78 The Flora of tin Adirondack^. 



rounding peaks and cover their tops with the clouds. As 

 we approach nearer we find our way more and more 

 obstructed by inaccessible cliffe and thickly matted firs 

 ami brush. Swamps impenetrable and streams impass- 

 able compel us to find our way by most circuitous routes. 

 I cannot forbear to quote a few lines from the language of 

 Professor Emmons, in describing this scenery from some 

 lake: " It must be witnessed ;" he says, "the solitary sum- 

 mits in the distance, the cedars and firs which clothe the 

 rocks and the shore must be seen, the solitude must be 

 felt, or if it is broken by the scream of the panther, the 

 shrill cry of the northern diver, or the shout of the hunter, 

 the echo from the thousand hills must be heard before all 

 the truth of the scene can be realized." 



It may readily be concluded that in these wild solitudes 

 and on these immense elevations we shall find a m-w and 

 characteristic flora. Our conclusion is well founded. In 

 examining the flora about us we might suppose that we 

 had been suddenly transported to some boreal region, For 

 here we have many of the characteristic plants of Labra- 

 dor and other frozen climes. Hence we have a rich and 

 peculiar field of research. In passing from the lakes to the 

 mountain summits, each of the great mountains will 

 afford many of the peculiar species, but as in the hour 

 allowed us we cannot climb them all, there are reasons 

 why our principal examination should be confined to the 

 sides and summit of Whiteface. This mountain is more 

 accessible than the others. From its comparatively iso- 

 lated position, although not so high as Marry, it overlooks 

 the mountain region with its multitude of lakes in Essex 

 and Eamilton counties, affording a view unequaled from 

 any of the other elevations. The top of the mountain is 

 comparatively fiat, and a long ridge runs off to the north, 

 affording a much greater extent of surface on the summit 

 than any of the others, and thus surpasses them all as a 



