30 FEATURES OF THE VIEW. 



fine fresh breeze from the south tempered the heat, 

 and gave it the feeling of a summer day at home. 



The mountains about, although so lofty, and in 

 many places so broken and rugged-looking, had not 

 the grand and stern appearance which the much 

 smaller hills even of Wales or Scotland often 

 assume. Beauty, not grandeur, was their chief 

 characteristic. Volcanic cones are so regular in 

 their shapes, and stand out so much alone as indi- 

 vidual objects of perfect form and symmetrical 

 outline, that they give an almost architectural 

 tone to the scenery. They are like noble columns 

 or pyramids, perfectly beautiful indeed, but not 

 possessing the mysterious and awe-inspiring cha- 

 racter of a great chain of " many-folded mountains," 

 in the recesses of which the imagination delights to 

 wander, and at times to lose itself. These moun- 

 tains, too, had all their slopes and even their top- 

 most ridges clothed with wood and green waving 

 grass, except one or two summit cones of cinders and 

 ashes fresh from the craters ; and even these, from 

 the effect of distance, looked smooth as if made of 

 sand. Still, if devoid of grandeur and sublimity, 

 the beauty of the scene was perfect, and for the first 

 time realized my pre-conceived ideas of the finest 

 tropical scenery. 



We returned to the passangerang at dusk ; and 

 after dinner, as I was strolling round the house 

 outside smoking a cigar, a man with a long spear 

 came up to me and began to turn me back with a 



