48 STUDIES OF NATURE* 



Notvvithilanding the great irregularity of thô 

 foil, all thefe plantations were, for the moft part, 

 as acceffible to the foot as to the eye. In truth, 

 we all afiifted him, with our advice, and with our 

 exertions, in order to accomplifh his purpofe. He 

 had traced a path which winded round the bâfon, 

 and of which feveral ramifications converged from 

 the circumference to meet at the centre. He had 

 availed himfelf of the mod rugged places of his 

 domain, and united, by a harmony the moft deli- 

 cious, facility of walking with the afperity of the 

 foil, and domeftic with foreft trees. Of that enor- 

 mous quantity of rolling ftones, which now ob- 

 ftrud thefe roads, as well as mar the greateft part 

 of the furface of this iiland, he had formed in va- 

 rious places, huge pyramids, in the layers of which 

 he had mixed with earth, and the roots of rofe- 

 trees, Û\ç. poincillade^ and other flirubs, which take 

 pleafure in the rocks. In a very fliort time, thefe 

 gloomy and inanimate piles were covered with ver- 

 dure, or with the dazzling luftre of the moft beau- 

 tiful flowers. The cavities worn by the torrent in 

 the fides of the mountain, bordered with aged 

 trees inclined toward each other, formed arched 

 fubterraneans, inacceffible to the heat, to which 

 they retired for coolnefs, during the fultry ardor 

 of the meridian Sun. A narrow path conduced 

 into a thicket of wild trees, at the centre of which 

 grew, flieltered from the winds, a houfehold- 



tree. 



