CHAPTEE II. 



CHEMISTRY OF THE LAND. 



STANDING on this elevated spot we may take a 

 survey of the scene before us. All is still ; 

 the breeze has died away, the air is now clear, 

 and without a cloud, and the ear listens in 

 vain to catch a sound, beyond the low and 

 fitful rushing of those foaming waters, which, 

 as they leave their rocky channel and flow 

 through the fields beneath, again become silent, 

 and roll noiselessly into the sea. The shepherd's 

 flock lies under the shadow of the overarching 

 elm-tree, the cattle are standing in the shady 

 hollow by the river-side, and the cowherd 

 himself stretches his lazy length upon the soft 

 grass on the bank. These green meadows, so 

 fresh and luxuriant in their appearance, seem 

 also asleep. The humble and soberly-arrayed 

 flowers which bedeck the soil, lift up th.eir gaze 

 to the light, and seem athirst for a refreshing 

 shower. . Although it is midday, and every 

 object is bathed in sunshine, all is so quiet and 

 so motionless, that the repose is like that of the 

 night. 



F 



