TROPICAL SCENERY 527 



magnify some into the dimensions of forest-trees, and crowd 

 others into an entangled jungle ? Who when examining in 

 the cabinet of the entomologist the gay exotic butterflies, and 

 singular cicadas, will associate with these lifeless objects the 

 ceaseless harsh music of the latter and the lazy flight of the 

 former, — the sure accompaniments of the still, glowing noonday 

 of the tropics ? It is when the sun has attained its greatest 

 height that such scenes should be viewed ; then the dense 

 splendid foliage of the mango hides the ground with its darkest 

 shade, whilst the upper branches are rendered from the pro- 

 fusion of light of the most brilliant green. In the temperate 

 zones the case is different — the vegetation there is not so 

 dark or so rich, and hence the rays of the declining sun, 

 tinged of a red, purple, or bright yellow colour, add most to 

 the beauties of those climes. 



When quietly walking along the shady pathways, and 

 admiring each successive view, I wished to find language to 

 express my ideas. Epithet after epithet was found too weak to 

 convey to those who have not visited the intertropical regions 

 the sensation of delight which the mind experiences. I have 

 said that the plants in a hothouse fail to communicate a just 

 idea of the vegetation, yet I must recur to it. The land is one 

 great wild, untidy, luxuriant hothouse, made by Nature for 

 herself, but taken possession of by man, who has studded it 

 with gay houses and formal gardens. How great would be the 

 desire in every admirer of nature to behold, if such were 

 possible, the scenery of another planet ! yet to every person in 

 Europe, it may be truly said, that at the distance of only a few 

 degrees from his native soil the glories of another world are 

 opened to him. In my last walk I stopped again and again 

 to gaze on these beauties, and endeavoured to fix in my mind 

 for ever an impression which at the time I knew sooner or later 

 must fail. The form of the orange -tree, the cocoa-nut, the 

 palm, the mango, the tree-fern, the banana, will remain clear 

 and separate ; but the thousand beauties which unite these into 

 one perfect scene must fade away ; yet they will leave, like a 

 tale heard in childhood, a picture full of indistinct, but most 

 beautiful figures. 



August 6th. — In the afternoon we stood out to sea, with 

 the intention of making a direct course to the Cape de Verd 



