OF THE OLD WORLD, 203 



stricken the mightiest denizens of the jungle, muses 

 by day and dreams by night of the dark deep 

 Wynaad forest. 



Those who have never explored a primeval forest 

 can have but a very faint conception of the myste- 

 rious effect that absence of light and intense depth 

 of gloom have upon the human mind. The un- 

 broken silence and utter stillness that everywhere 

 l)ervades its leafy arches, creates a strange feeling 

 of awe and loneliness that depresses the spirits and 

 appals the heart of those who are unaccustomed to 

 wander in its solitudes ; and even the stoutest heart 

 feels overpowered with a strange sensation he can 

 neither account for nor explain the first time he 

 enters, for the voice of man resounds with a strange 

 and startling echo, and even the very hound whines 

 with fear, and couches close to his master's side, 

 afraid of being left alone. Solitude is too insuffi- 

 cient a term to convey an idea of the intensely 

 overpowering sensation of desolation and loneliness 

 that pervades these regions ; yet to the hunter, who 

 is accustomed to sojourn in their deepest recesses, 

 the wilderness is a home which he would not ex- 

 change for any other ; and as he roams through its 

 boundless expanse of verdure, with no other com- 

 panions but the silent trackers and his dogs, and no 

 guide but a pocket-compass and certain jungle signs 

 not to be understood by the dwellers of cities, he 

 imbibes certain feelings that cannot be entered into 

 save by those who have themselves experienced the 



