ches being so capricious, and his
information so vague as his moods and his idleness would otherwise
occasionally make them.

The character of these queries must, of course, depend much on where the
traveller means to go. A set which would suit one nation would not
completely apply to any other. The observer will do wisely to employ
his utmost skill in framing them. His cares will be better bestowed on
this than even on his travelling appointments, important as these are to
his comfort. When he has done his best in the preparation of his lists,
he must still keep on the watch to enlarge them, as occasion arises.

Some travellers unite in one the functions of the query list and the
journal: having the diary headed and arranged for the reception of
classified information. But this seems to be debasing the function of a
journal, whose object ought to be to reflect the mind of a traveller,
and give back to him hereafter the image of what he thought and felt day
by day. This is its primary function;--a most useful one, as every
traveller knows who has kept one during a year's wandering in a foreign
country. On his return, he laughs at the crudity of the information, and
the childishness of the impressions, set down in the opening pages; and
traces, with as much wonder as interest, the gradual expansion of his
knowledge, education of his perceptions, and maturing of his judgments
as to what is before him, as week succeeds to week, and each month
mellows the experience of the last.

The subordinate purpose of the journal is to record facts; and the way
in which this is done ought not to depend on the stationer's rule, but
on the nature of the traveller's mind. No man can write down daily all
that he learns in a day's travel. It ought to be a matter of serious
consideration with him what he will insert, and what trust to his
memory. The simplest method seems to be to set down what is most likely
to be let slip, and to trust to the memory what the affections and
tastes of the traveller will not allow him to forget. One who especially
enjoys intimate domestic intercourse will write, not fireside
conversations, but the opinions of statesmen, and the doctrine of
parties on great social questions. One whose tastes are religious will
note less on the subject of public worship and private religious
discourse, than dates, numbers, and facts on subjects of subordinate
interest. All should record anecdotes and sayings which illustrate