ROCKS. 47 



in its irregular ascent, several oblique and perpendicular 

 sides, whose summits have collected several inches of 

 soil upon their surface. A growth of pines and birches 

 covers its summit, together with various shrubs, such as 

 the whortleberry, the wood-pyrus, the spira?a, and the 

 mountain andromeda. Here, too, the Dutch myrtle and 

 the sweet fern mingle their fragrance with the terebin- 

 thine odors of the pines. The rocks, in the dryest situ 

 ations, are covered with a bedding of gray liverwort, 

 which is a perfect hygrometer, breaking like glass under 

 our footsteps, when the atmosphere is dry, but yielding 

 like velvet, when it contains the least moisture. The 

 cup-rnoss grows abundantly along with it, and, in 

 moister situations, the green delicate hair-moss, which, 

 is the same that covers the roofs of very old buildings.. 

 The rain has washed down from the summit constant 

 deposits from trees and shrubs, birds and quadrupeds,, 

 and formed a superficies of good soil on all parts of the 

 rock where it could be retained. On the almost bare 

 surface grows the beautiful feather grass, with its nod 

 ding plumes of purple flowers, supported only by the- 

 soil that has accumulated about its roots. 



The mountain laurel luxuriates upon these natural 

 terraces, of irregular size, by which we descend to the- 

 meadow at the base of the rock. But the mountain 

 laurel, with its magnificent clusters of flowers, is not 

 the most attractive object; for the little springs that 

 issue from the' crevices of the rock have called out a 

 great variety of ferns and lycopodies, that cover its 

 sides with their green foliage, like the tiles on the roof 

 of a house. Some gnarled oaks and graceful beeches- 

 project from the sides of the cliff which is covered with: 

 innumerable vines. Besides the beautiful things that 

 cluster at our feet, and the little winged inhabitants- 



