STtTDY XI. 289 



vicinity, againft the trunk of a tree ; and there, 

 confounded with the colour of it's bark, and mo- 

 tionlefs, he becomes invifible. But he prefently 

 animates the obfcure retreat which he has chofen, 

 by the divine melody of his fong, and effaces all 

 the brilliancy of plumage, by the charms of his 

 mufic. 



But whatever enchantment may be diffufed by 

 plants and animals over the fituations which have 

 been afligned to them by Nature, I never can con- 

 fider a landfcape as pofleffing all it's beauty, unlefs 

 I perceive in it, at leaft, one little hut. The habi-* 

 tation of Man confers, on every fpecies of vege- 

 table, a new degree of intereft or of^majefty. No- 

 thing more is neceflary, in many cafes, than a tree, 

 in order to characterize, in a country, the wants of 

 whole Nation, and the care of Providence. I love 

 to fee the family of an Arab under the date-tree 

 of the defert, and the boat of an iflander of the 

 Maldivias loaded with cocoa-nuts, under the co- 

 coa-trees of their gravelly ftrands. The hovel of 

 a poor un-indufttious Negro gives me pleafure, 

 under the fhade of a great gourd-plant, which ex- 

 hibits his complete fet of houfhold furniture. Our 

 magnificent hotels, in great cities, are the habi- 

 tations of tr;.defmen merely : in the country, they 

 are transformed into caftles, palaces, temples. The 

 long avenues which announce them confound 



vol. 111. v themfelves 



