The Manchester Examiner. — 1848-07-22 (Manchester, Greater Manchester, England)

AMERICAN FOREST.--I had never till this moment anything like an adequate conception of the grandeur and solemnity of an American forest. The stillness is perfectly appalling; not a bough creaks, not a leaf stirs, not a dewdrop falls' and when I got up a shout just now, to try the effect of it, it absolutely startled myself, and induced a sort of presentment that the grave old trees were quite shocked at my familiarity. A young squirrel, too, put his head noiselessly from his hole in a rotten cedar, and regarded me with an air of such unqualified disgust, that I would not dream of attempting a disturbance of the kind again. Many of these stately pines must have been the growth of centuries. Some huge old fellows are reduced to touchwood. Some, perhaps tired of their existence and bent upon suicide, have kicked up their thousand heels into the air, and dived head foremost into the St. Maurice (upon a small branch of which I have unexpectedly struck), where, in the course of time, I presume, they will expire comfortably of water on the brain. Some (probably a freak of the late hurricane) have beenlifted completely off their legs, and lying full length along the shoulders of half a score of their comrades, look extremely as though they were being carried away for interment. Others, stripped of every branch and twig, and tapering beautifully to a point, protrude far over the bank of the river and assume all the air and appearance of deserted fishing rods, of a girth and capacity quite suitable to the taste and requirements of that famed angler who is said to have "sat upon a rock and bobbed for whale." So closely indeed do they resemble the implements alluded to, that for the last few minutes I have been in momentary expectation of meeting some gentleman of correspondingly gigantic proportions, sitting calmly on the bank, with eyes intently fastened upon his float, and a bait-can resting on his knees. Among the many curious and stirring sights this rude scramble has exhibited to me, is one which, for originality and eccentricity, stands quite unrivalled. Let me describe a scene so singular, if I can. A colossal pine, the tallest and most stupendous tree I ever beheld, actuated by some unaccountable and never-before-beard-of freak, has wrenched itself, together with a few dozen tons of earth, from the spot where it grew, and taken up a Position diametrically adverse to that which nature intended it to occupy. Its world of green foliage rests exactly where its roots should be, and its roots, which are a forest in themselves, flourish precisely where its branches ought to be' at an elevation, too, far out-topping the loftiest twig of its most aspiring contemporary. Whether this pine has misconducted itself and been placed thus by way of punishment, or whether the effort was a private pastime and conceit it was anxious to indulge in, and subsequently failed to recover from, I am equally at a loss to say, but here it is, and here it must remain, until it rots and crumbles into powder. The question is, how did it get into such a position (a problem not rendered any the more easy of solution by the fact of there not being a single leaf of the surrounding trees in the slightest degree injured or discomposed); but as there is little probability of any human foot treading these solitudes again perhaps for ages, that question is most likely to rest unanswered, and the mystery. unelucidated, throughout all succeeding generations. Having spent half an hour in the contemplation of this natural curiosity, I began to move leisurely on; and presently, glancing accidentally downward, catch a glimpse of an enormous rat at his dinner, who, the moment he becomes conscious of my presence, gives vent to such a shrill and prolonged yell, that I am compelled, in mercy to the animal, and out of consideration for my own ears, to effect as hasty and precipitate a retreat as existing circumstances render it possible for me to do.—Whittlings from the West.