e, and were covered with young shoots, and bursting
leaf-buds. Even the evergreens--though they change but little
throughout the year, and the old leaves and the new, the blossoms and
the ripe fruit, may be seen upon the same tree at almost every season,
looked brighter and fresher than before the rains. The earth was
carpeted with beautiful grasses, mingled with tufts of moss, and bunches
of fern. Blue and white flowers were scattered about almost as
profusely as the "pinkster blossoms," in April, in the woods at home;
and in sheltered places, the modest cape-jasmine was beginning to unfold
its fragrant leaves. A delightful freshness filled the air, and there
was as yet, at this early hour, nothing to remind us that we were
beneath the fervent skies of the burning zone.

Rejoicing and exhilarated at finding himself in the woods once more,
Johnny ran furiously hither and thither, closely attended by Eiulo,
gathering wild-flowers, ferns and mosses; chasing bugs, beetles, and
butterflies; and letting fly his arrows at every unfortunate member of
the feathered community that came within the range of his archery. In
every thicket and almost at every step, he came upon something to call
forth the most boisterous exclamations of surprise or delight. He was
manifestly in the state of mind declared by the poet to be so eminently
happy and desirable--

"To all exhilarating influences,
Of earth and heaven alive!"

Scarcely a moment passed, that he did not come running all aglow and out
of breath to Arthur, with eager questions about something or other which
he had just seen, and then dash off again into the forest without
waiting for a reply, where fresh explosions of admiration or wonder,
would soon announce new, and if possible, still more astounding
discoveries.

The shores of the stream were picturesque and varied. For the first
half-mile from our starting-point, it wound between smooth grassy banks,
adorned with scattered clumps of trees. It then entered a dense wood,
where its channel was a rugged ravine, inclosed between steep rocks of
black basalt. Here, the scraggy, ill-conditioned trees were crowded
together, and overgrown with gigantic creepers. The branches, reaching
across from the opposite shores, were interlaced and matted into thick
masses, almost excluding the light of day. Max here displayed his
agility, by laying hold of a long bough which extended from bank to
bank, and walking "hand over h