248 RAMBLES BY RIVERS. 



biflora and M fulgcns are notable examples. Roses we peculiarly plume 

 ourselves upon, and when I first remember our home, the bank surrounding 

 it was covered with Damask Roses, which grew in the common sand, and 

 indeed I believe some yet remain; and the Cabbage and Provence Roses 

 are unrivalled for their luxuriance and fragrance. But I find myself now 

 entered upon a wide sea, and must take breath for another chapter. 



{To be continued.) 



RAMBLES BY RIVERS.— No. II. 



BY SAMUEL HANNAFORD, ESa. 



THE HOPKINS. 



"Ignota videre 

 Flumina gaudebat." — Ovid. 



Westward ho! Further away from the haunts of men, to where, 

 undisturbed by anything but the songs of our native birds, the busy 

 hum of insects, and the air sweetened by the breath of cattle, and 

 lovely wild plants giving odour as we press them, we may ruralise awhile. 

 We have a friendship for the River which forms the subject of our 

 remarks this month; for years we have wandered, day by day, on its 

 margin, have seen it in all weathers, and in all moods; now gliding along 

 with scarcely a ripple but that caused by the rising of a fish or the 

 plunge^ of a water-rat; at other times disturbed by winds and floods: 

 which was the grander aspect we could never decide, for each had its 

 peculiar charms to enchant us, and even now looking around our study 

 walls, ornamented with representations of our companions there and then, 

 how much there is to remind us of the happiness our rural walks on its 

 brink afforded us, — red letter days, indeed! but we are getting prosy 

 already. 



Near Mount Ararat then does this pretty stream rise, but passing 

 somewhat away from the gold-fields, does not prove of service for 

 washing the precious metal, — on it flows through high banks and low, 

 with here and there a steep rock on one side, and rich arable land on 

 the other, the former densely covered with festoons of the bright pink 

 Mesembryanthemum, or "Pigs' Faces," the green Corrcea, or Fuchsia, the 

 russet-flowered Pomaderris, the Betony-leaved Violet, and others which 

 would lengthen our remarks too much to mention. Numerous are the 

 tributaries to the stream in its course. Muston's Creek, the Salt Creek 



