INDIAN SUMMER. 11 



It is observable that after all this short-lived splendour 

 has passed away, and the trees have become leafless, in 

 Canada and the Northern States, there always occur a 

 few days of most lovely and balmy weather, which is 

 called the Indian summer. It is characterised by a 

 peculiar haziness in the atmosphere, like a light smoke, 

 by a brilliant sun, only slightly dimmed by this haze, and 

 by a general absence of wind. It follows a short season 

 of wintry weather, so as to be isolated in its character. 

 One circumstance I have remarked with interest, the 

 resuscitation of insect life in abundance. Beautiful but- 

 terflies swarm around the leafless trees ; and moths in 

 multitudes flit among the weeds and bushes, while mi- 

 nuter forms hop merrily about the heaps of decaying 

 leaves at the edges of the woods. It is a charming 

 relaxation of the icy chains of winter. 



possess a great deal of grandeur. The poplar leaves often assume a 

 crimson hue ; the elm, a bright and golden yellow ; birch and beech, a 

 pale, sober, yellow-ochre ; ash and basswood, different shades of brown ; 

 the tamarack, a buff-yellow. The beech, the ash, and the tamarack do 

 not, in general, bear much part in this glittering pageant; the ash is 

 mostly leafless at the time, and the glory has passed away before the 

 other two have scarcely begun to fade. Indeed, the glossy green of 

 the beech is perhaps more effective than if it partook of the general 

 change; and even the gloomy blackness of the resinous trees, by 

 relieving and throwing forward the gayer tints, is not without effect. 

 This beauty is not shewn to equal advantage every year : in some 

 seasons the trees fade with very little splendour, the colours all par- 

 taking more or less of dusky, sordid brown ; early frosts seem to be 

 unfavourable for its development : and even at its best it is a melan- 

 choly glory, a precursor of approaching dissolution, something like the 

 ribbons and garlands with which the ancient pagan priests were accus- 

 tomed to adorn the animals they destined for sacrifice. 



