Throughout the entire work I have sought to indicate the unfailing influence of external nature on the feelings, the moral dispositions, and the destinies of man. To minds oppressed with the cares or the sorrows of life, the soothing influence of the contemplation of nature is peculiarly precious; and to such these pages are more especially dedicated. May they, “escaping from the stormy waves of life,” follow me in spirit with willing steps to the recesses of the primeval forests, over the boundless surface of the Steppe, and to the higher ridges of the Andes. To them is addressed the poet’s voice, in the sentence of the Chorus-- “Auf den Bergen ist Freiheit! Der Hauch der Grüfte Steigt nicht hinauf in die reinen Lüfte; Die Welt ist vollkommen überall, Wo der Mensch nicht hinkommt mit seiner Qual.” AUTHOR’S PREFACE TO THE SECOND AND THIRD EDITIONS. The twofold aim of the present work (a carefully prepared and executed attempt to enhance the enjoyment of Nature by animated description, and at the same time to increase in proportion to the state of knowledge at the time the reader’s insight into the harmonious and concurrent action of different powers and forces of Nature) was pointed out by me nearly half a century ago in the Preface to the First Edition. In so doing, I alluded to the various obstacles which oppose a successful treatment of the subject in the manner designed. The combination of a literary and of a purely scientific object,--the endeavour at once to interest and occupy the imagination, and to enrich the mind with new ideas by the augmentation of knowledge,--renders the due arrangement of the separate parts, and the desired unity of composition, difficult of attainment. Yet, notwithstanding these disadvantages, the public have long regarded my imperfectly executed undertaking with friendly partiality.