Page:Guatimala or the United Provinces of Central America in 1827-8.pdf/38

 almost to the clouds; the ear receives the mingled notes of an infinite variety of birds, singing in security among crags and precipices where the foot of man has never entered to destroy or to molest; while the discordant cry of the various tribes of monkeys inhabiting the woods, and every instant playfully springing after each other from tree to tree, gives a diversity to the scene at once novel and delightful. In addition to this, the windings of the stream are so abrupt, and the effect so varied, that it is in fact a perpetually changing picture. Nature would appear on this spot to have lavished all her beauties, nor can the most imaginative mind conceive a scene of grester loveliness.

The abundance of her gifts, are however in a considerable degree counterbalanced by the intense heat of a tropical sun, which darts its rays with amazing force between these hills, oftentimes unrelieved by the least breath of air; while the heavy dews that fall during the night, together with the damps of the rainy season, render it a dangerous habitation for man.

About half way up, the river falls into a lake 10 miles in width, and surrounded by high mountains. On its opposite side commences the upper part of the Dulce, which presents a very different aspect to the lower. The land on either side is