unison with the buoyant spirits that sustained us, as we stepped out over
what we felt to be untrodden ground.

APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY.

It had often before been my lot to be placed in a similar position, and I
have necessarily, therefore, given expression already to identical
sentiments; but I cannot refrain from again reminding the reader how far
inferior is the pleasure of perusing the descriptions of new lands,
especially when attempted by an unskilled pen, to that which the explorer
himself experiences. All are here on an equal footing; the most finished
writer and the most imperfect scribbler are on the same level; they are
equally capable of the exquisite enjoyment of discovery, they are equally
susceptible of the feelings of delight that gush upon the heart as every
forward step discloses fresh prospects, and brings a still more new
horizon, if I may so speak, to view. And it may be added, that to the
production of the emotions I allude to, beauty of landscape is scarcely
necessary. We strain forward incited by curiosity, as eagerly over an
untrodden heath, or untraversed desert, as through valleys of surpassing
loveliness, and amid mountains of unexplored grandeur; or perhaps, I
should say, more eagerly, for there is nothing on which the mind can
repose, nothing to tempt it to linger, nothing to divert the current of
its thoughts. Onward we move, with expectation at its highest, led by the
irresistible charm of novelty, almost panting with excitement, even when
every step seems to add certainty to the conviction that all that is
beyond resembles all that has been seen. In the present case, with the
exception of a clump of trees to the southward, there was nothing to
break the vast level that stretched before us, its rim sharply defined
against the morning sky. Here and there a charred stump, the relic of
some conflagration, reared its blackened face, serving to keep us in the