent."

As when he says it is better to cultivate

There fore, as in all things, so in buying

land moderation will be used; for only

33
34
35
36
37

so much is to be obtained as there is

%necessary to make it appear that we%
need of, so that we may be seen to
%use%
have bought what we can possess,

261

was: altered from is; was written over is

262

Gentium: altered from gentium; G written over g

226

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

not263 what we may be burdened with, & hinder

%over%
others from enjoying, like those very powerful
%?possess?%
ones who also possess occupy %?% the
%nations?%
territory of a tribe, which they can not

go round even with horses, but leave to be

9
10
11

trampled by herds, & to be laid waste & depopu%x%

lated by wild beasts, or keep occupied by264 nexu

12
13
14
15
16

civium or prisons.
%X confinement & compulsory labor on farms of fellow citizens for
This reminds me of those extensive
debt--%
said to belong to the Peter Piper estate
tracts--^running back a mile or

17
18
19

more & absorbing several old farms

but almost wholly neglected & run out.
^which I often traverse & am better

acquainted with than their so called

owners-- Several times I have had to

show such the nearest way out of

their woodlots-- Extensive woodlots &

cranberry meadows perhaps--& a rambling

old country house on one side--but you

cant by an acre of land for a houselot--

--"Where wealth accumulates & men decay."

28
29
30

Dec. 23d
P. m. to Conantum End
A very bright & pleasant day with a

remarkably soft wind from a little N of

W. The frost has come out so in the rain

of yesterday--that I avoid the muddy

plowed fields--& keep on the grass

ground which shines with moisture.

I think I do not remember such & so much

pleasant spring-like weather as this &

some other days of this month.

I admire those old root fences

which have almost entirely disappeared

from tidy fields-- White pine roots

263

not: altered from nor; ot written over or

264

by: altered from on; by written over on

227

got out when the neighboring mead was

a swamp--the monuments of many

a revolution. These roots have not penetrated

into the ground but spread over the

surface--and having been cut off 4 or 5

feet from the stump were hauled off

& set up on their edges for a fence265

The roots are not merely interwoven

but grown together into solid frames

--full of loopholes like gothic windows

of various sizes & all shapes, triangular

and oval & harp-like--& the slenderer

parts are dry & resonant like harp strings.

--They are rough & unapproachable

with a hundred snags and horns--which

bewilder & balk the calculation of the

walker who would surmount them. The

part of the trees above ground present

no such fantastic forms. Here is

one 7 paces or more than a rod

long--6 feet high in the middle

--& yet only 1 foot thick--& 2 men

could turn it up--& in this case the

roots were 6 or 9 inches thick at the

extremities-- The roots of pines growing

in swamps--grow thus in the form

of solid frames or rackets--and

those of different trees are inter-

woven with all so that they stand

30
31
32

on a very broad foot--& stand or

before the blasts
fall together to some extent--^as

herds meet the assault of beasts

of prey with serried front--

265

fence: altered from fences

228

You have thus only to dig into

the swamp a little way--to find your

fence-- Post-rails & slats already

solidly grown together--and of material

more durable than any timber--

How pleasing a thought that a

field should be fenced with the roots

of the trees got out in clearing the

land a century before-- I regret

them as mementoes of the primitive

forest-- The tops of the same trees

made into fencing stuff would have

decayed generations ago. These roots

are singularly unobnoxious to the effects

of time. moisture

I detect the Irishman where the elms

& maples on the causeway are cut off

at the same height with the willows

to make pollards of!

The swamp is thus covered with a complete

web of roots--Wild trees--such as are

fitted to grow in the uncultivated

swamps.

I sit on the hill side near the wall

corner, in the further Conantum

field--as I might in an Ind.

summer day in Nov. or Oct. These

are the colors of the earth now--

All land that has been some time

cleared--except it is subject to the

plow is russet, the color of withered

32
33

herbage & the ground finely commixed-a lighter straw color where are rank grasses next water

229

1
2

--sproutlands the pale leather color

of dry oak leaves-- Pine woods green

3
4

--deciduous woods (bare twigs & stems & withered

leaves commingled) a brownish--or reddish gray

--Maple swamps smoke color--

Land just cleared dark brown & earthy--

Plowed land dark brown or blackish--ice

& water slate color--or blue-- Androme-

da swamps dull red & dark gray-- Rocks

gray.

At Lee's Cliff I notice these

radical (?) leaves quite fresh--Saxifrage

sorrel--polypody--mullein--columbine--

veronica--Thyme-leaved sandwort--

spleenwort--strawberry--buttercup--radical

johnswort--mouse-ear--rad-pinweeds--

cinquefoils--checkerberry--winter green--

thistles--catnep--Turritis stricta especially

fresh & bright--& What is that fine very

minute plant thickly covering the

ground--like a young arenaria?

Think of the life of a kitten--ours for-

instance--last night here eyes set in

a fit--doubtful if she will ever come out

of it & she is set away in a basket--& sub-

mitted to the recuperative powers of

Nature-- This morning running up the

clothes pole & erecting her back in frisky

sport to every passer.

30
31

Dec 25th
9 Am Snow driving about horizontally

from the NE-- & fast whitening the ground--

& with it the first tree sparrows I have

230

noticed in the yard. It turns partly to rain &

hail at mid day.

3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Dec 26
After snow rain & hail yesterday
& last night--we have this morning
//quite a glaze--there being at last an inch
the most we have had
or 2 of crushed snow on the ground--^The
sun comes out at 9 Am & lights

up the ice-incrusted trees--but it

is pretty warm & the ice rapidly

melts.-- I go to Walden via

the almshouse & up the RR--

Trees seen in the west against the

dark cloud the sun shining on them

are perfectly white as frost work and

all their outlines very perfectly & distinctly

18
19
20

revealed--great wisps that they are--&

with recurved twigs
shoots of trees--^The walls & fences are

encased--and the fields bristle with

a myriad of crystal spears-- Already the

wind is rising & a brattling is heard

over head in the street. The sun

shining down a gorge over the woods

at Bristers Hill--reveals a wonderfully

brilliant as well as seemingly solid & di-

versified region in the air-- The ice is

29
30
31

from 1/8 to a quarter of an inch thick

about
on the sides of the twigs & pine needles--only

half as thick commonly on one side--

Their heads are bowed--their plumes

& needles are stiff--as if preserved under

glass for the inspection of posterity--

This is our now especially slow footed

231

river laid up not merely on the

meadows--but on the twigs & leaves

of the trees--on the needles of the pines.

The pines thus weighed down are sharp

pointed at top & remind me of firs &

even hemlocks--their drooping boughs

being wrapped about them like the folds

of a cloak or a shawl {drawing} The crust

is already strewn with bits of

the green needles which have been

broken off. Frequently the whole

top stands bare while

the middle & lower branches

are drooping & massed together resting on

one another-- But the low & spreading

weeds in the fields and the woodpaths

17
18
19

are the most interesting. Here are asters

savory-leaved
^whose flat imbricated calyxes 3/4 of an

inch over are surmounted & inclosed

in a perfectly transparent ice button

like a glass knob--through which

you see the reflections of the brown

calyx--{drawing} These are very common-- Each

little blue curl calyx was a spherical button

like those brass ones on little boys jackets

--little sprigs on them--& the pennyroyal

has still smaller spheres more regularly

arranged about its stem--chandelier-wise--&

still smells through the ice. The finest

grasses support the most wonderful

burdens of ice & most branched on their

minute threads. These weeds are

spread & arched over into the snow

232

again--countless little arches a few

inches a few inches high each cased

in ice--which you break with a

tinkling crash at each step.

{drawing} &c &c The scarlet

6
7
8

fruit of the cock spur lichen seen

more opaque whitish or snowy
glowing through the^crust of a

stump--is on close inspection the

richest sight of all--for the scarlet

is increased & multiplied by reflection

through the bubbles & hemispherical surfaces

of the crust--as if it covered some ver-

million grain thickly strewn. & the brown

cup lichens stand in their midst--the

whole rough barck too is encased--

Already a squirrel

has perforated {drawing} the crust above the

mouth of his burrow here & there by

the side of the path & left some empty

acorn shells on the snow-- He has shovelled

out this morning--before the snow has frozen

in his door step-- Now at 10 am

there blows a very strong wind from the

NW. & it grows cold apace.

Particularly are we attracted in the

winter by greenness and signs of growth--

as the green & white shoots of grass & weeds

pulled--or floating on the wate--& also

by color--as cockspur lichens & crimson

birds--&c.

32
33

Thorny bushes looked more thorny than ever

--each thorn is prolonged & exagerated--

233

Some boys have come out to a woodside

hill to coast-- It must be sports to them

lying on their stomachs to hear their sled

cronching the crystalled weeds when they

have reached the more weedy pasture--below.

4 P.m.

Up R. R. Since the sun has risen higher

& fairly triumphed over the clouds--the ice has

glistened with all the prismatic hues-- On

the trees it is now considerably disipated--

but rather owing to the wind than the sun.

The ice is chiefly on the upper & on the

13
14
15

storm side of things &c-- The whole

pine
top of the^forest--as seen miles off in

the horizon--is of sharp points--the

leading shoots with a few plumes--even

more so than I have drawn on the l. p. b. 1.

It has grown cold--& the crust bears

The weeds & grasses being so thickened

by this coat of ice appear much more

numerous in the fields-- It is surprising

what a bristling crop they are. The sun

is gone before 5-- Just before I

25
26
27
28
29

looked for rain-bow flecks in the west

small
but saw none--only some pink-dun?
east
clouds--& in the west still larger

ones which after sunset--turned to

pale slate.

In a true history or biography of how

little consequence those events of which so much

is commonly made-- E.G. How difficult

for a man to remember in what town

or houses he has lived or when!266 Yet one

266

when!: altered from when--

234

of the first steps of his biographer will

be to establish these facts--& he will

thus give an undue importance to

many of them.

that the most important events in

my life--if recorded at all, are

not dated--

8
9

I find in my journal

Dec 27th
Recalled this evening--with the aid of

Mother the various houses (& towns) in

which I have lived--& some other events of

12
13
14
15
16
17

my life.

18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26

Where Father occupied Grandmothers

carrying on the farm Si Merriam next neighbor
3ds--^The Catherines the other half267
Bob. Catherines & John threw up the Turkies
of the house-- Lived there about
Si Merriam the neighbor
8268 months.
We the W side
The Red House, Where Grandmother Lived--^till

27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36

Sep or Oct. (?) 1818--hiring of Josiah Davis

There were cousin Charles
agent for Woodards-- & (uncle C more or less)
Ac. to *Day Book Father hired of Proctor Oct 16th 1818--& shop of
Spaulding Nov 10th 1818
Last change in Chelmsford
Chelmsford till March 1821
about mid of March 21
Aunt Sarah taught me to walk there when 14

37
38
39
40
41
42
43

powder in the garret. Father kept shop--& painted--signs &c

5 or
Popes House at South End in Boston^6 (?) months
Moved from Chelmsford through Concord
a 10 footer
& may have tarried in Concord a little while.
Day book says "Moved to Pinkney Street Sep 10th 1821 on Monday".
Whitwell's House Pinkney St. Boston to Mar. 1823 (?)

Brick House--Concord--to spring of 1826

45
46
47
48

Davis House--(next to S. Hoars) to May 7th '27

Uncle David d. when I was

6 weeks old-- I was baptized in old
M. H. by Dr Ripley when I was 3 months
& did not cry
Minott House, on the Virginia Road

Born July 12th 1817 in the

months old.-- Lived next the M. H. where they kept the

*Day-book 1st used by Grandfather dated 1797. His part cut out & used
by Father in Concord in 1808-9269. & in Chelmsford 1818-19-20-21

267

half: altered from part

268

8: altered from 2

269

1808-9: altered from 1808 & 9

235

1
2
3

Shattuck House (now Wm Monroe's) to Spring

Hollis Hall Cam.
of 35--(Hollis. Cambridge. '33)

4
5
6

Aunts House to Spring of '37--at Brownson's

Hollis Hall &
Canton.
While teaching in winter of 35-- Went

7
8
9
10

to N. York with Father peddling in '36

Parkman House to fall of '44. Was GraduHollis-Cambridge
ated in '37. Kept Town School

a fortnight in '37 (?)-- Began the

Big Red Journal Oct '37-- Found

first arrowheads Fall270 of '37--. Wrote a Lecture

(my first) on Society, May 14th 38 & read

it before the Lyceum in the Mason's Hall--

16
17
18

Ap. 11th '38-- Went to Maine for a

May
school in Spring of 38 Commenced

school in the house in summer of

'38. Wrote an essay on Sound & Silence

Dec '38.-- Fall of '39 up Merrimack to

White Mts.-- Aulus Persius Flaccus

23
24
25

first printed paper of271 consequence, Feb 10th

546
1840-- The Red Journal of 396 ps

ended June 1840-- Journal of 396 ps

R. W. E.'s

ended Jan 31st 41 Went to R. W. E's

in Spring of 41 & stayed there to summer of '43

29
30
31

Wm Emersons Went to Staten Island June '43--& returned

Staten Island %or to Thanksgiving%
in Dec%^%'43-- Made pencils in '44--

Texas House to Aug 29th '50. At Walden

Walden

July 45 to fall of '47--then at R. W. E's to fall

R. W. E's

of 48 or while he was in Europe.

Yellow-House reformed till present

270

Fall: altered from fall; F written over f

271

of: altered from on; f written over n

236

1
2
3

Dec 28th

near
Pm Hollowel Place & back over Hub bridge--

To-day & yesterday the boys have been skating

on the crust in the streets--it is so warm--

the snow being very shallow-- Considerable ice

7
8
9

still clings to the rails & trees & especially

though much attenuated
weeds^-- The birches were most bent

& are still--in hollows on the N sides

of hills {drawing}-- Saw Some rabbits fur

on the crust & som ap bird? droppings

since the sleet fell--a few pinches of fur

the only trace of the murder-- Was it a hawk's

work? Crossed the river on the ice in front

of Puffer's. What do the birds do272 when

the seeds & bank are thus encased in

ice?

19
20

Dec 29th
Down RR--to Andromeda Ponds--

I occasionally see a small snow-flake

in the air against the woods-- It

is quite cold--& a serious storm seems

to be beginning. Just before reaching

//the cut I see a shrike flying low

beneath the level of the RR which rises

& alights on the topmost twig of an elm

within 4 or 5 rods. All ash or bluish slate

29
30
31

above down to mid wings--dirty white breast

broad
& a^black mark through eyes on side of

head--primaries (?) black--& some white

appears when it flies. Most distinctive

its small hooked bill--(upper mandible).

It make no sound--but flits to

36
37

the top of an oak further off-Prob. a male.

272

do: altered from ?

237

Am surprised to find 8 or 10 acres of

Walden still open not withstanding

the cold of the 26th-7th & 8th & of273 to day.

It must be owing to the wind partly.

5
6
7

If quite cold--it will prob. freeze tonight.

not quite--say The night of the 30th
I find in the andromeda bushes

8
9
10

in the Andromeda ponds a great

%yes%
many nests ap. of the red-wing (?) I count

21 suspended after their fashion amid

the twigs of the andromeda--each now filled

with ice-- I count 21 within 15 rods of

a center--& have no doubt there are a hundred

in that large swamp--for I only looked about

the edge part way. It is remarkable that

I do not remember to have seen flocks

of these birds there-- It is an admirable

place for them, these swamps are so im-

passable & the andromeda so dense

It would seem that they steal away to

breed here--are not noisy here as along

the river-- %v. n p.%

24
25
26

I never knew--or rather do not restrong

member the crust so^hard as it is now

and has been for 3 days-- You can skate

over it as on ice in any direction--

I see the tracks of skaters on all

the roads--& they seem hardly to prefer

the ice-- Above Abiel Wheelers on the

back road the crust is not broken

yet--though many sleds & sleighs

have passed--the tracks of the

skaters are as conspicuous any there

But the snow is but 2 or 3 inches

273

of: altered from to

238

deep. Jonas Potter tells me that

has known the crust on snow 2 feet

deep to be as strong as this, so that he

could drive his sled anywhere over the walls.

So that he cut off the trees in jennie's

lot 3 feet from the ground, & cut

again after the snow was melted.

8
9

When two men, Billings & Pritchard

were dividing the stock of my father

10
11
12

& Hurd--the former acting for Father-P. was rather tight for Hurd
^They came to a cracked bowl at which

P, hesitated and asked well what shall

we do with this. Bo took it in haste

15
16
17

& broke it & presenting him one274 pice--said

ours
"There, that is your half & this is mine."

A good time to walk in swamps

there being ice but no snow to speak of--all

crust. It is a good walk along the

edge of the river the275 wild side amid the button

bushes & willows. The eupatoreum stalks

still stand there with their brown hemispheres

24
25
26

of little twigs {drawing} orreries--

between 8 or 10 andromeda stems about

half way up them made of more or less

29
30
31

coarse grass or sedge without then about

& fine
1/2 inch of dense^now frozen sphagnum--then

fine wild grass or sedge very regularly & sometimes another

layer of sphagnum? of fine grass above these the

whole an inch thick--the bottom commonly

rounded-- The outside grasses are well

36
37
38

twisted about whatever andromeda stems stand

I saw the traces of mice in some of them
at or near the river.

The nests of last p. are suspended very securely

274

one: altered from a

275

the: altered from a

239

Dec 30

The snow which began last night

has continued to fall very silently but

steadily--and now it is not far from

5
6
7

a foot deep--much the most we

a dry light powdery snow
have had yet.^When I come down

I see it in miniature drifts against

the panes alternately streaked dark &

10
11
12

light as it is more or less dense. A

perfectly regular a foot high
remarkable^conical peak^with

concave sides {drawing} stands in the fire

place under the sink-room chimney. The

pump has a regular conical Persian276 (?) cap

& every post about the house a similar

one-- It is quite light but has not

drifted. About 9 Am-- It ceases & the

19
20
21
22
23

sun comes out, & shines dazzlingly over

Every neighbor is shovelling out--& hear
the white surface-- the sound of shovels scraping on door steps
%Winter now first fairly commenced--I feel--%
Columella says de aqua p 170

Sit autem vel intra villam, vel extrinsecus

inductus fons perennis, lignatio pabulum que

vicinum. Si deerit fluens unda, putealis quae-

ratur in vicino, quae non sit haustus profundi,

non amari saporis, aut salsi. Haec quoque si

deficient, et spes art aretior aquae manantis

coegerit, vastae cisternae hominibus, piscinaeque

pecoribus instruantur, colligendae aquae tandem

pluviali, quae salubritati corporis est accommo-

datissima: sed ea sic habetur eximia, si fic-

tilibus tubis in contectam cisternam deducatur,.

huic proxima fluens aqua e montibus

oriunda, si per saxa praeceps devolvitur,

ut est in Guarceno Campaniae. Tertia

276

Persian: altered from persian; P written over p

240

putealis, vel collina, vel quae non imfima

valle reperitur. Deterrima palustris, quae

pigro lapsu repit. Pestilens quae in palude

semper consistit."--

But let there be either within the villa or

introduced from without a perennial fountain,

wood & fodder near. If running water

is wanting let a well (or pool) be sought

in the neighborhood, which is not deep to draw

10
11
12

from, nor of a bitter or salt taste. If these also

%trans says the small hopes of spring water force you%
are wanting%^%& the narrower hope of dropping

water compels, let vast cisterns be constructed

14
15
16

for the men, & ponds for the cattle (flocks

%Trans says After all--qualifying the whole sentence%
& herds), for collecting rain water (%^%by degrees?)

17
18
19

which is most suitable for the health of

first rate or particularly good
the body: but this is esteemed | excellent | if it

is conducted by earthen tubes into a covered cistern:

next to this running water springing (or

rising) from mountains, if it is whirled down

prep precipitously (or head-long) over rocks, as in

Guarcenum (?) in Campania. Third the water

of a well, either on a hill, or which is not

found in the lowest part of a valley-- Worst

is marsh water, which creeps with a

slow lapse. Pestilent that which always

stands still in a marsh."--

Varro had already said p 67 Villam

aedificandam potissimum, ut intra septa villae habeat

aquam: si non, quam-proxime. Primum quae ibi

sit nata: secundum, quae influat perennis. Si

omnino aqua non est viva, cisternae faciundae sub

tectis, et lacus sub dio, ex altero loco ut homines,

ex altero ut pecus uti possit."

241

Especially a villa is to be built so that

it may have water within its limits; if

not, as near as possible. First that which

is born there, 2nd that which flows in per-

ennially (or all the year round). If living water

is not at all, (to be had) cisterns are to be

7
8
9

made under the roofs, & lakes in the

can
open air, ut that men may use the one

10
11

& cattle the other."

The places which are slowest

to freeze in our river are first--On ac--

13
14
15

of warmth--as well as motion--where a

& also prob. where are springs in brooks--at bottom
brook comes in^--& under bridges--

Then, on ac. of shallowness & rapidity,

at bends. I perceive that the cold

respects the same places every winter--

In the dark or after a heavy snow I know

20
21
22

well where to cross the river most safely--.

broad
Where the river is most like a lake^--with

a deep & muddy bottom there it freezes it

first & thickest. The open water at a

bend seems to be owing to the swiftness of

the current--& this to the shallowness--

& this to the sands taken out of the opposing

bank--& deposited there--

There was yesterday 8 or 10 acres of open

water at the west end of Walden where is depth

& breadth combined.

What a horrid shaggy & stiff low wilderness

were the Andromeda ponds yesterday! What

then must they have been on the 21st? --As it

was--it was as if I walked through a

forest of glass (with a tough woody core)

242

up to my middle-- That dense tufted

grass with a greenish tinge was still stiffly

coated with ice--as well as everything

else--& my shoes were filled with the

fragments, but here & there the crimson

sphagnum blushed through the crust

beneath. Think of that dense grass

a horrid stiff crop each stem as big as your

finger firm but brittle--& about 2 feet

high--& the countless birds nests filled

even with ice.

12
13

P. m.--across River & over hill.

The wind has been blowing & the

snow drifting--the paths are filled up

again. The surface of the snow is

coarsely waved & rough now--as if

it caught at every straw & faced its windy

foe again. It appears a coarser grain

now-- --By the river are conspicuous

the now empty & spread pods of the

water milk weed--gray brown without

{drawing} silky white within. in some

a seed or 2 left still

Also the late rose

corymbs of red hips--{drawing}

Also the Eupatoreum

drawn at venture 4 ps

30
31
32

back or more erect-thus {drawing} some with brown

fuzz & seeds still.

243

The sium sometimes with its very

flat cymes {drawing} & that

light brown sedge or rush

--{drawing} Some black ash keys

poor--still hang on amid the

black {abortions} (?)--

The mead sweet {drawing} {drawing}

For a few days I have noticed the snow

sprinkled with alder & birch scales-- I

go now through the birch meadow

S W of the Rock-- The high wind is scatter-

ing them over the snow there-- See one

Downy (?) woodpecker--& 1 or 2 chicadees

The track of a squirrel on the Island

neck--tracks are altered by the depth

of the snow-- Looking up over the

top of the hill now S W at 3 1/2

Pm I see a few mothe o pearl

tints. & methinks the same or rain-

bow tints in the drifting snow there

against the bright light of the unseen

sun. Only in such clear cold air

as this have the small clouds

in the west--that fine evanishing

edge-- It requires a state of the air

that quickly dissipates all moisture--

It must be rare in summer-- In this

bare atmosphere all cloud is quickly

dissipated & mother o' pearl tinted as

it passes away. The snow is too deep

& soft yet for many tracks-- No doubt

the mice have been out beneath it.

244

Recrossing277 the river behind Dodd's

now at 4 Pm--the sun quite

3
4
5

low--the open reach just below

a vitreous green
is quite green^, as if seen through

a junk bottle-- Perhaps I never ob-

served this phenomenon but when

the sun was low--

He who would study bird's nests

must look for them in november--

& in winter--as well as in mid summer--

for then the trees are bare & he

can see them--& the swamps and

streams are frozen & he can approach

new kinds. He will often be sur-

prised to find how many have haunted

where he little suspected, & will re-

ceive many hints &c. which he

can act upon in the summer--

I am surprised to find many new

ones--(i.e. not new species) in groves which

I had examined several times with

particular care in the summer--

This was not a lodging

snow--and the wind has already

blown most of it off the trees-- Yet

the long limbed oak on the N of the hill

still supports a ridge of its pure white

as thick as its limbs--they lie parallel

like the ulnus & radius & one is a bare

white bone.

Beside the other weeds on the last page

I might have drawn the tall rough

golden-rod still conspicuous

277

Recrossing: altered from recrossing; R written over r

245

1
2

{drawing} {drawing}
As for the villa. Columella

says--p 170 that the

best position is half way up

a hill medius collis (or can

it mean on a moderate hill) on

a swell of ground, loco tamen ipso paul-

ulum intumencente, lest water from the

top wash away the foundations-- He

warns not place it next to278 a

military way--because among other p 171

evils that begets stingings insects

in hot weather which fly towards us in

dense swarms--and also the affairs

of the family are interrupted by attentions

shown to travellers (or hospitality)--

17
18
19

It must front toward the equinoctial rising--orientem equinoctialem-- 171

Found in the Wheeler meadow

SW of the Island a nest in the fork of

an alder about 8 feet from ground partly

saddled on--made ap. chiefly of fine grass

& bark fibres quite firm & very thick

bottomed--& well bound without with various

kinds of lint. This is a little oval 3 by

3 1/2 inches within & 7/8 deep with a

very firm smooth rim of fine grass & bark

shreds--lined with the same & some lint.

A few alder leaves dangle from the edge--

& what is remarkably the outer edge

all around is defiled--quite covered

with black & white caterpillar like droppings

of the young birds. It is broader & shallower

than a yel. birds & larger than a wood pewee's

can it be a red start's?? I should think it too large

278

next to: altered from near a; next to written over

near a
246

Dec 31st

It is one of the mornings of

creation, & the trees shrubs &c &c

//are covered with a fine leaf frost--

as if they had their morning robes on

seen against the sun-- There has

been a mist in the night-- Now279

at 8 1/2 Am I see collected

over the low grounds behind Mr.

//Cheneys a dense fog (over a foot

of snow) which looks rather dusky

like smoke by contrast with the snow.

Though limited to perhaps 20 or 30

acres, it as dense as any in august.

This accounts for the frost on the twigs.

It consists on minute leaves--the longest

1/8 of an inch--all around the twigs

but longest commonly on one side--

in one instance the S. W. side.

Clearing out the paths which the drifting

snow had filled--I find already quite crust

--from the sun & the blowing making it compact--

but it is soft in the woods--

9 Am to Partridge Glade--

I see many partridge tracks in the

light snow--where they have sunk deep

amid the shrub oaks--also gray rabbit

& deer mice tracks--for the last ran

over this soft surface last night.

In a hollow in the glade a gray

rabbits tracks ap. leading to & from

a hole in the snow--which following

& laying open I found to extend curving

279

Now: altered from now; N written over n

247

about this pit {drawing} 4 feet through

& under the snow to a small hole in

the earth--which ap. led down deep--

4
5
6

At 10--the frost leaves are nearly all

melted-It is invariably the E. track on the RR--

cause-way which has the least snow on

it. Though it is nearly all blown off elsewhere

on the cause way. Trillium woods has prevented

it, being blown off opposite280 to them.

11
12
13

The snow plow yesterday cast the snow

%one%
6 feet each side the edge of the cars--&

it fell thick & rich--evenly broken like

well plowed land-- It lies like a rich tilth

in the sun with its glowing cottony white

ridges & its shadowy hollows--

Jan 1st 1856

Speaking of foxes J. Farmer told me

last evening that Some time ago

Sherman Barretts' folks heard a

squeaking & running up saw a fox

leap out of the pen with a sucking

pig in his mouth & escape with it.

Farmer says they commonly take the dead

lambs from the fields--though most dogs

will not.

Pm to Walden--

29
30
31

Walden is covered with white snow ice

6 inches thick
--^for it froze while it was snowing

though commonly there is a thin dark

beneath. This is now therefore bare

while the river which was frozen before

280

opposite: altered from off; opposite written over off

248

is covered with snow-- A very small

patch of281 Walden frozen since the

snow--looks at a little distance

4
5
6

exactly like open water by contrast

the trees being reflected in it
with the snow-ice^--indeed I am

not certain but a very small part

of this patch was water.

The track repairers have shovelled

4 little paths by the sides of the rails

all the way from the Depot to

Walden-- As I went by the Engine

house I saw great icicles 4 feet

long hanging from the weste eastern

eaves--like slender pointed spears--

--the last half blown aside by the

wind--{drawing} & still more--

By the side of the

Deep cut are the tracks

of prob tree sparrows about

the weeds--& of partridges--

On the ice at Walden are

very beautiful great leaf crystals

24
25
26
27
28

in great profusion. The ice is fre%ed%

quently thickly covering with them for
%They seem to be connected with the rosettes--a running together of
many rods--%^%They look like a loose
them%

web of small white feathers

springing from a tuft of down--for

31
32
33
34
35

their shafts are lost in a tuft

like the down about the shaft of a feather
of fine snow--^They are on a
as if a feather bed had been shaken over the ice.
close examination surprssingly

perfect leaves like ferns--only

very broad for their length & com-

monly more on one side the mid

281

of: altered from on; f written over n

249

rib than the other. They are from an

inch to an inch & a half long & 3/4

wide--and slanted where I look from

the SW--{drawing} They have 1st

a very distinct mid rib--though

so thinn that they cannot be taken

up--then distinct ribs branching from

this--commonly opposite--& minute ribs

springing again from these last as in

many ferns--the last running to each cre-

nation in the border--{drawing} How

{drawing} much

further

they are subdivided the

naked eye cannot discern-- They are so

thin & fragile that they melt under your

breath while looking closely at them. A

fisherman says they were much finer in the

morning. In other places the ice

is strown with a dif. kind of frost work

in little patche like as if oats had been

spilled--like fibres of asbestos rolled--

1/2 or 3/4 inch long & 1/8 or more wide

Here and there patches of them a foot

or two over--like some boreal grain

spilled.

Here are two fishermen--& one has pre-

ceeded them. They have not had a bite

& know not why-- It has been a clear

winter day.

On the north shore near the RR282--

I see the tracks ap. of a white rabbit

afterward many tracks of gray rabits

282

RR: altered from rR

250

& where they had squatted under an

or rather by the side of an alder

stem or the like--& left many

balls in the pure snow-- Many

have run in one course--

In the midst of them I see the

track of a large rabbit prob--

a white one--which was evidently

on the full spring--its tracks are

4 feet apart & unlike the others

which are on the surface even of

this light snow--these break

through deep making a hole

6 inches over-- Why was this one

in such haste-- I conclude to trace

him back & find out. His bounds

grow greater & greater as I go back

--now 6 feet quite--& a few rods

further are the tracks of a fox

(possibly a dog but283 I think not) exactly

on the trail!

where the rabbit was ascending

a considerable slope through

this snow nearly a foot deep,

the bounds measure full 7 feet

--leaving the snow untouched for

that space between-- It appeared

that the fox had started the rabbit

29
30
31

from a bank on which it was resting

young
near a^hemlock--& pursued it

only a dozen rods up the hill

& then gave up the chase--

& well he might methought.284

A little further

283

but: altered from )

284

%all doubtful% written vertically in margin

251

Goodwin says that the white rabbit

never burrows--but the grey regularly--

Yet he once new a white one to earth itself.

4
5
6

In a rabbits track the two forefeet

thus
are the furthest apart-- {drawing}

This chase occurred probably in the

neight, either the last or night before, when

there was not a man within a mile--but

treading on these very deep & distinct

tracks--it was as if I had witnessed

it--& in imagination I could see the

sharp eyes of the crafty fox & the

palpitating breast of the timorous rabbit--

listening behind. We unwittingly traverse

the scenery of what tragedies! Every

square rod perchance--was the scene

of a life or death struggle last night.

As you track the rabbit furthe off

you follow a its bounds becoming

shorter & shorter--you follow also surely

its changing moods from desperate

terror till it walks calmly & reasured

24
25
26

over the snow with out breaking

perchance till it gnaws some twig composedly
its very slight crust.^& in the other

direction you trace the retreating steps

of the disappointed fox until he has

29
30
31

forgotten this--& scented some new game.

maybe dreams of partridges or wild mice
Your own feelings are fluttered proportion-

ably. %V. n. p.%

33
34

Jan 2nd '56

Probably the coldest morning yet--our

35
36
37

thermometer a285 6o below zero at 8 am. Yet

%NB This mist for several mornings after first deep snow%
there was quite a mist in the air.

The neighbors say it was 10E below zero at 7 Am

285

a: altered from --
252

Pm to Walden--

As for the fox & rabbit race des--

yesterday--I find that the rabbit

was going the other way--& possibly

the fox was a rabbit--for tracing

back the rabbit I found that it

had first been walking with alternate

steps fox-like {drawing}

There were many white rabbit286

tracks in those woods--& many more

of the gray rabbit but the former

12
13
14

broke through & made a deep

%except where there was a little crust on a S. slope%
track%^%While the latter made but

a faint impression on the surface.

The latter run very much in the

same path--which is well trodden

& you would think you were in the

midst of quite a settlment of them.

20
21

Crossing the RR. at the Heywood Meadow

//I saw some snow buntings rise from

the side of the embankment & with

surging rolling flight wing their

way up through the cut. I walked

through the westernmost Heywood

swamp-- There are the tracks of many

27
28
29

rabbits both gray & white which have

%edges%
run about the edges287 of these swamps

since the snow came--amid the alders

& shruboaks--& one white one has

crossed it. The cat tails rise high

above the snow in the swamp their

brown heads bursting on one side into

creamy (?) billows & {wreaths} or partly bare.

286

rabbit: altered from rabbits; s cancelled

287

the edges: altered from these swam; the edges written over
these swam
253

also the rattlesnake grass is still

gracefully drooping on every side with the

weight of its reeds--a rich wild grain.

And other wild grasses & rushes rise above

the snow-- There is the wild looking

remnant of a white pine quite dead

rising 15 or 20 feet--which the wood-

peckers have bored--& it is still clad with

sulphur lichens--& many dark-colored

10
11

tufts of certraria in the forks of its branches.

Returning I saw near the back road

& RR--a small flock of 8 snow buntings

13
14
15

feeding on the seeds of the pig weed--picking

%ap. flat on the snow their legs so short%
them from the snow%^%--& when I approached

a lighting on the rail-fence-- They were pretty black

with white wings & a brown crescent on their

breasts. They have come with this deeper snow

& colder weather--

20
21

Jan 3d '56
Snows again--about 2 inches have

fallen in the night--but it turns

to a fine mist. It was a damp snow--

P. m. to Hill

The snow turned to a fine mist or mizzling

--through which I see a little blue

in the snow--lurking in the ruts.

In the river meadows & on the

(perhaps moist) sides of the hill how288

common and conspicuous the brown spear

heads of the hard-hack above the snow

& looking black by contrast with it!

Just beyond the assabet spring I

see where a squirrel--gray or red--

288

how: altered from I; how written over I

254

dug through the snow last night

in search of acorns. I know it

was last night, for it was while

the last snow was falling & the

tracks are partly filled by it--they are

like this {drawing}. This squirrel

has burrowed to the ground in

many places within a few yards

probing the leaves for acorns in various

directions--making a short burrow

under the snow--sometimes passing

under the snow a yard & coming

out at another place--for

though it is somewhat hardened

on the surface by the nightly freezing

& the hail it is still quite soft

& light beneath next the earth--

18
19
20

& a squirrel or mouse can289 burrow

I am surprised to find how easily I can pass my hand through
very fast indeed there--^In many
it there

places it has dropt the leaves

&c about the mouth of the hole.

(The whole290 snow about 10 inches deep)

I see where it sat in a young

oak & ate an acorn dropping

the shells on the snow beneath--

for there is no track to the shells

but only to the base of the oak--

How independently they live--not

alarmed. Though the snow be291 2 feet

deep!

Now when all the fields & meadows

are covered deep with snow--the

warm colored shoots of osiers

289

can: altered from cans; s cancelled

290

whole: altered from hole: w added

291

be: altered from is; be written over is

255

rising red & yellow--rising above

it, remind me of flames

It is astonishing how far a

merely well-dressed & good looking man

may go without being challenged by

any sentinel. What is called good So-

ciety will high bid high for such.

The man whom the state

has raised to high office, like that

of Governor for instance--from some

it may be honest but less respected calling--

cannot return to his former humble

13
14
15

but profitable pursuits--his old customers

%honerableness%
will be so shy of him--his ex-%^%ship stands

16
17
18

seriously in his way--whether 292he is a lawyer

%he cant get ex-honorated%
or a shop keeper--%^%So he becomes a

sort of state pauper--an object of

charity on its hands which the state

is bound in honor to see through & pro-

vide still with offices of similar respectability

--that he may not come to want.

A man who has been president becomes

the ex-president. It is cruel to remember

his deeds so long-- When his time

27
28
29
30
31
32

is out Why cant they let the poor

or stay at home
fellow go? & cant travel^any where
but men will persist in paying respect
to his ex-ship.293

292

he: altered from his; he written over his

293

It...go? (lines 25-29) marked by T. for transposition with

&...ex-ship (lines 29-32); It... go? numbered 2 and &... ex-ship
numbered 1 by T.
256

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