hey are in no way remarkable for
their elegance, resembling in the shape of the body a long beetle
which may be seen in the fields after sunset, without wings or
scales. In colour they are a dingy brown, and, like the
glow-worm, carry their light in the tail.

As I had not before chanced to see anything of the kind, and
forgot at the moment that such an insect as the fire-fly existed,
I was for a few minutes at a loss to what cause to attribute the
phenomenon, and was at last indebted to my negro guide for
refreshing my memory on the subject. The effect, however, cannot
be conceived without being witnessed. A cluster of two or three
glow-worms shine so brilliantly, that they will furnish subject
for the commendatory eloquence of any one fortunate enough to
perceive them together; but their brilliancy is to a farthing
candle to the sun, when compared with that of the fire-fly. Not
two, or three, but thousands of these creatures dance around,
filling the air with a wavering and uncertain glimmer, of the
extreme beauty of which no words can convey an adequate
conception.

THE BLUE MOUNTAINS.

Having passed the night at this tavern, a small cottage kept by a
free negro and his wife, I rose two hours before dawn, and
prosecuted my journey. From the moment I quitted the Plate Tree
I began gradually to ascend, till at daybreak I found myself in
the midst of the most glorious scenery that the imagination of
man can conceive. Everything around was new and romantic. The
hills, towering into the very sky, were covered from top to
bottom with the richest herbage and the most luxuriant wood.
Rarely could a barren crag be discerned, and when it did appear
it was only a sharp point, or a bald projection pushing itself
forward from the midst of the thickest foliage. But what to me
formed the most bewitching part of the prospect was the elegance
of the trees and their perfect dissimilitude to any which had
previously beheld. The cocoa-nut and plantain were mingled with
the wild pine and lime-tree; while the cashew and wild coffee,
with numberless other shrubs, loaded at once with fruit and
blossom, formed the underwood to these graceful forests.

As yet I had been favoured with a wide and good road, but now it
began gradually to narrow, till at last it ended in a path little
more distinct than the sheep-tracks over the hills in Scotland.
Winding along the sides of the mountains, it brought me
frequently to spots where th