m 



p. ^^H 



492 THE BRIGHTER SIDE. [chap. 



sinks as if fulfilling its usual task, the ship alone and its 

 inhabitants seem the objects of wrath. On a forlorn and 

 weather-beaten coast, the scene is indeed different, but 

 the feelings partake more of horror than of wild delight. 



Let us now look at the brighter side of the past time. 

 The pleasure derived from beholding the scenery and the 

 general aspect of the various countries we have visited, has 

 decidedly been the most constant and highest source of en- 

 joyment. It is probable that the picturesque beauty of many 

 parts of Europe exceeds anything which we beheld. But 

 there is a growing pleasure in comparing the character of 

 the scenery in different countries, which to a certain degree 

 is distinct from merely admiring its beauty. It depends 

 chiefly on an acquaintance with the individual parts of 

 each view: I am strongly induced to believe that, as in 

 music, the person who understands every note will, if he 

 also possesses a proper taste, more thoroughly enjoy the 

 whole, so he who examines each part of a fine view, may 

 also thoroughly comprehend the full and combined effect. 

 Hence, a traveller should be a botanist, for in all views 

 plants form the chief embellishment. Group masses of naked 

 rock even in the wildest forms, and they may for a time afford 

 a sublime spectacle, but they will soon grow monotonous. 

 Paint them with bright and varied colours, as in Northern 

 Chile, they will become fantastic ; clothe them with vegeta- 

 tion, they must form a decent, if not a beautiful picture. 



When 1 say that the scenery of parts of Europe is 

 probably superior to anything which we beheld, I except, 

 as a class by itself, that of the intertropical zones. The 

 two classes cannot be compared together ; but I have 

 already often enlarged on the grandeur of those regions. 

 As the force of impressions generally depends on pre- 

 conceived ideas, I may add, that mine were taken from 

 the vivid descriptions in the ''Personal Narrative" of 

 Humboldt, which far exceed in merit anything else which 

 I have read. Yet with these high-wrought Ideas, my feel- 

 ings were far from partaking of a tinge of disappointment 

 on my first and final landing on the shores of Brazil. 



Among the scenes which are deeply impressed on my 

 mind, none exceed in sublimity the primeval forests unde- 

 faced by the hand of man ; whether those of Brazil, where 

 the powers of life are predominant, or those of Tierra 

 del Fuego, where Death and Decay prevail. Both are 

 temples filled with the varied productions of the God of 



