212 CAVE. 



miles to leeward, where a lofty spur from Bluefields 

 ridge juts out in a bold promontory to the very edge 

 of the sea. The wooded mountain side descends 

 abruptly, almost precipitously, leaving only a narrow 

 beach of white coral sand curving round its foot, 

 along which the high road winds from the windward 

 parts to Savanna-le-Mar, and onward. 



I have often admired the loveliness of the scene 

 presented by the termination of this promontory, 

 frowning down upon the beautiful bay beneath ; 

 especially in the early morning, while the sun, if 

 risen above the actual horizon, has yet far to climb 

 before a single ray can shoot over the shaggy summit 

 of the ridge ; and the whole mountain-side, covered 

 with a dense forest in every part, except when a 

 little white cottage is perched at mid-height, casts a 

 deep, black shadow, reflected as in a mirror from 

 the calm water below. Beyond the promontory, the 

 low mangrove -shore trends away to the westward, 

 and from the level country behind rises in majestic 

 elevation the steep mountain-mass known as the 

 Dolphin's Head, clear and distinct, but empurpled 

 by distance. 



The foreground of the landscape, of which I have 

 made a sketch, is the summit of a shelving cliff" at 

 Lin do, overgrown with bushes and herbaceous vege- 

 tation in rude luxuriant wildness ; from the midst of 

 this tangled bed of weeds and shrubs the singular 

 forms of the Papaw {Caric a 'papaya), and the Trum- 

 pet-tree (Cecrope'aj?('//!a^a), erect themselves; and a 

 huge Silk-cotton tree {Eriodendron anfractuosuvi), 

 hoary with age, towers and spreads overhead, with 



