Page:Thoreau - His Home, Friends and Books (1902).djvu/366

330 year is not measured by the sun, but consists of a certain number of moons, and his moons are measured not by days but by nights. He has taken hold of the dark side of nature, the white man of the bright side." ("Autumn," p. 148.) Carefully prepared and collated, are twelve volumes of notes by Thoreau upon Indian archeology, legends and customs, waiting the service of his executor to furnish the world with these many rare facts about this indigenous people.

The multiplicity and seeming incoherence of Thoreau's themes have been ground of criticism by some unappreciative readers. Herein resides one of the chief qualities of uniqueness and charm. Nature and life in their varied phases, especially in their homely and simple aspects, formed his subjects for study and reflection. As if in answer to this very point, he wrote,—"It is wise to write on many themes, that so you may find the right and inspiring one." In his volumes are gathered practical economy, morality, philosophy, upon the lower levels of thought, while on the hilltops are the poetic and sympathetic vistas and songs. From a tirade upon the defects of modern newspapers, he turns to a description of the morning mist, with matchless imagery;—"But when its own sun began to rise on this pure world, I found myself a dweller