WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA. 311 



Eosinante's own. The mules feeding on them, put you in 

 mind of Ovid's description of famine : 



"Dura cutis, per quam spectari viscera possent." 



It is somewhab singular, that there is not a single river or 

 brook in the whole island of Antigua. In. this it differs 

 from Tartary in the other world ; which, according to old 

 writers, has five rivers ; viz. Acheron, Phlegethon, Cocytus, 

 Styx, and Lethe. 



In this island I found the Red Start, described in Wilson's 

 " Ornithology of the United States." I wished to learn 

 whether any of these birds remain the whole year in 

 Antigua, and breed there ; or whether they all leave it for 

 the north when the sun comes out of the southern hemi- 

 sphere ; but, upon inquiry, I could get no information 

 whatever. 



After passing a dull week here, I sailed for Guadaloupe, 

 whose bold and cloud-capped mountains have a grand 

 appearance as you approach the island. Basseterre, the 

 capital, is a neat town, with a handsome public walk 

 in the middle of it, well shaded by a row of fine tamarind 

 trees on each side. Behind the town, La Souffriere raises 

 its high romantic summit ; and on a clear day, you may 

 see the volcanic smoke which issues from it. 



Nearly midway, betwixt Guadaloupe and Dominica, you 

 descry the Saintes. Though high, and bold, and rocky, 

 they have still a diminutive appearance when compared 

 with their two gigantic neighbours. You just see Mari- 

 galante to windward of them, some leagues off, about a 

 yard high in the horizon. 



Dominica is majestic in high and rugged mountains. 

 As you sail along it, you cannot help admiring its beauti- 

 ful coffee plantations, in places so abrupt and steep, that 

 you would pronounce them almost inaccessible. Roseau, 



