90 



about the hour of feven. Evening is fcarcely 

 known. The fun traverfmg his vertical 

 courfe finks at once from the horizon, and, 

 iefiifing his oblique beams to protract or foftea 

 the decline of day, robs us of the gentle cre- 

 pufcule hour, and fuddenly throws around all 

 the ohfcuiity of night. 



This uniformity of the diurnal round 

 fcarcely exceeds that of the general tempera- 

 ture of the climate, which brings us one per- 

 petual 'fummer. The fields and the trees are 

 always green. Live nature ever fmiles. Un- 

 interrupted by the torpor of winter fhe is. 

 neither chilled with froft, nor buried in fnow. 

 But, for thcfe advantages, we forego the. 

 fprightly delight, and genial comfort of a fu tu- 

 rner's evening, the all-animating pleafures of a 

 returning fpring, and the foftand placid joys of 

 gentle twilight's hour. Had I time for fuch 

 difcuflions, I might here enter into a long di- 

 grefiion upon the comparative excellence of the 

 climate we have left, and that we now 7 in- 

 habit : yet mould I yield the palm to my 

 native ifland, for of all the delights of climate 

 in other countries, however great or durable, 

 I know none that can {land in competition 



