ASPECTS OF THE NEW WORLD. 3 



nave wandered. In sight of lofty Mis, bordered 

 by forests, he would have heard only the bells 

 of the cattle, pasturing in the valleys beyond, 

 the horn of the boatman, or the hooting of the 

 owl. 



Or, to adventurous spirits, yet more tempting 

 perhaps might seem those sterile wilds — the 

 homes of the Esquimaux. Upon their rugged 

 shores vast tracts of snow dappled country are 

 seen clad with stunted vegetation of firs or 

 tangled creeping pines. Innumerable beds of 

 richly tinted mosses relieve the desolation of 

 huge mountain ridges, and the barren aspect of 

 these wastes. 



Far above the boisterous waves of the St. 

 Lawrence, towers a line of crag and clifi", like a 

 granite bulwark of the waters. From its sum- 

 mit open all around, in gorgeous array, fertile 

 valleys, thickets clothed with green, and glassy 

 lakes, over which hover birds of varied wing, 

 and banks of snow backed by mountains, ming- 

 ling their gray tints with those of the cold 

 northern sky. On the numerous low islands 

 dotting^ the western coast of these reojions, are 

 multitudes of cormorants and other aquatic 

 wanderers, their sable wings sailing with aston- 

 ishing rapidity over the waters, or spread to seek 

 their nests among cliffs washed by the surge. 



But whether on northern or southern soil, 



