102 RAMBLES OF 



trees, or, if on a main road, choosing the most open 

 and exposed situation out of the reach of the large 

 trees. There, seated on my horse, who seemed to 

 understand the propriety of such patience, I would 

 quietly remain, however thoroughly drenched, until 

 the fury of the wind was completely over. To say 

 nothing of the danger from falling trees, the peril 

 of being struck by the lightning, which so fre- 

 quently shivers the loftiest of them, is so great as 

 to render any attempt to advance at such time highly 

 imprudent. 



Like the ox among animals, the pine-tree may be 

 looked upon as one of the most universally useful of 

 the sons of the forest. For all sorts of building, for 

 firewood, tar, turpentine, rosin, lamp-black, and a vast 

 variety of other useful products, this tree is invalu- 

 able to man. Nor is it a pleasing contemplation, to 

 one who knows its usefulness, to observe to how vast 

 an amount it is annually destroyed in this country, 

 beyond the proportion that nature can possibly sup- 

 ply. However, we are not disposed to believe that 

 this evil will ever be productive of very great injury, 

 especially as coal fuel is becoming annually more ex- 

 tensively used. Nevertheless., were I the owner of a 

 pine-forest, I should exercise a considerable degree 

 of care in the selection of the wood for the axe. 



JOHN. 



