The free circulation of air through these
great unbroken forests is certainly much facilitated by these fires,
since they destroy every year what would soon become impediments. The
destruction of this undergrowth leaves the woods open, and the lands are
mainly so level that a carriage may be driven for miles, regardless of
roads, through the forests in every direction.
The shrubs about the fields and places where the forests have
been interrupted by civilization and other causes are blackberry,
huckleberry, raspberry, sumac, and their usual neighbors, with the
azalia, laurel, and rhododendron on the slopes and in the shade of the
cliffs.
The kinds of wild grasses, I regret to say, I have not noted, and the
same of the rich and varied display of wild flowers.
The whole ridge is well supplied with clean, soft running water, even
in the driest of the season. There are no marshes, swamps, or bogs, no
still water--not even a "puddle" for long--for the soil is of such a
character, that surface water quickly filters away into the sands and
mingles with the streams in the gulfs.
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