JOURNEY THROUGH THE WOODS. 313 
encamped on the first night, distant about 
twenty-five miles, the country being very flat,, 
and the trees growing so closely together that 
it was impossible to see farther forward in any 
direction than fifty yards, our journey after a 
short time became very uninteresting. No¬ 
thing in its kind, however, could exceed the 
beauty of the scenery that we met with during 
our second day’s journey. We found the 
country, as we passed along, interspersed with- 
open plains of great magnitude, some of them 
not less, I should suppose, than fifteen or 
twenty miles in circumference. The trees on 
the borders of these having ample room to 
spread, were luxuriant beyond description, and 
shot forth their branches with all the grandeur 
and variety which characterises the English 
timber, particularly the oak. The woods 
round the plains were indented in every di¬ 
rection with bays and promontories, as Mr. 
Gilpin terms it, whilst rich clumps of trees, 
interspersed here and there, appeared like so 
many clusters of beautiful islands. The va¬ 
ried hues of the woods at this season of the 
year, in America, can hardly be imagined by 
those who never have had an opportunity of 
observing them ; and indeed, as others have 
often remarked before, were a painter to at¬ 
tempt to colour a picture from them, it would 
be condemned in Europe as totally different 
from any thing that ever existed in nature. 
