FOREST SCENERY. 137 



soms of the fruit-trees, while from the dark cypress 

 groves we hear the scream of the jay, the cawing of the 

 raven, blended occasionally with the liquid notes of the 

 Sylvias and solitary thrushes. 



By making such observations, one may be satisfied 

 that upon our barren hills nothing could be substituted, 

 that would equal in any respect of beauty and orna- 

 ment, the trees and shrubs which are indigenous to the 

 situation. The practice of Great Britain, operating 

 as an example to American improvers, has been fatal 

 to the beauty of many a delightful spot in our own 

 country. The native garniture of our own fields, mod- 

 ified by the hand of man, as exemplified in certain 

 tracts to be seen in every old settlement, exceeds all 

 which the combined wealth and taste of Great Britain 

 could rear in the place of it. Vain are all attempts to 

 improve the face of nature by dressing her in ornaments 

 borrowed from a foreign clime. That taste which rec- 

 ommends a system of improvements based upon any 

 principle, save that of preserving the whole indigenous 

 growth of our fields and woods, is barbarous, and will 

 ultimately be spurned with indignation, by every true 

 lover of beauty and of nature. 



12* 



