22 THE BEAUTIES OF NATURE chap. 



waving on high their feathery and arrow-like 

 branches, form, as it were, ' a forest above a 

 forest ' ; or I would describe the summit of 

 the Peak of Teneriffe, when a horizon layer 

 of clouds, dazzling in whiteness, has separated 

 the cone of cinders from the plain below, and 

 suddenly the ascending current pierces the 

 cloudy veil, so that the eye of the traveller 

 may range from the brink of the crater, along 

 the vine-clad slopes of Orotava, to the orange 

 gardens and banana groves that skirt the 

 shore. In scenes like these, it is not the 

 peaceful charm uniformly spread over the face 

 of nature that moves the heart, but rather the 

 peculiar physiognomy and conformation of the 

 land, the features of the landscape, the ever- 

 varying outline of the clouds, and their blend- 

 ing with the horizon of the sea, whether it 

 lies spread before us like a smooth and shining 

 mirror, or is dimly seen through the morning 

 nfiist. All that the senses can but imperfectly 

 comprehend, all that is most awful in such 

 romantic scenes of nature, may become a 

 source of enjoyment to man, by opening a wide 

 field to the creative power of his imagination. 



