94 BERTHA'S VISIT TO HER 



apple, though, when ripe, it somewhat resembles 

 a crab-apple ; but it has a stone within, and has 

 at all times a delightful fragrance like the rose. 

 The fruit, when ripe, is gathered, and carefully 

 dried in the shade. 



But what interested me much more than all 

 her srmffand tobacco, was the account she gave 

 of some dear little green humming-birds, that 

 used constantly to build amongst the flowers of 

 a convolvolus that grew against the house near 

 her window. She took the greatest pleasure in 

 listening to their little feeble notes, and in watch- 

 ing their rapid motions and all their habits. They 

 were of a smaller species than any of our little 

 Brazilian beauties ; and she says the eggs were 

 actually just the size of coriander seeds ! 



. As I was curious to see the effect of 

 frost on a very wet soil, Frederick and I went this 

 morning to a spot in the low fields, where we 

 knew it was always swampy. We observed that, 

 as we walked there, the ground crackled, and sunk 

 a little beneath our feet ; so Frederick went for 

 a spade, and we gently raised up one of the large 

 lumps between two of the cracks. We found 

 very near the surface a thin crust of ice, and 

 under that a forest of minute columns of ice, 

 standing close together like a fairy palace, with 

 rows in it of clustered pillars ; for each column 

 was in reality composed of several lesser ones, 



