98 A RAMBLE IN THE FOREST. 



have secured this spot from the levelling ope- 

 rations of the axe and the naattock. 



Amid the simple glades and the embower- 

 ing shades of this miniature forest^ we wan- 

 dered and talked with great delight. We suf- 

 fered the excursive and talkative propensities 

 of our young friends to expand themselves a 

 little, before we gave the conversation a more 

 regular and instructive turn. When, how- 

 ever, being somewhat weary with their scram- 

 bling expedition through the thickets, they 

 began to seat themselves on a fallen trunk, I 

 plucked a twig from an old walnut stump, 

 which I unexpectedly found at hand, and thus 

 proceeded. 



