22 TIMES AND SEASONS. 



the ear of the traveller with a thrilling and romantic 

 effect. The jealously recluse habits of the bird have 

 thrown an air of mystery over its economy, which 

 heightens the interest with which it is invested. 



Before I speak of night, the most romantic of all sea- 

 sons to the naturalist, I must quote two descriptions of 

 sunset in regions rarely visited by English travellers. The 

 first scene was witnessed from that rugged mountain-chain 

 which divides two quarters of the globe. We have just 

 looked at the rising sun from the same peaks, gazing 

 across the plains of Asia: we are now called to look 

 over Europe. 



" I now turned towards the west, and walked to a high 

 crag overlooking the valley; here I seated myself to 

 watch the great and fiery orb descend below the horizon ; 

 and a glorious sight it was ! Pavda, with its snowy cap, 

 was lighted up, and sparkled like a ruby ; the other 

 mountains were tinged with red, while in the deep 

 valleys all was gloom and mist. For a few minutes the 

 whole atmosphere appeared filled with powdered carmine, 

 giving a deep crimson tint to everything around. So 

 splendid was this effect, and so firm a hold had it taken 

 of my imagination, that I became insensible to the hun- 

 dreds of mosquitoes that were feasting on my blood. 

 Excepting their painfully disagreeable hum, no sound, 

 not even the chirping of a bird, was to be heard : it was 

 truly solitude. 



" Soon after the sun went down, a white vapour began 

 to rise in the valleys to a considerable height, giving to 



