bracelets,--some flat and decorated; others coarse, round,
smooth, with ends hammered into the form of viper-heads. She has
large flowers of gold in her ears, a small gold flower in her
very delicate little nose. This nose ornament does not seem
absurd; on these dark skins the effect is almost as pleasing as
it is bizarre. This jewellery is pure metal;--it is thus the
coolies carry their savings,--melting down silver or gold coin,
and recasting it into bracelets, ear-rings, and nose ornaments.

[Illustration: DEMERARA COOLIE GIRL.]

... Evening is brief: all this time the days have been growing
shorter: it will be black at 6 P.M. One does not regret it;--the
glory of such a tropical day as this is almost too much to endure
for twelve hours. The sun is already low, and yellow with a
tinge of orange: as he falls between the palms his stare colors
the world with a strange hue--such a phantasmal light as might be
given by a nearly burnt-out sun. The air is full of unfamiliar
odors. We pass a flame-colored bush; and an extraordinary
perfume--strange, rich, sweet--envelops us like a caress: the
soul of a red jasmine....


... What a tropical sunset is this-within two days' steam-
journey of the equator! Almost to the zenith the sky flames up
from the sea,--one tremendous orange incandescence, rapidly
deepening to vermilion as the sun dips. The indescribable
intensity of this mighty burning makes one totally unprepared for
the spectacle of its sudden passing: a seeming drawing down
behind the sea of the whole vast flare of light.... Instantly