IN THE HEMLOCKS. 43 



last century a colony of beavers dwelt here, though 

 the oldest inhabitant cannot now point to even the 

 traditional site of their dams. The ancient hemlocks, 

 whither I propose to take the reader, are rich in many 

 things beside birds. Indeed, their wealth in this re- 

 spect is owing mainly, no doubt, to their rank vegeta- 

 ble growths, their fruitful swamps, and their dark, 

 sheltered retreats. 



Their history is of an heroic cast. Ravished and 

 torn by the tanner in his thirst for bark, preyed upon 

 by the lumberman, assaulted and beaten back by the 

 settler, still their spirit has never been broken, their 

 energies never paralyzed. Not many years ago a pub- 

 lic highway passed through them, but it was at no time 

 a tolerable road ; trees fell across it, mud and limbs 

 choked it up, till finally travellers took the hint and 

 went around ; and now, walking along its deserted 

 course, I see only the foot-prints of coons, foxes, and 

 squirrels. 



Nature loves such woods, and places her own seal 

 upon them. Here she shows me what can be done 

 with ferns and mosses and lichens. The soil is mar- 

 rowy and full of innumerable forests. Standing in 

 these fragrant aisles, I feel the strength of the vegeta- 

 ble kingdom and am awed by the deep and inscruta- 

 ble processes of life going on so silently about me. 



No hostile forms with axe or spud now visit these 

 solitudes. The cows have half-hidden ways through 

 them, and know where the best browsing is to be had. 



