326 THE FOREST AND THE FIELD. 



wounding the delicacy, hurting the feelings, or 

 awakening the resentment of any negro by making 

 love to his wife, sister, or daughter, for he looks 

 upon these attentions, if paid by a white man, 

 rather as a compliment than otherwise, and the 

 " green-eyed monster" never causes him an anxious 

 moment. If the trespasser on his preserves should, 

 however, be of his own colour, affairs assume a very 

 different aspect, as in such a case there will be " a 

 big palaver," and heavy damages to pay, the co- 

 respondent having sometimes to make good to the 

 injured husband the full amount that his wife 

 originally cost. 



Towards evening the weather, which hitherto 

 had been bright and serene, appeared to be under- 

 going a change that betokened the approach of one 

 of those sudden thunderstorms that so frequently 

 occur in tropical latitudes. The wind appeared to 

 awake in the west, and came in sudden and fitful 

 gusts, whilst the sun, assuming a red appearance, 

 became encompassed by masses of dark purple 

 clouds, which rose in banks on the western horizon. 

 Heavy drops fell ; then, at intervals, Heaven's 



