This ebook was transcribed by Les Bowler.
cassell’snational library.
WANDERINGS
in
SOUTH AMERICA.
by
CHARLES WATERTON.
with anintroduction
by
norman moore, m.d.
CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED:
london, paris & melbourne.
1891.
p.5INTRODUCTION.
Plutarch, the most famous biographer of ancient times, is ofopinion that the uses of telling the history of the men of pastages are to teach wisdom, and to show us by their example howbest to spend life. His method is to relate the history ofa Greek statesman or soldier, then the history of a Roman whoseopportunities of fame resembled those of the Greek, and finallyto compare the two. He points out how in the same straitsthe one hero had shown wisdom, the other imprudence; and that hewho had on one occasion fallen short of greatness had on anotherdisplayed the highest degree of manly virtue or of genius. If Plutarch’s method of teaching should ever be followed byan English biographer, he will surely place side by side andcompare two English naturalists, Gilbert White and CharlesWaterton. White was a clergyman of the Church of England,educated at Oxford. Waterton was a Roman Catholic countrygentleman, who received his education in a Jesuit college. White spent his life in the south of England, and nevertravelled. Waterton lived in the north of England, andspent more than ten years in the Forests p. 6ofGuiana. With all these points of difference, the twonaturalists were men of the same kind, and whose lives both teachthe same lesson. They are examples to show that if a manwill but look carefully round him in the country his every-daywalk may supply him with an enjoyment costing nothing, butsurpassed by none which wealth can procure; with food forreflection however long he may live; with problems of which itwill be an endless pleasure to attempt the solution; with aspectacle of Infinite Wisdom which will fill his mind with aweand with a constantly increasing assurance of Infinite Goodness,which will do much to help him in all the trials of life. He who lives in the country and has the love of outdoor naturalhistory in his heart, will never be lonely and never dull. Waterton himself thought that this love of natural history mustbe inborn and could not be acquired. If this be so, theyought indeed to be thankful who possess so happy a gift. Even if Waterton’s opinion be not absolutely true, it is atleast certain that the taste for outdoor observation can only beacquired in the field, and that this acquisition is rarely madeafter the period of boyhood. How important, then, to excitethe attention of children in the country to the sights aroundthem. A few will remain apathetic, the tastes of some willlie in other directions, but the time will not be lost, for somewill certainly take to natural history, and will have happinessfrom it throughout life. No study is more p. 7likely toconfi