Page 281 - Third Book of Reading Lessons

280 THIRD BOOK OF
by its own sulphureous over owings, or black lava. A rapid and charming vegetation is displayed by the side of heaps of ashes and of scori . Where the land is more extended, scenes more vast present themselves; sometimes the ambiguous iron-coloured stone called basalt, rises majestically in prismatic columns, or lines, to a distance too great r the eye to reach, the solitary shore with its picturesque ruins.
Sometimes enormous primitive peaks boldly shoot up among the clouds; while, hung on their sides, the dark pine- rest varie · the immense void of the desert with its gloomy shade. In another place, a coast, sloping insensibly beneath the sur ce of the sea, stretches a r into dangerous shallows, where the noisy waves break into spray. To these sublime horrors, a scene of enchantment suddenly succeeds. A new Cythera emerges om the bosom of the en­ chanted wave. An amphitheatre of verdure rises to our view. Tufted groves mingle their liage with the brilliant enamel of the meadows. An eternal spring, combining with an ternal autumn, displays its opening blossom along with the ripened uits.
2. A per me of exquisite sweetness embalms the atmosphere, which is continually refreshed by the wholesome breezes from the sea. A thousand rivu­ lets trickle down the hills, and mingle their plaintive murmurs with the joy l melody of the birds anima­ ting the thiekets. Under the shade of the cocoa, the smiling, but modest hamlets present themselves, roo d with banana leaves, and decorated with gar­ lands of jessamine. Here might mankind, if they would only throw o their vices, lead lives exempt om trouble and om want. Their bread grows on the trees which shade their lawns, the scenes of their festive amusement. Their light barks glide in peace