ver the bending
woods, the giant trees waving and chanting in hearty accord as if surely
enjoying it all.

Heavy, long-continued rains occur in the winter months. Then every leaf,
bathed and brightened, rejoices. Filtering drops and currents through
all the shaggy undergrowth of the woods go with tribute to the small
streams, and these again to the larger. The rivers swell, but there are
no devastating floods; for the thick felt of roots and mosses holds
the abounding waters in check, stored in a thousand thousand fountains.
Neither are there any violent hurricanes here, At least, I never have
heard of any, nor have I come upon their tracks. Most of the streams are
clear and cool always, for their waters are filtered through deep beds
of mosses, and flow beneath shadows all the way to the sea. Only the
streams from the glaciers are turbid and muddy. On the slopes of the
mountains where they rush from their crystal caves, they carry not
only small particles of rock-mud, worn off the sides and bottoms of
the channels of the glaciers, but grains of sand and pebbles and large
boulders tons in weight, rolling them forward on their way rumbling and
bumping to their appointed places at the foot of steep slopes, to be
built into rough bars and beds, while the smaller material is carried
farther and outspread in flats, perhaps for coming wheat fields and
gardens, the finest of it going out to sea, floating on the tides for
weeks and months ere it finds rest on the bottom.

Snow seldom falls to any great depth on the lowlands, though it comes in
glorious abundance on the mountains. And only on the mountains does the
temperature fall much below the freezing point. In the warmest summer
weather a temperature of eighty-five degrees or even more occasionally
is reached, but not for long at a time, as such heat is speedily
followed by a breeze from the sea. The most charming days here are days
of perfect calm, when all the winds are holding their breath and not a
leaf stirs. The surface of the Sound shines like a silver mirror over
all its vast extent, reflecting its lovely islands and shores; and long
sheets of spangles flash and dance in the wake of every swimming
seabird and boat. The sun, looking down on the tranquil landscape, seems
conscious of the presence of every living thing on which he is pouring
his blessings, while they in turn, with perhaps the exception of man,
seem conscious of the sun as a benevolent father and stand