SEPTEMBER. 



299 



belled bright blue berries of Smilacina Borealis, and many 

 others. In pressing through the brush, we got our clothes 

 bedaubed with a nasty substance, which we discovered to 

 proceed from thousands of the Aphis Lanata (?) which we 

 had crushed ; they were so thickly clustered round the 

 branches of the alders as to make a solid mass, half an inch 

 thick, covered with ragged filaments of white down. The 

 insects were much larger than most species of this genus, of 

 a lead-gray colour. We were getting nearly tired of the 

 ruggedness of our path, when we suddenly came upon a new 

 and very good bridge across the brook, made of round (that 

 is, unhewn) logs, which connected a good broad path, from 

 which the fallen trees and incumbrances had been cleared 

 away, and which had evidently been used for the purpose 

 of drawing out mill-logs in winter, with sleds. As its course 

 seemed to be nearly parallel with that of the brook (about 

 south-west), we preferred pursuing it, as being much more 

 pleasant and easy of travel. The sides of the road were 

 lined with the stumps of large spruces and hemlocks, which 

 had been felled the previous winter ; and the road itself was 

 strewn with the chips of the axemen. The course lying 

 through a cedar swamp, the ground was mossy, and in some 

 places wet ; here the Scarlet Stoneberry was abundant, as 

 well as the berries mentioned before. The former (Cornus 

 Canadensis) is a low and pretty plant, having a white 

 flower, resembling that of a strawberry, and four large oval 

 green leaves on the ground. At present they were crowned 

 with the little cluster of bright red berries, which were ripe, 

 and we ate many : they are farinaceous and agreeable. This 

 plant is common in Newfoundland. I found an Orchis, con- 

 sisting of two very large oval leaves, deeply plaited, but it 



had no flower. We continued to follow this path till 



it appeared almost interminable, though its tedious uni- 

 formity made it seem longer than it really was, as I suppose 



