Those matted woods, where birds forget to sing,
But silent bats in drowsy clusters cling;

Those pois'nous fields, with rank luxuriance crown'd,
Where the dark scorpion gathers death around;
Where at each step the stranger fears to wake
The rattling terrors of the vengeful snake;
Where crouching tigers wait their hapless prey,
And savage men, more murd'rous still than they ;
While oft in whirls the mad tornado flies,
Mingling the ravag'd landscape with the skies ;
Far different these from every former scene,
The cooling boook, the grassy vested green,
The breezy covert of the warbling grove,
That only shelter'd thefts of harmless love.

GOLDSMITH.

Miss Franks (and the amiable sisters have often recurred to my mind their private and social virtues press forcibly on my heart-may their days and nights be without a cloud-and, when they quit this troubled theatre, may they be admitted ad patres, clothed in robes of immortal beauty is the prayer of their grateful friend, &c.

LETTER III.

Reverie continued―The present state of the Indians of Arima-Census of the Colony in 1797-Natural His tory of the Orange and Tamarind Trees-Of the Grape, Indian Corn, and Cocoa-Ancient and Modern method of making Chocolate, together with its Medicinal Virtues.

DEAR SIR,

Head-Quarters, Puerto de Espana, Feb. 1803.

I FINISHED my last letter just as I had

stretched my wearied limbs under the fragrant shade of the hospitable linden-tree, with the little volume still unopened in my hand, thinking on the many happy hours that glided away during my delightful solitude in the woods near Perth-Amboy. Why did I refuse those who wished, nay entreated me, to take up my abode with the Dryades ?

But me, not destined such delights to share,
My prime of life in wandering spent and care,
Impell'd, with steps unceasing, to pursue

Some fleeting good, that mocks me with the view;
That, like the circle bounding earth and skies,
Allures from far, yet, as I follow, flies;
My fortune leads to traverse realms alone,
And find no spot of all the world my own.

GOLDSMITH.

I now opened Miss F.'s present*, and the first thing that struck my eye was the following passage of the students dream" The inexperience and rashness of "youth call loudly for the guidance of old age. Peri"lous is the voyage of life. Many precious cargoes "are lost in the tempestuous passage. Several indivi"duals have I seen, even in my time, embarking with "the flattering prospect of gaining the desired haven ; "but, alas! the surly winds arose-the unmerciful "tempest howled-the face of heaven grew black and "lowering-and the devouring waves swallowed up "their vessel. It sunk, and, ah! it rose no more. In "most cases the want of an intelligent and experienced pilot occasions the dreadful catastrophe.

66

"The trickling tear and the heaving sigh recal not "past circumstances. Regret, therefore, should have "a favourable influence over the future, regulating "conduct, and preventing additional sorrow. In your

present situation you need minute directions. Are you not destitute of a tutor's advice? Do you not "resemble a child bereaved of its parents? Strictly "speaking, you are a literary orphan." So I am, said I, hearing a noise; and lifting up my eyes to see if I could perceive the Student's sommeil monitor. No; it was a couple of female slaves at a small distance, with large heavy iron chains, which hung all round them, rivetted to an iron collar round the neck, and again to their ankles. These chains were so weighty that the poor unfortunate creatures were almost sinking under the grievous load, fastened on by the wicked followers of Christianity. Good GOD! I thank thee forever for having given my body a white colour-What misery have I escaped?

*Juvenile Pieces.

Dipping a little farther into this Dream:-" The 66 elegant endearments of female friendship soften the "heart, meliorate the disposition, annihilate eccentri" cities, and produce on the whole of life the most "amiable effects." It may so, said I, in any other country, but in the western world, man's heart, if it was soft before, will turn hard; female friendship is salacity with him, and female excellence is slavery. I was going to shut my book with disgust, when the names of Dryden, Otway, Savage, and Chatterton attracted my eye; the career of the latter is thus pathetically described:

Ah! who can tell how hard it is to climb

The steep where fame's proud temple shines afar?
Ah! who can tell how many a soul sublime,

Has felt the influence of malignant star,

And wag'd with fortune an eternal war;

Check'd by the scoff of pride-by envy's frown,

And poverty's unconquerable bar?

In life's low vale remote has pin'd alone,

Then dropp'd into the grave, unpitied and unknown.

BEATTIE.

Alas! poor Chatterton, such was thy fate! It is strange, that though England abounds with charitable institutions, there should be nothing of this kind formed adequate to the relief of indigent genius. For the future I am determined to study no other book but Cocker's Arithmetic; it will be my Prayer-book and Bible, and leave the pursuit of knowledge to others, to try if I can multiply as many numbers as will promote an institution of this nature. My mind is now thoroughly fitted to imbibe the dictates of wisdom, for it has passed through the progressive stages of painful conviction. I put the elegant little volume in my pocket. As I pre

ceeded on my journey, I imagined I traced the footsteps of Sir Walter Raleigh, who was here two hundred and eight years ago, employing his genius and risking his life to enhance the dignity and splendour of his country. The reward he met with is an encouragement for me to study Cocker. In contemplating the life of this immortal ornament, who lived for his country rather than himself, we must be fully impressed with the truth of this maxim, "That ambition, however "honourably displayed, is seldom the path that leads "to private felicity." How beautifully the benign poet delineated the character of this great man*;

Who can speak

The numerous worthies of the maiden-reign?
In Raleigh mark their every glory mix'd;

Raleigh! the scourge of Spain! Whose breast, with all
The Sage, the Patriot, and the Hero burn'd;
Nor sunk his vigour when a coward-reign
The Warrior fetter'd, and at last resign'd,
To glut the vengeance of a vanquish'd foe.
Then active still, and unrestrain'd his mind,
Explor'd the vast extent of ages past,
And with his prison hours enrich'd the world;
Yet found no times, in all the long research,
So glorious or so base as those he prov'd
In which he conquer'd, and in which he bled.

THOMSON.

I banished these reflections with an involuntary tear to the memory of Raleigh, occasioned, in some degree, by my assimilated situation. To be brief, I arrived at Arima; here I familiarized myself with these innocent creatures I envied their situation, and their harmless minds; yet, on the other hand, pitied the blindness of

:

* Mavor's Nepos.