BROWSINGS IN OTHER FIELDS. 227 
on the summit, from which you can look down upon 
a scene that is really enchanting. Nestling at the 
foot of the mountain is the city, with its towers, 
steeples, well-laid streets, and palatial residences ; 
curving and gleaming far to the northeast and south- 
west is the mighty St. Lawrence, its green banks 
holding it in loving embrace far as the eye can reach ; 
in another direction you trace the Ottawa River 
meandering far to the northwest like a ribbon of 
silver, and dividing into two branches a few miles 
away, thus forming the island of Montreal; beyond 
the St. Lawrence is the Lake of Two Mountains, and 
far away in the misty distance toward the south 
and southwest, are the blue outlines of the Green 
and Adirondack ranges; in other directions the 
plain stretches level until it melts in the hazy 
distance, and is dotted with farm-houses, villages, 
well-cultivated fields, and green woodlands. 
One afternoon a few unoccupied hours were at 
my disposal. I determined to spend them on 
Mount Royal, as the eminence is called. A car 
wheels you up an inclined plane, almost perpen- 
dicular near the top, at least two-thirds of the way 
to the summit. Having filled myself with the scene 
from the tower, I was starting off to make a tour of 
the park, when my footsteps were arrested by a 
quaint new song coming from a clump of trees 
farther down the declivity. Interest in everything 
else vanished in a moment. A good deal of time 
was spent before I could get a sight of the minstrel. 
Much to my surprise, he turned out to be a thrush ; 
