THE SCOTCH FIR OR PINE. 



345 



sures of purple heath-bells, and bright green bil- 

 berries, and trailing whortleberries, with tufts of 

 ferns and tall junipers irregularly intermingled. 

 And then, amidst the silence that prevails, the red 

 deer stag comes carelessly across the view, leading 

 his whole herd behind him ; and, as his full eye 

 catches a glimpse of man, he halts, throws up his 

 royal head, snuiFs up the gale, indignantly beats 

 the ground with his hoof, and then proudly moves 

 off with his troop amid the glistening boles. 

 Again the repose of the forest is interrupted by 

 the music of distant waters stealing upon the ear : 

 curiosity becomes alive, and we hurry forward, 

 with the sound growing upon us, till all at once 

 the roar and the white sheet of a cataract bursts 

 upon our astonished senses, as we find ourselves 

 suddenly and unexpectedly standing on the fear- 

 ful bank of some deep and rocky ravine, where the 

 river, pouring from above, precipitates itself into 

 a profound abyss, where it has to fight its way 

 through countless obstructions, in one continued 

 turmoil of foam, mist, and thunder. The cliffs 

 themselves are shaken, and the pines quiver while 

 they wildly shoot, with strange and fantastic 

 wreathings, from the crevices in their sides, or 

 where, having gained some small portion of nutri- 

 ment on their summits, they rear themselves up like 

 giants aspiring to scale the gates of heaven. And 

 here, perhaps, a distant mountain-top may appear 

 over the deep green Fir-tops. By and by, after 

 pursuing the windings of the wizard stream for 

 a considerable way upwards, w^e are conducted by 

 it into some wide plain, through which it comes 

 broadly flowing and sparkling among the opposing 

 stones, where the trees of all ages and growths 



