and the long-podded capsicum, the cloves of which are of the colour of
blood, and more glowing than coral. The herb of balm, with its leaves
within the heart, and the sweet basil, which has the odour of the
gilliflower, exhaled the most delicious perfumes. From the steep summit of
the mountain hung the graceful lianas, like a floating drapery, forming
magnificent canopies of verdure upon the sides of the rocks. The sea birds,
allured by the stillness of those retreats, resorted thither to pass the
night. At the hour of sunset we perceived the curlew and the stint skimming
along the sea shore; the cardinal poised high in air; and the white bird of
the tropic, which abandons, with the star of day, the solitudes of the
Indian ocean. Virginia loved to repose upon the border of this fountain,
decorated with wild and sublime magnificence. She often seated herself
beneath the shade of the two cocoa trees, and there she sometimes led her
goats to graze. While she prepared cheeses of their milk, she loved to see
them browse on the maidenhair which grew upon the steep sides of the rock,
and hung suspended upon one of its cornices, as on a pedestal. Paul,
observing that Virginia was fond of this spot, brought thither, from the
neighbouring forest, a great variety of birds' nests. The old birds,
following their young, established themselves in this new colony. Virginia,
at stated times, distributed amongst them grains of rice, millet, and
maize. As soon as she appeared, the whistling blackbird, the amadavid bird,
the note of which is so soft: the cardinal, the black frigate bird, with
its plumage the colour of flame, forsook their bushes; the paroquet, green
as an emerald, descended from the neighbouring fan palms; the partridge ran
along the grass: all advanced promiscuously towards her, like a brood of
chickens: and she and Paul delighted to observe their sports, their
repasts, and their loves.

"Amiable children! thus passed your early days in innocence, and in the
exercise of benevolence. How many times, on this very spot, have your