Quite perpendicular as appears the wall of rocks behind us, those green
platforms which separate their summits are so many stages, by means of
which you may reach, through some difficult paths, that cone of sloping
and inaccessible rocks, which is called The Thumb. At the foot of that
cone is an extended slope of ground, covered with lofty trees, and so
steep and elevated that it looks like a forest in the air, surrounded by
tremendous precipices. The clouds, which are constantly attracted round
the summit of the Thumb, supply innumerable rivulets, which fall to so
great a depth in the valley situated on the other side of the mountain,
that from this elevated point the sound of their cataracts cannot be
heard. From that spot you can discern a considerable part of the island,
diversified by precipices and mountain peaks, and amongst others,
Peter-Booth, and the Three Breasts, with their valleys full of woods.
You also command an extensive view of the ocean, and can even perceive
the Isle of Bourbon, forty leagues to the westward. From the summit of
that stupendous pile of rocks Paul caught sight of the vessel which was
bearing away Virginia, and which now, ten leagues out at sea, appeared
like a black spot in the midst of the ocean. He remained a great part of
the day with his eyes fixed upon this object: when it had disappeared,
he still fancied he beheld it; and when, at length, the traces which
clung to his imagination were lost in the mists of the horizon, he
seated himself on that wild point, forever beaten by the winds, which
never cease to agitate the tops of the cabbage and gum trees, and the
hoarse and moaning murmurs of which, similar to the distant sound of
organs, inspire a profound melancholy. On this spot I found him, his
head reclined on the rock, and his eyes fixed upon the ground. I had
followed him from the earliest dawn, and, after much importunity, I
prevailed on him to descend from the heights, and return to his family.
I went home with him, where the first impulse of his mind, on seeing
Madame de la Tour, was to reproach her bitterly for having deceived him.