OAK-TREE. 93 



thickness in proportion to their height ; but such is not 



the fact, their apparent size is occasioned merely by the 



rich coating that envelopes them. He who looks upon 



those stunted trees, in their utter desolation, is impressed 



with the thought of extreme age in the vegetable world. 



He remembers, too, those groves in stony places, of which 



the Scriptures speak, as dedicated to Baal and Asteroth. 



An ancient place is that same old wood, preserving the 



remembrance of idolatrous rites and observances, and 



upon which still seems to rest somewhat of the curse 



that was pronounced on such unhallowed places. Serpents 



hiss there, the shepherd does not make his fold there, 



and the bittern screams amid its desolation. The stranger 



who is wearied with the toil of climbing the rocky pathway 



that leads to Wistman's Wood for such is the place 



called may not sit down to rest on the immense masses 



of granite around and beneath the trees, cushioned though 



they be with the thickest and the softest moss, lest he 



should disturb a nest of adders. " 'Tis a wisht old place, 



