NATURE IN ACADIE. 37 



tree moss and decked with white and green lichens, 

 recalling forcibly to the mind Longfellow's beautiful 

 lines : 



" The murmuring pines and the hemlocks, 



Bearded with moss and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight, 

 Stand like Druids of old, with voices sad and prophetic, 

 Stand like harpers hoar, with beards that rest on their bosoms." 



To me there is nothing wearisome in these woods, 

 I am, indeed, far more lonely and depressed among the 

 habitations of man and the bustle of his selfish avoca- 

 tions than in the most secluded forest, for in these great 

 wilds the spirit of Thoreau and of many another brother 

 in Nature, rises up to bear one company, filling the mind 

 with an absorption and obliviousness to care that I have 

 tried in vain to attain to within the sordid limits of my 

 chamber. And then the birds and beasts that one 

 follows on unweariedly into their most sacred retreats, 

 as they move restlessly through the forest, intent 

 upon their own pursuits and careless of your stealthy 

 approach and engrossed, untiring observation ; squirrel 

 and crow, nuthatch and tree creeper, all alike oblivious 

 of your silent intrusion and even your very existence, 

 while they gambol, and court, and feed, each in its 

 unconcerned way, until the tyrant biped or quadruped 

 puts an end to their harmony, and often also their 

 existence. 



How puerile and foolish it seems to presuppose that 

 aught of real beauty or peace exists beneath the pleasant 

 sunshine, the sombre undulating forest, and the virgin- 

 white robe that Nature wears to-day ! Always amid 

 this semblance of peace and gentleness, and these timid 

 birds and animals, or the insects of the past summer, 

 lurk the ever-recurring agony and the violent death. 

 How vain, indeed, it is to think of peace, in a system 

 whose harmony and balance rest solely upon Utility 

 the Survival of the Fittest ! 



