Henry David Thoreau’s diary, 1854

The trees are white with a hoar frost this morning, small leafets, a tenth of an inch long, on every side of the twigs. They look like ghosts of trees. Took a walk…

Tuesday. It is now fairly winter. We have passed the line, have put the autumn behind us, have forgotten what these withered herbs that rise above the snow here and…

It thaws all day; the eaves drip as ina rain; the road begins to be soft and a little sloshy.

Still thaws. This afternoon (as probably yesterday), it being warm and thawing, though fair, the snow is covered with snow-fleas. Especially they are sprinkled like…

Walked Tappan’ in p.m. down railroad to Heywood Brook, Fair Haven, and Cliffs. At every post along the brook-side, and under almost every white pine, the snow…

Saturday. Thaw ended. Cold last night; rough walking; snow crusted. P. M. — To Ministerial Swamp. The bare larch trees there, so slender and tall, where they grow…

Sunday. Gilpin, in his essay on the “ Art of Sketching Landscape,” says: ‘‘ When you have finished your sketch therefore with Indian ink, as far as you propose,…

P. M.— To Heywood’s Pond with Tap- pan. We were looking for rainbow-tinted clouds, small whiffs of vapor which form and disperse, this clear, cold afternoon, when…

Thick fog in the night. The trees, ac- cordingly, now white with hoary frost, just as the frost forms on a man’s beard or about a horse’s mouth. P. M. — To Cliffs…

A.M.—lIt still rains very finely. The ground, etc., is covered with a black glaze, wet and shiny like water, like an invisible armor, a quarter of an inch or more…

Still warm and thawing, springlike; no freezing in the night, though high winds. Are we not apt to have high winds after rain ? P. M.— To Walden, Goose Pond, and…

If the writers of the brazen age are most suggestive to thee, confine thyself to them, and leave those of the Augustan age to dust and the book- worms. Was…

Surveying for William O. Benjamin in east part of Lincoln. Saw a red squirrel on the wall, it being thawing weather. Human beings with whom I have no sympathy are…

-Went to Cambridge to court. Dr. Harris says that my cocoons found in Lincoln in December are of the Attacus cecropia, the largest of our emperor moths. He made…

Saw, January 20th, some tree sparrows in the yard. Once or twice of late I have seen the mother- o’-pearl tints and rainbow flocks in the western sky. The usual…

Love tends to purify and sublime itself. It mortifies and triumphs over the flesh, and the bond of its union is holiness. The increased length of the days is very…

In Worcester. ; From 9 A.M. to 4 Pp. M., walked about six miles north- west into Holden with Blake, returning by Stonehouse Mall. A very cold day. Less forest near…

At noon return to Concord. A very cold day. Saw a man in Worcester this morning who took a pride in never wearing gloves or mittens. Drives in the morning. Said he…

All day at court at Cambridge.

I have an old account-book, found in Dea- con R. Brown’s garret since his death. The first leaf or two is gone. Its cover is brown paper, on which, amid many marks…

A very cold morning. Thermometer, or mercury, 18° below .zero. Varro says that gluma seems to be a glubendo be- cause the grain is shelled from its follicle…

Another cold morning. Mercury down to 13° below zero. Frank showed me last night a white hare he had killed. It was frozen stiff, weighed four pounds, and was…

P. M.— To Great Meadows and Beck Stow’s. The wind is more southerly, and now the warmth of the sun prevails, and is felt on the back. The snow softens and melts. It…

Up river on ice to Clematis Brook. Another warm, melting day, like yesterday. You can see some softening and relenting in the sky. Ap- parently the vapor in the air…

A driving snow-storm again. The attractions of the Hollowell Farm were: its complete retirement, being at least two miles from the village, half a mile from any…

F. Brown showed me this afternoon his game killed day before yesterday, — a gray hare, a gray squir- rel, and a red squirrel. The red squirrel was peeping out of…

Have two more old account-books of Ephraim Jones, running from 1741 to 1750 and further, — what are called ledgers, I think. Some of the items of the waste-book are…

Under the waves of the snowy ocean yes- terday, roads and rivers, pastures and cultivated fields, all traces of man’s occupancy of the globe were for the most part…

The poets, philosophers, historians, and all writers have always been disposed to praise the life of the farmer and prefer it to that of the citizen. They have been…

High wind in the night and now, the rain being over. Does it not usually follow rain-storms at this season, to dry up the water? It has cleared off very pleasant…

P. M.— Up railroad to Assabet and re- turn via Hollowell place. The river has risen again, and, instead of ice and snow, there is water over the ice on the meadows.…

Another cold morning. The patches of snow-fleas on the ice are now much reduced, but still, when I kneel and breathe on them, they begin to skip, though the last…

Monday. 7 a. m.—To Walden. A warm morning, overcast. The ice does not ring when I strike it with an axe. Tried to drive a stake in two places outside a wood, but…

P. M. — Down railroad. A moist, thawing, cloudy afternoon, preparing to rain.

By this time in the winter I do not look for those clear, sparkling mornings and delicate leaf frosts, which, methinks, occur earlier in the winter, as if the air…

P. M.— To Gowing’s Swamp. On the hill at the Deep Cut on the new road, the ground is frozen about a foot deep, and they carry off lumps equal nearly to a cartload…

P. M. — To Yellow Birch Swamp. As I remember January, we had one (? ) great thaw, succeeded by severe cold. It was harder getting about, though there may have been…

Many college text-books which were a weariness and a stumbling-block when studied, I have since read a little in with pleasure and profit. For several weeks the…

Channing saw yesterday three little birds olive-green above, with yellowish-white breasts and, he thinks, bars on wings. Were they goldfinches ? P. M. — Skating to…

A. M.—A fine, driving snow-storm. Have seen no good samples of the blue in snow this winter. At noon clears up. - P. M. — To Goose Pond by Tuttle Path. A little…

I measured the thickness of the frozen ground at the deep cut on the new Bedford road, about half-way up the hill. They dig under the frozen surface and then crack…

A. M.—The snow drives horizontally from the north or northwesterly, in long waving lines like the outline of a swell or billow. The flakes do not fall perceptibly…

P. M.— 'To Walden and Fair Haven. In Wheeler’s Wood by railroad. Nuthatches are faintly answering each other, — tit for tat, — on dif- ferent keys, — a faint creak.…

Kane, ashore far up Baffin’s Bay, says, ‘‘ How strangely this crust we wander over asserts its identity through all the disguises of climate! ”’ Speaking of the…

Here is our first spring morning accord- ing to the almanac. It is remarkable that the spring of the almanac and of nature should correspond so closely. The morning…

A Corner man tells me that Witherell has seen a bluebird, and Martial Miles thought that he heard one. I doubt it. It may have been given to With- erell to see the…

A dull, cloudy day. P. M. — To Walden via Hubbard’s Wood and foot of Cliff Hill. . The snow has melted very rapidly the past week. ' There is much bare ground. The…

Sunday. Channing, talking with Minott the other day about his health, said, “I suppose you’d like to die now.” “No,” said Minott, “I’ve toughed it through the…

A cool morning. The bare water here and there on the meadow begins to look smooth, and I look to see it rippled by a muskrat. The earth has to some extent frozen…

P. M.— To Annursnack. I did not mention the drifts yesterday. Most of the snow left on bare, dry level ground consists of the re- mains of drifts, particularly…

Steady rain on the roof in the night, sug- gesting April-like warmth. This will help melt the snow and ice and take the frost out of the ground. What pretty wreaths…

A. M. — Clearing up. Water is fast taking place of ice on the river and meadows, and morning and evening we begin to have some smooth water prospects. Saw this…

Misty rain, rain, —the third day of more or less rain. P. M. —C. Miles road via Clamshell Hill.

Fair weather after three rainy days. Air full of birds, —bluebirds, song sparrows, chickadee (phoebe notes), and blackbirds. Song sparrows to- ward the water, with…

A. M.— Up railroad to woods. We have white frosts these mornings. This is the blackbird morning. Their sprayey notes and con- queree ring with the song sparrows’…

'To Boston. C. says he saw skater insects to-day. Harris tells me that those gray insects within the little log forts under the bark of the dead white pine, which I…

A. M.— Threatening rain after clear morning. Great concert of song sparrows in willows and alders along Swamp Bridge Brook by river. Hardly hear a distinct strain.…

Pleasant morning, unexpectedly. Hear on the alders by the river the Jil? Lill lll lill of the first F. hyemalis, mingled with song sparrows and tree spar- rows. The…

A. M.— Another fine morning.

Friday. A remarkably warm day for the season; too warm while surveying without my great- coat; almost like May heats. 4p. mM. — To Cliffs. The grass is slightly…

Saturday. Very high wind this forenoon; began by filling the air with a cloud of dust. Never felt it shake the house so much; filled the house with dust through the…

Sunday. Cold and windy. The meadow ice bears where shallow. William Rice 2d (?) saw a woodchuck last Sunday. Met his father in Walden Woods, who described a flock…

Tuesday. At sunrise to Clamshell Hill.

Wednesday. P. M.— Launch boat and paddle to Fair Haven. Still very cold. The most splendid show of ice chan- deliers, casters, hour-glasses (4) that I ever saw or…

Thursday. Snows and rains a little. The birds in yard active now, — hyemalis, tree sparrow, and song sparrow. The hyemalis jingle easily distinguished. Hear all…

Fair again, the snow melting. Great flocks of hyemalis drifting about with their jingling note. The same ducks under Clamshell Hill. The elm buds were apparently…

Saturday. Cold and windy. Down river in boat to Great Meadows. Freezes on oars. Too cold and windy almost for ducks. They are in the smoother open water (free from…

River froze over at Lily Bay.'

Saw a hawk—probably marsh hawk— by meadow.

P. M.—To White Pond. Coldest day for a month or more, —severe as almost any in the winter. Saw this afternoon either a snipe or a woodcock; it appeared rather small…

Wednesday. P. M. — To Fair Haven. Coldest night. Pump froze so as to require thawing. Saw two marsh hawks (?), white on rump. A gull of pure white, — a wave of foam…

6 a. mM. — To Island. First still hour since the afternoon of the 17th. March truly came in like a lamb and went out like a lion this year. Remarkably and…

Weather changes at last to drizzling. In criticising your writing, trust your fine instinct. There are many things which we come very near ques- tioning, but do not…

The tree sparrows, hyemalis, and song sparrows are particularly lively and musical in the yard this rainy and truly April day. The air rings with them. The robin…

P. M.— To Conantum wa Nut Meadow Brook. ; Saw black ducks in water and on land. Can see their light throats a great way with my glass. They do not dive, but dip.…

Saw from window with glass seven ducks on meadow-water,— only one or two conspicuously white, — these, black heads, white throats and breasts and along sides, — the…

All day surveying a wood-lot in Acton for Abel Hosmer. He says that he has seen the small slate- colored hawk pursue and catch doves, 7. e. the sharp- shinned. Has…

This morning heard a familiar twittering over the house; looked up and saw white-bellied swal- lows. Another saw them yesterday. Surveying all day for Mr. Hoar in…

P. M. — Up Assabet. A still warmer day than yesterday —a warm, moist rain-smelling west wind. I am surprised [to] find so much of the white maples already out. The…

Saturday. 6 a. M.— 'To Clamshell Hill. Am surprised to find the skunk-cabbage out, shed- ding pollen (a few). This was probably the case in some places on the 5th…

I have not noticed any fox-colored sparrows for a week.! A large-catkined sallow (?) by the railroad, ten rods this side the jog on the west, just bursting out,…

A. M.— Heard the clear, rather loud and rich warble of a purple finch and saw him on an elm. Wilson says they feed on the coverings of the blossoms. It is a…

Wednesday. Surveying for Parks in Lin- coln. A white frost this morning, after the clear moonlight. Parks says he saw a buff-edged butterfly a month ago, 7. e.…

A clear and pleasant morning. Walked down as far as Moore’s at 8 a. m. and returned along the hill. Heard the first chip-bird, sitting on an apple [tree], with its…

Friday. 6 a. mM. — To Nawshawtuct. There is a general tinge of green now discernible through the russet on the bared meadows and the hills, the green blades just…

Morning. —Snow and snowing; four inches deep. Yesterday was very cold. Now, I trust, it will come down and out of the air. Many birds must be hard put to it. Some…

A cold, disagreeable day, — sun not fairly out, — yet the snow of yesterday melts apace; you can almost see it melt. Each time I look out I see more of russet or…

For three or four days the lilac buds have looked green, — the most advanced that I have seen. The earliest gooseberry still earlier in garden (though smaller…

Hear the tree sparrows at willow hedge- row this morning, — ah ha ha yip yip yip yrp, or twit- ter twitter twe twe twe, or ah ha ha twitter twitter twe, — very…

A. M. — To Nawshawtuct. Heard on the 14th a singular note on or near the hill, like a guinea-hen or other fowl, or a squeaking pump-handle. Heard [it] again this…

6 a. mM. — Heard the bay-wing sparrow? in the redeemed meadows. None yesterday morning. At a distance hear only the end of its strain, like the ring of a small…

A kingfisher with his crack, — er-r-r-rack. Rain yesterday and to-day; yet this morning the robin sings and the blackbirds and, in the yard, the tree sparrow,…

Monday. A. M. — Up railroad. The river shghtly risen again owing to rain of yes- terday morn and day before. Its greatest height this year was the 17th of March.…

A. M.—I think I hear near George Hey- wood’s the tull-lull (?).2 Heard and saw my war- bler (?) 0’* of the 23d and 24th on Mr. Emerson’s pines. It is the smallest…

Heard at 8 a. m. the peculiar loud and distinct ring of the first toad, at a distance. Appril- morning weather, threatening showeriness. 2.30 p. M. — To Lee’s Cliff…

7a. mM. — To Cliffs. Equisetum arvense on the railroad; and may have been two or three days — did not look. I am at length convinced of the increased freshness…

6 a. M.— Dug up two of half a dozen, the only black spruce suitable to transplant that I know hereabouts. Rain all day, making the grass look green. Nawshawtuct now…

The ideal of a market is a place where all things are bought and sold. At an agricultural meeting in New York the other day, one said that he had lately heard a man…

A fine, clear morning after three days of rain, — our principal rain-storm this year, — raising the river higher than it has been yet. 6 a. M. — Up railroad.…

The cracks in the ground made by the frost last winter are still quite distinct. It is the young black cherry which is so forward now.

P. M. —In rain to Nawshawtuct. The river rising still. What I have called the small pewee on the willow by my boat, — quite small, utter- ing a short tchevet from…

P. M.— To Boiling Spring, Laurel Glen, and Hubbard’s Close. I observe the following plants, leafing in about this order, to be added to the list of May Ist: — Elder…

P. M.— To epigzea via Clamshell Hill. There is no such thing as pure objective observation. Your observation, to be interesting, 7. e. to be signi- ficant, must be…

I have noticed the steel-colored, velvet-like lichen on the stumps of maples especially, also on oaks and hickories. .Sometimes, where a maple grove has been cut…

A. M. seni Nawshawtuct. A female red-wing. I have not seen any before Hear a yellowbird in the direction of the willows. Its note coarsely represented by…

Tuesday. 'To Boston and Cambridge. Currant in garden, but ours may be a late kind. Purple finch still here. Looking at the birds at the Natural History Rooms, I…

Now in the mornings I hear the chip- bird under my windows at and before sunrise. War- bling vireo on the elms. The chimney swallow. A peach out in yard, where it…

6 a. m.— To Laurel Hillside by Walden. Earliest gooseberry in garden open. Heard a Mary- land yellow-throat about alders at Trillium Woods, where I first heard one…

5.30 a. m. — To Nawshawtuct. Quite a fog risen up from the river. I cannot see over it from the hill at 6 a. m. The first I have seen. The grass is now high enough…

The portion of the peach trees in bloom in our garden shows the height of the snow-drifts in the winter. 4 p.m. — To V. Muhlenbergii Brook. The bass suddenly…

P. M.— To Hill by boat. A St. Domingo cuckoo, black-billed with red round eye, a silent, long, slender, graceful bird, dark cinna- mon (?) above, pure white…

Judging from those in garden, the witch- hazel began to leaf yesterday, black alder to-day. P. M. — Up Assabet. The golden willow catkins are suddenly falling and…

Tuesday. Saw an arum almost open the llth; say 16th (?), though not shedding pollen 16th at Conantum. Sugar maples, large, beginning to leaf, say 14th; also…

5.30 a. mM. — To Island. The water is now tepid in the morning to the hands (may have been a day or two), as I slip my hands down the paddle. Hear the wood pewee,…

'To Pedrick’s meadow. Viola lanceolata, two days at least. Celandine yes- terday. The V. pedata beginning to be abundant. Chinquapin was probably a little later to…

5.30 a. mM. — To Nawshawtuct and Island. Ranunculus Purshu will apparently open to-day. Its little green buds somewhat like a small yellow lily. The water has now…

Woodbine shoots (brick house) already two or three inches long; put it, say, with the red oak. Potentilla argentea. White [sic] spruce, male flowers. White ash,…

Sunday. Quince. A slight fog in morning. Some bullfrogs in morning, and I see a yellow swelling throat. They — these throats — come with the yellow lily. Cobwebs on…

5.30 a. m. — Up Assabet. Now begins the slightly sultryish morning air into which you awake early to hear the faint buzz of a fly or hum of other insect. The…

Tuesday. P. M.— To Cedar Swamp by Assabet. The cobwebs, apparently those I saw on the bushes the morning of the 12th, are now covered with insects, etc. (small…

4.30 a. mM. — To Cliffs. A considerable fog, but already rising and retreating to the river. There are dewy cobwebs on the grass. The morning came in and awakened…

5.30 a. mM. — To Hill. Smilax. Heard and saw by the sassafras shore the rose-breasted grosbeak, a handsome bird with a loud and very rich song, in character between…

Friday. 5.30 a. mM. — To climbing ivy. Pipe-grass equisetum. Buttercups now densely spot the churchyard. Now for the fragrance of firs and spruce. P. M. — To…

P.-M.— To Saw Mill Brook. Geum rivale, a day or two at Hubbard’s Close; also the Rubus triflorus abundant there along the brook next the maple swamp, and still in…

Sunday. The F. hyemalis, fox-colored sparrow, rusty grackles, tree sparrows, have all gone by; also the purple finch. The snipe has ceased (?) to boom. I have not…

Monday. P. M.— To Cedar Swamp by Assabet. The white maple keys have begun to fall and float down the stream like the wings of great insects. Dan- delions and…

Tuesday. Whiteweed. Spergularia rubra, apparently a day or two, side of railroad above red house. Yarrow. P. M. — To Clintonia Swamp and Pond. Saw a black snake,…

Old Election. Cold weather. Many go a-fishing to-day in earnest, and one gets forty pouts in river. Locust. P. M. — To Miles Meadow by boat. A cold southeast wind.…

4.80 a. M. — To Hill. Fever-root. The umbrella toadstool yesterday, and now decaying. A smaller one. It was so cold last night and still that I surely expected a…

. Friday. P. M.— Up Assabet to Castilleja and Annursnack. While waiting for Mother and Sophia I look now from the yard to the waving and slightly glaucous- tinged…

Saturday. 9 a.m.—To Fair Haven with Blake and Brown. A very warm day, without a breeze. A kingbird’s nest in a fork of a black willow. Going up Fair Haven Hill, the…

8 a. M.— Up Assabet to Barbarea Shore with Blake and Brown. Brown speaks of a great brown moth, — ‘probably emperor moth, — which came out in Worcester a few days…

6 Pp. M. — To Cliffs. Large yellow butterflies with black spots since the 3d. Carrion-flower, maybe a day. Dangle-berry, probably June 3d at Trillium Woods. Now,…

Tuesday. I perceive the sweetness of the locust blossoms fifteen or twenty rods off as I go down the street. P. M.—To Assabet Bathing-Place and return by stone…

Wednesday. 6 a. mM. — Up railroad. Viburnum dentatum. Grape yesterday. Viburnum nudum, June 5. A thick fog this morning, through which at last rain falls, — the…

Thursday. A. M.— Gentle, steady rain- storm. The Rosa nitida bud which I plucked yesterday has blossomed to-day, so that, notwithstanding the rain, I will put it…

Friday. P. M. — To Well Meadow. The summer aspect of the river begins perhaps when the Uéricularia vulgarts is first seen on the surface, as yesterday. As I go…

Saturday. P. M.—'To Conantum on foot. The bay-wing sparrow apparently is not my seringo, after all. What is the seringo? I see some with clear, dirty-yellow…

Sunday. 8.30 a. m.—To Framingham with Mrs. Brown. All day cloudy and cool without rain. At twelve walked up the Sudbury River above Frank’s to Ashland, at first…

P. M.—To Walden. Clover now reddens the fields. Grass in its prime. Comfrey in front of /Stow’s well out some days appar- ently. With the roses now fairly begun I…

Tuesday. I hear a quail this morning. 2 p. M. — By boat to Bittern Cliff and so to Lee’s Chiff. I hear the muttering of thunder and see a dark cloud in the…

P. M. — To lime-kiln with Mr. Bacon of Natick. Sisymbrium amphibium (?) of Bigelow, some days, at foot of Loring’s land. Common mallows well out; how long? What is…

5.30 a. M. — To Island and Hill. A young painted tortoise on the surface of the water, as big as a quarter of a dollar, with a reddish or orange sternum. I suppose…

5 a. mM. — Up railroad. As the sun went down last night, round and red in a damp misty atmosphere, so now it rises in the same manner, though there is no dense fog.…

Saturday. 5 a. mM. — To Hill. A cold fog. These mornings those who walk in grass are thoroughly wetted above mid-leg. All the earth is dripping wet. I am surprised…

Sunday. P. M.— To climbing fern. The tephrosia is interesting for the contrast of yel- lowish or cream-color with red. On every dry or sandy bank I see the curled…

Monday. P. M.— Up Assabet. A thunder-shower in the north. Will it strike us? How impressive this artillery of the heavens! It rises higher and higher. At length the…

Tuesday. Motherwort to-morrow. Elder. A cloud of minute black pollywogs in a muddy pool. I see where the crickets are eating the wild strawberries. P. M. — To…

Wednesday. We have had thick fog, and rain fell through it this morning. P. M. — To Walden, etc. Miichella in Deep Cut woods, probably a day or two. Its scent is…

Friday. There has been a foggy haze, dog-day-like, for perhaps ten days, more or less. To- day it is so cold that we sit by a fire. A little skunk, a quarter or a…

P. M.—To Assabet Bathing-Place and Derby Bridge. Mayweed, say 27th. At Ludwigia Poke-logan, a cinder-like spawn in a white, frothy jelly. A green bittern,…

Monday. P. M.—Up river to Purple Utricularia Shore. Cornus sericea, yesterday at least. Small front-rank polygonum, a smut-like blast in the flower. Small form of…

P. M. — Cliffs xa Hubbard meadow. Smooth sumach ‘at ‘Texas house, two days. Hellebore in full bloom; how long? For the most part does not bloom. Polygonum…

A. M. — To Island. Tall anemone. Pontederia to-morrow. A thunder-shower in the afternoon.

Another clear morning after last evening’s rain. P. M. — To lime-kiln. Spurry, a good while. Cichorium at Simon Brown’s, three or four days (early); also catnep,…

P. M.— Walden and Hubbard’s Close. Jersey tea. Young oak shoots have grown from one and a half to three or four feet, but now in some cases appear to be checked and…

Saturday. P. M. — To Cliffs. From the hill I perceive that the air is beautifully clear after the rain of yesterday, and not hot; fine- grained. ‘The landscape is…

Sunday. 4 a. m.— To Hill. Hear the chip-bird and robin very lively at dawn. From the Hill, the sun rising, I see a fine river fog wreath- ing the trees—elms and…

Monday. I hear the purple finch these days about the houses, — @ twitter witter weeter wee, a witter witter wee. P. M. — To Hubbard Bridge by boat. On the great…

A sultry night the last; bear no covering; all windows open. © 8 a. M.— To Framingham. Great orange-yellow lily, some days, wild yellow lily, drooping, well out.…

Another very hot night, and scarcely any dew this morning. Lysimachia lanceolata var. hybrida, a day or two, at Merrick’s Bathing-Place. Bass at Island. P. M. — To…

P. M. — To Beck Stow’s. Euphorbia maculata, good while. Polygonum avi- culare, a day or two. Now a great show of elder blos- soms. Polygala sanguinea, apparently a…

P. M. — To lygodium. Verbena urticerfolia. ITlysanthes, three or four days back, flat east of Clamshell Shore. Large form of arrowhead, two or more days. Woodcock…

Saturday. P. M.—'To Assabet Bathing- Place. Melilot, a day or two. Spiranthes gracilis, a day or two(?). A Lystmachia stricta (?) by birch fence in path beyond…

Sunday. P. M.— Fair Haven Hill via Hub- bard’s Bathing-Place. Vaccinium vacillans berry, four or five days; com- mon blue huckleberry. Hubbard aster, some days. Is…

Monday. Took up one of the small tor- toise eggs which I had buried June 15th. The eye was remarkable, developed in the colorless and almost formless head, one or…

Tuesday. P. M. — By boat to Fair Haven. White geum, probably about the 5th (not the 3d). Pontederia now makes a handsome show. The female red-wings and their young…

P. M. — To Dodge’s Brook.

Thursday. 2 p.m.— To Bare Hill, Lincoln, by railroad. Have heard a faint locust-like sound from crickets a week or two. In the midst of July heat and drought. The…

Tuesday. 5 a. mM. — Up Turnpike. A haymaking morning fog, through and above which the trees are glorious in the sun. The elm leaves appear to be drinking the…

P. M.— To Beck Stow’s and Walden. Alisma, apparently a day or more. Polygonum Careyt to-morrow. In Moore’s Swamp I pluck cool, though not very sweet, large red…

A very hot day, a bathing day. Warm days about this. P. M. — To Hubbard Bath. That long, narrow sparganium, which is perhaps the smaller one, growing long in our…

The hottest night, — the last. It was almost impossible to pursue any work out-of- doors yesterday. There were but few men to be seen out. You were prompted often,…

Sunday. P. M.—To Walden via Hub- bard’s Grove and Fair Haven Hill. Carrot by railroad, some time; say ten days. Eu- patorium purpureum. ‘There is a peculiar light…

A decided rain-storm to-day and yester- day, such as we have not had certainly since May. Are we likely ever to have two days’ rain in June and the first half of…

Wednesday. Polygonum hydropiperoides first obvious. Mikania, a day or two. Lilies open about 6 a. M. Methinks I have heard toads within a week. A white mildew on…

Friday. Clethra. Methinks the season culminated about the middle of this month, — that the year was of indefinite promise before, but that, after the first intense…

P. M. — Berrying to Brooks Clark’s. Rich-weed, how long? Amaranthus hypochondriacus, apparently some days, with its interesting spotted leaf, lake beneath, and…

Sunday. To lygodium. Cuscuta, not long. Desmodium Canadense is to be found at Clamshell Hill oaks. I have found the new rudbeckia in five distinct and distant parts…

Blue-curls. Wood thrush still sings. Des- modium rotundifolium. Lespedeza hirta, say 26th, at Heywood Peak.

6a. M. On river. — Bidens Becki. Bass probably out of bloom about a week. Corallorhiza, some days at Fair Haven Pond. P. M. — To Peter’s. Sunflower. Meadow-haying…

Wednesday. Surveying in Lincoln. Solidago lanceolata, two or three days. Decodon. Polygonum arifolium in swamp. Chenopodium hybri- . dum probably now open. Surveyed…

Saturday. 8.30 a. m.— By boat to Core- opsis Bend. A general fog in the morning, dispersed by 8 o’clock. At first the air still and water smooth, afterward a little…

P. M.— To Tarbell Hills by boat.

It is inspiriting at last to hear the wind whistle and moan about my attic, after so much trivial summer weather, and to feel cool in my thin pants. Do you not feel…

P. M.— To Annursnack via Assabet. A great spider three quarters of an inch long, with large yellow marks on the sides, in middle of a flat web. This is a day of…

Wednesday. — 'To Boston. “Walden ” published. Elder-berries. Waxwork yel- lowing.

4.30 a. mM. — To Cliffs. A high fog. As I go along the railroad, I observe the darker green of early-mown fields. A cool wind at this hour over the wet foliage, as…

P. M.— To Assabet Bath. I have heard since the Ist of this month the steady creaking cricket. Some are digging early potatoes. I notice a new growth of red maple…

Saturday. Watermelon. P. M. — To Conantum by boat. Methinks I heard a few toads till about the middle of July. To-day there is an uncommonly strong wind, against…

First marked dog-day; sultry and with misty clouds. For ten days or so we have had compara- tively cool, fall-like weather. I remember only with a pang the past…

Tuesday. 5.15 a. m.— To Hill by boat. By 5.30 the fog has withdrawn from the channel here and stands southward over the Texas Plain, forty or fifty feet high. Some…

8 a. M.— To climbing fern with John Russell. He says that my winkle fungus is a Boletus of Lin- neus, Polyporus of others, Auricularia (ear-like) now. My beautiful…

Warbling vireo in morning, — one.

Sunday. I hear no trilling of birds early. 5.15 a. M. — To Hill.

P. M.—To Conantum via Hubbard Bath. Leaves of small hypericums begin to be red. The river is warmer than I supposed it would become again, yet not so warm as in…

‘The haze, accompanied by much wind, is so thick this forenoon that the sun is obscured as by a cloud. I see no rays of sunlight. A bee much like a honey-bee…

Wednesday. P. M.—To Gowing’s Swamp | and Hadlock Meadows.

P. M.—To Fair Haven Pond by boat. A strong wind from the south-southwest, which I expect will waft me back. So many pads are eaten up and have disappeared that it…

1 think I never saw the haze so thick as now, at 11 a. m., looking from my attic window. I cannot quite distinguish J. Hosmer’s house, only the dark outline of the…

For a week we have had warmer weather than for a long time before, yet not so warm nearly asin July. I hear of a great many fires around us, far and near, both…

Much cooler this morning, making us think of fire. This is gradually clearing the atmosphere, and, as it is about as dry as ever, I think that haze was not smoke;…

A cool morning with much fog, — more than yesterday. Have not had much during the warmer part of the drought, methinks. Cattle are driven down from up-country. Hear…

Another great fog this morning, which lasts till 8.30. After so much dry and warm weather, cool weather has suddenly come, and this has pro- duced these two larger…

Warmer this morning and considerably hazy again. Wormwood pollen yellows my clothes commonly. Ferris in his “ Utah,” crossing the plains in ’52, says that, on…

A misty morning followed by a still, cloudy, misty day, through which has fallen a very little rain this forenoon already. Now I notice a few faint chip- ping…

The second still, misty, mizzling and rainy day. We all lie abed late. Now many more sparrows in the yard, larger than chip-birds and showing ashy under sides as…

Sunday. Fair weather and a clear atmos- phere after two days of mizzling, cloudy, and rainy weather and some smart showers at daylight and in the night. The street…

Monday. Aster multiflorus. Observed the under sides of a shrub willow by the river, lit by the rays of the rising sun, shining like silver or dewdrops. Yet, when I…

Were those plump birds which looked some- what like robins crossing the river yesterday afternoon golden plover? I heard the upland plover note at same time, but…

6 a. M.— To Hill. The sun is rising directly over the eastern (mag- netic east) end of the street. Not yet the equinox. I hear a faint warbling vireo on the elms…

Thursday. The rain of last night has brought down more leaves of elms and buttonwoods. P. M. — To Moore’s Swamp and Walden. See some hips of the moss rose, very…

P. M.—To boat under Fair Haven Hill via Hubbard Bath, etc., a-graping. The ivy at ivy tree is scarlet a quarter part. Saw one of my small slate-colored hawks of…

This morning I find a little hole, three quar- ters of an inch or an inch over, above my small tortoise eggs, and find a young tortoise coming out (apparently in…

Yesterday and to-day the first regular rain-storm, bringing down more leaves, — elms, but- ton woods, and apple tree, —and decidedly raising the river and brooks.…

Measured to-day the little Sternotherus odoratus which came out the ground in the garden September 9th. Its shell is thirty-two fortieths of an inch long, by…

Tuesday. A cool, overcast day threaten- ing a storm. Yesterday, after the two days’ cold rain, the air was very clear and fine-grained. This is a phe- nomenon we…

Wednesday. P. M. — To Great Fields. Many butternuts have dropped, — more than wal- nuts. A few raspberries still fresh. I find the large thistle (Cirsium muticum)…

Thursday. 6 a. m.— To Hill. I hear a vireo still in the elms. The banks have now begun fairly to be sugared with the Aster Tradescanti. I get very near a small…

Sophia and mother returned from Wa- chusett. S. saw much bayberry in Princeton. P. M.— To Fringed Gentian Meadow over Assa- bet and to Dugan Desert. I see a wood…

Monday. Viburnum nudum in flower again. Fringed gentian near Peter’s out a short time, but as there is so little, and that has been cut off by the mowers, and this…

Tuesday. P. M. — To Conantum. Viburnum Lentago berries now perhaps in prime, though there are but few blue ones. A snapping turtle had come out on the morning of…

Windy rain-storm last night. See to-day quite a flock of what I think must be rusty grackles about the willows and button-bushes.

Thursday. P. M. — To Flint’s Pond. The first frost in our yard last night, the grass white and stiff in the morning. The muskmelon vines are now blackened in the…

Friday. Another hard frost this morning, notwithstanding some fog at same time, and another fine day after it. P. M. — Over Nawshawtuct. The river is peculiarly…

P. M. — To Great Meadows via Gowing’s Swamp. I was struck with the peculiar and interesting colors of the naked arms of the buttonwood at the brick house, delicate…

Sunday. 6 a. m.— To Hill. Low fog-like veil on meadows. On the large sassafras trees on the hill I see many of the handsome red club-shaped pedicels left, with…

P. M. — To boat opposite Bittern Cliff via Cliffs. I suspect that I know on what the brilliancy of the autumnal tints will depend. On the greater or less drought of…

‘Took my last bath the 24th. Probably shall not bathe again this year. It was chilling cold. It is a warm and very pleasant afternoon, and I walk along the…

R. W. E.’s pines are parti-colored, pre- paring to fall, some of them. The sassafras trees on the hill are now wholly a bright orange scarlet as seen from my…

P. M.— To Lee’s Bridge via Mt. Misery and return by Conantum. Yesterday was quite warm, requiring the thinnest coat. To-day is cooler. The elm leaves have in some…

P. M.—Vvza Assabet to the monarda road. I am surprised to see that some red maples, which were so brilliant a day or two ago, have already shed their leaves, and…

The young black birches about Walden, next the south shore, are now commonly clear pale- yellow, very distinct at distance, hke brght-yellow white birches, so…

Went to Plymouth to lecture and survey Watson’s grounds. Returned the 15th. The Decodon verticillatus (swamp loosestrife) very abundant, forming isles in the pond…

In the streets the ash and most of the elm trees are bare of leaves; the red maples also for the most part, apparently, at a distance. The pines, too, have fallen.

7.15 a. Ms —To Westminster by cars; thence on foot to Wachusett Mountain, four miles to Foster’s, and two miles thence to mountain-top by road. The country above…

Saw the sun rise from the mountain-top. This is the time to look westward. All the villages, steeples, and houses on that side were revealed; but on the east all…

This and the last two days Indian-summer weather, following hard on that sprinkling of snow west of Concord. Pretty hard frosts these nights. Many leaves fell last…

On Assabet. The maples being bare, the great hornet nests are exposed. A beautiful, calm Indian-summer afternoon, the withered reeds on the brink reflected in the…

P. M. — To Conantum. As warm as summer. Cannot wear a thick coat. Sit with windows open. I see considerable gossamer on the causeway and elsewhere. Is it the tree…

Saturday. The woods begin to look bare, reflected in the water, and I look far in between the stems of the trees under the bank. Birches, which be- gan to change…

Sunday. Detected a large English cherry in Smith’s woods beyond Saw Mill Brook by the pe- culiar fresh orange-scarlet color of its leaves, now that almost all…

Rain; still warm. Ever since October 27th we have had remarkably warm and pleasant Indian summer, with frequent frosts in the morning. Sat with open window for a…

It is a little cooler.

Thursday. P. M. — By boat to Clamshell. I suspect the clams are partly gone down. May not this movement contribute to compel the muskrats to erect their cabins…

Saw a shrike in an apple tree, with appar- ently a worm in its mouth. The shad-bush buds have expanded into small leafets already. This while sur- veying on the old…

Sunday. To White Pond with Charles Wheeler. Passing the mouth of John Hosmer’s hollow near the river, was hailed by him and Anthony Wright, sitting there, to come…

Surveying on Colburn place. Tt is suddenly cold. Pools frozen so as to bear, and ground frozen so that it is difficult, if not impossible, to force down a stake in…

I ean still rake clams near the shore, but they are chiefly in the weeds, I think. I see a snipe- like bird by riverside this windy afternoon, which goes off with a…

P. M. — Sail to Ball’s Hill with W. E. C. See where the muskrats have eaten much ponte- deria root. Got some donacia grubs for Harris, but find no chrysalids. The…

Minott heard geese go over night before last, about 8 p. mM. Therien, too, heard them “yelling like anything” over Walden, where he is cutting, the same evening. He…

Saw sixty geese go over the Great Fields, in one waving line, broken from time to time by their crowding on each other and vainly endeavoring to form into a harrow,…

It has rained hard the 11th, 12th, and 13th, and the river is at last decidedly rising. On Friday, 10th, it was still at summer level.

To Philadelphia. 7 a. m., to Boston; 9 a. M., Boston to New York, by express train, land route. | See the reddish soil (red sandstone?) all through Connecticut.…

Looked from the cupola of the State- House, where the Declaration of Independence was declared. The best view of the city I got. Was inter- ested in the squirrels,…

Left at 7.30 a. m. for New York, by boat to Tacony and rail wa Bristol, Trenton, Princeton (near by), New Brunswick, Rahway, Newark, etc. Uninteresting, except the…

What that little long-sharp-nosed mouse I found in the Walden road to-day? Brown above, gray beneath, black incisors, five toes with claws on 1854| CONCORD RIVER…

Paddled to Clamshell. Still very clear and bright as well as comfortable weather. River not so high as on the 16th. Were those plover which just after sunset flew…

P. M. — Sail down river. No ice, but strong cold wind; river slightly over meadows. Was that large diver which was on the edge of the shore and scooted away…

Got up my boat and housed it, ice having formed about it.

Sunday. The first snow of consequence fell in the evening, very damp (wind northeast); five or six Inches deep in morning, after very high wind in the night.…

P. M. — Down railroad to Walden. Walden went down quite rapidly about the middle of November, leaving the isthmus to Emerson’s meadow bare. Flint’s has been very…

Very cold last night. Probably river skimmed over in some places. The damp snow with water beneath (in all five or six inches deep and not drifted, notwithstanding…

‘To Providence to lecture. I see thick ice and boys skating all the way to Provi- dence, but know not when it froze, I have been so busy writing my lecture;…

Walked through Olneyville in Johnston, two and a half or three miles west of Providence. Harris tells me that since he exchanged a duplicate Jesuit Relation for one…

P. M.— Up river and meadow on ice to Hubbard Bridge and thence to Walden. Winter has come unnoticed by me, I have been so busy writing. This is the life most lead…

Surveying for T. Holden. A cold morning. What is that green pipes on the side-hill at Nut Meadow on his land, looking at first Jike green-briar cut off?’ It forms a…

P. M. — To Nut Meadow. Weather warmer; snow softened. Saw a large flock of snow buntings (quite white against woods, at any rate), though it is quite warm.…

P. M.— To Bare Hill. C. says he found Fair Haven frozen over last Friday, 1. e. the 8th.! I find Flint’s frozen to-day, and how long? We have now those early,…

P. M. — With C. up north bank of Assa- bet to bridge. Good sleighing still, with but little snow. A warm, thawing day. The river is open almost its whole length. It…

Up riverside via Hubbard Bath, p. m. I see again a large flock of what I called buntings on the 10th, also another flock surely not buntings, perhaps Fringilla…

P. M.— Down railroad via Andromeda Ponds to river. Snowed a little finely last night and this forenoon. I see a few squirrels’ tracks in the woods and, here and…

P. M.—Skated a half-mile up Assabet and then to foot of Fair Haven Hill. This is the first tolerable skating. Last night was so cold that the river closed up almost…

7 a. M. — To Hill. Said to be the coldest morning as yet. The river appears to be frozen everywhere. Where was water last night is a firm bridge of ice this…

P. M.—To Walden and Fair Haven Ponds and down river. It snowed slightly this morning, so as to cover the [ground] half an inch deep. Walden is frozen over, ap-…

Some three inches of snow fell last night and this morning, concluding with a fine rain, which produced a slight glaze, the first of the winter. This gives the…

To New Bedford via Cambridge.'

At Ricketson’s. I do not remember to have ever seen such a day as this in Concord. There is no snow here (though there has been excellent sleighing at Concord since…

To Nantucket via Hyannis in misty rain. On Cape Cod saw the hills through the mist covered with cladonias. A head wind and rather rough passage of three hours to…

A misty rain as yesterday. Captain Gar- diner carried me to Siasconset in his carriage. He has got from forty to forty-five or fifty bushels of corn to an acre from…

Nantucket to Concord at 7.30 a. M. Still in mist. The fog was so thick that we were lost on the water; stopped and sounded many times. The clerk said the depth…

P. M.— On river to Fair Haven Pond. A beautiful, clear, not very cold day. The shadows on the snow are indigo-blue. The pines look very dark. The white oak leaves…