To the inhabitants all this is a matter of course. In spite of all adverse circumstances there remain trees enough which rise victorious over cold, • heat, and wet. and reach the most gigantic dimensions. The forests, which often occupy many square miles, afford peculiar enjoyments to the lover of natural beauty. For miles no trace of human life, no path, no distant sound of man or dog ; all is the undisputed territory of the wolf, the bear, and the lynx. Here and there a gap in the primeval gloom shows green meadows, untrodden save by the stag and timid elk. The heathcock and the black eagle dwell concealed in the perpetual twilight of the pine-trees. Li spring, when all is green and young and growing, and pai'ticularly in the clear, briglit, enchanting nights of June, these forests are most beautiful. The fresh, delicious scent of the young buds of the pines fills the atmosphere with fragrance. At times light gusts of wind waft thick clouds of ripe seeds into the air, and nmltitudes of birds twitter in the lonely branches.
The most conmion trees are the fir, pine, birch, and alder. The birch
358 THE ANIMAL WORLD IN THE BALTIC PROVINCES.
does not grow in the thick forests, but forms light and graceful groups on the meadows, and on the borders of the lakes. The birch flourishes the better the farther northward we go. The contrary is the case with the beech, oak, poplar, alder, and willow. No tree in the country is so systematically persecuted and rooted out as the oak. For, different from the pines, which prefer a sandy soil, and the birch-trees, which flourish best in damp ground, the oak always chooses the most beautiful and fertile spot ; the oak must, therefore, always give way before the hand of agricultural industry, and the plough is its sworn foe.
Sixty diflerent kinds of willows have been counted in these provinces, and they possess various kinds of alders, poplars, and asps. Yew-trees, lindens, hazel-trees, and other wild fruit-trees, are also common ; and the trees stre never more beautiful than in October, when, as in Canada and other northern countries, the changing and decaying foliage forms the most beautiful scale of colours — green, golden, purple, red, and violet.
THE ANIMAL WORLD IN THE BALTIC PROVINCES.
The animal world displays as many pecuHar forms and circumstances as the vegetable creation in these countries. Many animals belong exclusively to them ; many, which are common with us, are unknown here, or but rare and occasional visiters ; while others, almost fabulous to us, are here familiar and common.
The wolf is the most common of all wild animals, particularly in Esthonia. It is so great a torment to the peasants and shepherds, that the month of December, when cold and hunger drives the wolves oftenest to the dwellings of man, is called by them " Vilku mehnes," or wolfs month. In Jaimary, the howling of the wolves is as common a nocturnal music as is the squalling of cats in our towns.
The bear, the brother of the wolf, has now quite abandoned the province of Courland ; but in Livonia, and still more in Esthonia, he is still common. Many different kinds of bears are found. On the Peipus lake, and between Narva and Dorpat, the largest, strongest, and most dangerous species is met with. It is ash-gray, with a white stripe round the neck. Bear hunting and baiting are favourite amusements of the nobility. The Esthonians, too, encounter this savage animal with great equanimity, and very frequently bring bearskins and bear-flesh to market.
Lynxes are not so common as bears, and still rarer are beavers and squirrels. The fox is less abundant than with us. The wild hog is a frequent guest from Lithuania.
In all the larger forests, the gigantic elk of the north abounds ; but the German nobles take such delight in hunting it, that it seems hkely to disappear in some districts. Elks are most numerous in eastern Livonia, where twenty or thirty, and sometimes forty or fifty, are often killed in one day's hunting. The original inhabitants of the country beluive more generously to this noble animal ; and a female elk is often seen feeding, with her young ones, along with the shepherd and his flock. The elk has never been tamed, and all attempts to turn its gigantic strength to the service of man, have been unsuccessful. Its flosli, Avhich is a veiy frequent dish here, has a taste between that of beef and venison. The skin forms extremely hard and thick leather ; it is in many places impenetrable to a musket-ball. An elk is seldom killed by the first or second shot ; they sometimes even escape with four musket-bullets in the body.
Hares are common throughout the provinces, and deer are often found in Courland. Badgers and marmots burrow in the ground, and otters and beavers inhabit the banks of the rivers.