Journal of a Voyage in the Indian Seas. 
steep, and soon arrived at the governor’s 
country residence, called Plantation 
House. It is situated on the side of a 
pleasant little valley, with small plan- 
tations and gardens adjoining, and com- 
mands a very fine prospect of the sea: 
in my opinion, however, the situation 
does no great credit to the taste of the 
person who first pitched upon it, as it 
is much inferior to many places which 
we afterwards saw: its proximity to the 
town, was probably the cause of its 
being preferred. 
Our road now took a winding direction, 
along the declivities of little hills, whose 
green sides sloping down to the principal 
valley on the left, formed a number of 
little glens and dells, from whose beauty 
one would be almost tempted to pro- 
nounce them the favourite haunts of 
fairies. We could not help stopping at 
every turning of the road, to admire this 
interesting landscape, whose prominent 
features were perpetually varying, from 
the different points of view in “which 
they were seen, 
After a pleasant ride of about an hour, 
we came to Sandy-Bay Ridge, over which 
we were to pass in our way to the bay 
of the same name. - When near its sum- 
mit, we halted for a few minutes, in 
order to take a farewell look at the 
northern prospect, not expecting to see 
any thing like it on the isiand again. 
What then must have been our surprize, 
when, on mounting the ridge, a scene 
burst upon our view, as much superior 
to the one we had so reluctantly left, 
as that one was to a dreary heath? But 
T shail not attempt to give a description 
of it. Had Dr. Johnson, when writing 
his Prince of Abyssinia, been seated on 
Sandy-Bay Ridge, he might have de- 
scribed from nature a valley more beau- 
tifully romantic, than even his own fertile 
imagination has been able to form for 
young Rasseias. 
Nature must certainly have been in 
one of her good-humoured and most 
whimsical, creative moods, when she 
formed this bay; and indeed St. Helena 
altogether, where she has strewed the 
subhmeand beautiful, with a hand liberal 
even to profusion, though in a very small 
space. 
On this ridge we alighted, and per- 
mitted our horses to feed for some time 
on the rich pasture with which it is 
crowned, in order that we might survey 
at leisure the romantic landscape which 
lay stretched before us, painted by the 
great hand of Nature, 
Although I will net attempt to give 
any general description of this place, yet 
iY) eS TT eee ee eee, era 
o7k 
I cannot help taking notice of some 
particular parts. 
Among the rude features of the southern 
side, one’s attention is arrested by two 
huge. rocks of fantastic shapes, which 
from this poit of view seem to stand 
close to each other, and have got the 
names of “ Lot and his Wife.” -The 
former, which is by far the more curious 
of the two, shoots up to a giddy height 
from a ragged foundation near the sea, 
in the form of a huge natural pyramid, 
or tower, of a most singular and stupen- 
dous appearance. 
We now descended to the valley by a 
steep winding path, and were amply re- 
paid for our journey by the beauty of the 
prospect from this new point of view. 
We left major D ’s seat on the 
right, and ic appears by far the most ele- 
gant one on the island. About the mid- 
dle of the valley, we were met by captain 
G , who inviting us into ius chateau 
(as he called it), seemed determined on 
his part, to wipe off any aspersions of in- 
hospitality that might have been cast on 
the inhabitants of this island; by not on- 
ly preparing to gratify our present appe- 
tites, but by pressing us to stop and spend 
our Christmas with him. 
Indeed we began to perceive, that, 
though we had feasted our imaginations 
most luxuriously on the romantic scenes 
which we passed ; yet our selfish stomachs, 
so far from being satisfied with this ideal 
banquet, were now, on the contrary, be- 
come very troublesome companions; and 
had it not been for the hospitahty of 
captain G , 1 do believe we should 
have returned to towi in avery chap- 
fallen condition, full of the most gloomy 
ruminations, and without stopping to ad- 
mire a single beauty on the road! 
Be that as it may, we did not now he- 
sitate to do ample justice to the festive 
board, making such repeated applications 
to our kind host’s “ Anno Domini,” Gn 
which’ the old gentleman faithfully 
piedged us,) that we were soon in such a 
state of exhilaration, that we determined 
to “climb the mountain-top,” and pro- 
secute our tour up to Diana’s Peak, 
the ne plus ultra, or highest part of St. 
Helena. 
Remounting therefore, we ascended 
Sandy-Bay Ridge, and turning te the 
right, proceeded in an easterly direction, 
until the steepness and ruggedness of the 
ascent, with the closeness of the under~ 
wood, obliged us to dismount, After an 
hour’s scrambling, climbing, and tearing 
through the bushes (during which some - 
of the party gave it up entirely), we ar- 
rived at the summit of the peak; which 
yy / 
een mieniae, 
