272 
PINNATED GROUSE. 
and scanty. These are however, by no means, naked deserts. They 
arc, on the contrary, covered with trees, shrubs and smaller plants. 
The trees are mostly pitch-pines of inferior size, and white oaks of a 
small growth. They are of a quality very fit for burning. Thousands 
of cords of both sorts of firewood are annually exported from these 
barrens. Vast quantities are occasionally destroyed by the fires which 
through carelessness or accident spread far and wide through the woods. 
The city of New York will probably for ages derive fuel from the grouse- 
grounds. The land after having been cleared, yields to the cultivator 
poor crops. Unless therefore he can help it by manure, the best dis- 
position is to let it grow up to forest again. Experience has proved, 
that in a term of forty or fifty years, the new growth of timber will be 
fit for the axe. Hence it may be perceived, that the reproduction of 
trees, and the protection they afford to Heath-hens, would be perpetual; 
or in other words, not circumscribed by any calculable time ; provided 
the persecutors of the latter would be quiet. 
" Beneath these trees grow more dwarfish oaks, overspreading the 
surface, sometimes with here and there a shrub, and sometimes a thicket. 
These latter are from about two to ten feet in height. Where they are 
the principal product, they are called in common conversation brush, as 
the flats on which they grow are termed Brushy plains. Among this 
hardy shrubbery may frequently be seen the creeping vegetable named 
the partridgeberry covering the sand with its lasting verdure. In 
many spots the plant which produces hurtlcberries, sprout up among 
the other natives of the soil. These are the more important, though I 
ought to inform you that the hills reaching from east to west, and form- 
ing the spine of the island, support kalmias, hickories, and many other 
species ; that I have seen azalias and andromedas as I passed through 
the wilderness ; and that where there is water, craneberries, alders, 
beeches, maples, and other lovers of moisture, take their stations. 
" This region, situated thus between the more thickly inhabited strips 
or belts on the north and south sides, of the island, is much travelled by 
wagons, and intersected accordingly by a great number of paths. 
"As to the birds themselves, the' information I possess scarcely 
amounts to an entire history. You, who know the difficulty of collect- 
ing facts, will be the most ready to excuse my deficiencies. The infor- 
mation I give you is such as I rely on. For the purpose of gathering 
the materials, I have repeatedly visited their haunts. I have likewise 
conversed with several men who were brought up at the precincts of the 
grouse-ground, who had been witnesses of their habits and manners, who 
were accustomed to shoot them for the market, and who have acted as 
guides to gentlemen who go there for sport. 
"Bulk. — An adult Grouse when fat weighs as much as a barn door 
fowl of moderate size, or about three pounds avoirdupois. But the 
