104 THE WONDERS OF VEGETATION. 



fabulous old age in some parts of England. Such are 

 the famous Burnham beeches, near Slough, which 

 for size and picturesque beauty are unequalled. Like 

 most pollarded trees, their girth is enormous, and their 

 moss-grown roots are thrown out in curious contortions, 

 grasping the ground as if setting all storms at defiance. 

 Tradition says that Harold's bowmen were encamped 

 in the wood a few years before the Norman Conquest, 

 and that the Danes pollarded the beeches. An Eng- 

 lish poet says of them : 



" Scathed by lightning's bolts, the wintry storms, 



A giant brotherhood, ye stand sublime ; 

 Like some huge fortress each majestic form 



Still frowns defiance to the power of time ; 

 Cloud after cloud the storms of war have roll'd 

 Since ye your countless years of long descent have told." 



Switzerland, so remarkable for the variety of its 

 natural treasures, adds to its beautiful scenery, pictur 

 esque landscapes and matchless prospects, special beau- 

 ties, and among these latter some of the most cele- 

 brated trees known in Europe. 



On the banks of the Lake of Geneva stands the 

 mansion of Meillerie, and the rocks on which it is 

 built are divided from the water only by the road to 

 the Simplon. A little distance further on you come 

 to Neuve-Gelle, which has one of the most famous 

 chestnut-trees of the world. Ever since the fifteenth 

 century this chestnut- tree has given shelter to a mod- 

 est hermitage, and no doubt it was at that time already 

 a tree of respectable age. At present its base measures 



