FOREST TREES AND FOREST SCENERY 



the coniferous forests are oppressive, at 

 least on first acquaintance. Such na- 

 tures feel the weight of their gloom and 

 lose then- own buoyancy of spirit if they 

 stay too long within their confines ; and 

 it is noticeable that even the inhab- 

 itants of these lonely retreats are not 

 infrequently affected with a reticence 

 and a kind of melancholy that im- 

 presses the stranger almost like a feel- 

 ing of resignation. This peculiar tem- 

 perament, however, ma}'^ be judged too 

 hastily, and is understood better after 

 a time. It is probably true that the 

 familiar and accessible woods of valley 

 and plain, where trails and wood-roads 

 give us a feeling of security, are more 

 attractive and agreeable to most of us ; 

 yet there is a wonderful charm about 

 those dark forests of the mountains 

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