XIV INTRODUCTION. 



pass by the stately Elm, the towering Beech, 

 the lofty Fir, or the sturdy outstretched 

 branches of the majestic Oak, without having 

 his astonishment and admiration excited ? 

 But how would that wonder and astonish- 

 ment increase, if he had an opportunity of 

 beholding the immense Cedars growing on 

 their native mountains of Libanus, the stu- 

 pendous Icaria on the sides and summits of 

 the Andes, and the stately Palms of India, to 

 say nothing of the Norwegian Pines, or the 

 lofty Poplars that grow along the banks of 

 the Po in Lombardy ! 



To enter upon the description here, or to 

 enumerate the various uses and properties of 

 those gigantic productions of Nature, those 

 prodigies of vegetable life, which constitute 

 the pride and ornament of the forest, would 

 carry me too far from my subject ; I will 

 therefore proceed to take a cursory view of 



