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The Naturalist in La Plata

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In The Naturalist in La Plata, Hudson does a good job of blending scientific content with interesting stories, anecdotes, and other tidbits from his observations of the area. Hudson grew up in the Pampas, and the book illustrates his special affinity for the region. Additionally, he has a love for nature and a respect for its wonders. An early environmentalist, Hudson often laments man's destruction of nature in this volume, presenting wonderful arguments as to the value of convservation. I probably wouldn't recommend this as an easy leisure read, but it is a good example of naturalist writing. Hudson's stories and obvious admiration of nature keep the book from being too dry.

Every page of "The Naturalist in La Plata" is steeped in the sights,sounds and smells of nature. The tone of the writing is one of 19th century grace and charm. The author writes of his personal observations of the Argentine pampas,both the land and its life-forms. He was particularly interested in animal behavior, especially that of birds. Some of the stories about animals, such as the puma and the huanaco ,incorporate native legends as well as his own scientific speculations. Some topics covered include dancing rituals of certain birds,facts and thoughts about spiders, the graveyard of the huanacos, curious animal weapons and many more. The character of the pampas is also revealed as a backdrop to the animal anecdotes. There is no sensationalism or sentimentality, but rather a wonder and appreciation for nature as manifested in a particular landscape. I found it to be a pleasant excursion to an unfamiliar but fascinating territory.

W. H. Hudson wrote two classics of late 19th century English literature and yet today is almost unknown. Both works, `Green Mansions,` and `The Purple Land,` take place in South America, the former in the verdant jungles of Venezuela, the latter (highly praised by Hemingway) in Uruguay. Raised on a farm in Patagonia, Hudson eventually emigrated to England, pining away his final years with a deep nostalgia for South America.

"The Naturalist in La Plata,` is the well-ripened fruit of such nostalgia. In it, Hudson comprised an amazing compendium of essays , all centered around the unique wildlife of the Argentine grasslands. Any naturalist, amateur or professional, will enjoy reading these informative and engaging essays on topics as diverse as, `Music and Dancing in Nature,` `The Strange Instincts of Cattle,` Fear in Birds, `Some Curious Animal Weapons,` and many others.

The real joy in reading this book is twofold. First, W.H. Hudson was a man far ahead of his time. A pioneer conservationist in an age of glorified extermination hunting, Hudson`s thoughts on species preservation will resonate with many an eco-minded reader of today."The life of even a single species is of incalculably greater value to mankind for what it teaches and would continue to teach than all the chiseled marbles and painted canvases the world contains." Regarding the murderous hunts of his day, Hudson laments that the age`s motto should be, "Let us slay all noble and beautiful things, for tomorrow we die." Hudson`s belief in the interconnectedness of all life was revolutionary for its time.

The second reason one should spend time with this remarkable writer and scholar is for his rare mastery of the English sentence. On cursory inspection, Hudson`s English appears clunky, long-winded, leaden with unnecessary ornamentation. Yet, digested slowly and thoroughly, Hudson`s prose comes alive and reveals hidden gems. Take for instance the following sentence, "I hasten to say that the huánuco or guanaco as it is often spelt, is not a perishing species; nor as things are, is it likely to perish soon, despite the fact that civilized men, Britons especially, are now enthusiastically engaged in the extermination of all the nobler mammalians:---a very glorious crusade, the triumphant conclusion of which will doubtless be witnessed by the succeeding generation, more favored in this respect than ours." Despite their serpentine length, such sentences contain a myriad of fact and opinion.

`The Naturalist in La Plata' abounds in such seemingly prolix sentences, which can easily bog down the impatient reader. Yet, given time and effort, Hudson`s prose style can be mastered and even enjoyed for its unique combination of clarity and beauty. And for those hardy souls who manage to reach its end, `The Naturalist in La Plata` rewards greatly with fascinating and stimulating snippets from a great naturalist`s notebook. One can learn about the intricate dancing rituals of many bird species, about the social complexity of the vizcacha, about the primordial migrations of the guanaco as well as other fascinating tidbits of nature lore.

Whether one is an armchair naturalist or just a lover of fine English prose, W.H. Hudson`s `The Naturalist in La Plata` will surely please.