CHAP, i.] WEST INDIES. 21 



whose variety is not less remarkable than their beau- 

 ty, I now return from these, the smallest and most 

 pleasing forms of active life, to the largest and most 

 awful objects of inanimate nature. The transition is 

 abrupt ; but it is in the magnitude, extent, and eje- 

 vation of the mountains of the New World, that the 

 Almighty has most strikingly manifested the \vonders 

 of his omnipotence. Those of South America are sup- 

 posed to be nearly twice the height of the highest in 

 the ancient hemisphere, and, even under the equator, 

 have their tops involved in everlasting snow. To 

 those massive piles, the loftiest summits of the most 

 elevated of the West Indian islands cannot indeed be 

 compared; but some of these rise, nevertheless, in 

 amazing grandeur, and are among the first objects that 

 fix the attention of the voyager. The mountains of 

 Hispaniola in particular, whose wavy ridges are de- 

 scried from sea at the distance of thirty leagues, tower- 

 ing far above the clouds in stupendous magnificence, 

 and the blue mountains of Jamaica, have never vet. 



J 9 



that I have heard, been fully explored. Neither cu- 

 riosity nor avarice has hitherto ventured to invade the 

 topmost of those lofty regions. In such of them as 

 are accessible, nature is found to have put on the ap- 

 pearance of a new creation. As the climate changes, 

 the trees, the birds, and the insects are seen also to 

 differ from those which are met with below. To an 

 unaccustomed spectator, looking down from those 

 heights, the whole scene appears like enchantment. 

 The first object which catches the eye at the dawn of 

 day, is a vast expanse of vapour, covering the whole 

 face of the vallies. Its boundaries beinsr perfect!-' 



5 v ' . O JT J 



