BROWSINGS IN OTHER FIELDS. 227 



on the summit, from which you can look down upon 

 a scene that is really enchanting. Nestling at the 

 foot of the mountain is the city, with its towers, 

 steeples, well-laid streets, and palatial residences ; 

 curving and gleaming far to the northeast and south- 

 west is the mighty St. Lawrence, its green banks 

 holding it in loving embrace far as the eye can reach ; 

 in another direction you trace the Ottawa River 

 meandering far to the northwest like a ribbon of 

 silver, and dividing into two branches a few miles 

 away, thus forming the island of Montreal; beyond 

 the St. Lawrence is the Lake of Two Mountains, and 

 far away in the misty distance toward the south 

 and southwest, are the blue outlines of the Green 

 and Adirondack ranges ; in other directions the 

 plain stretches level until it melts in the hazy 

 distance, and is dotted with farm-houses, villages, 

 well-cultivated fields, and green woodlands. 



One afternoon a few unoccupied hours were at 

 my disposal. I determined to spend them on 

 Mount Royal, as the eminence is called. A car 

 wheels you up an inclined plane, almost perpen- 

 dicular near the top, at least two-thirds of the way 

 to the summit. Having filled myself with the scene 

 from the tower, I was starting off" to make a tour of 

 the park, when ray footsteps were arrested by a 

 quaint new song coming from a clump of trees 

 farther down the declivity. Interest in everything 

 else vanished in a moment. A good deal of time 

 was spent before I could get a sight of the minstrel. 

 Much to my surprise, he turned out to be a thrush ; 



