The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1890-08-30

(For the Sentinel.)

(For the sentinel.)
wonder if some native disciple of
ThOreau, Audubon OF Agassiz will ever
make u Lafourche country famous
! ly scientific discoveries in our swampy
forestsf Compared with the beauties
of the chill country Il scenery APP
pears fat and embarrassing to many,
yet no true bOtanist, naturalist or con-
biologist could search our woods and
fields without finding something to in
terest and instruct.
There are lessons taught in the soli-
tudes OF Nature that should make us
wiser and better all our days, though
taught only by the song of a bird, the
perseverance of an ant. the pa
thence of a spider, the whir of an in
sects' wings, or the murmur of Il
streamlet. Nature sometimes hides in
the ungainiy form, the rough shell, the
prickly burr the sweetest and rarest of
her treasures. We stumble upon her
anomalies everywhere. from the unfOr-
tunate man with the repulsiye face of
an elephant yet with a heart so sensi-
tive, refined and poetic,-a Pariah
among his kind, yet possessing quail
ties that might fit him for companion
ship with angels,-to the tiny grain of
sand imprisoned in the oysters shell
which becomes one day, the valued
pearl Of commerce.
The skylark on the ground is but a
plain little bird, shy and restless, but
let him mount among the clouds and
his glorious song thrills the ear with
its harmonies. But the lovely plants
and flowers %springing at your feet have
their mission near the ground and you
must look down, not up, to behold
their beauty. Why should we sigh.
"For the far off, unattained and dim
While the beautiful around us lying
Offers up its low, perpetual hymn"
To one who has never studied sci
ence in books, whose education may
have gene no farther than the book OF
Nature spread open before him. God
may have given the instinct of beauty
and the craving for knowledge that
will draw him close to the heart of the
Universal Mother.
But how few of us in our prosaie
lives of work and worry care to pursue
objects of nature even To the extent OF
wetting our feet OF exposing ourselves
to encounters with bugs and snakes
1t is said that Audubon once pursued
a particular bird hundreds of miles in
his eagerness to add its form to hi:
collection of rare feathered specimens
Don't think because you may have {
well-cultivated flower garden at home
or can order from a florist all the rar,
or curious plants you may desire, tina
, it is no profit for you to go where thes,
specimens are provided free of charg,
and you can procure them from Ma
lures W planting.
There are picturesque spots alOn;
our quiet oayous that are dreams o
: loneliness, fit to- be immortalized b,
; artists pencil and poets pen. Thini
i you they have no lessons Tor the way
3 farer who chances to come upon them
or he who seeks them by design
!, Will they not suggest to you SOM
l new thoughts, fresh inspirations, new
ideas, perhaps, of this queer world W,
live in, which God made so good an,
lovely and which sinful man has strip
ped of so much of its original purit,
and beautyP
Last February under tho influence
of remarkably temperate weather, tn
forest trees began to put forth the del
icate green leaves, and Spring SCENE
{ far on her way when the sudden col,
: spell blasted the young buds Of prom
Y Use, and desolation reigned in the vege
table world. But nature recuperate'
so rapidly from this blow that til
dead leaves had not time to fall befor
the new growth began, and there wer
to be seen green leaves growing oue
|, the blighted ones and hiding thee
from view. How typical was this fac
OF human hopes suddenly blighte
never to live again; and yet, in tn
elasticity of the human heart, almos
before we can realize it, new hope
n and new desires will begin to sprin
n over the graves of departed onel
!. And this is right. AS Nature ofte
u ~conceals unsightly objects with cling
h ing vines and delicate terms, so it
IT best we should cover our failures an
disappointments with the verdure I
fresh hopes and puler aims. EssIl
MI