CH. IX JOUBNEY THROUGH MINAHA88A 235 



the forests, and the mountains burst upon us in its full 

 magnificence. Nowhere in the wide world, I thought, can 

 there be a scene which equals this. The brightness of the 

 blue sky and the broad waters of the lake, bearing an image 

 of every fleecy cloud that crossed the arch above it, were each 

 perfect of their kind ; and then the green luxuriance of the 

 plains, the endless forests stretching over hill and dale, and 

 melting in the purple mists of the distant mountain-tops, 

 which stood like giant guardians of the land, together formed 

 a picture that no pen can adequately describe. 



Everyone, however dull and emotionless he may be, 

 must at times be moved by noble scenery, and I know of 

 none which fills the breast with livelier feelings of hope and 

 happiness than does the mountain scenery in the tropics. 

 It was on the crest of the crater of the Gedeh in Java, when 

 the rising sun first tipped the clouds below us with red and 

 golden crests, and then burst in all its glory upon the wide 

 expanse of rich and fertile fields of that happy land — it was 

 there I first experienced the feelings that were afterwards 

 to be repeated on Tondano lake. 



The snowy fields and imposing precipices of the Nor- 

 wegian fiords, the bold and fascinating scenery of the west 

 of Scotland, the wild mountain ranges of the north of 

 Wales, grand and glorious as they are, did not affect me in 

 precisely the same way. It is perhaps the sense of vast 

 and unexplored resources in these lands of vigorous and 

 luxuriant growth, the prospect of a future for humanity in 

 these wild domains, a feeling that with all its misery and 

 troubles the world is not exhausted yet of things which lead 

 to happiness and prosperity, which makes the traveller's 

 heart beat quicker with a sense of gladness as he gazes on 

 a scene like that from the Tompusu hilL 



The sun was shining brightly as we harnessed the fresh 

 horse to the gig, and drove in tandem up the steep hill. 



