Produced by Melissa McDaniel and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) Transcriber’s Note: Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. The following alternate spellings were noted, but retained: Shakspeare and Shakespeare Minot and Minott MANUSCRIPT EDITION LIMITED TO SIX HUNDRED COPIES NUMBER ____ [Illustration: _Star-flowers (Trientalis) (page 266)_] [Illustration: _Fair Haven Pond from the Cliffs_] THE WRITINGS OF HENRY DAVID THOREAU JOURNAL EDITED BY BRADFORD TORREY II 1850-SEPTEMBER 15, 1851 BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON MIFFLIN AND COMPANY MDCCCCVI COPYRIGHT 1906 BY HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO. _All rights reserved_ CONTENTS CHAPTER I. 1850 (ÆT. 32-33) 3 The Religion of the Hindoos—Narrow Shoes—The Town of Bedford—A Visit to Haverhill and the Dustin House—Taste in Eating—Sawing Buttonwood Logs—The Insanity of Heroes—The Sand Cherry—Life in a Small Meadow—Turtle and Horned Pout—Limestone—The Energy of Our Ancestors—A New Bosphorus—Sippio Brister’s Gravestone—Fences—Driving Cows to Pasture—Setting Fire to the Woods—The Incendiary—The View from Goodman’s Hill in Sudbury—A Burner of Brush—Tending a Burning—The Regularity of the Cars—The Levels of Life—A Proposed Method of Fighting Wood-Fires—The Yezidis—Insects over the River—Cows in a Pasture—Horses Fighting—The Advantages of a Fire in the Woods—Walking by Night—An Indian Squaw—A Button from the Marquis of Ossoli’s Coat—Bones on the Beach—Fresh Water in Sand-Bars—Rags and Meanness—Tobacco Legislation—An Ideal Friend—Conforming—A Drunken Dutchman—Legs as Compasses—Walks about Concord—Meadow-Hay—The Old Marlborough Road—Surface of Water—The Money-Digger—The Railroad—Tall Ambrosia—The Ways of Cows—Flocks of Birds—A Great Blue Heron—The Elm—Uncle Charles Dunbar—Lines on a Flower growing in the Middle of the Road—A Beautiful Heifer—Water the Only Drink—On the River—Music—The Canadian Excursion—Living and Loving one’s Life—Canadian Houses—A Frog in the Milk—Apostrophe to Diana—Aground at Patchogue—The Relics of a Human Body on the Beach—Echoes—Sawmills—Begging Indians—The Indian and his Baskets—Uncle Charles on the Dock at New York—Nature in November—The Approach of Winter—Changes made in Views from the cutting down of Woods—Cats run Wild—The Growth of a Wood—Canadian Greatcoats—A Root Fence—Wild Apples—An Old Bone—A Miser and his Surveyor—The Remains of a Coal-Pit—The Pickerel in the