i8 OLD PLYMOUTH TRAILS 



should come rapidly. After all Epigaea and 

 Gaultheria are vines closely allied, and it is no 

 wonder that there is a family resemblance. The 

 checkerberry's spicy flavor permeates leaves, stem 

 and fruit. That of the arbutus seems more vola- 

 tile and ethereal. It concentrates in the blossom 

 and lifts from 'that to course the air invisibly an 

 aromatic fragrance that the little winds of the 

 woods sometimes carry far to those who love it, 

 over hill and dale. Given a day of bright sun 

 and slow moving soft air and one may easily hunt 

 the Plymouth mayflower by scent. Even after 

 the grouped leaves are surely sighted the flowers 

 are still to be found. The winds of winter have 

 strewn the ground deep with oak leaves and half 

 buried the vines in them for safety from the cold. 

 Out from among these the blossoms seem to peer 

 shyly, like sweet little Pilgrim children, ready to 

 draw back behind their mother's aprons if they 

 do not like the appearance of the coming 

 stranger. Perhaps they do withdraw at discre- 

 tion, and this is very likely why some people who 

 come from far to hunt find many mayflowers, 

 while others get few or none. 



Just as the Mayflower in which the Pilgrims 

 sailed to Plymouth seems to have been but one 



