ry thing around you is gay, and you only are unhappy.' He
endeavoured to soothe her by his embraces; but she turned away her head,
and fled trembling towards her mother. The caresses of her brother excited
too much emotion in her agitated heart. Paul could not comprehend the
meaning of those new and strange caprices.

"One of those summers, which sometimes desolate the countries situated
between the tropics, now spread its ravages over this island. It was near
the end of December, when the sun in Capricorn darts over Mauritius, during
the space of three weeks, its vertical fires. The south wind, which
prevails almost throughout the whole year, no longer blew. Vast columns of
dust arose from the highways, and hung suspended in the air: the ground was
every where broken into clefts; the grass was burnt; hot exhalations issued
from the sides of the mountains, and their rivulets, for the most part
became dry: fiery vapours, during the day, ascended from the plains, and
appeared, at the setting of the sun, like a conflagration. Night brought no
coolness to the heated atmosphere: the orb of the moon seemed of blood,
and, rising in a misty horizon, appeared of supernatural magnitude. The
drooping cattle, on the sides of the hills, stretching out their necks
towards heaven, and panting for air, made the valleys reecho with their
melancholy lowings; even the Caffree, by whom they were led, threw himself
upon the earth, in search of coolness; but the scorching sun had every
where penetrated, and the stifling atmosphere resounded with the buzzing
noise of insects, who sought to allay their thirst in the blood of man and
of animals.

"On one of those sultry nights Virginia, restless and unhappy, arose, then
went again to rest, but could find in no attitude either slumber or repose.
At length she bent her way, by the light of the moon, towards her fountain,
and gazed at its spring, which, notwithstanding the drought, still flowed
like silver threads down the brown sides of the rock. She flung herself
into the basin; its coolness reanimated her spirits, and a thousand
soothing remembrances presented themselves to her mind. She recollected
that in her infancy her mother and Margaret amused themselves by bathing
her with Paul in this very spot; that Paul afterwards, reserving this bath
for her use only, had dug its bed, covered the bottom with sand, and sown
aromatic herbs around the borders. She saw, reflected through the water
upon h