314 



the Colonists are extravagantly fond of it in all its varieties, 

 it never enters into their ordinary bill of fare. 



" After a fatiguing walk of about three hours, we arrived 

 at the glen which terminates in the Bale du Cap, and through 

 which flows the river that forms the Grand Cascade. All 

 along the rocky channel of this river we remarked regular 

 and beautiful specimens o^ columnar trap, sometimes fluting the 

 mural cliffs, at others forming a tesselated pavement at their 

 base. Half a mile before we arrived at the bottom of the bay, 

 our conductor led us a short way aside, in order to show us a 

 remarkable natural curiosity. It is a cavern in the face of a 

 perpendicular rock, or rather hill, about six yards in depth, 

 and regularly vaulted over by an arch, the span of which is 

 equal at least to twenty yards. The arch is formed by the 

 ends of small basaltic columns, arranged with much symmetry, 

 and over the front of the cavern you see the shafts of these 

 columns diverging as they ascend, according to the strictest 

 rules of architecture. A stream of water, which pours down 

 from the top of the precipice, is received into a deep basin 

 directly in front of the cavern, whence it silently glides down 

 to the river through a grove of Banana and Clove trees. It 

 was impossible to view this natural recess without forming 

 visionary plans of embellishment, such as would render it a 

 delightful retreat from the sun, which at this moment darted 

 his rays with meridian ardour. After breathing for a few 

 minutes the cool atmosphere of the cavern, we set off" again, 

 and arrived shortly thereafter at a precipice which we were 

 obliged to scale, by the aid of a ladder, not less than twelve 

 yards long. This undertaking had a nervous effect on more 

 than one member of our party ; but we accomplished it with- 

 out any accident, and arrived, in about a quarter of an hour, 

 at the residence of Mr. Blancai'd, where we were welcomed 

 with the same cordiality as at Chamarel's. 



" Blancard's plantation is the first we come to on entering 

 the quarter of the Savanne. This district commences at the 

 Bale du Cap, and thence stretches along the coast as far as 

 the Riviere du Poste. The bay is nothing but a small creek, 

 as indeed all the bays in this island are, where a few coasting 



