188 A JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



feet high, and at the edge of a steep descent. We were prepared 

 to expect an extensive prospect, but the magnificent scene before 

 us was so superior to what the nature of the country had promised, 

 that it banished even our sense of suffering from the musquitoes, 

 which hovered in clouds about our heads. Two parallel chains of 

 hills extended towards the setting sun, their various projecting out- 

 lines exhibiting the several gradations of distance, and the opposite 

 bases closing at the horizon. On the nearest eminence, the objects 

 were clearly defined by their dark shadows ; the yellow rays blended 



their softening hues with brilliant green on the next, and beyond it 



all distinction melted into gray and purple. In the long valley 



between, the smooth and colourless Clear Water River wound its 

 spiral course, broken and shattered by encroaching woods. An ex- 

 uberance of rich herbage covered the soil, and lofty trees climbed 

 the precipice at our feet, hiding its brink with their summits. Im- 

 patient as we were, and blinded with pain, we paid a tribute of ad- 

 miration, which this beautiful landscape is capable of exciting, un- 

 aided by the borrowed charms of a calm atmosphere, glowing with 

 the vivid tints of evening. 



We descended to the banks of the Clear Water River, and having 

 encamped, the two men returned to assist their companions. We 

 had sometimes before procured a little rest, by closing the tent, and 

 burning wood, or flashing gunpowder within, the smoke driving the 

 musquitoes into the crannies of the ground. But this remedy was 

 now ineffectual, though we employed it so perseveringly as to hazard 

 suffocation : they swarmed under our blankets, goring us with their 

 envenomed trunks, and steeping our clothes in blood. We rose at 

 day-light in a fever, and our misery was unmitigated during our 



whole stay. 



The musquitoes of America resemble, in shape, those of Africa 

 and Europe, but differ essentially in size and other particulars. 

 There are two distinct species, the largest of which is brown, and 



