He was a _naturalist_.
A naturalist can find employment anywhere--can gather both instruction and amusement where others would die of _ennui_ and idleness.

Remember! there are "sermons in stones, and books in running brooks." He was not a closet naturalist either.

Like the great Audubon he was fond of the outside world.

He was fond of drawing his lessons from Nature herself.
He combined a passion for the chase with his more delicate taste for scientific pursuits; and where could he have better placed himself to indulge in these than in the great region of the Mississippi valley, teeming with objects of interest both to the hunter and the naturalist?
In my opinion, he made good choice of his home.
Well, between hunting, and fishing, and stuffing his birds, and preserving the skins of rare quadrupeds, and planting and pruning his trees, and teaching his boys, and training his dogs and horses, Landi was far from being idle.

His boys, of course, assisted him in these occupations, as far as they were able.