78 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. 



" The appearance of such a turf, where the tree growths 

 of more favored regions have become pronate and vineUke, 

 and crowding individuals of non-opposing families of flower- 

 ing plants fill up the intervals with a carpet parterre of rich 

 colors, might puzzle a painter. It reminded me of Humboldt's 

 covering with his cloak the vegetation of four continents !" 



We left our intrepid voyager awhile ago interesting him- 

 self and us with his " Crimson Cliffs " and their unique 

 flora, the not unusual accompaniment of an alpine region, 

 and whose ruddy presence is associated with winter. The 

 massive iceberg stained with streaks of ochreous hu»s, float- 

 ing far away mid ocean, was once the cliff" of some Arctic 

 shore or the extremity of some glacier, and which bears into 

 more southern latitudes the primitive cell plant of the sim- 

 plest vegetation. In the vicinity of Cape York, at a contin- 

 uation of the range called by Sir John Ross the " Arctic 

 Highlands," of rugged sienitic rocks, and thus still beyond 

 the parterre of blooming flowers just described — nay yet far- 

 ther advanced into winter's icy grandeur — we find a " little 

 cove," with a succession of moss-covered terraces, each of 

 extraordinary richness. 



" In a little space the veined leaves of the Pyrola were 

 peeping out among chickweeds and saxifrages, the sorrel and 

 ranunculus. I even found a poor gentian, stunted and re- 

 duced ; but still like everything around it, in all the 'perfec- 

 tion of miniature proportions. 



" As this mossy parterre approached the rocky walls that 

 hemmed it in, tussocks of sedges and coarse grasses began to 

 show themselves, mixed with heaths and birches : and still 

 farther on, at the margin, came an annulus of Arctic shrubs 

 and trees. 



" Shrubs and trees ! — Few of them rose above my shoes, 

 and none above my ankles ; yet shady alleys and heaven-point- 

 ing avenues could not be more impressive examples of crea- 

 tive adaptation. Here I saw the bleaberry ( Vaccinium ulig- 

 inosmn) in flower and in fruit — I could cover it with a wine 

 glass ; the wild honeysuckle (Azalea procamhens) of our 

 Pennsylvania woods — I could stick the entire plant in my 



