CU.VP. III. VIEW FROM THE SUMMIT OF THE POUCE, 75 



Avlien we emerged from our cover, and attempted the bare 

 steep side of the summit. In less than half an hour this was 

 gained, and we found ourselves upon a flattish space about 

 four feet wide and twelve or fourteen feet long. Here we 

 sat down, 2847 feet above the sea, the whole island spread 

 out like a map beneath us, its fertile central plains, and its 

 mountains rising in clusters at unequal distances from the 

 coast all around. The broad blue waters of the apparently 

 boundless ocean, seen through the openings between the 

 mountains and reflecting the rays of a vertical sun, presented 

 one of the most grand and magnificent panoramas it is pos- 

 sible to imagine. My companions, however, were soon suf- 

 ficiently self-possessed to commence sketching some of the 

 adjacent clusters of mountains. It was enough for me to 

 recline on the coarse grass, and, resting my elbow on a pro- 

 jecting piece of rock, to gaze in silence upon the wonder- 

 ful and magnificent spectacle before me. By the operation 

 of what tremendous forces had these vast masses of mountain 

 and plain been placed in the positions they now occupied ! 

 how many ages had been requisite to invest these mountains 

 and plains with the aspect they now wore ! and through how 

 many ages had they presented the same natural asj^ects 

 unseen by any human eye ! for when the island was dis- 

 covered, only 350 years ago, no traces of its ever having been 

 inhabited were found. And then how extreme had been the 

 vicissitudes of human experience within its borders ! what 

 suffering and misery had been endured amidst all their 

 natural loveliness during the existence of slavery, wdth the 

 wretchedness or wrong connected with which, legend or tra- 

 dition associates some of the most striking natural objects in 

 the island. How striking too the contrast betwixt the soli- 

 tude of the past, and the activity, energy, and busy popula- 

 tion of the present ! And then, what may be its future ? But 

 my comi^anions had finished their sketches, and we began to 



