62 RAMBLES OF A NATURALIST. 



mothers of families and a whole swarm of joyous 

 laughing young girls, who were not a little proud of 

 the charming and untroubled passage which they had 

 made. It would be difficult to describe all I felt in 

 assisting them to scramble up the rocky landing- 

 place from their boat. To a poor recluse like me, 

 who for three months had seen no one more attrac- 

 tive than the sturdy women of Blainville and the 

 wives of the quarrymen, these young girls appeared 

 alike charming and beautiful ; but whether or not, 

 they really were so, I do not know. I never saw 

 them again ! 



My active and solitary life had made me accessible 

 to a crowd of impressions which easily become 

 effaced when brought in contact with the world. I 

 had regained the superabundant activity of youth 

 both in respect to my physical and moral nature. I 

 experienced all the pleasure of a child in leaping 

 over barriers, climbing sharp and high rocks, and 

 crossing the most difficult chasms. When I gazed 

 upon the boundless horizon of the sea from the sum- 

 mit of some lofty hill, or on the wide expanse of 

 beach ; when I listened to the thousand sounds 

 around me, which seemed like so many voices 

 speaking in an unknown tongue, I felt my heart 

 beat beneath the impression of those vague and 

 ardent thoughts which seem to be the heritage of 

 almost all in youth, linked as they are with the 

 recollections of the happiest period of our early 

 years. 



But time passed on : my note books were filled, my 

 portfolios stored with drawings and sketches. I had 



