[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