80 THE ALLEGHANY MOUNTAINS. 



those that I had before noticed in the vicinity of Altoona, 

 stood forth above all others, and stretched their pallid 

 arms to the sky. The autumnal tints had begun to break 

 or flash from the midst of the varied hues of the oak 

 the oak called the " black Jack" the chestnuts, the hic- 

 cory, the beech, the ash, the sycamore, the hazel, and 

 from other trees as well as from the many growths of 

 shrubs and bushes, the wild vine and weeds, which make 

 the underwood of the American forests so varied in hue 

 and so very difficult to force through. I noticed all 

 these trees that I have named ; among the foliage there 

 were large and small patches of the most vivid scarlet, 

 and scarlets, and vermilions, and yellows of varied grades, 

 that were intensely charming and picturesque, while, as 

 we proceeded through cuttings in the sides of the hills, 

 the iron ore " cropped out" occasionally in the greatest 

 profusion, showing me the mineral richness of those 

 primeval mountains and woods, and of their as yet un 

 explored treasures, prone to the hand of future genera 

 tions. In the air, that scavenger whose devouring inclin 

 ation towards carrion is so well recognized in the United 

 States, whose beak I fear is often the veil to violent 

 death, and for the protection of whom Congress has made 

 a law the turkey buzzard, soared in a graceful flight, 

 similar to that of hawks or kites, and at first I took them 

 for birds of that species. Among the Americans who on 

 that day were with me there seemed to be a total ignor 

 ance of ornithology, and want of interest in that as well 

 as in the names of forest trees or shrubs, and not one 

 soul of them could tell me on these heads more than I 

 knew or guessed myself. I have seen this remarkable 

 want of interest in things pertaining not to dollars, 



