I Confess, However, My Imagination Had Painted
Something More Grand, More Terrific In The Full-Grown Storm.
It Is An
Incomparably finer spectacle when beheld on shore,
where the waving trees, the wild flight of the birds, the
dark shadows
And bright lights, the rushing of the torrents
all proclaim the strife of the unloosed elements. At sea
the albatross and little petrel fly as if the storm were their
proper sphere, the water rises and sinks as if fulfilling its
usual task, the ship alone and its inhabitants seem the objects
of wrath. On a forlorn and weather-beaten coast, the scene
is indeed different, but the feelings partake more of horror
than of wild delight.
Let us now look at the brighter side of the past time. The
pleasure derived from beholding the scenery and the general
aspect of the various countries we have visited, has decidedly
been the most constant and highest source of enjoyment. It
is probable that the picturesque beauty of many parts of
Europe exceeds anything which we beheld. But there is a
growing pleasure in comparing the character of the scenery
in different countries, which to a certain degree is distinct
from merely admiring its beauty. It depends chiefly on an
acquaintance with the individual parts of each view. I am
strongly induced to believe that as in music, the person who
understands every note will, if he also possesses a proper
taste, more thoroughly enjoy the whole, so he who examines
each part of a fine view, may also thoroughly comprehend
the full and combined effect. Hence, a traveller should be
a botanist, for in all views plants form the chief
embellishment. Group masses of naked rock, even in the wildest
forms, and they may for a time afford a sublime spectacle,
but they will soon grow monotonous. Paint them with bright
and varied colours, as in Northern Chile, they will become
fantastic; clothe them with vegetation, they must form a
decent, if not a beautiful picture.
When I say that the scenery of parts of Europe is probably
superior to anything which we beheld, I except, as a class by
itself, that of the intertropical zones. The two classes cannot
be compared together; but I have already often enlarged on
the grandeur of those regions. As the force of impressions
generally depends on preconceived ideas, I may add, that
mine were taken from the vivid descriptions in the Personal
Narrative of Humboldt, which far exceed in merit anything
else which I have read. Yet with these high-wrought ideas,
my feelings were far from partaking of a tinge of disappointment
on my first and final landing on the shores of Brazil.
Among the scenes which are deeply impressed on my mind,
none exceed in sublimity the primeval forests undefaced by
the hand of man; whether those of Brazil, where the powers
of Life are predominant, or those of Tierra del Fuego,
where Death and decay prevail. Both are temples filled with
the varied productions of the God of Nature:
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