THE WHITE PINE. 413 



England, the White Pine contributes more than any other 

 evergreen to give character to our scenery. It is seen 

 both in large and small assemblages and in clumps, but 

 not often as a solitary standard. We see it in our jour- 

 neys projecting over eminences that are encircled by old 

 roads, shading the traveller from the sun and protecting 

 him from the wind. We have sat under its fragrant 

 shade, in our pedestrian tours, when weary with heat and 

 exercise we sought its coolness, and blessed it as one of 

 the guardian deities of the wood. We are familiar with 

 it in all pleasant, solitary places ; and in our evening ram- 

 bles we have listened underneath its boughs to the notes 

 of the green warbler, who selects it for his abode, and 

 has caught a plaintive tone from the winds that sweep 

 through its long sibilant leaves. 



The White Pine is a tree that harmonizes with all situ- 

 ations, rude or cultivated, level or abrupt. On the side 

 of a hill it adds grandeur to the declivity, and yields a 

 sweeter look of tranquillity to the green pastoral meadow. 

 It gives a darker frown to the projecting cliff, and a more 

 awful uncertainty to the mountain pass or the craggy 

 ravine. Over desolate scenery it spreads a cheerfulness 

 that detracts nothing from its power over the imagination, 

 while it relieves it of its terrors, by presenting a green 

 bulwark of defence against the wind and the storm. 

 Nothing can be more picturesque in scenery than the 

 occasional groups of White Pines on the bald hills of our 

 New England coast, elsewhere too often a dreary waste 

 of homely bush and brier. 



Such are its picturesque characters. It may also be 

 regarded as a true symbol of benevolence. Under its 

 outspread roof, numerous small animals, nestling in the 

 bed of dry leaves that cover the ground, find shelter and 

 repose. The squirrel feeds upon the kernels obtained 

 from its cones ; the hare browses upon the trefoil and the 



