It seemed as if I was riding in some
fairy park, and I expected, every moment, to see sylphs and nymphs
appear before me.
I was so happy, that I felt richly recompensed for all the fatigue
of my journey. One thought only obscured this beautiful picture;
and that was, that weak man should dare to enter the lists with the
giant nature of the place, and make it bend before his will. How
soon, perhaps, may this profound and holy tranquillity be disturbed
by the blows of some daring settler's axe, to make room for the
wants of men!
I saw no dangerous animals save a few dark green snakes, from five
to seven feet long; a dead ounce, that had been stripped of its
skin; and a lizard, three feet in length, which ran timidly across
our path. I met with no apes; they appear to conceal themselves
deeper in the woods, where no human footstep is likely to disturb
them in their sports and gambols.
During the whole distance from Canto Gallo to the small village of
St. Ritta (sixteen miles), if it had not again been for a few coffee
plantations, I should have thought the place completely forgotten by
man.
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