Читать книгу Arctic Searching Expedition (Sir John Richardson) - comprehensive & illustrated - (Literary Thoughts Edition) онлайн

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On the bluff granitic promontories and bold acclivities which form the northern shore of Lake Superior, the forest is composed of the white spruce, balsam fir, Weymouth pine, American larch, and canoe birch, with, near the edge of the lake and on the banks of streams, that pleasant inter-mixture of mountain maple and dog-wood which imparts such a varied and rich gradation of orange and red tints to the autumnal landscape. Other trees exist, but not in sufficient numbers to give a character to the scenery. Oaks are scarce, and beech disappears to the south of the lake. The American yew, which does not rise into a tree like its European namesake, is the common underwood of the more fertile spots, where it grows under the shade to the height of three or four feet, in slender bush-like twigs. On the low sandstone islands deciduous trees, such as the poplars and maples, abound, with the nine-bark spiræa, cockspur thorns, willows, plums, cherries, and mountain-ash. When we entered the lake on the 4th of May, large accumulations of drift snow on the beaches showed the lateness of the season; none of the deciduous trees had as yet budded; and the precocious catkins of a silvery willow (Salix candida), with the humble flowers of a few Saxifrages and Uvulariæ, gave the only promises of spring.