tumn; but when this
charm is added, one feels that the effect is beyond description. As I
beheld it to-day, there was nothing dazzling; it was gentle and mild,
though brilliant and diversified, and had a most quiet and pensive
influence. And yet there were some trees that seemed really made of
sunshine, and others were of a sunny red, and the whole picture was
painted with but little relief of darksome hues,--only a few evergreens.
But there was nothing inharmonious; and, on closer examination, it
appeared that all the tints had a relationship among themselves. And
this, I suppose, is the reason that, while Nature seems to scatter them
so carelessly, they still never shock the beholder by their contrasts,
nor disturb, but only soothe. The brilliant scarlet and the brilliant
yellow are different hues of the maple-leaves, and the first changes
into the last. I saw one maple-tree, its centre yellow as gold, set in a
framework of red. The native poplars have different shades of green,
verging towards yellow, and are very cheerful in the sunshine. Most of
the oak-leaves have still the deep verdure of summer; but where a change
has taken place, it is into a russet-red, warm, but sober. These colors,
infinitely varied by the progress which different trees have made in
their decay, constitute almost the whole glory of autumnal woods; but it
is impossible to conceive how much is done with such scanty materials.
In my whole walk I saw only one man, and he was at a distance, in the
obscurity of the trees. He had a horse and a wagon, and was getting a
load of dry brush-wood.

* * * * *

_Sunday, October 10._--I visited my grape-vine this afternoon, and ate
the last of its clusters. This vine climbs around a young maple-tree,
which has now assumed the yellow leaf. The leaves of the vine are more
decayed than those of the maple. Thence to Cow Island, a solemn and
thoughtful walk. Returned by another path, of the width of a wagon,
passing through a grove of hard wood, the lightsome hues of which make
the walk more cheerful than among the pines. The roots of oaks emerged
from the soil, and contorted themselves across the path. The sunlight,
also, broke across in spots, and otherwheres the shadow was deep; but
still there was intermingling enough of bright hues to keep off the
gloom from the whole path.

Brooks and pools have a peculiar aspect at this season. One knows that
the water must be cold, and o