84 SYLVAN WINTER. 



at the mighty roar of a cataract ; or at the heavy 

 impact of a furious sea upon a rock-bound coast. 

 Other sounds there are in Nature which impress 

 or charm us in a degree determined by the force 

 of the operations which give rise to them. The 

 impetuous rush of flood-water along the bed of a 

 mountain stream ; the whistling and moaning of 

 the wind as it moves with a strength which sways 

 to and fro the giant forms of trees ; the beating 

 of heavy rain, and the hiss of a hail-storm. Or the 

 dreamy gurgle of a trickling stream ; the summer 

 breeze discoursing leafy music amidst the foliage 

 of a wood, and the soft sounds of bird and insect 

 life. In her sights, too, Nature can appal or 

 charm, as the mood befits her appal by the lurid 

 outburst of a volcano carrying death far and wide 

 to the animal and to the plant world ; by the flash 

 of the electric fluid charged with death to all 

 living things which may lie in its irresistible path 

 to the earth, and by the blaze of fire which has 

 won the mastery over human efforts at repression 

 and she can charm by the golden or silvery 

 light of sun or moon ; by the beauty of form and 

 by the wealth of varying colour. 



