4<> 
and broken by tempests; their dark forms opposed to all 
the brilliant hues of some immense glacier.” This is a 
truly Alpine picture: we all but see 
- those blasted pines. 
Wrecks of a single winter, barkless, branchless,” 
with all the savage, but grand, accompaniments which 
he has so vividly sketched. 
,The Norway spruce, which is but a cultivated tree in 
our island, is indigenous in the northern climates ol 
Europe and Asia; and also, as has been observed, in 
the mountain valleys of Switzerland, France, Spain, and 
Italy. It is said to attain a greater altitude than any 
other European tree, sometimes shooting up to the 
height of one hundred and fifty feet. This brings to 
mind Milton’s sublime description of Satan and his 
warlike habiliments. After likening his shield to 
- “ the moon, whose orb 
Through optic glass the Tuscan artist views 
At evening from the top of Fesole,” 
he continues in the same elevated strain to describe 
“ His spear, to equal which the tallest pine 
Hewn on Norwegian hills, to be the mast 
Of some great ammiral, were but a wand.” 
