POETRY OF FEELING VS, G ALLINIPPERS. 
327 
abreast of them, from ^vliat they did when their sides 
only were exposed to view. It seemed as if they were 
mountains of loose black I’ock that had been lightly 
covered by a fertile soil, and then the end of them that 
projected into the sea broken oft' and transported to “parts 
unknown,'* leaving their black-looking faces in striking 
contrast with their green sides and snow-filled ravines. 
We found them occurring at intervals of several miles,, 
invariably enclosing long strips of a shingle or sandy 
beach, from which the green lowland retreated into an 
undulating country which was itself backed by the blue 
mountains of the distant interior. These latter were 
generally either perfect or truncated cones, and combined 
with other unmistakable signs to establish the fact of 
previous volcanic action. i 
It was an interesting occupation to watch these 
changing scenes through our glasses; and as we watched 
them, we admired the native grandeur of those towering 
promontories, the shining beaches darkened here and 
there by mountain-torrents flowing from the ravines of 
melting snow, the undulating country covered by its 
short-lived but rank vegetation, and the distant cones of 
heavenly blue, and could not but regret the prevalence of 
those ai'ctic winters which for eight out of the twelve 
months cover such a beautiful region with one vast 
mantle of dazzling snow- This poetical state of mind, 
however, received a severe shock on our first landing, 
through the instrumentality of thousands of swarms ot 
the gallinipper-breed of mosquito, who, regarding us in 
the light of most welcome visitors, soon succeeded in 
stinging us into a far different mood of feeling. These 
