life have been passed in admiring the wonderful works
of our Creator, as shown to such advantage in the bright lands of
the West. Beautiful are the mornings in Jamaica, when the sun,
appearing through a cloudless and serene atmosphere, illumines with
his rays the summits of the mountains, and gilds the leaves of the
plantain and orange-trees. The plants are spread over with gossamer
of fine and transparent silk, or gemmed with dew-drops, and the
vivid hues of industrious insects, reflecting unnumbered tints from
the rays of the sun. The aspect of the richly cultivated valleys is
different, but not less pleasing; the whole of nature teems with the
most varied productions. The views around are splendid; the lofty
mountains adorned with thick foliage; the hills, from their summits
to their very borders, fringed with plants of never fading verdure.
The appearance of the valleys is remarkable: to form an imperfect
idea of it, we must group together the stately palm-tree, the
cocoa-nut, and tamarind trees, the clustering mango and
orange-trees, the waving plumes of the feathery bamboo, and many
others, too numerous to mention. On these plains, too, you will
find the bushy oleander, many varieties of Jerusalem thorn and
African rose, the bright scarlet of the cordium, bowers of
jessamine, vines of grenadilla, and the silver and silky leaves of
the portlandia. Fields of sugar-cane, houses of the planters, huts
of the negroes almost hidden by the patches of cultivated ground
attached to them, and the distant coast with ships, add to the
beauty of the West Indian landscape."

MR. WILTON. "That is the bright side of the scene, my dear mother;
and lest we should form wrong impressions, we will let the young
folks hear how all this beauty is sometimes marred by hurricanes and
earthquakes. One specimen will be sufficient; and I will describe a
hurricane, in order that you may have some slight notion of the many
_delights_ attendant on a residence in the West Indies.--A hurricane
is generally preceded by an awful stillness of the elements, the air
becomes close and heavy, the sun is red, and the stars at night seem
unusually large. Frequent changes take place in the thermometer,
which rises sometimes from 80 deg. to 90 deg.. Darkness extends over the
earth; the higher regions gleam with lightning. The impending storm
is first observed on the sea; foaming mountains rise suddenly from
its clear and motionless surface. The wind rages wi