TROPICAL SCENERY. 299 



into the dimensions of forest-trees, and crowd oth- 

 ers into an entangled jungle 1 Who, when exam- 

 ining in the cabinet of the entomologist the gay- 

 exotic butterflies and singular cicadas, will asso- 

 ciate with these lifeless objects the ceaseless harsh 

 music of the latter, and the lazy flight of the for- 

 mer, the sure accompaniments of the still, glowing 

 noonday of the tropics'? It is when the sun has 

 attained its greatest height that such scenes should 

 be viewed : then the dense, splendid foliage of the 

 mango hides the ground with its darkest shade, 

 whilst the upper branches are rendered, from the 

 profusion of light, of the most brilliant green. In 

 the temperate zones the case is difterent ; the ve- 

 getation there is not so dark or so rich, and hence 

 the rays of the declining sun, tinged of a red, pur- 

 ple, or bright yellow colour, add most to the beau- 

 ties of those climes. 



When quietly walking along the shady path- 

 ways, and admiring each successive view, I wished 

 to find language to express my ideas. Epithet 

 after epithet was found too weak to convey to 

 those who have not visited the intertropical re- 

 gions the sensation of delight which the mind ex- 

 periences. I have said that the plants in a hot- 

 house fail to communicate a just idea of the vege- 

 tation, yet I must recur to it. The land is one 

 great wild, untidy, luxuriant hot-house, made by 

 Nature for herself, but taken possession of by man, 

 who has studded it with gay houses and formal gar- 

 dens. How great would be the desire in every ad- 

 mirer of nature to behold, if such were possible, 

 the scenery of another planet ! yet to every person 

 in Europe it may be truly said, that at the distance 

 of only a few degrees from his native soil the glo- 

 ries of another world are opened to him. In my 

 last walk I stopped again and again to o^aze on 

 R 



