SEPTEMBER. 251 



chanted regions. How the mind is filled with 

 their vast solitude ! how the inward eye is 

 fixed on their silent, their sublime, their ever- 

 lasting peaks ! How our heart bounds to the 

 music of their solitary cries, to the tinkle of 

 their gushing rills, to the sound of their cata- 

 racts ! How inspiriting are the odours that 

 breathe from the upland turf, from the rock- 

 hung flower, from the hoary and solemn pine ! 

 how beautiful are those lights and shadows 

 thrown abroad, and that fine, transparent haze 

 which is diffused over the valleys and lower 

 slopes, as over a vast, inimitable picture ! 



At this season of the year the ascents of our 

 own mountains are become most practicable. 

 The heat of summer has dried up the moisture 

 with which winter rains saturate the spongy turf 

 of the hollows ; and the atmosphere, clear and 

 settled, admits of the most extensive prospects. 

 Whoever has not ascended our mountains knows 

 little of the beauties of this beautiful island. 

 Whoever has not climbed their long and heathy 

 ascents, and seen the trembling mountain-flow- 

 ers, the glowing moss, the richly-tinted lichens 

 at his feet ; and scented the fresh aroma of the 

 uncultivated sod, and of the spicy shrubs ; and 

 heard the bleat of the flock across their solitary 

 expanses, and the wild cry of the mountain- 

 plover, the raven, or the eagle ; and seen the 



