merous delegation proceeded in various directions as inclination 

 or accident prompted. A party set out for an elevated rock 

 near the village, from whence fine prospects "were promised, 

 enjoying on their way the delightful shade of the forest trees, 

 and gathering the exquisite little blossoms of the drier woods. 

 Others penetrated the swampy grounds, lured by the crystal 

 water of the brook, hoping for the success of the angler, but 

 fain to be content with meaner game. The geologists strayed 

 away after rock formations, near the sea-beaten shores, to study 

 the metamorphoses of these barriers to wind and wave. Yet 

 others had in dim prospective a few scattering and lingering 

 blossoms of the Magnolia glauca, spared at this late season of 

 inflorescence in some shaded and wet sequestered copse of na- 

 tive shrubs, and still shedding its fragrance far and wide. 



It was a source of no ordinary pleasure to be able to stand 

 on the most northern limit of the growth of this fine and orna- 

 mental tree, probably near the very spot where its fragrant 

 blossoms attracted the notice of the Rev. Dr. Manasseh Cut- 

 ler, many years since. 



The Magnolia glaiica^ according to MiCHAUX, is common 

 in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and becomes more so in pro- 

 ceeding towards the Southern States. It is there seen only in 

 the most miry swamps, which during the greater part of the 

 year are so wet as to be impassable. Different species of An- 

 dromeda and Vaccinium accompany its occurrence. Its ordin- 

 ary altitude is computed by that distinguished botanist, as from 

 twenty to thirty feet, though in the neighborhood of the pine 

 barrens of the Carolinas and Georgia, it sometimes reaches the 

 height of forty feet. In the environs of Paris, France, it has 

 proved sufficiently acclimatized to ripen its seeds freely. 



The principal object of the amateur botanists of our party, 

 this day, being to examine the grounds of the native habitat of 

 the Magnolia, they were conducted by the kindness of Mr. 

 French to the nearest locality on the limits of Gloucester. 

 Here, in in a sphagnous swamp, very near the main road, the 

 horses and carriages were disposed of in safety : and, beneath a 

 broiling sun, the limited range of the shrub at this place only 



