atmost，oneortwowindowsopenedonaworldthathasnotyetbeenexploredwithalltheattentionwhichitdeserves。
Aworsedestinyawaitsthemushrooms，whichweremybotanicaljoysfrommyearliestyouth。Ihaveneverceasedtokeepupmyacquaintancewiththem。Tothisday，forthemerepleasureofrenewingit，Igo，withahaltingstep，tovisitthemonfineautumnafternoons。Istilllovetoseethefatheadsoftheboletes，thetopsoftheagaricsandthecoral—redtuftsoftheclavariaemergeabovethecarpetpinkwithheather。
AtSerignan，mylaststage，theyhavelavishedtheirseductionsuponme，soplentifularetheyontheneighboringhills，woodedwithholmoak，arbutusandrosemary。Duringtheselatteryears，theirwealthinspiredmewithaninsaneplan:thatofcollectingineffigywhatIwasunabletokeepinitsnaturalstateinanherbarium。Ibegantopaintlifesizepicturesofallthespeciesinmyneighborhood，fromthelargesttothesmallest。Iknownothingoftheartofpaintinginwatercolors。Nomatter:whatI
haveneverseenpracticedIwillinvent，managingbadlyatfirst，thenalittlebetter，atlastwell。Thepaintbrushwillmakeachangefromthestrainofmydailyoutputofprose。
Iendbypossessingsomehundredsofsheetsrepresentingthemushroomsoftheneighborhoodintheirnaturalsizeandcolors。Mycollectionhasacertainvalue。Ifitlacksartisticfinish，atleastitboaststhemeritofaccuracy。ItbringsmevisitorsonSundays，countrypeople，whostareatitinallsimplicity，astoundedthatsuchfinepicturesshouldbedonebyhand，withoutacopyandwithoutcompasses。Theyatoncerecognizethemushroomrepresented;theytellmeitspopularname，thusprovingthefidelityofmybrush。