PINE TREE. 



313 



Some that the moist earth yields^, 



Beneath the shadows of those pine trees high, 



WTiichj branching, shield the far Thessalian plains 



From the fierce anger of Apollo's eye ; 



And some that Delphic swains 



Pluck by the silver springs of Castaly." 



B. Cornwall's Worship of Dian. 



These straight dark pines have a grand and imposing 

 appearance in the mountainous situations to which they 

 naturally belong. This is frequently noticed by tra- 

 vellers : 



" Tall straight Pines, in rising order, lined the rugged 

 sides, and by their darkening gloom heightened the 

 grandeur of the scene*." 



-* * * * ^ic * * 



On looking down, the landscape below was a perfect 

 miniature, to such a height had we attained : the tall 

 pines rising one above another in wild succession under 

 our feet, presented the appearance of a dark-green sea, 

 by the waving of their pliant tops, strongly agitated by 

 the blast that blew around us-j-." 



IMr. Drummond, in his First Steps to Botany, observes, 

 that what is called the needle-leaf of the Pines is neces- 

 sary to them on account of the northern or Alpine regions 

 they inhabit ; for that with any other they could not 

 have been evergreens, " for in winter they would be 

 overpowered with a weight of sno\v, and blown down by 

 the hurricanes. The acerose leaf enables them to evade 

 both ; the snow falls through, and the wind penetrates 

 the interstices. The winds struggling through the boughs 



* Brooke's Travels in Norway, &c. p. 112. 

 t Ibid. p. lU. 



