388 The Back Woods of Canada. 



be led to imagine, that the absence of man would have allowed nature's wild 

 denizens to have abounded free and unmolested ; but the contrary seems 

 to be the case. Almost all wild animals are more abundant in the cleared 

 districts than in the bush. Man's industry supplies their wants at an easier 

 rate than seeking a scanty subsistence in the forest 



" I was disappointed in the forest trees ; having pictured to myself hoary 

 giants almost primeval with the country itself; as greatly exceeding in ma- 

 jesty of form the trees of my native isles, as the vast lakes and mighty 

 rivers of Canada exceed the lochs and streams of Great Britain. 



" There is a want of picturesque beauty in the woods. The young 

 growth of timber alone has any pretension to elegance of form, unless I 

 except the hemlocks (yf bies canadensis], which are extremely light and 

 graceful, and of a lovely refreshing tint of green. Even when winter has 

 stripped th e forest, it is still beautiful and verdant. The young beeches, 

 too, are pre tty enough ; but you miss that fantastic bowery shade that is so 

 delightful in our parks and woodlands at home. 



" There is no appearance of venerable antiquity in the Canadian woods. 

 There are no ancient spreading oaks, that might be called the patriarchs of 

 the forest. A premature decay seems to be their doom. They are up- 

 rooted by the storm, and sink in their first maturity, to give place to a new 

 generation, that is ready to fill their places," (p. 112.) 



With an extract or two illustrative of atmospherical and 

 other phenomena, we must, reluctantly, conclude our notice. 



A hurricane. " Not a breeze ruffled the waters, not a leaf moved. This 

 perfect stagnation of the air was suddenly changed by a hurricane of wind 

 and snow that came on without any previous warning. I was standing 

 near a group of tall pines that had been left in the middle of the clearing, 



collecting some beautiful crimson lichens, S not being many paces 



distant, with his oxen drawing firewood. Suddenly we heard a distant 

 hollow rushing sound that momentarily increased, the air around us being 

 yet perfectly calm. I looked up, and beheld the clouds, hitherto so motion- 

 less, moving with amazing rapidity in several different directions. A dense 



gloom overspread the heavens. S , who had been busily engaged 



with the cattle, had not noticed my being so near ; and now called on me 

 to use all the speed I could to gain the house, or an open part of the 

 clearing, distant from the pine trees. Instinctively, I turned towards the 

 house, while the thundering shock of trees, falling in all directions at the 

 edge of the forest, the rending of the branches from the pines I had just 

 quitted, and the rush of the whirlwind sweeping down the lake, made me 

 sensible of the danger with which I had been threatened. 



" The scattered boughs of the pines darkened the air as they whirled 

 above me : then came the blinding snow-storm ; but I could behold the 

 progress of the tempest in safety, having gained the threshold of our 

 house. 



" The driver of the oxen had thrown himself on the ground, while the 

 poor beasts held down their meek heads, patiently abiding the pelting of 



the pitiless storm I S , my husband, and the rest of the household, 



collected in a group, watched with anxiety the wild havoc of the warring 

 elements. Not a leaf remained on the trees when the hurricane was over : 

 they were bare and desolate." (p. 127.) 



A Canadian winter. " What a different winter this has been to what 

 I had anticipated ! The snows of December were continually thawing : 

 On the 1st of January not a flake was to be seen on our clearing, though 

 it lingered in the bush. The warmth of the sun was so great on the 1st 

 and 2d days of the new year, that it was hardly possible to endure a cloak, 



