18 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXII. 



early part of it. In October, the equinox being 

 tolerably well over, and the more severe frosts of 

 winter not yet set in, nothing can exceed the ex- 

 hilarating feeling which comes with every breeze. 

 How beautiful is the rising of the sun! bright and 

 red, it casts a splendour of colour, in every grada- 

 tion of light and shade, on the rugged mountains 

 of the west, whose summits, already capped with 

 snow, have the hue and refulgence of enormous 

 opals ; the sun too rises at a proper gentlemanlike 

 hour, so as to give every one a chance of admiring 

 him on his first appearance, instead of hurrying 

 into existence too early for most of the world to 

 witness his young beauties. 



From my earliest days I rejoiced more in autumn 

 than in any other season. " Pomifer autumnus " 

 calls forth in the schoolboy's mind a remem- 

 brance of apples and fruit, ripe and ruddy. In 

 later years autumn (and October is undoubtedly 

 the prime month of that season) fills us with thank- 

 fulness for the abundance and variety of the pro- 

 ductions of the earth. As I wander now in the 

 wilds and woods, by river and glade, on every side 

 the changing foliage of the different trees displays an 

 endless variety of beautiful colours. Every thicket 

 and grove has its rich mixture of emerald green, 

 bright brown, and different shades of gold and red. 



