190 THE BEAUTIES OP NATURE chap. 



sion that it must have been already a large 

 tree when Rome was founded, and though the 

 facts do not warrant this conclusion, the tree 

 did, no doubt, go back to Pagan times. The 

 great Yew of Fountains Abbey is said to have 

 sheltered the monks when the abbey was re- 

 built in 1133, and is estimated at an age of 

 1300 years ; that at Brabourne in Kent at 

 3000. De CandoUe gives the following as the, 



Nowhere is woodland scenery more beau- 

 tiful than where it passes gradually into the 

 open country. The separate trees, haAdng 

 more room both for their roots and branches, 

 are finer, and can be better seen, while, when 

 they are close together, " one cannot see the 

 wood for the trees." The vistas which open 

 out are full of mystery and of promise, 



