38 FEATURES OF THE COUNTRY. 



moss, so emblematical of hoary and declining man. The 

 flowers of rhododendrons and kalmias were unexpanded on 

 the highest ridges, and opening into beauty in the valleys 

 below, illustrative of the effect of elevation on climate. These 

 plants were growing 1 in all situations, on rocks, deep rich soil, 

 beneath trees, and on exposed banks of rivers. The kalmias 

 with bright red flowers, and white and pink blossomed varie 

 ties of rhododendron, were mingled in pleasing groups. 



Near Northampton some snow-white rhododendrons, twelve 

 feet in height, rich in blossoms and foliage, were shading 

 cows browsing on the banks of the river, where decaying 

 trunks of pine-trees stood in picturesque combination, like 

 ruins of an ancient castle. After partaking of tea at an ex 

 cellent hotel, we walked forth to survey the village, which is 

 reckoned the most beautiful in New England. Northampton 

 is extremely irregular, branching into roads leading in all 

 directions. The houses are composed of wood painted white, 

 with green Venetian blinds. The congregational church is a 

 handsome structure, of the same hue and materials as the 

 houses, and cannot fail to attract the notice of strangers, being 

 one of the best specimens of wood and paint that the United 

 States afford. The ranges of houses are enveloped in trees, 

 amongst which are many magnificent elms, members perhaps 

 of the original forest, reducing modern vegetation to insigni 

 ficance, and affording umbrageous shelter to the inhabitants. 

 The village stands in the rich valley of the Connecticut, and 

 is surrounded by hills rising nearly 1000 feet in height, wooded 

 to the summit, the chief of which is Mount Holyoke. 



My impressions of this village, which must be attractive at 

 all times, were perhaps heightened by the circumstances under 

 \vhich it was viewed. A delightful day s travelling had ter 

 minated at a comfortable hotel. The air was luxuriously 

 balmy, and a cloudless sun, on the eve of setting, imparted a 

 rich mellow tint to the face of nature, with which every person 

 of observation, leading a country life, must be familiar, and 

 have experienced how decorative it is to vegetation, and sooth 

 ingly gratifying to human feelings. The houses, decked in 

 white and green colours, which harmonize in rural scenery, 



