THE BAMBOO. 199 



rugged sides and fill their gourds and calabashes ; 

 and birds of many kinds resort hither, particularly in 

 the droughts, to quench their thirst. For a long 

 time a frog of large size had made his dwelling in 

 some hole in the rocky side of the Hallow-well, as it 

 is named, and used often to appear, to the no small 

 terror of the water-children, who would scamper 

 back with precipitancy. In these cool glades many 

 birds build their nests ; the neat little cotton cup of 

 the Humming-bird, and the purse of the John-to- 

 whip, and the hollow globe of the Banana Quit may 

 be found around the spring : and the air resounds 

 with song ; multitudes of voices, some, it is true, in- 

 harmonious in themselves, combine to cheer the 

 traveller as he threads the rocky, winding path. 

 Among them the cooing of various Doves is promi- 

 nent; and ever and anon, he perceives the gentle 

 White-belly walking on the road before him, or 

 detects the wary Bald-pate watching his motions 

 from the summit of a tree, or is startled by the ruddy 

 Partridge whirring across, j ust before his horse's face. 

 At length the woods cease, and we suddenly emerge 

 into the sunny canefields of Grand Vale estate. 



THE BAMBOO. 



Humboldt, if I mistake not, has mentioned the 

 Bamboo as standing pre-eminent among the features 

 which distinguish tropical from European scenery. 

 It is an object which once seen can never be for- 

 gotten, especially when growing in those isolated 

 clumps that look like tufts of ostrich plumes magni- 

 fied to colossal dimensions. A thousand of these 



K 4 



