s, to any one who had science enough to profit by it.

The magnificent rhododendron first caught our eyes; it fringes
every cliff, nestles beneath every rock, and blooms around every
tree. The azalia, the shumac, and every variety of that
beautiful mischief, the kalmia, are in equal profusion. Cedars
of every size and form were above, around, and underneath us;
firs more beautiful and more various than I had ever seen, were
in equal abundance, but I know not whether they were really such
as I had never seen in Europe, or only in infinitely greater
splendour and perfection of growth; the species called the
hemlock is, I think, second to the cedar only, in magnificence.
Oak and beech, with innumerable roses and wild vines, hanging in
beautiful confusion among their branches, were in many places
scattered among the evergreens. The earth was carpeted with
various mosses and creeping plants, and though still in the month
of March, not a trace of the nakedness of winter could be seen.
Such was the scenery that shewed us we were indeed among the
far-famed Alleghany mountains.

As our noble terrace-road, the Semplon of America, rose higher
and higher, all that is noblest in nature was joined to all that
is sweetest. The blue tops of the higher ridges formed the
outline; huge masses of rock rose above us on the left, half hid
at intervals by the bright green shrubs, while to the right we
looked down upon the tops of the pines and cedars which clothed
the bottom.

I had no idea of the endless variety of mountain scenery. My
notions had been of rocks and precipices, of torrents and of
forest trees, but I little expected that the first spot which
should recall the garden scenery of our beautiful England would
be found among the moutains: yet so it was. From the time I
entered America I had never seen the slightest approach to what
we call pleasure-grounds; a few very worthless and scentless
flowers were all the specimens of gardening I had seen in Ohio;
no attempt at garden scenery was ever dreamed of, and it was with
the sort of delight with which one meets an old friend, that we
looked on the lovely mixture of trees, shrubs, and flowers, that
now continually met our eyes. Often, on descending into the
narrow vallies, we found a little spot of cultivation, a garden
or a field, hedged round with shumacs, rhododendrons, and
azalias, and a cottage covered with roses. These vallies are
spots of great beauty; a clear stre