As we rode, M- the civiliser of Montserrat and I side by side, talking of Cuba, and staring at the Noranteas overhead, a dull sound was heard, as if the earth had opened; as indeed it had, engulfing in the mud the whole forehand of M-'s mule; and there he knelt, his beard outspread upon the clay, while the mule's visage looked patiently out from under his left arm.

This pleased him best:In earth's red primal morning, When Nature's forces wrought with youthful heat, A mighty continent outspread, adorning Our planet's face, where now the surges beat: A land of wondrous growths, of strange creations, Of ferns like oaks, of saurians huge and dire, Of marshes vast, their dreary habitations, Of mountains flaming with primeval fire.