22 CANADIAN NIGHTS 



istics. They are not valleys ; they are too flat 

 and too extensive for that. They cannot be 

 called plains, for they are not flat enough ; and, 

 besides, plains are generally bare and destitute of 

 trees, v^hile the parks are rich in timber, w^ith 

 beautifully undulating surfaces, broken up by 

 hills, spurs from the parent range, and isolated 

 mountains. The term " Park " is usually applied 

 to ground more or less artificially made ; and 

 these places are very properly called parks, for they 

 look, if it be not rank heresy to liken nature to 

 art, as if ground naturally picturesque had been 

 carefully laid out and planted with most consum- 

 mate skill and taste. Some of them are of great 

 size, such as the North, Middle, South, and St. 

 Louis Parks ; others — and it is w^ith them I am 

 best acquainted — are comparatively small. 



There are many things to arouse deep interest 

 in that favoured region. Where you find lofty 

 mountains, foot-hills, plain, valley, forest, and 

 quick-flowing stream, in a southern latitude, you 

 have in combination all that can gratify the 

 scientific student, as well as all that can content 

 the eye of man, in the way of scenery. The philo- 

 sopher who devotes himself to the study of atmos- 

 pheric conditions could nowhere find a more 



