The X^oices of the Wilderness 



make a ])reak in the mass of trees, a sea of light lloods 

 all the ground — a flood ot light so strong that olh' eyes, 

 accustomed to the obscurit)-. the mysterious semi-darkness 

 of the forest, are dazzled, and there comes to our minds 

 involuntarily recollections of old Bible pictures, in which 

 such tloods of light are shown streaming" down from 

 h(>aven to earth. A contusion of trees, creepers and 

 undergrowth, with amidst it uprooted tree-trunks lying 

 mouldering away ; the earth black, and often marshy ; 

 no road or way far and wide, but only here and there 

 the tracks and beaten paths made by the elephants and 

 rhinoceroses that have roamed the old forest since primeval 

 times. 



Deep silence all around. If the traveller stands still 

 and holds his breath, this silence seems to weigh down 

 u{)on the soul with a weird force. At such moments 

 it is as though some vague disaster threatened, or some- 

 thing wicked and dangerous were creeping around unseen. 



Suddenly, a squealing and chattering. There is a 



scurry up and down the tree-trunks, and again there 



is a strange sound of spitting and growling. Just now 



there had come over us a feeling such as is expressed 



in Bocklin's ^ masterly picture, directly inspired by nature, 



Schiveigcu dcs ]]\ildcs (the "Silence of the Forest"). 



We had almost expected each moment that legends set 



before us by the power of his genius would here become 



^ Franz Hermann Meissner in his work, Arnold Bocklin, says : " I 

 have often found that I had to consider these pictures with the blue 

 eyes of an old Ostrogoth seer of primitive days." And I am of opinion 

 that in order to take full delight in the charm of ihe tropics one must 

 look on them with northern eyes. 



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