54 HOW THE AUTHOR WAS LED TO 





colossal staircase whicli, without surprises, in the full sunlight, and 

 always facing the mighty sea, leads by three flights to the summit, 

 each flight covering upwards of a hundred feet. You cannot accom- 

 plish this ascent at one breath ; at the second stage, you breathe, you 

 seat yourself for a few moments by the monument which the widow 

 of one of France's greatest soldiers has raised to his memory, in the 

 hope that its pyramid might prove a beacon to the mariner, and 

 guard liim from shipwreck. 



This cliff, of a very sandy soil, loses a little every winter.* It is 

 not, however, the sea which gnaws at it ; the heavy rains wash it 

 away, carrying off the debris, which, at first bare and shapeless, bear 

 eloquent witness to their downfall. But tender and gi^acious Nature 

 does not long suffer this. She speedily attires them, bestows upon 

 them greensward, herbs, shrubs, briers, which in due time become 

 miniature oases on the declivity, Liliput landscapes suspended on 

 the vast cliff, consoling its gloomy barrenness with their sweet youth. 



Thus the Beautiful and the Sublime here embrace, a thing of rarity. 



* La Heve is the ancient Caletorum Promontorinm, and situated about three miles norOi- 

 west of Havre. — Translator. 



