97 

 EXCURSION No. 4. 



The fourth general Excursion was held on Saturday, 15th Sep- 

 tember, to King's Mountain, Chelsea, P.Q. 



The weather was exceedingly favourable, being bright and warm : 

 conseq\iently a large number of members and their friends turned up 

 in good time at the usual rendezvous, the corner of Sparks and Bank 

 streets. A start would have been made at the appointed hour, 9 o'clock, 

 had it not been that one of the vans, previously engaged, failed to put 

 in an appearance, and considerable time was lost in procuring another 

 conveyance to take its place. 



Soon after 10 o'clock, the party, consisting of about seventy, in 

 four well filled vans, moved quickly out of the city, and the di-ivers 

 being apparently as anxious as the excursionists to get to their jour- 

 ney's end, much of the time lost in starting was made up on the way 

 out the foot of the mountain was reached at 1.15 p.m. The road 

 chosen on this occasion was the " lower road " past the Hon. R. W. 

 Scott's house. This road is far more picturesque than the one usually 

 taken through Chelsea. The van drivers, however, seem to have a 

 great objection to go this way, and for the last two or three years have 

 succeeded in persuading the Council to take the other road. For this 

 occasion, however, the President was determined that the excursion- 

 ists should enjoy the full beauty of the lovely drive. As the mountains 

 were approached the glorious autumn tints of the forest elicited fre- 

 quent expressions of surprise and delight. The Stag's-horn Sumach 

 was a conspicuous object in the landscape, the sombre colours of the 

 Laurentian rocks being i-endered magnificent by its gorgeous livery of 

 crimson and gold. Not less marvellous were the hues of the forest, 

 where the deej) green of the foliage had changed to varying tints of 

 yellow, white, red and purple. The maples being, particularly, objects 

 of great beauty. The basswood and poplar contributed many shades of 

 yellow and tender green, while the white ash had in raanv places 

 changed its summer robe of green to one of deep purplu. All this 

 colour mixed with the deep green of the conifers pine, spruce, and 

 balsam fir, which were dotted here and there up the mountain side, 



conspired to produce a general efi'ect of wondrous beauty. Such a 

 o 



