INTRODUCTION "l"HE eight essays in this volume all deal with the ~ home region of their a.uthor; for not only did l·lr. lluITOughs begin liIe in the Catskills, and d,vell among them until early manhood, but, as he himself declares, he has never taken root anywhere else. Their delectable heights and valleys have engaged his deepest affections QS far as locality is concerned, and however widely he journeys and whatever charms he discovers in nature elsewhere, still the loveliness of those pastoral boyhood uplands is unsurpassed. The ancestral farm is in Roxbury among the western Catskills, where the mountains are cOIn .. paratively gentle in type and always grat..-eful in contour. Cultivated fields aDd sunny pastures cling to their mighty slopes far up toward the summits, there are patches of woodland including frequent groves of sugar maples, and there are apple orchards and vindiog roadways, and endless lines of rude stone fences, and scattered dwellings. In ev Table of Contents CONTENTS; INTRODUCTION IX; 1; II A WHlTE DAY AND A RED Fox: 81; III PDASES OF F ABlf LIFE 4";; IV Is THE HEMLOCKS 77; 116; VI THE HEAIlT OF THE SOUTHERN CATSKnrs 153; Vll SPECKLED TROUT 185; 11l A BED Oil" BOUGHS 221 About the Publisher Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, History, Folklore and Mythology. Forgotten Books" Classic Reprint Series utilizes the latest technology to regenerate facsimiles of historically important writings. Careful attention has been made to accurately preserve the original format of each page whils