DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11448#0225
CHAP. XXV.]
FORTUNATE ISLAND.
191
to the mosquitoes, seems to revive. The sailors are in motion;
the bull-frog begins his bellowing, the few solitary birds their
song • the river finds its murmur ; and we plunge into its waters,
and then take a stroll upon the desert with our guns. As night
comes on, the moonlight gives the reddish-colored sands the ap-
pearance of a snow-covered world, reflecting the glow of some
distant conflagration. The sand-hills, among which we wander,
are sprinkled with stunted shrubs, on which the gazelle feeds,
and among which the lion and the wolf lurk for these desert deer.
At some distance from the river I stood alone upon a naked
mountain's side, and the prospect was the wildest, loneliest, and
dreariest, I had ever witnessed. Far and wide to the horizon's
edge, the trackless, monotonous desert spread its undulations
like a sea ; but without a shadow, or a fleck of foam, or a sail
to enliven its dull, sulky-looking wastes. There was not even a
tree to relieve the view, nor anything on which to rest the weary
eye, but the river winding in blue or silver, as the moon or the
shadow fell upon its waters ; and on its surface far away floated
one small speck, containing the only human hearts that beat
within that wide-extended circle of blank desert and unclouded
sky.
Sometimes we came to places where the river narrowed like
the river Avon, under Clifton Downs, and the sailors could often
find no footing on the crags ; then they would swim in files,
drawing the boat-rope in their teeth. After leaving such gorges
and deserts, we opened upon a broad, calm river, and a country
which appeared to smile with verdure in comparison to that
which we had come from.
As the river broadened, there appeared an island which
would have been beautiful anywhere, but here was like a glimpse
of paradise. Palm-groves waved over peaceful villages, green
lawns were speckled with flocks and herds, luxuriant corn-fields
were parked off" by light palings, melon gardens ran along the
river's verdant border, which was flecked with their golden fruit
and flower; groves of the lote-tree and acacia sheltered the
blossoming bean and lupine from the sun, and the whole scene
seemed full of peace and gentle prosperity. As we slowly
glided past this Eden, the inhabitants came to the water's edge
FORTUNATE ISLAND.
191
to the mosquitoes, seems to revive. The sailors are in motion;
the bull-frog begins his bellowing, the few solitary birds their
song • the river finds its murmur ; and we plunge into its waters,
and then take a stroll upon the desert with our guns. As night
comes on, the moonlight gives the reddish-colored sands the ap-
pearance of a snow-covered world, reflecting the glow of some
distant conflagration. The sand-hills, among which we wander,
are sprinkled with stunted shrubs, on which the gazelle feeds,
and among which the lion and the wolf lurk for these desert deer.
At some distance from the river I stood alone upon a naked
mountain's side, and the prospect was the wildest, loneliest, and
dreariest, I had ever witnessed. Far and wide to the horizon's
edge, the trackless, monotonous desert spread its undulations
like a sea ; but without a shadow, or a fleck of foam, or a sail
to enliven its dull, sulky-looking wastes. There was not even a
tree to relieve the view, nor anything on which to rest the weary
eye, but the river winding in blue or silver, as the moon or the
shadow fell upon its waters ; and on its surface far away floated
one small speck, containing the only human hearts that beat
within that wide-extended circle of blank desert and unclouded
sky.
Sometimes we came to places where the river narrowed like
the river Avon, under Clifton Downs, and the sailors could often
find no footing on the crags ; then they would swim in files,
drawing the boat-rope in their teeth. After leaving such gorges
and deserts, we opened upon a broad, calm river, and a country
which appeared to smile with verdure in comparison to that
which we had come from.
As the river broadened, there appeared an island which
would have been beautiful anywhere, but here was like a glimpse
of paradise. Palm-groves waved over peaceful villages, green
lawns were speckled with flocks and herds, luxuriant corn-fields
were parked off" by light palings, melon gardens ran along the
river's verdant border, which was flecked with their golden fruit
and flower; groves of the lote-tree and acacia sheltered the
blossoming bean and lupine from the sun, and the whole scene
seemed full of peace and gentle prosperity. As we slowly
glided past this Eden, the inhabitants came to the water's edge