The Music of the Marsh 



stroying every small sweet-hunter to he found; so 

 that tliey become veritable dragons, and their name 

 applies to them rarely well. 



These same beds of bergamot deserve a pass- 

 ing mention. In botanies they are located on 

 higher ground, but no dry place ever bred them Marsh 

 in such profusion as the margin of some swarnjjs ^^^''g^mot 

 I know. The illustration here given was made of 

 flowers that gre^\' in a damp approach to a marsh, 

 and the bergamot was so thrifty it waved grace- 

 ful heads high above me in the summer of 1907, 

 and also over yellow cone flowers, that in dry lo- 

 cations are usually taller. This bed of bergamot 

 grew from six to eight feet in height and spread 

 along my path for the greater part of a quarter 

 of a mile in just such profusion as is sho^n in this 

 study. I doubt if the plant ever surpassed the 

 growth here shown. The hairy stems grew straight 

 and slender, the sharply j^ointed leaves were rough, 

 having a whitish cast, and the flowers were a large 

 head, from which sprang many small trumpet- 

 shaped blooms, with a prominent up})er lip grow- 

 ing fine hairs. The center stamens and pistil were 

 of stronger color. The blooms were a pale ma- 

 genta-purple, at times almost pure lavender, and 

 you knew you Avere close the heart of nature Avhen 

 you smelled them. Their perfume struck the nos- 

 trils as the tang of a wild apple excites the palate. 

 It brought the savage to the surface and made one 

 -3 353 



