THE FERN PARADISE. 
green foliage of clustering shrubs, alforcl sliady 
nestling places for waving Fern-fronds which lap 
the surface of the stream, and lend to it a grace- 
ful and beautiful aspect. 
At a short distance to the right of the bridge 
the stream is lost from sight ; but from its 
boulder-strewn, roaring course the eye is naturally 
lifted to the glorious view which is to be seen 
overhead. On both sides, almost from the water’s 
brink, rise tw^o precipitous hills, — the one on the 
right, clothed with a dark green mantle, ex- 
tending from the surface of the stream to the 
extreme hill-top, by the gradation of shrub and 
bush and tree : that on the left sparsely covered 
with furze and heather ; but both endowed with 
that boldness of aspect, which lends grandeur to 
a scene. 
Away to the left of the bridge a similar scene 
meets the eye ; but here both hill-sides which 
bound the stream are densely and darkly clothed 
with trees, which, sweeping upwards, finely con- 
trast with the delightful blue of the sun-lit sky, 
as the hill-tops cut the sheen. The blue sky 
with its golden sunshine, the green woods, the 
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