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path. Contrast the magnificence of a dense forest, before the 

 destructive hand of man defaced it, with the cheerless aspect 

 of wide landscapes devoid of wooded scenery only open 

 plains or treeless ridges bounding the horizon. The silent 

 grandeur and solitude of a virgin forest inspires us almost 

 with awe, much more so than even the broad expanse of the 

 ocean. It conveys also involuntarily to our mind a feeling 

 as if we were brought more closely before that Divine Power 

 by whom the worlds without end were created, and before 

 whom the proudest human work must sink into utter insigni- 

 ficance. No settlement, however princely no city, however 

 great its splendour, brilliant its arts, or enchanting its 

 pleasures can arouse those sentiments of veneration which, 

 among all the grand works of nature, an undisturbed noble 

 forest-region is most apt to call forth. I never saw truly 

 happier homes of unmingled contentedness than in the seclu- 

 sion of the woods. It is as if the bracing pureness of the 

 air, the remoteness from the outer world, the unrestricted 

 freedom from formal restraint, gives to forest life a charm 

 for which in vain we will ever seek elsewhere. The 

 forest inhabitant as a rule sees his life prolonged; an 

 air of peace on all sides surrounds him; even with less 

 prosperity he is glad to break away from the turmoils and 

 enmities into which elsewhere he is thrown by the bustle and 

 struggle of the world, and to seek again this calm retreat in 

 forest mountains. The existence of many an invalid might 

 be prolonged and rendered more enjoyable, while many a 

 sufferer might be restored to health, were he to seek timely 

 the patriarchic simplicity of forest life, and the pure air, wafted 

 decarbonised in delicious freshness through the forest, ever 

 invigorating strength, restoring exhilaration and buoyancy of 

 his mind. In this young country new lines of railway are early 

 to disclose some of the almost paradisic features of sylvan 

 scenery, hitherto known to most of us only through the talent 

 of the illustrious landscape-painters of this city. 



" To sit on rocks, to muse o'er flood and fell ; 



To slowly trace the forest's shady scene, 

 Where things, that own not man's dominion, dwell, 



And mortal foot has ne'er or rarely been ; 

 To climb the trackless mountain, all unseen, 



With the wild flock, that never need a fold ; 

 Alone o'er steep and foaming falls to lean 



This is not solitude : 'tis but to hold 



Converse with nature's charms, and view her stores untold." 



BYRON. 



