Botanical Sodp/i/ of EdinhiirgJi. 05 



<^ave an account of the botanical features of the country in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Stillwater, and concluded with an examination of the 

 woodland pjrounds in the vicinity of Whitehall ; the i;resent portion 

 embraces tlie journey from the latter jilace to Montreal. 



" The southern extremity of Lake C'liamj)lain is winding and nar- 

 row, having considerable tracts of level ground extended on each 

 side. The woods for the first sixteen miles are very various, the 

 principal trees being the wild cherry ( Primus virginia/ia), elms, wal- 

 nuts, sugar-maple, and the aspen poiAar (Pojiitliis (reuiu/oidcs). The 

 rocky grounds overhanging the lake were densely clothed with the 

 Arbor vita?. After having fairly entered uj)on the expanse of the lake, 

 the ajipearance of the lofty white or Weymouth jjines (Pini/s Strohi/ft), 

 towering above the deciduous trees, along the rising grounds at the 

 base of the hills, was remarkable; most of them being de^titute of 

 branches, which gave them more the appearance of palms than pines. 

 About Essex, half-way along the lake, it widens, and all at once the' 

 wooded rocky land by the water's edge is changed for a rich champaign. 

 The fields of the dillerent farms being laid off in squares, and each 

 farmstead having a large orchard attached to it, render this tract very 

 interesting. The soil seemed a light-coloured clay, and the wood on 

 the lower grounds was not very jjlentiful ; but the rising grounds 

 behind were closely studded with scraggy pines. 



" Near the northern extremity the lake contracts : by this time 

 we had entered upon Lower Canada. The country here presented 

 a totally different appearance, owing to the dense dark masses of 

 pines, elms and spruces, which covered a vast extent of the country, 

 and having every here and there, along the edge of the lake, rustic 

 but i)icturesque log-houses, inhabited by French Canadians, employed 

 in felling the timber, dressing and carrying it to the lake for the pur- 

 pose of being floated down to the harbour at Lapraire, on the St. 

 Lawrence river, for exportation. On reaching St. John's, the north- 

 ern extremity of Lake Champlain, the forests presented the same 

 appearance as they did when we first entered the lake, with the addi- 

 tion of the balm of Ciilead fir, Abies balsamifera : numbers of this tree 

 were seen covering the drier grounds ; the largest observed did not 

 exceed thirty feet in height and four feet in circumference. On the 

 dr)' surface of these woods, the spice-root, Dalibarda repens, formed 

 exceedingly beautiful tufts, resembling in its ground-clothing pro- 

 pensity the Epigica repens, as seen in the New Jersey forests. The 

 sugar-majile, Acer saccharimnn, is here in greater quantities, and 

 attains a larger size than hitherto noticed, and notvvitlistanding the 

 great mutilation to which they are yearly subjected in spring, for 

 their sap, which is here extensively used in the manufacture of sugar, 

 ajipears in the most perfect state of health. 



"At St. John's we picked in the swampy grounds and in the shal- 

 low water by the edge of the lake, luxuriant flowering specimens of 

 the sweet flag, Acorus Cfilamus, Iris versicolor and Utricularia vulga- 

 ris. Li drier soil, the Eupatorium vcriicilUitum was the chief plant 

 in flower, and covered a great extent of ground. 



"Passing onwards to Lapraire, the only tree of any interest and 

 Anil. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Vol.w. ' T 



