reater exposure to storms, or
both causes together, had left this hill-top comparatively
bare; and a few cedars that had lived and died there had been
cut away by the axe, for firewood; making a still further
clearance. But the shallow soil everywhere supported a
covering of short grass or more luxuriant mosses; and enough
cedars yet made good their hold of life and standing, to
overshadow pretty well the whole ground; leaving the eye
unchecked in its upward or downward rovings. The height was
about two hundred feet above the level of the river, and
seemed to stand in mid-channel, Shahweetah thrusting itself
out between the north and southerly courses of the stream, and
obliging it to bend for a little space at a sharp angle to the
West. The north and south reaches, and the bend were all
commanded by the height, together with the whole western shore
and southern and south-eastern hills. To the northwest was
Wut-a-qut-o, seen almost from the water's edge to the top; but
the out-jutting woods of Shahweetah impinged upon the
mountain's base, and cut the line of the river there to the
eye. But north there was no obstruction. The low foreground of
woods over which the hill-top looked, served but as a base to
the picture, a setting on the hither side. Beyond it the
Shatemuc rolled down from the north in uninterrupted view, the
guardian hills, Wut-a-qut-o and its companions, standing on
either side; and beyond them, far beyond, was the low western
shore of the river sweeping round to the right, where the
river made another angle, shewing its soft tints; and some
faint and clear blue mountains still further off, the extreme
distance of all. But what varied colouring, -- what fresh
lights and shades, -- what sweet contrast of fair blue sky and
fair blue river, -- the one, earth's motion; the other,
heaven's rest; what deep and bright greens in the foreground,
and what shadowy, faint, cloud-like, tints of those far off
mountains. The soft north wind that had greeted the travellers
in the early morning, was blowing yet, soft and warm; it
flickered the leaves of the oaks and chestnuts with a lazy
summer stir; white sails spotted the broad bosom of the
Shatemuc and came down with summer gentleness from the upper
reaches of the river. And here and there a cloud floated over;
and now and then a locust sang his monotone; and another soft
breath of the North wind said that it was August; and the
grasshoppers down in the dell said ye