156 A LASTING IMPRESSION.

foam. Every rock and islet is covered with vigor-
ous trees, collected in clusters. Far as the eye can
reach, a thick vapour is suspended over the river,
and through this whitish fog the tops of the lofty
palm-trees shoot up. The leafy plume of this
palm-tree, the trunk of which is more than 80 feet
high, rises almost straight toward heaven. At
every hour of the day the sheet of foam displays
different aspects. Sometimes the hilly islands and
the palm-trees project their broad shadows; some-
times the rays of the setting sun are refracted
in the humid cloud that shrouds the cataract.
Coloured arcs are formed, and vanish and appear
again alternately; light sport of the air, their
images wave above the plain. _

“JT do not hesitate to repeat, that neither time
nor any other sight of beauty has effaced from my
mind the powerful impression of the aspect of the
cataracts. When I read a description of those
places in India that are embellished by running
waters and a vigorous vegetation, my imagination
recalls a sea of foam and palm-trees, the tops of
which rise above a stratum of vapour. The majestic
scenes of nature, like the sublime works of poetry
and the arts, leave remembrances that are inces-
santly reviving, and through the whole of life
mingle with all our feelings of what is grand and
beautiful.”