534 RETROSPECT chap. 



pleasure derived from beholding the scenery and the general 

 aspect of the various countries we have visited has decidedly 

 been the most constant and highest source of enjoyment. It 

 is probable that the picturesque beauty of many parts of Europe 

 exceeds anything which we beheld. But there is a growing 

 pleasure in comparing the character of the scenery in different 

 countries, which to a certain degree is distinct from merely 

 admiring its beauty. It depends chiefly on an acquaintance 

 with the individual parts of each view; I am strongly induced 

 to believe that as in music, the person who understands every 

 note will, if he also possesses a proper taste, more thoroughly 

 enjoy the whole, so he who examines each part of a fine view 

 may also thoroughly comprehend the full and combined effect. 

 Hence, a traveller should be a botanist, for in all views plants 

 form the chief embellishment. Group masses of naked rock 

 even in the wildest forms, and they may for a time afford a 

 sublime spectacle, but they will soon grow monotonous. Paint 

 them with bright and varied colours, as in Northern Chile, they 

 will become fantastic ; clothe them with vegetation, they must 

 form a decent, if not a beautiful picture. 



When I say that the scenery of parts of Europe is probably 

 superior to anything which we beheld, I except, as a class by 

 itself, that of the intertropical zones. The two classes cannot 

 be compared together ; but I have already often enlarged on 

 the grandeur of those regions. As the force of impressions 

 generally depends on preconceived ideas, I may add that mine 

 were taken from the vivid descriptions in the Personal Narrative 

 of Humboldt, which far exceed in merit anything else which I 

 have read. Yet with these high -wrought ideas my feelings 

 were far from partaking of a tinge of disappointment on my 

 first and final landing on the shores of Brazil. 



Among the scenes which are deeply impressed on my 

 mind, none exceed in sublimity the primeval forests undefaced 

 by the hand of man ; whether those of Brazil, where the 

 powers of Life are predominant, or those of Tierra del Fuego, 

 where Death and Decay prevail. Both are temples filled with 

 the varied productions of the God of Nature : — no one can 

 stand in these solitudes unmoved, and not feel that there is 

 more in man than the mere breath of his body. In calling 

 up images of the past, I find that the plains of Patagonia 



