FOREST SCENES. 13 



lower slopes of the foot-hills on the northern side, is never 

 more than a quarter of a mile distant from the broad blue 

 river, which for mile after mile flows through a string of 

 picturesque lakelets whose gleaming waters reflect in 

 vivid outline the groups of stately spruces on the tiny 

 islands and jutting promontories. In the pure mountain 

 air and beneath a glowing sky, whose depth of blue would 

 almost bear comparison with that of California, the 

 brilliant colouring of the northern landscape in early 

 autumn, when the first night-frosts are beginning to paint 

 the woods, must be seen to be realised. England's 

 'autumn gold' is charming indeed beneath an October 

 sun, but its tints are, comparatively speaking, sober and 

 sad. Norway's gold is bright and red and glowing, and 

 cheers as well as charms. The sunlight streaming down 

 through the interlacing boughs of the firs shines on the 

 glossy dark leaves and scarlet clusters of the moltebcere 

 spangling the surface of the ground in bright parterres, 

 and lights up joyously the exquisite shades of green, 

 ruddy-brown, and deep crimson of the mosses and the 

 varied purple and silver grey of the lichens which clothe 

 the masses of granite lying here and there amidst the 

 undergrowth. Where the woodland opens out down by 

 the river bank, the bracken is already yellowing and the 

 purple of the heather gives signs that its beauty is on the 

 wane. The lower leaves of the aspen, tremulous in the 

 light air which is always breathing above the river, are 

 turning red-brown under the influence of the chill nights ; 

 the cotton plants in the tiny swamps are waving their 

 white plumes in token of surrender ; even the hardy alder 

 has a touch of bronze on its foliage, and the mountain ash 

 is everywhere gorgeous with its pendulous clusters of 

 crimson berries. Up the slopes of the hills, amongst the 

 dark green of the spruces, and the ruddy trunks of the 

 Scotch firs, the silver birches are aflame with the brilliant 

 yellow of their fading leaves ; everywhere the brightness 

 of the colouring makes the landscape joyous. 



'In spring and early summer the eye of the traveller is 



