The land is well timbered with the best description of hard wood,
amongst which is to be found in considerable abundance, the black
cherry. This tree grows often to a large size, and is used extensively
for furniture, particularly for dining-tables: if well made and
polished, it is little inferior to mahogany, either in appearance or
durability.

I remember, on this very journey, that Mr. Prior and myself were much
struck by the size and magnificent appearance of one of these cherry-
trees, which grew close to the road side, not far from the Big Thames.
Two years afterwards, passing the same tree, I got out of my sleigh and
measured the circumference as high as I could reach, which I found to
be ten feet seven inches, and, I should think, it was not less than
fifty feet in height from the ground to the first branch: it is a great
pity to see such noble trees as these either burned or split up into
fencing rails.

I think the largest tree of the hard wood species I ever saw in this
country, was near Bliss's Tavern, in the township of Beverly, and it
was called the Beverly-oak.* I was induced to visit this giant of the
woods from the many accounts I had heard of its vast dimensions, and
was, certainly, astonished at its size and symmetry. I measured it as
accurately as I could about six feet from the ground, and found the
diameter to be as nearly eleven feet as possible, the trunk rising like
a majestic column towering upwards for sixty or seventy feet before
branching off its mighty head. Mr. Galt, who was induced to visit this
tree from my description has, in his "Autobiography," mentioned the
height of the trunk from the ground to the branches, as eighty feet;
but I think he has overrated it. I was accompanied to the tree by the
landlord, who remarked, "that he calculated that he should cut that