hem. The little
distinctions which have been shown him at his own home ought to be
forgotten when he travels over the world at large; for strangers know
nothing of his former merits, and it is necessary that they should
witness them before they pay him the tribute which he was wont to receive
within his own doors. Thus, to be kind and affable to those we meet, to
mix in their amusements, to pay a compliment or two to their manners and
customs, to respect their elders, to give a little to their distressed
and needy, and to feel, as it were, at home amongst them, is the sure way
to enable you to pass merrily on, and to find other comforts as sweet and
palatable as those which you were accustomed to partake of amongst your
friends and acquaintance in your own native land.

We will now ascend in fancy on Icarian wing, and take a view of Guiana in
general. See an immense plain, betwixt two of the largest rivers in the
world, level as a bowling-green, save at Cayenne, and covered with trees
along the coast quite to the Atlantic wave, except where the plantations
make a little vacancy amongst the foliage.

Though nearly in the centre of the torrid zone, the sun's rays are not so
intolerable as might be imagined, on account of the perpetual verdure and
refreshing north-east breeze. See what numbers of broad and rapid rivers
intersect it in their journey to the ocean, and that not a stone or a
pebble is to be found on their banks, or in any part of the country, till
your eye catches the hills in the interior. How beautiful and
magnificent are the lakes in the heart of the forests, and how charming
the forests themselves, for miles after miles on each side of the rivers!
How extensive appear the savannas, or natural meadows, teeming with
innumerable herds of cattle, where the Portuguese and Spaniards are
settled, but desert as Sahara where the English and Dutch claim dominion.
How gradually the face of the country rises! See the sand-hills all
clothed in wood first emerging from the level, then hills a little
higher, rugged with bold and craggy rocks, peeping out from amongst the
most luxuriant timber. Then come plains, and dells, and far-extending
valleys, arrayed in richest foliage; and beyond them, mountains piled on
mountains, some bearing prodigious forests, others of bleak and barren
aspect. Thus your eye wanders on, over scenes of varied loveliness and
grandeur, till it rests on the stupendous pinnacles of the long