MAV. Ill 



most curious when seen from a distance — when rocks 

 appeared to be split from top to bottom. 



Where a little soil vouchsafed a root-hold, the vigor- 

 ous columbine grew in phenomenal luxuriance, and now 

 in full bloom offered masses of red and yellow that re- 

 lieved the occasional monotony of too deep green or glar- 

 ing white. 



"Why this hardy plant is in such apparent ill-favor 

 among landscape gardeners, I am puzzled to know. Here 

 on these rocks, and everywhere in the deep woods of 

 the mountains, it formed great clusters, one of which I 

 measured, and found to be over three feet in height and 

 of thrice that girth. As a mass of delicate foliage and 

 pendent, nodding, ruddy bloom, it far excelled any display 

 of wild flowers, save one, that I ever saw. 



On other rocks over which I climbed the red-berried 

 elder was a most attractive feature. This shrub was now 

 laden with globes of richest red buds, that afterward 

 expand to pyramidal heads of waxy white flowers. I 

 found them in all stages of advancement, and would have 

 loaded my boat had they not been cursed with a pene- 

 trating ancient and fish-like smell. 



A curious feature of a few of these rocky islets is the 

 fact that although the soil is but the scanty accumulation 

 of dust and mold, filling narrow crevices, yet hemlocks, 

 maples, aspens, sweet birch, and wild cherry, found suffi- 

 cient for their needs. That flowering plants and some 

 small shrubs should do so, is not strange, but the hemlocks, 

 for instance, were trees thirty feet high and from eight to 

 twelve inches in diameter. 



In many cases, the roots extended like great cables 

 carelessly thrown down over a considerable space, and then 

 disappeared as flattened threads in crannies that might 

 offer a hold, perhaps, but never yield any nourishment. 

 All this struck me the more, because when we plant these 



