INDICATIONS OF THE RAINY SEASON. 283 



and soon dense vapours obscure the magnificent 

 concavity of heaven. Plaintive cries are now heard 

 in various directions, as from those who mourn and 

 bewail themselves. They are uttered by howling 

 monkeys in the evening and before the dawn of day, 

 and break upon the stillness of those wild solitudes ; 

 loud thunders, too, announce the approach of re- 

 freshing rains, which descend in torrents, and call 

 forth a brilliant assemblage of grass and flowers. 



The dry and dusty plains seem changed as if by a 

 magic wand. Beautiful mimosas unfold their light 

 green leaves in unison with the broad and ample blos- 

 soms of water plants; creepers and tall shrubs, bright 

 flowers, and waving grasses appear in mingled beauty ; 

 brilliant butterflies sport among them, and animals 

 of all descriptions bound rejoicing amid the glowing 

 scene. He who looks over the smiling landscape, 

 and hears the cheerful songs of innumerable birds, 

 who observes the beauty of the vegetable, and the 

 joyousness of the animal creation, might be ready 

 to exclaim, "Such was Eden!" But in the midst 

 of all that is thus verdurous and joyful, death and 

 misery abound. The spotted jaguar lurks in the 

 tall herbage, and often darts, like the eastern tiger, 

 upon the bounding antelope. He, too, who stops to 

 gather a water-lily from the margin of some stream- 

 let or inland lake, which reflects on its tranquil 

 bosom the beautiful earth and sky, is often as- 

 tonished by hearing a strange uncouth sound that 

 precedes the breaking up of some near spots of 

 earth, the clods of which are cast into the air with 

 a noise resembling that of a mud volcano. This 

 heaving of the earth announces the rising up of 



