BRITISH AMERICA. 79

CHAPTER II.

Forests—Principal Trees, 8w.

THE magnificent splendour of the forests of North America, is peculiar to that division of the Western VVOrld.

In Europe, in Asia, in Africa, and even in South America, the primeval trees, how much soever their magnitude may arrest admiration, do not grow in the promiscuous style that prevails in the great general character of the North American woods.

Many varieties of the pine, intermingled with birch, maple, beech, oak, and numerous other tribes, branch luxuriantly over the banks of lakes and rivers, extend in stately grandeur along the plains, and stretch proudly up to the very summits of the mountains.

It is impossible to exaggerate the autumnal beauty of these forests : nothing under heaven can be com-E“ pared to its efl'ulgent grandeur. i k

h Two or three frosty nights in the decline of p. _ autumn, transform the boundless verdure of‘a whole empire into every possible tint of brilliant scarlet, :6 rich Violet, every shade of blue and brown, vivid j crimson, and glittering yellow. The stern, inexorable

fir tribes alone maintain their eternal sombre green,