The works of Edgar Allan Poe; newly collected and edited, with a memoir, critical introductions, and notes, by Edmund Clarence Stedman and George Edward Woodberry; the illustrations by Albert Edward Sterner.

THE ELK

But, even of this delicious region, the sweeter
portions are reached only by by-paths. Indeed, in
America generally, the traveller who would behold the
finest landscapes, must seek them, not by the railroad,
nor by the steamboat, nor by the stage-coach, nor in
his private carriage, nor yet even on horseback, - but
on foot. He must walk, he must leap ravines, he
must risk his neck among precipices, or he must leave
unseen the truest, the richest, and most unspeakable
glories of the land.
Now, in the greater portion of Europe no such
necessity exists. In England it exists not at all.
The merest dandy of a tourist may there visit every
nook worth visiting, without detriment to his silk
stockings, so thoroughly known are all points of
interest, and so well arranged are the means of
attaining them. This consideration has never been
allowed its due weight, in comparisons of the natural
scenery of the Old and New Worlds. The entire
loveliness of the former is collated with only the most
noted, and with by no means the most eminent, items
in the general loveliness of the latter.
River scenery has, unquestionably, within itself, all
the main elements of beauty, and, time out of mind,
has been the favorite theme of the poet. But much of
this fame is attributable to the predominance of travel
in fluvial over that in mountainous districts. In the
same way large rivers, because usually highways,
have, in all countries, absorbed an undue share of
admiration. They are more observed, and, consequently, made more the subject of discourse, than less
important, but often more interesting streams.
A singular exemplification of my remarks upon this
head may be found in the Wissahiccon, a brook (for
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