Produced by Ruth Hart [Note: for this online edition I have moved the Table of Contents to the beginning of the text and added three asterisks to mark breaks between sections. I have also made the following spelling changes: latitute to latitude and mountain ash berberis to mountain ash berberries] THE HEART OF NATURE OR THE QUEST FOR NATURAL BEAUTY BY SIR FRANCIS YOUNGHUSBAND K.C.S.I., K.C.I.E. PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY AUTHOR OF "THE HEART OF A CONTINENT" LONDON JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET 1921 CONTENTS Preface ix-x Introduction xv-xxviii PART I Chapter I. The Sikkim Himalaya. The sacred Ganges--A beneficent power--Beauty of the plains--First sight of the Himalaya 3-12 Chapter II. The Teesta Valley. Mystery of the forest--The gorges --Sequestered glens 13-19 Chapter III. The Forest. Butterflies--Ferns--Orchids--Flower friends--Rhododendrons--Temperate vegetation--Primulas--Artic vegetation--The range of vegetation 20-37 Chapter IV. The Denizens of the Forest. Butterflies--Moths--Birds --Reptiles--Mammals--Animal beauty--Primitive man--Higher races 38-54 Chapter V. The Sum Impression. Two views of Nature--Variety of life--Intensity of life--The battle of life--Adaptation and selection --Purposiveness--Purposeful structures--Interdependence--Organising Activity--Gradation--Care of offspring--the Activity not mechanical but Spiritual--Nature's end--a Common aspiration 55-85 Chapter VI. Kinchinjunga. The foothills--Darjiling--A vision of the mountain--Full view--Mountain grandeur--Dawn on the mountain --Sunset on the mountain 86-99 Chapter VII. High Solitudes. Kashmir--Barren mountains--Dazzling peaks--Purity of beauty 100-108 Chapter VIII. The Heavens. Desert sunsets--Tibetan sunsets--The stars--The whole universe our home--A Heavenly Presence 109-120 Chapter IX. Home Beauty. One's own country--Woman's beauty --Love and beauty--Their Divine Source--Wedding--Divine union --The Inmost Heart of Nature 121-134 Chapter X. The Nature of Nature. A spiritual background--Purpose in Nature--Higher beings--No confining plan--Immanent Spirit --Collective personality--England a Person--Nature a Person--Moved by an ideal--The ideal in plants--The ideal in animals--The ideal in the world 135-160 Chapter XI. Nature's Ideal. Battling with physical Nature--Battling with man--In tune with Nature--At the heart of the Universe is Love--Divine fellowship is Nature's Ideal 161-171 Chapter XII. The Heart of Nature. Picturing the Ideal--The Ideal Man--Man and woman--Perfecting the Ideal--Discipline necessary --Leadership--Nature's method--Our own responsibility--The lovability of nature--God at the Heart of Nature 172-192 PART II Natural Beauty and Geography Presidential Address to the Royal Geographical Society 195-216 An Address to the Union Society of University College, London 217-235 PREFACE