Evening star., 1925-04-13
THE PUBLIC
LIBRARY
l5.--Nature Books.

| 4D.-1N1kufc DOOks. |
Nature Is a source of never ending
inspiration TO writer's, for IL is al
ways changing and revealing new
wonders and beauties. No one, no
matter how long he lives or how
much he travels. can see and know
all of them first hand, and so for de-
scriptions, OF out-of-tTle- places
particularly. the average person is
dependent upon books.
John Muir's Travels in Alaska
(G945M Ms95D takes the reader into
the land of glaciers, icebergs, ice and
snow laden mountains and northern
lights and introduces him to the
perils and thrills of canoe trips into
icy regions and camping and shedding
trips on glaciers. He also becomes
acquainted with the Indians through
such incidents as the following: Il
have been thinking of you all day,
said an old Indian chief at Glacier
Bay to John Muir upon his return,
cold and drenched, from an exploring
expedition UP the bay, "and plying
you and knowing how miserable you
were. and as soon as ] saw your
canoe coming back | was ashamed to
think that i had been sitting warm
and dry at my fire while you were
haste to strip off my dry c,othing
and put on these wet rags to share
your misery and show how much 1
love you"
Enos A. Mills was at one time
state snow observer for Colorado. Or
his work he writes as follows: the
work made It necessary for me to
ramble the Wintry heights in sun
shine and storm. often i was out, or
rather up. in a blizzard and on more
than one occasion / was out for two
weeks on the snow -drffted crest of
the continent without seeing any one.
went beyond the trails and visited
the silent places alone. / invaded
su'ches, eagerly walked the splendid
forest aisles, wandered in the daz-
zling glare on dreary alpine moor
lands and scaled the peaks over
manties of ice and snow. l had many
experiences-amusin dangerous anu
exciting. There was abundance OIL
life and fun in the work. On many
an evening darkness captured me and
compelled ne to spend the night IN
the wilds without bedding and often
without food" Many of these ex-
periences are described in wild Life
in the Rockies" (G93-M62Sw). Equal
ly interesting books by the same
author are THE Spell of the Rockies
(Gs34- -M628s) and The Adventures OF
a Nature Guide" (MY -M62S).
Kings Mountaineering in the sler-
ra Nevada" (G941-k5S2) furnishes
plenty OF thrill and vast spaces OF
the open we climbed up smooth
faces of granite, clinglng Simply pS
the cracks and protruding crystals
of feIdspar, and then hewed steps
tp fearfully steep slopes of ice, zlg-
zaging 10 the right and left, TO aVolo
the fyfng boulders. Reaching
the upper end, we had to cut our
footsteps upon the ice again, ana
having braced our backs against the
granite climbed to the surface. we
were now in a dangerous position :
to fall into the crevice upon the one
side was to be wedged to death be-
tween rock and ice: to make slip
to be shot down 500 feet and then
hurled over the bank of preciplce.
Such was the hazards of the nrst
ascent OF Mount TyndaH. The BOOK
is a classic of exploration and noun
tain description.
Jungle Peace" tM9S6BSsD is
written by a naturalist as well as
man OF letters and action, VINO Is
very much in public eye at present
William Beebe. This book gives de-
scriptions of his experiences in the
South American jungle. TT is possible,
he writes, "to enter jungle and be-
come acutely aware OF poison rang
and rending claw. But it is inden-
nitely more wonderful and altogether
satisfying to slip quietly and recep-
tively into life of the jungle, to sc-
cent all things as worthy and reason
able: to sense the beauty. the joy,
the majestic serenity of this age-old
fraternity of nature into whose
sanctuary mans entrance is un-
noticed, his absence unregretted. The
peace of the jungle is beyond all
things"
Sometimes II is necessary for per-
sons with more acute power OF OBJ
servation and Iivlier ina sination TO
point out the charms of nature close
at hand. The names John Burroughs
and Henry .. Thoreau are 30 wen
known that their books need no fur
ther recommendation. II is interest
ing at this time to note what John
Burroughs tells about April in his
Year in the Fields" tMY-B9ly). AT
its best. April Is the tenderest of
tender salads made crisp by ice or
snow water It's type is the first
hearing. smell-are as hungry for its
delicate and almost spiritual tokens
as the cattle are for the first bite of
its fields. q The voices of the ar
riving birds, the migrating fowls,
the clouds of pigeons sweeping across
the sky, the elfin horn of the first
honey-bee venturing abroad in the
middle OF the day, the clear piping G
of the little frogs In the marshes
at sundown, the tinge of green that
comes so suddenly on the sunny
knobs and slopes. the full translucent
streams, the waxing and warmin g
sun-how these things and others
like them are noted by the eager
eye and ear. April is my natal month
and | am born again into new delight
and new surprises at each return of
It,"
Canoeing in the Wilderness
(GS41-T393c) by Henry ID. Thoreau is
record of his excursion into the
Maine woods with another companion
and an Indian guide who while not
understanding the arguments the
other two OCCASIONALLY INDUCED in,
constituted himself umpire and judg-
ing by their air and gesture, serious
ly remarked from time to time, You
beat" or He beat