286 APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY. 



writer and the most imperfect scribbler are on the 

 same level ; they are equally capable of the exquisite 

 enjoyment of discovery, tliey are equally susceptible 

 of the feelings of delight that gush upon the heart 

 as every forward step discloses fresh prospects, and 

 brings a still more new horizon, if I may so speak, 

 to view. And it may be added, that to the pro- 

 duction of the emotions I allude to, beauty of 

 landscape is scarcely necessary. We strain forward 

 incited by curiosity, as eagerly over an untrodden 

 heath, or untraversed desert, as through valleys of 

 surpassing loveliness, and amid mountains of unex- 

 plored grandeur ; or perhaps, I should say, more 

 eagerly, for there is nothing on which the mind can 

 repose, nothing to tempt it to linger, nothing to 

 divert the current of its thoughts. Onward we 

 move, with expectation at its highest, led by the 

 irresistible charm of novelty, almost panting with 

 excitement, even when every step seems to add 

 certainty to the conviction that all that is beyond 

 resembles all that has been seen. In the present 

 case, with the exception of a clump of trees to the 

 southward, there was nothing to break the vast level 

 that stretched before us, its rim sharply defined 

 against the morning sky. Here and there a charred 

 stump, the relic of some conflagration, reared its 

 blackened face, serving to keep us in the direction 

 we had taken at starting, which was over a rich 

 alluvial soil, that seemed to hold out a promise of a 

 future brilliant destiny to this part of the continent. 



