78 MONTSERRA T. 



we have made this out of the primaival forest." Then on 

 again. " We mounted " (I (^uote now from the notes of one 

 to whom the existence of the settlement was due) " to the 

 crest of the hills, and had a noble view southwards, lookinir 

 over the rich mass of dark wood, flecked here and there with 

 a scarlet stain of Bois immortelle, to the great sea of bright 

 green sugar cultivation in the Xaparimas, studded by white 

 works and villages, and backed far off by a hazy line of forest, 

 out of which rose the peaks of the Moruga Mountains. ^lore 

 to the west lay San Fernando hill, the calm gulf, and the 



coast toward La Brea and Cedros melting into mist. M 



thought we should get a better view of the northern 

 mountains by riding up to old Kicano's house ; so we went 

 thither, under the cacao rich with yellow and purple pods. 

 The view was fine : but the northern range, though visible, 

 \v2is rather too indistinct, and the mainland was not to be 

 seen at all." 



]^evertheless, the panorama from the top of Montserrat is 

 at once the most vast, and the most lovely, which I have 

 ever seen. And whosoever chooses to go and live there may 

 buy any reasonable quantity of the richest soil at one pound 

 per acre. 



Then down off the ridge toward the northern lowland, lay 

 a headlong old Indian path, by which we travelled, at last, 

 across a rocky brook, and into a fresh paradise. 



