186 CATARACTS OF THE ORINOCO. 



race deceased. It was one of those clear and cool nights so frequent 

 in the tropics. The moon, encircled with colored rings, stood high 

 in the zenith, illuminating the margin of the mist, which lay with 

 well-defined, cloud-like outlines on the surface of the foaming river. 

 Countless insects poured their red phosphoric light on the herb- 

 covered ground, which glowed with living fire, as if the starry canopy 

 of heaven had sunk down upon the turf. Climbing Bignonias, fra- 

 grant Vanillas, and yellow-flowering Banisterias, adorned the entrance 

 of the cave; and the summits of the palms rustled above the graves. 

 Thus perish the generations of men ! Thus do the name and the 

 traces of nations fade .and disappear! Yet when each blossom of 

 man's intellect withers when in the storms of time the memorials 

 of his art moulder and decay an ever new life springs forth from 

 the bosom of the earth ; maternal Nature unfolds unceasingly her 

 germs, her flowers, and her fruits ; regardless though man with his 

 passions and his crimes treads under foot her ripening harvest. 



