88 A EIDE TO CONTENT. 



heads and into our scorched faces the torrid fury of 

 his effulgence, unmitigated by a cloud : — 



" ireinaTO S' avyi] 



'HeXlov o^eTa, vecpos 5' ov (pa'iveTo Tracrrjs 

 Vairis, oiiSii opeuu." — (^11. xvii. 371.) 



amidst which the brawling, murmuring sound of the 

 running brook, and the sight of its sparkling, dash- 

 ing, crystal waters, have an indescribably refreshing 

 effect upon the senses. The wild scream of the 

 Kildeer Plover is suddenly heard, and up springs a 

 flock of these birds, which wheel in swift flight 

 around the traveller's head, and alight close to their 

 first station. In the rushy shallows of the stream 

 the stately form of the Snowy Gaulin is seen, de- 

 liberately wading hither and thither ; or watching, 

 motionless and silent, for his aquatic prey. Plump 

 Peadoves, with large liquid gentle eyes, walk about 

 on the turf beneath the pimento trees, picking up 

 the fallen fruit, or the seeds of papihonaceous weeds ; 

 and now and then their reiterated cooing, a very 

 soft and mournful sound, comes from the bordering 

 woods, falling gently and soothingly on the ear. In 

 the farthest corner of the pasture, a great bed of 

 that truly gorgeous plant, the Barbadoes Pride, or 

 Flower-fence {Ponciana pulcherrima) , glowing with 

 scarlet and orange, indicates the commencement of a 

 road that leads through the gloomy forest to Basin 

 Spring, near the summit of the Bluefields Ridge. 

 But this we leave on the left ; and pursue our road be- 

 neath the orange-trees, that have been planted in bor- 

 dering rows along each side of the highway. Beauty, 



