138 BERTHA'S VISIT TO HER 



though I know I shall always feel disappointed 

 at not, having my garden full of the bright and 

 glowing flowers that I have been accustomed to 

 see. It mu^l look, I fear, as sombre as the 

 forest and the valley do, when I compare them 

 with those of my former country. But they tell 

 me that I must not judge now of the look either 

 of the garden or of the country, as spring will 

 give them a very different appearance ; and, 

 indeed, I must confess that, gloomy as the 

 season is becoming, the well-sheltered fields, 

 with the cattle quietly browsing, or tamely 

 going home, at regular hours, to be milked, do 

 look exceedingly cheerful. 



I have frequently visited my aunt's dairy ; 

 and the operations there are so new to one just 

 fresh from a country where cows and dairy are 

 but little attended to, that I take constant in- 

 terest in them. " And the milkmaid singeth 

 blithe" is now a familiar image to me; formerly 

 it was only from your description I understood 

 it. How is it that such a precious gift as milk 

 can be overlooked in any part of the world, par- 

 ticularly in one that abounds with cattle as Brazil 

 does ; while, in some of the rocky parts of South 

 America, the palo de vaca, or cow tree, is consi- 

 dered such a treasure ? But it is curious that 

 I never heard of that tree till I came here. 

 Humboldt says that it has dry, stiff leaves, and 

 its large w r oody roots seem as if they could 



