263 FOREST SCENERY. 



and a freedom from restraint in these wilds, that 

 contrasts most favourably with the desagrements 

 of artificial existence ; and few of those who are 

 fitted to enjoy it, ever quit these scenes to return 

 to civilised life without deep feelings of regret 

 that their unalloyed pleasures are at an end ; and 

 in after life, the murmuring of waters, and the 

 sighings of the wind through the trees, will re- 

 call to mind moments of intense interest, and they 

 will ever feel at heart that there is no music so 

 sweet as the wild voices of the woods. 

 F All forests are gloomy, but they 



cenery. h av e, their comparative degrees of 

 shade, and present a great diversity of appear- 

 ance. The tall feathery bamboo contrasts most 

 delightfully with the stately teak, ebony black- 

 r wood, and other gigantic trees of the primeval 

 forest, where the air, being confined, is generally 

 close and suffocating. The surface of the ground 

 is everywhere thickly strewn with decayed leaves 

 or dead branches, and underneath the trees may 

 be seen the green of young seedlings which 



