505 



geckoes with spreading and membranous fingers. 

 These lizards, motionless, the head raised, and 

 the mouth open, seemed to suck in the heated 

 air. The thermometer placed against the rock 

 rose to 50*2° *. The soil appeared undulating, 

 from the effect of mirage, without a breath of 

 wind being felt. The Sun was near the zenith, 

 and it's dazzling light, reflected by the surface 

 of the river, contrasted with the reddish vapours 

 that enveloped all the surrounding objects. How 

 vivid is the impression produced by the calm of 

 nature, at noon, in these burning climates ! 

 The beasts of the forests retire to the thickets ; 

 the birds hide themselves beneath the foliage of 

 the trees, or in the crevices of the rocks. Yet, 

 amid this apparent silence, when we lend an at- 

 tentive ear to the most feeble sounds transmitted 

 by the air, we hear a dull vibration, a continual 

 murmur, a hum of insects, that fill, if we may 

 use the expression, all the lower strata of the air. 

 Nothing is better fitted to make man feel the 

 extent and power of organic life. Myriads of 

 insects creep upon the soil, and flutter round the 

 plants parched by the ardour of the Sun. A 

 confused noise issues from every bush, from the 

 decayed trunks of trees, from the clefts of the 

 rock, and from the ground undermined by the 

 lizards, millepedes, and cecilias. These are so 



* 40- v R. 



