TIMES AND SEASONS. 



dant one, I fear it must be owned) to the glori- 

 ous sun ; and when, as the increasing light enabled 

 you to see down into the misty valleys beneath, 

 there were displayed to our enchanted gaze zones 

 of fertility, embracing almost every species of tree 

 and flower that flourishes between the Tierra 

 Caliente and the regions of perpetual snow. It 

 certainly was a view of almost unequalled magni- 

 ficence. Hiding amongst apple and peach-trees 

 that might have belonged to an English orchard, 

 and on whose branches we almost expected to see 

 the blackbird and the chaffinch ; while a few hun- 

 dred yards below, parrots and macaws, monkeys 

 and mocking-birds, were sporting among the 

 palms and tree-ferns, and, in flights of two or 

 three hundred yards, chasing each other from the 

 climate of the torrid to that of the temperate 

 zone, was not the least striking part of the 

 scene."* 



I cannot avoid quoting from Mr. Atkinson a 

 picture of day-break, as seen across the plains of 

 Siberia from one of the peaks of the Oural ; though 

 its details scarcely bring it within the limits of 

 natural history proper: — 



"Day was rapidly dawning over these boundless 

 forests of Siberia. Long lines of pale yellow 

 clouds extended over the horizon; these became 

 more luminous every few minutes, until at length 

 they were like waves. of golden light rolling and 

 breaking on some celestial shore. I roused up my 

 fellow-traveller that he might partake with me in 

 my admiration of the scene, and a most splendid 

 one it was. The sun was rising behind some 

 very distant hills, and tipping all the mountain- 

 tops with his glorious rays: even the dark pines 

 assumed a golden hue. We sat silently watching 



* Sullivan's "Rambles in North and South America," p. 395. 

 27 



