In parts, trees have fallen across the fissure,--trees with large trunks.
I bathed in the stream in this old, secluded spot, which I frequent for
that purpose. To reach it, I cross one branch of the stream on stones,
and then pass to the other side of a little island, overgrown with trees
and underbrush. Where I bathe, the stream has partially dammed itself up
by sweeping together tree-trunks and slabs and branches, and a thousand
things that have come down its current for years perhaps; so that there
is a deep pool, full of eddies and little whirlpools which would carry me
away, did I not take hold of the stem of a small tree that lies
opportunely transversely across the water. The bottom is uneven, with
rocks of various size, against which it is difficult to keep from
stumbling, so rapid is the stream. Sometimes it bears along branches and
strips of bark,--sometimes a green leaf, or perchance a dry one,--
occasionally overwhelmed by the eddies and borne deep under water, then
rushing atop the waves.
The forest, bordering the stream, produces its effect by a complexity of
causes,--the old and stern trees, with stately trunks and dark foliage,--
as the almost black pines,--the young trees, with lightsome green
foliage,--as sapling oaks, maples and poplars,--then the old, decayed
trunks, that are seen lying here and there, all mouldered, so that the
foot would sink into them.
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