THE COLDER TEMPERATE ZONE. 49 



Elms, different species of Oak, and the White Birch, the 

 Black and the White Ash, and other trees with less familiar 

 names, such as Basswood, and the Butterwood tree, or Grey- 

 branched Walnut (Juglans cinerea). Some of the latter 

 grow to an enormous size ; they bear a great resemblance to 

 the Sycamore, both in the wood and the manner of growth. 



Hickory-trees abound in the Canadian forests, which are 

 also akin to the Walnut. The Black Cherry also grows wild 

 there, and to a large size ; the trunk is sometimes more 

 than ten feet in circumference, and measures fifty feet up to 

 the first branch ; it is used extensively for furniture, and is 

 little inferior to mahogany either in appearance or durability. 



As the danger of losing our way in these mighty forests 

 is very great, it will be as well to mention a method of steer- 

 ing through them which has been found of great use. " If 

 the forest consists of deciduous trees, the best way to find 

 the points of the compass is to observe the moss on the 

 trees, which grows more luxuriantly and in greater quan- 

 tities on the north side. In Pine woods there is another 

 guide, namely, the general inclination of the trees from the 

 north-west.* The trees of these forests are described as 



* From ' Twenty-seven Years in Canada West,' by Major Strickland ; from 

 which also the above particulars of the Canadian forests have been gleaned. 



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