NOON IN THE FOREST. 275 



Noon in the During the intense heat of the day, 

 whilst the sun is still high above the 

 meridian, all animated nature seems to yield to 

 his overpowering influence. A strange stillness, a 

 profound silence, reigns throughout the forest, 

 which in early morning seemed to teem with life 

 and motion. Every living creature disappears 

 into the deepest shade of the woods, in order to 

 escape from the exhausting heat and oppressive 

 glare; except, perhaps, the eagle, hawk, and 

 falcon, who are seen hovering overhead in circles, 

 like specks in the cloudless sky, or skimming, 

 with strange wild cries, over the tops of the 

 jungle in search of their prey, and the green 

 enamelled dragon-flies that still flit over the 

 water from leaf to leaf. Then the sturdy hunter, 

 overcome with lassitude, suspends his toil, and 

 seeks the grateful shade of some gigantic forest- 

 tree or overhanging rock, where he reposes until 

 the mid-day heat is passed, whilst his dog, also 

 sharing in the universal languor which seems at 

 that hour to oppress the whole face of nature, 

 T 2 



