Page:Early western travels, 1748-1846 (1907 Volume 3).djvu/264

 dyeing, that the inhabitants not only go to fetch it for their own use, but export it to Kentucky. They cut it into pieces with an axe; but nobody is acquainted there with the process used on the Old Continent to prepare the different substances, as it is found in trade.

Large rivulets, after having serpentined in the forests, terminate their windings at the steep banks of this river, whence they fall murmuring into its bed, and form magnificent cascades several fathoms wide. The perpetual humidity that these cascades preserve in these places gives birth to a multitude of plants which grow in the midst of a thick moss, with which the rock is covered, and which forms the most beautiful verdant carpet.

All these circumstances give the borders of Roaring River a cool and pleasing aspect, which I had never witnessed before on the banks of other rivers. A {212} charming variety of trees and shrubs are also seen there, which are to be met with no where else. We observed the magnolia auriculata, macrophilla, cordata, acuminata, and tripetala. The fruit of these trees, so remarkable for the beauty of their flowers and superb foliage, were in the highest perfection. I gathered a few seeds to multiply them in France, and to add to the embellishment of our gardens. These seeds grow rancid very soon. I endeavoured to remedy this inconvenience by putting them into fresh moss, which I renewed every fortnight till my return to Carolina, where I continued the same precautions till the epoch of my embarking for Europe. I have since had the satisfaction to see that my pains were not fruitless, and that I succeeded by this means in preserving their germinative faculty.

Major Russel, with whom I went to lodge after I had taken my leave of Mr. Blackborn, and where Mr. Fisk