THE SHOWER. 485 



unfolding, as the warm rain moistened their parched 

 surfaces. 



The recent shower forcibly called to our minds 

 a scene once witnessed in the forest of that kingly 

 residence, Fontainebleau. The day was serene and cloud- 

 less, and after spending the forenoon in the park and 

 gardens we sought the forest, that we might hold converse 

 awhile with Nature, beneath the agreeable influences of its 

 leafy shades. The last place visited, though not the least 

 interesting, was the " Hermitage/' where some convulsion 

 of remote ages has cast on the surface huge blocks of 

 sandstone, sometimes bare, and sometimes clothed with 

 heather. The extensive and beautiful prospect afforded 

 here induced us to linger till the sun was low in the 

 horizon, and while closely engaged in the pursuit of 

 a beautiful green lizard we were startled by the rumbling 

 of distant thunder, and saw signs portending a coming 

 storm. The heavens grew blacker by degrees while the 

 peals of thunder reverberated among the distant hills. 

 We were six miles from shelter and therefore judged 

 it prudent to retire, and drove some distance through the 

 forest, the tempest scowling over our heads, and the 

 declining sun at our back. As the sun cast a lurid 

 purplish flame on the tufts of trees occasionally met with 

 in the glades and openings through which we passed, the 

 contrast of light and shade was intensely beautiful, and 

 the whole scene impressively grand and sublime. It was 

 striking to behold how greatly the aspect of the forest was 

 changed in the short space of an hour or two. Silence 

 reigned supreme ; the axe of the woodman, the hum 

 of insects, and the songs of the feathered tribe were 

 alike hushed. Some flowers which were seen in the 

 morning holding their faces up to the sun as it fell 

 through the trees above, were now folded up, whilst 

 the forest cattle before scattered were gathered together in 

 motionless groups or hid from view amid the dense tufts 

 of trees. Soon the " big rain came dancing to the earth," 



