182 In Touch with Nature. 



Jersey's primeval forest there is little doubt. Had 

 an elk darted by, or a mastodon screamed, it would 

 hardly have been surprising. This not seriously, 

 of course ; but how promptly the present vanishes 

 in such a wood ; how vividly the past is pictured 

 before us ! Everywhere towering trees bearing 

 evidence of age, and early in the day I found my- 

 self face to face with a huge cedar, dating back at 

 least to the Norsemen, who it is thought reached 

 America, if not the New England coast. Here 

 was a tree that for centuries the Indians had known 

 as a landmark. 



It is a mistake to suppose that old trees do not 

 remain in almost every neighborhood, for an old 

 tree is not of necessity a big one. A dwarf will 

 wrinkle and crook as surely as a giant. In many 

 a swamp there are gnarly hornbeams that date 

 back at least two centuries, and grape-vines are 

 known that are even older. It is common to 

 consider as old every object that has rounded out 

 a single century, but this is nothing uncommon in 

 tree-growths, and even some shrubs. Many a 

 wild growth, if undisturbed, becomes practically 

 permanent, and I am positive any number of in- 



