XIX. VERDURE. The trees are clad with leaves of loveliest green! It is as various as the bow of heaven. Some trees are darkly covered; some are seen More graduated hues. Has Nature striven, Where winter comes not, and where summer--levin Of everlasting summer in this isle,— And to perpetuate every living hue Of grass, of leaf, of shrub, and of wild flower? The flowers are green of leaf, and bright the smile And every green tree is a summer bower. XX. ATTABAGA-OYA. This little stream, the first that caught my ear, Then down the deep ravine, through which you wend, And let your thoughts to Heaven for one day tend. T Sweet the repose of this lone mountain glen! XXI. RELIEF Leaving the glorious mountains, this wild plain, I travel by the mountains, and remain To thought o'erstrained, to growing phantasies, XXIII. ANTIQUITIES Away with the dull Antiquary's skill, Plucked from the goose's wing. I would be still, Where footfall scarce hath been. From every hill XXIV. PEACOCK MOUNTAIN, Imagination hovers o'er each work Of Nature. Thus in sunshine or in storm, Above the graceful head that like a fork Is pointed at the summit; and the tail And body form the intervenient vale And swelling of the mountain. There doth lurk {. Poetical Sketches, &c. &c. XX. The valley of Attabaga-oya, (oya means a stream,-ganga a river,) is truly one of the most charming spots that I have witnessed in any coun. try. In parts, it reminded me of England. Other objects are strictly Eastern, and characteristic of Ceylon.-It is formed by a ravine, which is the singular and peculiar feature of the interior of this island,-where every ravine is a valley, and every valley a ravine. Through this winds a pretty little stream, or oya. In some parts it is banked, as it were, by bold precipitious steeps; in others, by rising slopes, gentle declivities, and waving hills;naturally and irregularly interspersed with trees in the park style,-and covered with a verdure as rich and as green as is produced in the West of England. XXIV. This beautiful mountain does really bear more than a fanciful resemblance to the Indian bird by whose name it is distinguished. Not only are the upright feathers upon the head of the peacock exhibited to the eye by the tall perpendicular trees thinly scattered on the crest of the mountain, but the body of the mountain, or mountain range, gradually undulating until it almost disappears and, as it were, melts into the plain, is no obscure likeness of the body and long and sweeping tail of this noble and beautiful bird of the East This mountain accompanies the traveller all the way to Rambodde and it is a fine object seen through the breaks, and relieving the dullness and dreariness of the mountain-pass to Nawera Ellia. RECOLLECTIONS OF A GOVERNMENT EMISSARY. COMPILED BY THE EDITOR. CHAP. II. The government smuggler. Golden news. A night adventure. Mr. Croker deceived. Doing the Revenue officer. The Preventive service. Admiral D'Imbaud. DURING the Percival Administration I was frequently employed by Lord Liverpool, then War Secretary, on secret ageney business, He was very fond of the espionage system and had a great number of agents in his pay, both at home and abroad. Some of these were of a singular stamp, but that mattered not, so long as he got the information he desired, and his terms were such as to eusure his being well served. I met one of his many employés in the following manner:-I had been down to Walmer Castle to see his Lordship on some of the usual business, and was about to leave Deal when I observed a post-chaise coming out of an inn yard, containing a rough, sturdy old man, in a great pilot coat and glazed hat, puffing away at a long Dutch pipe. Finding that this was the only available chaise in the place, and that he was starting for London, I requested from him a seat in it, stating my anxiety to reach town on Lord L.'s business. The name was sufficient for the old man, and I soon found myself rolling along towards the Metropolis at a smart gallop, nearly choked with the fumes of his Dutch weed. When he was tired of smoking we chatted and I learnt that he was a Deal fisherman, alias, smuggler, employed by Lord L. to . bring over foreign newspapers when containing anything of importance, for which rather dangerous service he was amply rewarded. He had, however, another string to his bow, for he never failed to bring duplicates of the papers, and these he carried on to London where the "Times" gave him a princely price for his news. He was now on one of these errands with some Dutch_papers which gave important intelligence of the French army, and on arriving in London, about three in the morning, we drove straight to Printing-house Square where we found B-.the editor hard at work. The news was of course most welcome, and all hands were set upon it. When we had entered a small dirty, cold-looking, inky room B-. shut the door and taking from a huge desk a leather bag full of guineas, held it open to the smuggler and told him to "take a dip in his lucky bag." He did so and when he had pocketed a good handfull of the gold coin, was offered another dip" which to my surprise he refused, saying that it would do him no good as he should be sure to spend it foolishly. He was right. I never knew more than one of these liberally paid adventurers who saved any money. |