18B4.] BE VIEWS OF BOOKS. 309 



as for the wide range of subjects which it comprehends. From wild 

 gardens, sea birds, sea lions, and ' progressive funerals ' in California, 

 we pass to a redwood forest, a cliain of volcanoes, a paradise of 

 liowers ; discuss the poison Oak, start for the Sierra Nevada, the 

 great San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys, and the far-famed 

 Yosemite. After dwelling on the natural wonder.: of this fascinating 

 region, our author gives us a general sketch of the mountain ranges 

 of California, enlarging upon their natural features — telling us of the 

 trees, the flowers, the birds, the rattlesnakes, and of a thousand and 

 one matters of interest. 



To merely epitomize the topics of interest in this ample volume 

 would far exceed our allotted space; so we must be content to give an 

 extract and then refer our readers to the book itself. 



'At last we entered the true forest belt, and anything more 



beautiful you cannot conceive Oh ! the loveliness of 



those Pines and Cedars, living or dead ! For the dead trees are 

 draped with the most exquisite golden-green lichen, which hangs in 

 festoons many yards in length, and is unlike any other moss or 

 lichen I ever saw. I can compare it to nothing but gleams of 

 sunshine in the dark forest. Then, too, how beautiful are the long 

 arches of stately columns, red, yellow, or brown, 200 feet in height, 

 and straight as an arrow, losing themselves in their own crown of 

 misty green foliage ; and some stand solitary, dead and sun-bleached, 

 telling of careless fires which burnt away their hearts but could not 

 make them fall ! . . . . The whole air is scented with the 

 breath of the forest — the aromatic fragrance of resin and of dried 

 cones and Tine needles, baked by the hot sun (how it reminds me 

 of Scotch Firs !), and the atmosphere is clear and crystalline — a 

 medium which softens nothing, and reveals the farthest distance in 

 sharpest detail. Here and there we crossed deep gulches, where 

 streams (swollen to torrents by the melting snow on the upper 

 hills) rushed down over great boulders and prostrated trees — the 

 victims of the winter gales. Then we came to quiet glades in the 

 forest, where the soft lawn-like turf was all jewelled with flowers; 

 and the sunlight trickled through the drooping boughs of the 

 feathery Douglas Pines, and the jolly little chip-monks played hide- 

 and-seek among the great Cedars, and chased one another to the 

 very tops of the tall Pitch Pines which stand like clusters of dark 

 spires, more than 200 feet in height.' 



We should like to quote many other passages descriptive of the 

 marvellous and beautiful trees, and of the other natural wonders of 

 the Californian region ; but space forbids, and we must reluctantly 

 content ourselves with warmly commending the volume to our 

 readers. 



