SUPERIOR TO SCOTLAND. 9 



woods are dry under foot, and the branches have 

 scarcely yet commenced to drop their foliage ; and 

 what foliage it is ! So gorgeous in colouring, that it 

 would require more than the palette of an artist to 

 equal it in variety and brilliancy. For the maples 

 (hard and soft) assume hues that are as magnificent 

 as they are manifold, the former possessing every tint, 

 from palest pink to deepest red ; the latter, from the 

 slightest tinge of canary colour to the darkest 

 orange. 



Nor are other trees and shrubs less favoured. The 

 shumach tosses aloft its tassel-shaped blossom, 

 rivalling, in the intensity of its purple, our well-known 

 home plant love-lies-bleeding ; while its leaf, by 

 nature's prodigal hand, is painted vermilion of the 

 deepest dye. 



The basswood, the willow, and the poplar, have 

 also put on their autumn garb, and the soft, trans- 

 parent green of their foliage has given place to varied 

 shades of straw and salmon colour. The above- 

 mentioned trees are the inhabitants of the low-lying 

 grounds ; those that are to be found upon the ridge 

 sides, such as the pine, cedar, and tamarack, retain 

 their dark and sombre tints, which, as well can be 

 imagined, forms a fitting and effective frame to their 

 more brilliant coloured brethren of the lowlands. 



It appears to me almost heresy in a Scotchman to 

 say that anything can excel the beauty of the colour 

 of Caledonia's mountains, when covered with bloom- 

 ing heather, but regardless of consequences, and of 

 even being thought unworthy of my Fatherland, I 

 fearlessly assert, that the unprejudiced eye will see 

 more grandeur of colouring, and more perfect blending 

 of tones in a Canadian forest, in the early part of the 

 fall of the year, than will be found in any glen or 

 ravine in the highlands of bonny Scotland. 



Through these lovely scenes I tread my way, made 

 doubly enchanting by frequent glimpses of the 



