JULY. 113 



where the wild-rose and the elder-flower scent the air with 

 their fragrance. The rocks and precipices, so lately crowned 

 with flowers, are festooned with thimbleberries, that spring 

 out in tufts from the mossy crevices half covered with 

 green, umbrageous ferns. There is no spot so barren that 

 it is not covered with something that is beautiful to the 

 sight or grateful to the sense. The little pearly flowers 

 that hung in profusion from the low blueberry-bushes, 

 whose beauty and fragrance we so lately admired, are 

 transformed into azure fruits, that rival the flowers in 

 elegance. Nature would convert us all into epicures by 

 changing into agreeable fruits those beautiful things we 

 contemplated so lately with a tender sentiment allied to 

 that of love. Summer is surely the season of epicurism, 

 as spring is that of the luxury of sentiment. Nature has 

 now bountifully provided for every sense. The trees that 

 afford a pleasant shade are surrounded with an under- 

 growth of fruitful shrubs, and the winds that fan the brow 

 are laden with odors gathered from beds of roses, azaleas, 

 and honeysuckles. Goldfinches and humming-birds peep 

 down upon us, as they flit among the branches of the 

 trees, and butterflies settle upon the flowers and charm 

 our eyes with their gorgeous colors. In the pastures the 

 red lilies have appeared, and young children who go out 

 into the fields to gather these simple luxuries, after filling 

 their baskets with fruit, crown their arms with bouquets 

 of lilies, laurels, and honeysuckles, rejoicing over their 

 beauty during the happiest, as it is the most simple and 

 natural, period of their lives. 



There is not a more agreeable recreation at the present 

 season than a boat-excursion upon a wood-skirted pond, 

 when its alluvial borders are brightly spangled with water- 

 lilies, and the air is full of delicate incense from their 

 sweet-scented flowers. The plover may be seen gliding 



with nimble feet upon the broad leaves that float on 



8 



