ciiap. iii. VIEW FROM THE SUMMIT OF THE POUCE. 
75 
when we emerged from our cover, and attempted the bare 
steep side of the summit. In less than half an hour this was 
gained, and we found ourselves upon a flattish space about 
four feet wide and twelve or fourteen feet long. Here we 
sat down, 2847 feet above the sea, the whole island spread 
out like a map beneath us, its fertile central plains, and its 
mountains rising in clusters at unequal distances from the 
coast all around. The broad blue waters of the apparently 
boundless ocean, seen through the openings between the 
mountains and reflecting the rays of a vertical sun, presented 
one of the most grand and magnificent panoramas it is pos¬ 
sible to imagine. My companions, however, were soon suf¬ 
ficiently self-possessed to commence sketching some of the 
adjacent clusters of mountains. It was enough for me to 
recline on the coarse grass, and, resting my elbow on a pro¬ 
jecting piece of rock, to gaze in silence upon the wonder¬ 
ful and magnificent spectacle before me. By the operation 
of what tremendous forces had these vast masses of mountain 
and plain been placed in the positions they now occupied! 
how many ages had been requisite to invest these mountains 
and plains with the aspect they now wore ! and through how 
many ages had they presented the same natural aspects 
unseen by any human eye! for when the island was dis¬ 
covered, only 350 years ago, no traces of its ever having been 
inhabited were found. And then how extreme had been the 
vicissitudes of human experience within its borders! what 
suffering and misery had been endured amidst all their 
natural loveliness during the existence of slavery, with the 
wretchedness or wrong connected with which, legend or tra¬ 
dition associates some of the most striking natural objects in 
the island. How striking too the contrast betwixt the soli¬ 
tude of the past, and the activity, energy, and busy popula¬ 
tion of the present! And then, what may be its future ? But 
my companions had finished their sketches, and we began to 
