4 
but in general the face of the country exhibits all 
that is pleasing to the eye and to the imagination. 
Nature here seems to have done her utmost, and to 
have lavished her stores in a boundless profusion. 
The European traveller, who has hitherto been unac¬ 
quainted with the scenery of tropical countries, is 
lost in astonishment, when traversing the vast plains 
and forests of Madagascar; the former, clothed with 
eternal verdure, and covered with numerous herds of 
cattle; while the latter, overhanging the sides of the 
mountains, wdiose summits seem to vie with the 
clouds in height, present a scene of gloomy sublimity 
which strikes the mind with awe, heightened by the 
effect of the stupendous cataracts, which tumble over 
the craggy precipices with a roaring that is heard for 
miles round. 
These forests are composed of trees of every 
description, and adapted to every purpose, both of 
the useful and ornamental kinds. Some are of an 
extraordinary bulk and height, and seem almost 
coeval with the creation. Many of the woods 
are of great extent, and all of them are diffi¬ 
cult to explore on account of the immense number 
of climbing and parasitical plants, which crowd 
around in every direction, and, with the thorny brush¬ 
wood, form an impenetrable mass. The future 
botanist will here enter upon a new and boundless 
field, hitherto scarcely trodden by the foot of science, 
but inclosing so great a number of novel subjects 
for his interesting speculations, that the longest life 
