HEATHER. 



Erica cinerea. Nat. Ord,, Ericaceae. 



F all the delights that the country 

 life affords surely none can 

 exceed the enjoyment, the ex- 

 hilarating influence,, of a ramble 

 over the heathy moorland. 

 The rich umbrageous forest 

 has a great and special beauty 

 of its own, and as we wander 

 beneath the far -stretching 

 overshadowing arms of the 

 giant beeches, and see the 

 startled squirrels leap with perilous 

 agility from bough to bough, or 

 listen to the belling of the deer, 

 not far away, but invisible amidst 

 the stalwart bracken, we cannot 

 fail to feel the beauty of the scene. The sombre shade of 

 its rich purple, however, here and there necked with gold as 

 a few sunbeams struggle through the canopy of shade, and 

 the almost perfect stillness involuntarily affect us ; loud, 

 careless speech seems almost a profanation, and as we 

 stand amid the forest monarchs, see their lofty branches 

 interlacing overhead, and hear the soughing of the 

 summer breeze as it gently stirs their topmost shoots, 

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