THE COUNTRY. I19


such a tree, and know no awe, but much rever-
ence. They are like certain motherly and un-
intelligent women, to whom one goes in grief
or despair, sure of being comforted and not too
deeply understood.
 It is no wonder that that handful of French-
men whom Jean Ribaut left behind him at the
mouth of one of these southern rivers, as silent
and slow-flowing as the St. John's, with just
such gracious trees along its shores, should
have been "well content to have been forgot-