1 6 FROM A NEW ENGLAND HILLSIDE. 



sition. By him I was led by a circuitous 

 but easy path to the very highest point of 

 the cliff, which had hitherto been quite 

 concealed from me by the wood. Seen 

 from this spot the horizon comes full 

 circle, save as slightly broken here and 

 there by the very tops of the most enter 

 prising trees. It was formerly selected as 

 a post for the observations of the coast and 

 geodetic survey, and from it the eye takes 

 in a thousand square miles of valley and 

 rolling hills. As we stood on the bare 

 summit, it blew a gale which it was diffi 

 cult to withstand. The sun was shrouded 

 with heavy clouds, and the miles on miles 

 of forest-clad hills, and shaded valleys, 

 among which the scattered fields seemed 

 unimportant, showed the rich but soft and 

 subdued colours of a well-chosen oriental 

 rug. (Again that comparison of great 

 things with small.) 



We stood for a little while bracing our 

 selves against the wind, and noting the 

 city a few miles away, and the scattered 

 towns, becoming distinct now that the leaves 

 are falling, with hills and mountains in every 

 direction, none very high, not more than 

 fourteen or fifteen hundred feet, even in the 

 extreme distance ; but the gale freshened, 



