156 A LASTING IMPRESSIDX. 



foain. Every ruck and islet is covered with vigor- 

 ous trees, collected in clusters. Far as the eye can 

 reach, a thick vapour is suspended over the river, 

 and through this whitish fog the tops of the lofty 

 palm-trees shoot up. The leafy plume of this 

 palm-tree, the trunk of which is more than 80 feet 

 high, rises almost straight toward heaven. At 

 every hour of the day the sheet of foam displays 

 different aspects. Sometimes the hilly islands and 

 the palm-trees project their broad shadows ; some- 

 times the rays of the setting sun are refracted 

 in the humid cloud that shrouds the cataract. 

 Coloured arcs are formed, and vanish and appear 

 again alternately ; light sport of the air, their 

 images wave above the plain. 



" I do not hesitate to repeat, that neither time 

 rior any other sight of beauty has effaced from my 

 mind the powerful impression of the aspect of the 

 cataracts. When I read a description of those 

 places in India that are embellished by running 

 .waters and a vigorous vegetation, my imagination 

 recalls a sea of foam and palm-trees, the tops of 

 which rise above a stratum of vapour. The majestic 

 scenes of nature, like the sublime works of poetry 

 and the arts, leave remembrances that are inces- 

 santly reviving, and through the whole of life 

 mingle with all our feelings of what is grand and 

 beautiful." 



