124 FLORIDA DAYS.

and the whole so spread out. that it looks like
an army. There is very little grass about their
roots, and there seem to be no shadows upon
the deep, hot sand in which they grow. At
the top of each bare perpendicular shaft, the
horizontal branches spread like the radii of a
circle, making a cone which terminates in a
naked spike. "Their forests are silent as soli-
tudes," Taine says. "The whistle of the wind
makes no noise; it glides over the stiff beard of
the leaves without stirring or rubbing them to-
gether. One hears no sound save the whispering
'of the tops and the shrivelling of the little yellow-
ish lamels which fall in showers. The turf is
dead, the soil naked; you walk among pale shafts
which rise like tapers. A strong odor fills the
air, resembling the perfume of aromatics. They
live in families," he adds, "and expel other trees
from their domain." The impulse of worship is
not stirred among the pines; instead, there is
often a curious impatience with the assertive-
ness of the trees, and a dull fright at their
endless numbers.
 It is strange that such multitudes of trees are