Fannyisquitedoneup；shecouldnotsleeplastnight，somethingitseemedlikeasthma-Itrustnot。IsupposeLloydwillbeabout，soyoucangivehimthebenefitofthislongscrawl。NeversaythatICAN’Twritealetter，saythatIdon’t-Yoursever，mydearestfellow，R。L。S。
Theguidwifehadbreadtobake，andshebakeditinapan，O！Butbetweenwhilesshewasdownwithmeweedingsensitiveinthepaddock。Themenhavebutnowpassedoverit；Iwasroundinthatveryplacetoseetheweedingwasdonethoroughly，andalreadythereptilespringsbehindourheels。
Tuituiisatrulystrangebeast，andgivesfoodforthought。
Iamnearlysure-Icannotyetbequite，Imeantoexperiment，whenIamlessonthehotchaseofthebeast-
that，evenattheinstantheshrivelsuphisleaves，hestrikeshispricklesdownwardsoastocatchtheuprootingfinger；instinctive，saythegabies；butsoisman’simpulsetostrikeout。Onethingthattakesandholdsmeistoseethestrangevariationinthepropagationofalarmamongtheserootedbeasts；attimesitspreadstoaradius(Ispeakbytheguessoftheeye)offiveorsixinches；attimesonlyoneindividualplantappearsfrightenedatatime。Wetriedhowlongittookonetorecover；’tisasanguinecreature；itisallabroadagainbefore(Iguessagain)twominutes。Itisoddhowdifficultinthisworlditistobearmed。Thedoublearmourofthisplantbetraysit。Inathicktuft，wheretheleavesdisappear，Ithrustinmyhand，andthebiteofthethornsbetraysthetopmoststem。Intheopenagain，andwhenIhesitateifitbeclover，atouchontheleaves，anditsfinesenseandretractileactionbetraysitsidentityatonce。Yetithasonegiftincomparable。Romehadvirtueandknowledge；Romeperished。Thesensitiveplanthasindigestibleseeds-sotheysay-anditwillflourishforever。Igivemyadvicethustoayoungplant-haveastrongroot，aweakstem，andanindigestibleseed；soyouwilloutlasttheeternalcity，andyourprogenywillclothemountains，andtheirascibleplanterwillblasphemeinvain。
Theweakpointoftuituiisthatitsstemisstrong。
SUPPLEMENTARYPAGE。
Herebeginneththethirdlesson，whichisnotfromtheplanterbutfromalessestimablecharacter，thewriterofbooks。
IwantyoutounderstandaboutthisSouthSeaBook。Thejobisimmense；Istaggerundermaterial。IhaveseenthefirstbigTACHE。Itwasnecessarytoseethesmallerones；theletterswereatmyhandforthepurpose，butIwasnotgoingtolosethisexperience；and，insteadofwritingmereletters，havepouredoutalotofstuffforthebook。Howthisworksandfits，timeistoshow。ButIbelieve，intime，Ishallgetthewholethinginform。Now，uptodate，thatisallmydesign，andIbegtowarnyoutillwehavethewhole(ormuch)ofthestufftogether，youcanhardlyjudge-
andIcanhardlyjudge。Suchamassofstuffistobehandled，ifpossiblewithoutrepetition-somuchforeignmattertobeintroduced-ifpossiblewithperspicuity-and，asmuchascanbe，aspiritofnarrativetobepreserved。
YouwillfindthatcomestrongerasIproceed，andgettheexplanationsworkedthrough。Problemsofstyleare(asyet)
dirtundermyfeet；myproblemisarchitectural，creative-
togetthisstuffjointedandmoving。IfIcandothat，I
willtroubleyouforstyle；anybodymightwriteit，anditwouldbesplendid；well-engineered，themassesright，thebloomingthingtravelling-twig？
ThisIwantedyoutounderstand，forlotsofthestuffsenthomeis，Iimagine，rot-andslovenlyrot-andsomeofitpompousrot；andIwantyoutounderstandit’saLAY-IN。
Soon，ifthetideofpoeshiecontinues，I’llsendyouawholelottodamn。Youneversaidthank-youforthehandsometributeaddressedtoyoufromApemama；suchisthegratitudeoftheworldtotheGod-sentpoick。Well，well:-’Vexnotthouthepoick’smind，Withthycoriaceousingratitude，TheP。willbetoyourfaultsmorethanalittleblind，Andyoursisafarfromhandsomeattitude。’Havingthusdroppedintopoetryinaspiritoffriendship，Ihavethehonourtosubscribemyself，Sir，Yourobedienthumbleservant，SILASWEGG。
Isupposebythisyouwillhaveseenthelad-andhisfeetwillhavebeenintheMonument-andhiseyesbeheldthefaceofGeorge。Well！
Thereismucheloquenceinawell！
Iam，SirYoursTheEpigrammatistROBERTLOUISSTEVENSON
FINIS-EXPLICIT
MYDEARCOLVIN，-Iwantedtogooutbrightandearlytogoonwithmysurvey。Youneverheardofthat。Theworldhasturned，andmuchwaterrununderbridges，sinceIstoppedmydiary。Ihavewrittensixmorechaptersofthebook，allgoodIpotentlybelieve，andgivenup，asadeceptionofthedevil’s，theHighWoods。IhavebeenoncedowntoApia，toahugenativefeastatSeumanutafa’s，thechiefofApia。Therewasavastmassoffood，crowdsofpeople，thepolicechargingamongthemwithwhips，thewholeinhighgoodhumouronbothsides；infinitenoise；andahistoricevent-Mr。
Clarke，themissionary，andhiswife，assistedatanativedance。Onmyreturnfromthisfunction，Ifoundworkhadstopped；nomoreSouthSeasinmybelly。Well，Henryhadclearedagreatdealofourbushonacontract，anditoughttobemeasured。Isetmyselftothetaskwithatape-line；
itseemedadrearybusiness；thenIborrowedaprismaticcompass，andtackledthetaskafresh。Ihavenobooks；Ihadnottouchedaninstrumentnorgivenathoughttothebusinesssincetheyearofgrace1871；youcanimaginewithwhatinterestIsatdownyesterdayafternoontoreducemyobservations；fivetrianglesIhadtaken；allfivecameright，tomyineffablejoy。Ourdinner-thelowestwehaveeverbeen-consistedofONEAVOCADOPEARbetweenFannyandme，aship’sbiscuitfortheguidman，whitebreadfortheMissis，andredwineforthetwa。Nosalthorse，even，inallVailima！AfterdinnerHenrycame，andIbegantoteachhimdecimals；youwouldn’tthinkIknewthemmyselfaftersolongdesuetude！
IcouldnotbutwonderhowHenrystandshiseveningshere；
thePolynesianlovesgaiety-Ifeedhimwithdecimals，themariner’scompass，derivations，grammar，andthelike；
delectingmyself，afterthemannerofmyrace，MOULT
TRISTEMENT。Isuckmypaws；Iliveformydexteritiesandbymyaccomplishments；evenmyclumsinessesaremyjoy-mywoodcuts，mystumblingonthepipe，thissurveyingeven-andevenweedingsensitive；anythingtodowiththemind，withtheeye，withthehand-withapartofME；diversionflowsinthesewaysforthedrearyman。Butgaietyiswhatthesechildrenwant；tositinacrowd，tellstoriesandpassjests，tohearoneanotherlaughandscamperwiththegirls。
It’sgoodfun，too，Ibelieve，butnotforR。L。S。，AETAT。
40。WhichIamnowpastforty，Custodian，andnotonepennytheworsethatIcansee；asamusableasever；tobeonboardshipisrewardenoughforme；givemethewagesofgoingon-
inaschooner！Only，ifeverIweregay，whichI
misremember，Iamgaynomore。AndhereispoorHenrypassinghiseveningsonmyintellectualhusks，whichtheprofessorsmasticated；keepingtheaccountsoftheestate-
allwrongIhavenodoubt-Ikeepnocheck，beyondaveryroughone；marchinginwithacloudybrow，andtheday-bookunderhisarm；tacklingdecimals，comingwithcasesofconscience-howwouldanEnglishchiefbehaveinsuchacase？etc。；and，Iamboundtosay，onanyglimmerofajest，lapsingintonativehilarityasatreestraightensitselfafterthewindisby。TheothernightIrememberedmyoldfriend-Ibelieveyoursalso-Scholastikos，andadministeredthecrowandtheanchor-theywerequitefreshtoSamoanears(thisimpliesaveryearlyseverance)-andI
thoughttheanchorwouldhavemadeawaywithmySimelealtogether。
Fanny’stime，inthisinterval，hasbeenlargelyoccupiedincontendingpubliclywithwildswine。Wehaveablacksow；wecallherJackSheppard；impossibletoconfineher-
impossiblealsoforhertobeconfined！Tomysureknowledgeshehasbeeninaninterestingconditionforlongerthananyothersowinstory；elseshehadlongdiedthedeath；assoonassheisbroughttobed，sheshallcountherdays。I
supposethatsowhascostusindays’labourfromthirtytofiftydollars；asmanyaseightboys(atadollaraday)havebeentwelvehoursinchaseofher。NowitissupposedthatFannyhasoutwittedher；shegrinsbehindbroadplanksinwhatwasoncethecook-house。Sheisawildpig；farhandsomerthananytame；andwhenshefoundthecook-housewastoomuchforhermethodsofevasion，shelaydownonthefloorandrefusedfoodanddrinkforawholeSunday。OnMondaymorningsherelapsed，andnoweatsanddrinkslikealittleman。Iamremindedofanincident。TwoSundaysago，thesadwordwasbroughtthatthesowwasoutagain；thistimeshehadcarriedanotherinherflight。MoorsandIandFannywerestrollinguptothegarden，andtherebythewatersidewesawtheblacksow，lookingguilty。Itseemedtomebeyondwords；butFanny’sCRIDUCOEURwasdelicious:’G-
r-r！’shecried；’nobodylovesyou！’
IwouldIcouldtellyouthemovingstoryofourcartandcart-horses；thelatteraredapple-grey，aboutsixteenhands，andofenormoussubstance；theformerwasakindofredandgreenshandry-danwithadrivingbench；plainlyunfittocarrylumberortofaceourroad。(Rememberthatthelastthirdofmyroad，aboutamile，isallmadeoutofabridle-
trackbymyboys-andmydollars。)Itwassupposedawhitemanhadbeenfound-anex-Germanartilleryman-todrivethislast；heprovedincapableanddrunken；thegallantHenry，whohadneverdrivenbefore，andknewnothingabouthorses-excepttheratsandweedsthatflourishontheislands-volunteered；Moorsaccepted，proposingtofollowandsupervise:despatchedhisworkandstartedafter。Nocart！hehurriedonuptheroad-nocart。TransferthescenetoVailima，whereonasuddentoFannyandme，thecartappears，apparentlyatahardgallop，sometwohoursbeforeitwasexpected；Henryradiantlyrulingchaosfromthebench。
