to the luxury of a freshwater
bath; I accordingly stripped and sprang in, fully expecting to touch
bottom. But, to my astonishment, the pool proved to be fully ten feet
deep; moreover the water was icy cold, or appeared to be so in
comparison with the tropical heat of the air; I therefore scrambled out
as quickly as possible, and, dressing, resumed my ramble, greatly
refreshed by my dip.

The hot air was heavy with the smell of wet earth, the spray of the
waterfall, the rank vegetation that flourished riotously along the
margins of the brook, and the mingled perfumes of a thousand varieties
of strange and gorgeously tinted flowers, as I laboriously climbed the
steep side of the ravine, after crossing the brook, on my way to the
more open country beyond. But this soon changed upon my emerging from
the ravine, giving place to the more healthful and invigorating scent of
the salt sea breeze that came sweeping over the island and roared among
the lofty branches of the trees, among the trunks of which I now wound
my upward way.

I had now reached a park-like stretch of country, the surface of which
was clad with long, rich, luxuriant grass, thickly dotted with clumps of
splendid trees, many of which were of immense height and girth,
promising a rich yield of valuable timber, while others blazed with
vivid scarlet flowers instead of leaves. These open park-like expanses
of country, however, were of comparatively limited extent, the trees for
the most part growing closely together, while the space between their
trunks was choked with thick undergrowth, consisting of shrubs, bushes,
and long, tough, flowering creepers, so densely and inextricably
intermingled that it was sometimes impossible to force a way through it,
and long detours became necessary in order to make any progress. But
there were other spots, again, which conveyed the idea of natural
gardens, for in them little else than fruit-bearing trees were to be
found, among which I quickly recognised the banana, the plantain, the
peach, the orange, the lime, the custard apple, the granadilla, to say
nothing of many other kinds to which I was a stranger; while raspberries
and strawberries were to be found almost everywhere. And a little later
on in my walk I came here and there upon patches of melon plants in all
stages, from that in which the blossom was just opening to that of the
ripe and perfect fruit. A particularly rich and luscious-flavoured
purple grape al