us sides were clothed with the most enchanting variety
of plantation; whilst, like a stream of liquid light, the silver Ovoca
shone sparkling to the sun, as it followed, by the harmonious law of
nature, that graceful line of beauty which characterizes the windings of
this unrivalled valley. The cottage which commanded this rich prospect
we have partially described. It was white as snow, and had about it all
those traits of neatness and good taste which are, we regret! to say,
so rare among, and so badly understood by, our humbler countrymen. The
front walls were covered by honeysuckles, rose trees, and wild brier,
and the flower plot in front was so well stocked, that its summer bloom
would have done credit to the skill of an ordinary florist. The inside
of this cottage was equally neat, clean, and cheerful. The floor, an
unusual thing then, was tiled, which gave it a look of agreeable warmth;
the wooden vessels in the kitchen were white with incessant scouring,
whilst the pewter, brass, and tin, shone in becoming rivalry. The room
you entered was the kitchen, off which was a parlor and two bedrooms,
besides one for the servant.

As may be inferred from what we have said, the dresser was a perfect
treat to look at, and as the owners kept a cow, we need hardly add that
the delightful fragrance of milk which characterizes every well-kept
dairy, was perfectly ambrosial here. The chairs were of oak, so were the
tables; and a large arm-chair, with a semicircular back, stood at one
side of the clean hearth, whilst over the chimney-piece hung a portrait
of General Wolfe, with an engraving of the siege of Quebec. A series of
four silver medals, enclosed in red morocco cases, having the surface
of each protected by a glass cover, hung from a liliputian rack made of
mahogany, at once bearing testimony to the enterprise and gallantry
of the owner, as well as to the manly pride with which he took such
especial pains to preserve these proud rewards of his courage, and the
ability with which he must have discharged his duty as a soldier. On the
table lay a large Bible, a Prayer-book, and the "Whole Duty of Man,"
all neatly and firmly, but not ostentatiously bound. Some works of a
military character lay upon a little hanging shelf beside the dresser.
Over this shelf hung a fishing-rod, unscrewed and neatly tied up; and
upon the top of the other books lay one bound with red cloth, in which
he kept his flies. On one side of the window si