not enough that this magical landscape, suffused with its deepest blush of beauty from the rains of the recent hurricane, afforded a perfect banquet to the eye, the wind, wafted gently towards the chasm b behind me, recreated the sense with

plants were constantly exhaling from their lips. "On the

waters of the little lake came

quite up to the foot of the rock, but on the right they were fringed with a sloping belt of verdure of some width, whereon stood an object that particularly arrested my attention. It was a venerable banyan-tree of stupendous dimensions, whose gigantic boughs had thrown down fresh stems, many of them apparently ten or eleven feet in circumference, whence other boughs had sprung and new shoots descended, some of which, not having yet reached the earth, were waving breeze. In this manner it had

gently in the

spread over a prodigious extent of ground, forming leafy

26, mbhetsters on had

golden green

and arcades, through whose

silvery trunks sprung

e until the whole resembled a vast

up at intervals,

hall, supported upon columns of Nature's own

architecture. In this solemn arboraceous temple I had already resolved to fix my habitation, even before I had explored its verdant colonnades, for I saw at once that it would require very little adaptation to fit it for our dwelling-place.

“After having satiated my eye with a general contemplation of the splendours outspread before me, I began to examine the scene more minutely, and not without misgiving and alarm, with a view to ascertain whether the island were inhabited; for I immediately associated all this wild magnificence and beauty of the tropics, with the notion of savages and wild beasts, and those moral horrors which often form a contrast to the lavish blessings of Nature. Nothing, however, could be observed to justify this apprehension, or even to make me believe that the scene was infested by beasts of prey. Neither path, nor habitation, nor any marks of culture indicated that it had ever been trodden by a human foot, and the very wildness of its sylvan beauty, and the primitive looks of its virgin woods, seemed to attest that this undiscovered isle had been left to ripen and luxuriate in its

own loveliness from the first moment when it was planted and adorned by the hand of the Creator. The more I examined it the more I felt convinced that I was right in this conjec ture, and my heart expanded with gratitude and delight at the thought that so long as we remained isolated from the world, we should at least have this smiling Elysium to ourselves, Eager to communicate to my companions the glad tidings of my discovery, I repassed the rocky chasm, (the door, that might be said to open from death to life,) and prepared to descend on the other side. I had left them on the wreck, seeking some additional articles of which we were in want, and from the eminence whereon I stood it appeared to me that by crossing the little stream, and going round by the beach opposite to our dwelling, which was less encumbered by rocks, than my customary route, I should be the sooner enabled to reach them.

This course I accordingly pursued, hurrying onward with a happiness and buoyancy of spirit thathseemed to communicate itself to my piotions, and fixing my eyes upon the vessel to see

whether I could discover them on the deck, when suddenly I beheld an appalling spectacle which rooted me to the spot where I stood. Protruding upwards from the 'sand, immediately before me, were two hideous black arms, their hands fastened together, an apparition which I instantly referred to the revolting orgies of savages who had been celebrating some sacrifice or cannibal repast upon the spot, and had stuck up this brutal trophy of their barbarous abominations. Down, down to the very earth was dashed in a moment the flattering fabric of my hopes, the dream that we should possess this delicious sanctuary to ourselves, that it was unravaged and unpolluted by human beasts of prey, and my heart sunk with it. A sickness fell upon my whole soul; a panic fear such as I never experienced before, took possession of me; I averted my eyes from the hateful object, and ran back to the rock as if pursued by a whole legion of yelling savages.

“Seated in a cavity of the rocks, and hidden from the spectral object that had scared me, I was enabled to collect my thoughts. They

were now as dark and desponding as they had just before been sanguine and of pleasant cheer. Had I been alone I should have been compara tively indifferent to my destiny, but I could not bear to reflect upon the horrible fate which might be reserved for those who were dearer to me than my own life, should they fall into the power of some savage horde. Even to begin apprehension of their brutal outrages would render life itself a perpetual torment. I felt that I could never endure such a feverish exis tence, for my mind was so constituted that I knew it would be maddened by suspense; even now, momentary as was the feeling, it drove me to such desperation that I determined to return and satisfy my doubts by an examination of the mangled limbs, or of any other remains that might be scattered upon the spot. My eager ness, however, was not inconsistent with caution: I looked out to sea to ascertain whether there were any canoes upon the coast, but there was not a single speck upon its peaceful bosom. A slight shuddering thrilled through me as I again approached the revolting object, but I

2