﻿86 REMARKS ON THE ISLAND 



lips and gums black, to set off the whiteness of their 

 teeth ; so universal in all nations and ages are per- 

 sonal vanity and a love of disguising truth; though 

 in all cases, the farther our species recede from na- 

 ture, the farther they depart from true beauty ; and 

 men at least should disdain to use artifice or deceit for 

 any purpose or on any occasion. If the women of rank, 

 at Paris, or those in London who wish to imitate 

 them, be inclined to call the Arabs barbarians, let 

 them view their ow-n head-dresses and cheeks in a 

 glass, and, if they have left no room for blushes, be 

 inwardly at least ashamed of their censure. 



In the afternoon I walked a long way up the moun- 

 tains in a winding path amVd plants and trees no less new 

 than beautiful, and regretted exceedingly that very 

 few of them were in blossom, as I should then have 

 had leisure to examine them. Curiosity led from 

 hill to hill ; and I came at last to the sources of a ri- 

 vulet, which we had passed near the shore, and from 

 which the ship was to be supplied with excellent wa- 

 ter. I saw no birds on the mountains but Gui- 

 nea-fozvl, which might have been easily caught : 

 no insects were troublesome to me but mosqui- 

 "tos ; and I had no fear of venomous reptiles, 

 having been assured that the air was too pure for 

 any to exist in it; but I was often unwillingly a 

 cause of fear to the gentle and harmless lizard, who 

 ran among the shrubs. On my return I missed the 

 path by which I had ascended; but, having met 

 some blacks laden with yams and plantains, I was 

 by them directed to another, which led me round, 

 through a charming grove of cocoa-trees, to the 

 Governor's country-seat, where our entertainment 

 was closed by a syllabub, which the English had 

 taught the Muselmar.s to make for them. 



