92 THE BEAUTIES OF NATURE CHAP. 
waving on high their feathery and arrow-like 
branches, form, as it were, ‘a forest above a 
forest’; or I would describe the summit of 
the Peak of Teneriffe, when a horizon layer 
of clouds, dazzling in whiteness, has separated 
the cone of cinders from the plain below, and 
suddenly the ascending current pierces the 
cloudy veil, so that the eye of the traveller 
may range from the brink of the crater, along 
the vine-clad slopes of Orotava, to the orange 
gardens and banana groves that skirt the 
shore. In scenes like these, it is not the 
peaceful charm uniformly spread over the face 
of nature that moves the heart, but rather the 
peculiar physiognomy and conformation of the 
land, the features of the landscape, the ever- 
varying outline of the clouds, and their blend- 
ing with the horizon of the sea, whether it 
lies spread before us like a smooth and shining 
mirror, or is dimly seen through the morning 
mist. All that the senses can but imperfectly 
comprehend, all that is most awful in such 
romantic scenes of nature, may become a 
source of enjoyment to man, by opening a wide 
field to the creative power of his imagination. 
‘ 
—. ™ - 
ee 
