THE BEECH. 



319 



lour, with, a tinge of yellow. As the whole land- 

 scape is thus coloured, it has a sombre, dull ap- 

 pearance, nor is it often enlivened by the rays of 

 the sun." On another occasion, when he accom- 

 panied the commander of the expedition to explore 

 the Beagle Channel, the view," he says, was 

 very remarkable. Looking towards either hand, 

 no object intercepted the vanishing points of this 

 long canal between the mountains. The circum- 

 stance of its being an arm of the sea was render- 

 ed very evident, by several huge whales spouting 

 in various directions. On one occasion I saw two 

 of these monsters, probably male and female, 

 slowly swimming one after the other, within less 

 than a stone's throw of the shore over which the 

 Beech-tree extended its branches."* 



A species of Beech which grows at Van Die- 

 men's Land attains a height much greater than 

 that of any European tree. 



The Beech was particularly admired by the 

 ancients, who luxuriated in the lofty canopy 

 afforded by its dense foliage. In modern times, 

 its claims to the possession of picturesque beauty 

 have been disputed on high authority, for while 

 Gilbert White speaks most warmly in its praise, 

 Gilpin expresses a very different opinion. The 

 former, in describing the parish of Selborne, says. 

 The high part to the south-west consists of 

 a vast hill of chalk, rising 300 feet above the 

 village, and is divided into a sheep down, the 

 High Wood, and a long hanging wood called the 

 Hanger. The covert of this eminence is alto- 

 gether Beech, the most lovely of all forest trees, 



* Journal of Researches into the Natural History and Geology of 

 the Countries visited by H» M. S. Beagle. 



Y 



