290 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



inhabitants. In these rich tracts grow the lofty palmetto, the evei- 

 green oak, the sweet bay, the benzoe laurel, the common laurel, the 

 wide shading broom pine, and the red cedar. The straight silvery 

 columns of the papaw fig, rising to the height of twenty feet, and 

 crowned by a canopy of broad sinuated leaves, form a striking feature 

 in this delicious scenery ; while the golden fruit and fragrant blos- 

 soms of the orange, realize the ancient traditions of the groves of 

 the Hesperides. Superior however to all these is the towering 

 magnificence of the great magnolia : in this rich marley soil, it rises 

 above a hundred feet, with a perfectly erect trunk, supporting a shady 

 conical head of dark green foliage : from the centre of the coronets 

 of leaves that terminate the branches, expands a large rose-shaped 

 blossom of pure white, which is succeeded by a crimson cone con- 

 taining the seeds of a beautiful coral red colour ; and these falling 

 from their cells remain for several days suspended from the seed- 

 vessel by a silky thread, six inches, or more in length ; so that, 

 whether in this state or in blossom, it is second to none for grandeur 

 and beauty. 



The level plains by the sides of rivers, and therefore generally in 

 a flooded state during the whole rainy season, are called savannas. 

 The trees that grow upon them are of the aquatic kind, particularly 

 the beaver tree, and American olive ; these are generally either single 

 or grouped together into small open groves, while the larger part of 

 the meadow is overgrown with long succulent herbage, intermixed 

 with shrubs and plants. 



The swamps are at all times, even in the height of summer, for the 

 most part under water, and are distinguished from the rest of the 

 country by the crowded stems of the cane, the light foliage of the 

 tupelo tree, the taccamahacca, and the white cedar: this last is per- 

 haps the most picturesque tree in all America ; four or five enormous 

 buttresses, or rude pillars, rise from the ground, and unite a kind of 

 arch at the height of about seven feet, and from this centre there 

 springs a straight column eighty or ninety feet high, without a 

 branch : it then spreads into a flat umbrella-shaped top, covered with 

 finely divided leaves of the most delicate green. This platform is the 

 secure abode of the eagle and the crane ; and the oily seeds contained 

 in its cones are the favourite repast of the paroquets, that are con- 

 stantly fluttering around. 



Zoology. ...America, it is said, contains at least one half, and the 

 United States about one fourth, of the Quadrupeds of the known 

 world. The naturalists of Europe and America, with a commenda- 

 ble zeal, have directed their attention to the zoology of the western 

 hemisphere ; and their labours in this interesting and useful branch 

 of natural science have been rewarded with success. But still their 

 nomenclatures of the Quadrupeds of North America are very imper- 

 fect. The following catalogue is the best that we can at present ob- 

 tain. In the sketches which follow, we have been greatly indebted 

 to the works of the ingenious Mr. Pennant. The arrangement of the 

 Orders and Genera, is that of the last edition of Linnaeus by Dr. 

 Turton. 



