p. F. XAVIER DK CHARLEVOIX 33 



The Boundless ^o^ ^;:> ^:;> 



(From Cosmos; trans.) 



A LL who possess an ordinary degree of mental 

 ■^^ activity, and delight to create to themselves 

 an inner world of thought, must be penetrated with 

 the sublime image of the infinite, when, gazing 

 around them on the vast and boundless sea, in- 

 voluntarily the glance is attracted to the distant 

 horizon where air and water blend together, and 

 the stars continually rise and set before the eyes of 

 the mariner. This contemplation of the eternal 

 play of the elements is clouded, like every human 

 joy, by a touch of sadness and of longing. 



Von Humboldt. 



The Excitable o ^;:> -<v> 



(From A History of Si. Domingo; trans.) 



n^HE sea of those islands is commonly more 

 tranquil than ours ; but, like certain people 

 who are excited with difficulty, and whose trans- 

 ports of passion are as violent as they are rare, so 

 when the sea becomes irritated, it is terrible. It 

 breaks all bounds, overflows the country, sweeps 

 away all things that oppose it, and leaves frightful 

 ravages behind to mark the extent of its inunda- 

 tions. It is after these tempests, known by the 



