AN EQUATORIAL SUNRISE. 155 



dawn. Almost all the native inhabitants of these 

 countries are up at about this hour with the sun, 

 in fact. At that hour, Nature seems, with one consent, 

 to awaken from its slumbers, and as the first rosy 

 tints of the morning- begin to redden the Eastern 

 horizon, the silence of the night is broken in upon by 

 the calls of birds, the busy hum of insect life, and 

 other tokens which indicate that the advent of the 

 great luminary of the day is the accepted signal bidding 

 them go forth to pursue their daily round of active 

 existence. 



In these damp equatorial climates the morning air 

 is generally at this time heavy with mist: and white, 

 smoke-like wreaths of vapour appear drawn like a 

 bridal veil across the face of Nature, the lofty heads 

 of palms and other trees seeming to rise above it, as 

 if starting from the surface of a sea of vapour. But 

 these fogs are quickly dispersed as the sun, arising 

 in fiery glory, bathes the landscape in a flood of light, 

 causing every dewdrop to sparkle like a diamond upon 

 the dripping foliage. The air, too, is often filled with 

 a balsamic fragrance exhaled by aromatic shrubs and 

 grasses, or with the scent of flowers borne aloft on 

 some of the numerous trailing creepers, which entwine 

 themselves like cordage amongst the trees. 



But unfortunately, beneath an exterior often exquis- 

 itely beautiful there is apt to lurk an element that goes 

 far to neutralize many of its charms ; for these places, 

 especially when situated upon the coast line of countries 

 within the equatorial zone, are frequently notoriously 

 unhealthy ; for instance, it is only necessary to mention 

 the British and other settlements on the West Coast 

 of Africa, which may most of them be described as 



