XXI 
TROPICAL SCENERY 
527 
magnify some into the dimensions of forest-trees, and crowd 
others into an entangled jungle? Who when examining in 
the cabinet of the entomologist the gay exotic butterflies, and 
singular cicadas, will associate with these lifeless objects the 
ceaseless harsh music of the latter and the lazy flight of the 
former,—the sure accompaniments of the still, glowing noonday 
of the tropics ? It is when the sun has attained its greatest 
height that such scenes should be viewed ; then the dense 
splendid foliage of the mango hides the ground with its darkest 
shade, whilst the upper branches are rendered from the pro¬ 
fusion of light of the most brilliant green. In the temperate 
zones the case is different—the vegetation there is not so 
dark or so rich, and hence the rays of the declining sun, 
tinged of a red, purple, or bright yellow colour, add most to 
the beauties of those climes. 
When quietly walking along the shady pathways, and 
admiring each successive view, I wished to find language to 
express my ideas. Epithet after epithet was found too weak to 
convey to those who have not visited the intertropical regions 
the sensation of delight which the mind experiences. I have 
said that the plants in a hothouse fail to communicate a just 
idea of the vegetation, yet I must recur to it. The land is one 
great wild, untidy, luxuriant hothouse, made by Nature for 
herself, but taken possession of by man, who has studded it 
with gay houses and formal gardens. How great would be the 
desire in every admirer of nature to behold, if such were 
possible, the scenery of another planet! yet to every person in 
Europe, it may be truly said, that at the distance of only a few 
degrees from his native soil the glories of another world are 
opened to him. In my last walk I stopped again and again 
to gaze on these beauties, and endeavoured to fix in my mind 
for ever an impression which at the time I knew sooner or later 
must fail. The form of the orange-tree, the cocoa-nut, the 
palm, the mango, the tree-fern, the banana, will remain clear 
and separate ; but the thousand beauties which unite these into 
one perfect scene must fade away ; yet they will leave, like a 
tale heard in childhood, a picture full of indistinct, but most 
beautiful figures. 
August 6 th .—In the afternoon we stood out to sea, with 
the intention of making a direct course to the Cape de Verd 
