different directions that I cannot give a clear notion of them--erect,
oblique, and horizontal; and sometimes in each of these positions they
are curved. In the first cave which occurs, the columns are bent in such
a manner as to have given rise to its name of the _scollop_; but I think
they look still more like the inside of the timbers of a ship. On the
other side, the wall which leads into the cave, is formed by ends of
columns, which make it appear something like a honeycomb; and
immediately beyond this cave, the broken ends form a sort of stairs to
the causeway, and up to the great cave. Beneath this part of the cliff
is situated a single rock, called _Buachaille_, (the herdsman) a name
commonly applied in the Highlands to remarkable mountains and rocks.
There is a very striking coincidence between the Gaëlic and the Greek
languages, not only in this, but in other words; and my companion, who
is well acquainted with the Gaëlic, thinks that they must have had a
common origin.
“Of the three caves in the south-west side of the island, the
westernmost is called the cave of Mackinnon; who seems, from the number
of places to which he has given his name, to have been a hero of
considerable celebrity. Its height is 50 feet, and length 224 feet; but
although grand and sublime in general effect, it has not the beautiful
regularity so remarkable in the cave of Fingal; which I will now
endeavour to describe.
“The opening into this celebrated cave finishes above, in a sort of
Gothic arch, which is 66 feet above the surface of the water. The
breadth, at the entrance, is 42 feet; the whole length of the cave, 227;
and the height within, from 40 to 50 feet. The sides, like the front,
consist of groups of columns; and the ceiling, at least towards the
middle, is composed of the sections, or broken ends of columns, which
give it a very architectural appearance. The sea never ebbs entirely
out, and, therefore, forms the only floor of the cave; but the broken
range of columns which produces the exterior causeway, is continued on
each side within, and admits of access over the broken summits to the
farther end, if the water be not too high.
“After all, it is so impossible to describe this cave, that the very
attempt is presumptuous.--The more it is studied, the greater is the
admiration of the beholder. The richness arising from the multiplicity
of the parts--the great extent--the twilight gloom--the varying effects
of the reflected light--the transparent green of the water--the echo of
the surge rising and falling--and the profound solitude of the whole
scene, must make a strong impression on any mind at all sensible to
beauty, in art or nature. I only wish you could all have seen it, my
dear friends.”
_18th._--This has been a most charming day; the mild calm dry feel of
the air reminded me of the lovely weather that we are accustomed to at
Rio. Here the days are very changeable; but then the nights have not
that extreme chilliness that they have in Brazil.
It was resolved, at breakfast, in order to shew me a little of the
country, that we should take a long walk--visit a farmer who lives about
a mile and a-half from this--and then return by a different way, through
a hamlet, inhabited by some of the poorest class.
We were all ready at one o’clock, which was the appointed hour.--My
uncle dislikes very much that people should not be ready in time, and
really considers it a fault not to be punctual; he says, it shews a
selfish disregard of the wishes of others, and besides, that a great
deal of time is wasted--melted away by waiting for each other.--I hope I
shall learn to be more exact than I used to be, when with my indulgent
mother.
We walked through several fields; but they all had a confined
appearance, from being so much more fenced than the open country to
which I have been accustomed. Some were all life and bustle; the
reapers cutting the corn with their sickles, and dexterously laying it
in a line, so that the binders who follow them can tie it up into
sheaves without delay; several of these are then made to stand endways,
in a little tight group, called a shock. In another place, horses and
waggons were engaged in drawing home the corn which had been reaped
first, and was now dry enough to preserve it, to the farmyard, where it
was to be stacked; and they were succeeded by many little girls, who
were gleaning the scattered ears. Farmer Moreland was in his farmyard,
overseeing the stacking of his corn, and I could not but admire the
neatness and regularity with which the sheaves were placed, with the
tops pointing towards the centre, all being made quite firm, and the
outside of the stack kept perfectly even. My uncle made me also observe
that open passages, for the circulation of the air, were left in the
stack, to prevent its fermenting or _heating_, which would spoil the
grain. What a curious thing it is that decaying vegetables, when thus
pressed together, without a free passage of air should produce such a
chemical change, as to cause them to take fire!
After we had rested ourselves in Farmer Moreland’s comfortable house, we
looked at his garden, where I observed several rows of large sunflowers,
with the seed of which he feeds his fowls; and we then left him and
Dame Moreland, as we saw they were very busy.
In the nice smooth green fields which we passed through, there are no
beautiful flowers, like those which spread a brilliant carpet over our
plains; nor is there any of that rank grass, nearly the height of a man,
so common in some parts of Brazil. The hay was all made up some weeks
ago, so that I cannot see the delicate flowers of the grasses, nor their
slender stalks or _culms_. My aunt says, that grass contains a great
deal of very nourishing sugary juice; and if the hay is cut and made up
early, before that juice is exhausted by maturing the seed, it becomes
much more strengthening food than when mowed late.
Nor are there any herds of wild cattle here, like those in parts of our
country; and, therefore, the Brazilian custom of catching the cattle by
a noose is not in use. I described to Wentworth the dexterity with which
the _peons_ fling the noose, or _lasso_, over the head of any animal,
even in full gallop. Here the cattle are in small numbers, and submit
readily to the restraint of being confined in fields. The person who
takes care of them has comparatively little trouble; and though he does
not live on beef for every meal, like the peon, yet he is in fact more
comfortable. We saw some very poor people in the hamlet by which we
returned home, and found them civil in their manners, and contented
with their employment. As to their houses, they are very different,
indeed, from the peon’s hovel of upright posts, interwoven with branches
of trees, and plastered with mud, thatched with nothing but long grass,
and a hide stretched on four sticks, by way of a door.
I was surprised to see with what docility a number of cows allowed
themselves to be driven home by a little boy to Farmer Moreland’s. My
uncle told me, that it is a great relief to them to have their milk
taken away; and that were the fields open, they would go home at the
regular hours to be milked. I had imagined that cows had but a small
portion of sense or instinct; but my uncle told me several instances of
their sagacity, and among others, one which he read lately in travels in
Norway and Lapland.
The author frequently saw cows feeding close to precipices several
hundred feet high, where an English cow would have but little chance of
escape; but the Norway cows, turned out amidst the mountains to procure
their subsistence, become as nimble as goats, and climb the rocky crags
with the greatest ease.
The manner in which instinct has taught them to descend the mountains is
curious. Sitting on their haunches, they place their fore-feet close
together, and in this way slide down places, which from their steepness
would appear quite impassable with safety.
We went into several cottages belonging to the poor labourers. They are
either built of brick, or of frame-work filled in with bricks and
plaster, with good doors and glass windows; and inside, every thing,
though shewing poverty, gave the idea of comfort. The walls papered, or
nicely white-washed, the floors scowered and sprinkled with sand;
plates, cups, and saucers displayed on shelves; beds with clean
patchwork quilts; and in two of the houses, wooden-clocks to call the
people up to their business. And to all of them there was a detached
shed for the pig, unlike the filthy place left, between the posts, that
support the floor of the Brazilian huts. In the last cottage we visited,
we found that the hospitable people it belonged to had contrived to make
room for a poor traveller and her child. She had come there on Saturday
evening, when they gave her lodging for charity. On Sunday, she begged
permission to remain, because she did not think it right to travel on
that day; and on Monday she grew ill, and has been in bed ever since.
These good people seemed so kind and generous to her, though very poor
themselves, that my aunt is much interested for them.
How gratifying it is to see the poorest people assisting each other,
even when really distressed themselves, but the most delightful thing of
all, dear Mamma, is that there are no slaves here; every body is free,
and may work or be idle as they like; but if they prefer idleness, they
must of course want the comforts possessed by the industrious;--for
industry, as you used to say, brings comfort and happiness.
_19th._--This forest of Deane is very extensive, I find, for it is
nearly twenty miles long, and ten broad. Here, at the south-east, it is
bordered by the Severn, and on the north-west it stretches to the Wye;
so that it forms the chief part of the western district of
Gloucestershire. It was once the chief support of the English navy; but
the timber is much diminished in consequence of the iron works in its
neighbourhood, which it supplied a long time with fuel. My uncle says,
however, that it has more the appearance of a forest than almost any
other in England; and it still contains many noble old oak and beech
trees, besides birch, holly, and underwood.
Here and there a few acres, surrounding cottages, have been cleared and
cultivated, which make a beautiful variety. These cottages, and some
farm-houses which stand upon the forest land, are free from taxes, and
belong to no parish.
My aunt says, it is quite remarkable for the quantities of primroses and
lilac wood-sorrel that are every where found. There are a few deer in
some parts of the forest, but I have not yet seen them.
_20th._--What a difference between this country, and that which I have
left! I scarcely know which to call my own: should it not be that where
I lived during my happy childhood with my dear Mamma? The kindness and
affection of all my friends here will, I am sure, soon make this country
dear to me also; but beautiful I can never think it, when I recollect
Brazil, and all its various charms, and all the innumerable flowers and
trees that are at this moment in brilliant beauty; while here, the
principal flowers are all gone by, and symptoms of the decay of autumn
already appear.
It was just about this season that you used to take us to the cottage
you had on the Lagoa de Bodingo Freitas. What various amusements we had
there! The road along the slope of the mountain was so pretty, among
myrtles, _begonias_, and _paullinias_; and there we were always sure of
finding the diamond-beetle; and then when gradually descending from the
hill, we drove along the banks of the sea covered with lofty ferns; and
when you used to allow us to stop on the shore and search for sea-stars,
urchins, shells, and plants. Oh, those were happy times! Or when we used
to go with you to the low grounds near the lake, and lose ourselves in
the thickets of _mangrove_ trees, while gathering their curious seeds,
and wondering at the long roots they shoot out to the ground, and while
you were searching for marsh plants and fern bushes. Indeed, I never,
never can forget those days; nor the still solitude of that valley, the
beauty of the rock of Gavia, covered with the blue _gloxinia_, and the
wild mountain stream that came tumbling down into the lake; nor the poor
fishermen who used to look so happy when you gave them a few _reals_.
Though we live here on the borders of a forest, it is quite unlike that
forest near which the Senhor Antonio Gomez lives, and where we used
sometimes to spend a few weeks so pleasantly. I miss several little
things that seemed to me to belong to a forest, and which used to amuse
Marianne and me so much--the howling of the monkeys in the wood, that
wakened us in the mornings, and the deep noises of the frogs and toads,
with the chirp of the grasshoppers and locusts, like a monotonous treble
mixed with that croaking bass.
And then when playing about in the wood after the mists of the night had
been dispelled by the rising sun, and when every creature seemed to be
rejoicing in the return of day, we had such delight in chasing the
pretty butterflies. Nothing at all here like those great butterflies
that used to flutter from flower to flower, and hover among the bushes
under which we sat; or that sometimes collected in separate companies on
the sunny banks of the little stream that ran through the valley near
the Senhor’s house. None of those great owl-moths sitting quietly on the
trees waiting, with their wings spread open, for the approach of
evening. Alas! I see none of those beautiful creatures here; nor the
long nests of the wasps hanging from the trees; nor the beetles
sparkling brightly on the flowers and fresh leaves; nor the beautiful
little serpents, equal to flowers in splendour, gliding out of the
leaves and the hollows of trees, and creeping up the stem to catch
insects.
I have just been describing to Mary those woods which seemed actually
alive, when the monkeys came leaping and chattering from tree to tree,
and enjoying the sun; as well as all our birds with their bright
plumage, whose various notes formed such extraordinary concerts. The
_urapong_, which makes the woods resound with a noise like the strokes
of a hammer on the anvil. The showy parrots of every colour, and the
_manakin_, whose melodious morning song you loved, because it was so
like the warbling of the nightingale; and which Mary tells me is called
the _organiste_, in St. Domingo, on account of the compass of its song,
as it forms a complete octave. And besides all these, the dear little
busy _orioles_, that my sister and I have so often watched creeping out
of the little hole at one side of their long bag-shaped nests, to visit
the orange trees, while their sentinels gave them notice by a loud
scream of the approach of strangers.
Mary smiled when I told her, what I am sure Marianne remembers--how we
used to like to listen to the _toucan_ rattling with his large hollow
beak, as he sat on the extreme branches, and calling, in plaintive
notes, for rain; and how sometimes, when he was sitting comfortably and
almost hid in the nest which he had scooped in the stem of a tree, we
used to pretend to alarm him, that we might see how instantly he
prepared to attack the invader with his bill.
But these are all passed away. Dear Mamma, forgive this list of pleasing
recollections: describing them to you makes me feel as if I was again
enjoying them in your company. There is such a glowing splendour, as I
told Mary, in the sunny days of Brazil, when the glittering
humming-birds dart about, and with their long bills extract the honey
from the flowers, that I cannot avoid perceiving how gloomy every thing
appears here; but pray do not think me discontented.
Mary, to whom I had been describing all these past delights, came back
to me just as I had written so far; and, seeing the tears in my eyes,
she seemed to feel with me, and to think it quite natural that I should
every moment perceive the difference between two countries so opposite
in climate and in every thing; though she laughed a little at my
repeating to you all that you see continually; but you know, Mamma, you
desired me to write all I thought, and you may well suppose how
constantly my thoughts turn towards the country in which you live.
Mary said she should have been surprised if I had not felt the change.
“But indeed, Bertha,” said she, “you must not forget how well balanced
are our blessings. If Brazil has a climate, and various beautiful
productions which England does not possess, England, on the other hand,
has far more substantial comforts; and, by her commerce, she has the
means of enjoying those of all other countries. We have not your
brilliant flowers and birds, but you will find that we have many which
are more useful, and which will interest you, who love natural history.
Our birds have no pendent nests, because they are in no danger from such
depredators as your monkeys and snakes, and therefore their instinct
does not lead them to contrive such means of defence; but you will see,
amongst both our birds and insects, many whose habits are equally
curious.”
I said that I believed, as you, Mamma, have often told me, that there is
no country which does not possess much to attach its inhabitants to it,
and to interest an observant mind.
“And it is in the mind,” she replied, “that our real happiness will
always be found. It rests on our own disposition and thoughts, much
more than on those outward circumstances which appear coloured by our
feelings; just as objects appear the colour of the glass through which
you look at them. But,” added she, “I came not to moralise, but to beg
of you to come out and walk.”
Out we went; and my thoughts soon turned from the scenes I have been
lamenting, to the satisfactory feeling of having, in both my countries,
such dear and good friends.
_21st._ _Sunday._--In the course of a conversation this morning about
the Sabbath day, a lady, who is here on a visit, remarked that it was
the idea of some people, that the Sabbath, having been instituted at the
time that the Israelites received the Ten Commandments, is not binding
on Christians, any more than the other Levitical institutions.
In order to show what a mistaken idea that is, my uncle read to us the
extract which I am going to copy here.
“It is a great mistake to consider the Sabbath as a mere festival of the
Jewish church, deriving its whole sanctity from the Levitical law. The
religious observation of the seventh day is included, in the Decalogue,
among our first duties; but the reason assigned for the injunction is
general, and has no relation to the particular circumstances of the
Israelites, or to the particular relation in which they stood to God as
his chosen people. The creation of the world was an event equally
interesting to the whole human race; and the acknowledgment of God as
our Creator is a duty, in all ages and countries, incumbent on mankind.
“The terms of the ordinance plainly describe it as an institution of an
earlier age--‘Wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and _set it
apart_,’ which is the true meaning of hallowed it. These words express a
past time. It is not said, Wherefore the Lord now blesses the seventh
day, and sets it apart, but, Wherefore he _did_ bless it, and set it
apart in times past; and he now requires that you, his chosen people,
should be observant of that ancient institution.
“In confirmation of this fact, we find, by the 16th chapter of Exodus,
that the Israelites were already acquainted with the Sabbath, and had
been accustomed to a strict observance of it, before Moses received the
tables of the law at Sinai. For, when the manna was first given for
their nourishment in the wilderness, they were commanded to lay by, on
the sixth day, a sufficient portion for the succeeding day. ‘To-morrow,’
said Moses, ‘is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord: on that day
ye shall not find it in the field; for the Lord hath given you the
Sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day bread for two days.’
He mentions the Sabbath as a divine command, with which the people were
well acquainted; for he alleges the well-known sanctity of the day, to
account for the extraordinary supply of manna on the preceding day. But
the appointment of the Sabbath, to which his words allude, must have
been earlier than the appointment of the law, of which no part had yet
been given. For this first gathering of manna was in the second month of
the departure of the Israelites from Egypt; and they did not arrive at
Sinai, where the law was given, till the third month.
“An institution of this antiquity and importance could derive no part of
its sanctity from the authority of the Mosaic law; and the abrogation of
that law no more releases the worshippers of God from a due observation
of the Sabbath, than it cancels the injunction of filial piety, or the
prohibition of theft or murder.
“The worship of the Christian church is properly to be considered as a
restoration of the patriarchal church in its primitive simplicity and
purity; and of the patriarchal worship, the Sabbath was one of the
noblest and simplest rites. As the Sabbath was of earlier institution
than the religion of the Jews, so it necessarily survives the extinction
of the Jewish law, and makes a part of Christianity.
“It differs from all other ordinances, of similar antiquity, and is a
part of the rational religion of man, in every stage and state of his
existence, till he shall attain that happy rest of which the Sabbath is
a type.
“Let us remember, always, that to mankind in general, and to us
Christians in particular, the proper business of that day is the worship
of God in public assemblies. Private devotion is the Christian’s _daily_
duty; but the peculiar duty of the Sabbath is public worship. Every
man’s conscience must direct him what portion of the remainder of the
Sabbath should be allotted to private devotion, useful duties, and sober
recreation. And, perhaps, a better general rule cannot be laid down than
this--that the same proportion of the Sabbath, on the whole, should be
devoted to religious exercises, public and private, as each individual
would employ, on any other day, in ordinary business.”
_22d._--I have just been made very happy, dear Mamma. I was sitting in
my aunt’s dressing room, labouring through a difficult question in
arithmetic, which Mary had given me, when my uncle came in; and, after a
little conversation, he said to my aunt and cousins, “I am very much
pleased with this good girl. I have not judged of her hastily--I approve
of her as a companion for my daughters; and she has my free permission
to be with them in this room and every where, as much as she pleases.”
It is a great satisfaction to add, that my cousins looked as much
pleased at this as I did; but they could not feel the delight that I
felt, when he continued,--“Bertha, my dear, when you write to your
mother, I desire that you will say I am highly pleased with her
education of her little daughter. Separated from her friends and country
by ill health, with little of good society, and labouring under many
disadvantages, she has not sunk into indolence or indifference--she has
preserved her good sense and energy, and has made you a gentlewoman in
mind and manners; and I rejoice to see you so much what the child of my
excellent sister ought to be.”
My beloved mother, this little message to you gave me such heartfelt
delight, that my eyes very nearly overflowed.
My kind uncle afterwards said, “But, Bertha, do not imagine that I think
you have no faults.”
“No, dear uncle,” said I, “that never came into my head; but I am sure
you and my aunt will be so good as to assist me in conquering them.”
“Most readily I will,” said he: “indeed I will write myself to your
mother, and tell her how much I like her Bertha, who deserves to be the
companion of my daughters; my sister knows how particular I am about
their intimacies and early friendships.”
Though I know his letter will be a most welcome one to you, I could not
resist the pleasure of telling you all this myself, dear Mamma. I shall
feel much more bright and cheerful now, than I have felt, since I left
you.
_23d._--I can walk much more here than I could in our own hot country,
so I am out a great deal every fine day.