wood, and an iron collar with threehooks fastened round her neck.
"'From thence Fidele, still on the scent, led me up the precipice of theBlack River, where he again stopped and barked with all his might. This wason the brink of a spring, near a fallen palm tree, and close to a firewhich was still smoking. At last he led me to this very spot. We are at thefoot of the mountains of the Three Peaks, and still four leagues from home.Come, eat, and gather strength.' He then presented them with cakes, fruits,and a very large gourd filled with a liquor composed of wine, water, lemonjuice sugar, and nutmeg, which their mothers had prepared. Virginia sighedat the recollection of the poor slave, and at the uneasiness which they hadgiven their mothers. She repeated several times, 'Oh, how difficult it isto do good.'
"While she and Paul were taking refreshment, Domingo kindled a fire, andhaving sought among the rocks for a particular kind of crooked wood, whichburns when quite green, throwing out a great blaze, he made a torch, whichhe lighted, it being already night. But when they prepared to continuetheir journey, a new difficulty occurred; Paul and Virginia could no longerwalk, their feet being violently swelled and inflamed. Domingo knew notwhether it were best to leave them, and go in search of help, or remain andpass the night with them on that spot. 'What is become of the time,' saidhe, 'when I used to carry you both together in my arms? But now you aregrown big, and I am grown old.' While he was in this perplexity, a troop ofMaroon negroes appeared at the distance of twenty paces. The chief of theband, approaching Paul and Virginia, said to them, 'Good little whitepeople, do not be afraid. We saw you pass this morning, with a negro womanof the Black River. You went to ask pardon for her of her wicked master,and we, in return for this, will carry you home upon our shoulders.' Hethen made a sign, and four of the strongest negroes immediately formed asort of litter with the branches of trees and lianas, in which, havingseated Paul and Virginia, they placed it upon their shoulders. Domingomarched in front, carrying his lighted torch, and they proceeded amidst therejoicings of the whole troop, and overwhelmed with their benedictions.Virginia, affected by this scene, said to Paul, with emotion, 'O, my dearbrother! God never leaves a good action without reward.'
"It was midnight when they arrived at the foot of the mountain, on theridges of which several fires were lighted. Scarcely had they begun toascend, when they heard voices crying out, 'Is it you, my children?' Theyanswered together with the negroes, 'Yes, it is us;' and soon afterperceived their mothers and Mary coming towards them with lighted sticks intheir hands. 'Unhappy children!' cried Madame de la Tour, 'from whence doyou come? What agonies you have made us suffer!' 'We come, said Virginia,'from the Black River, where we went to ask pardon for a poor Maroon slave,to whom I gave our breakfast this morning, because she was dying of hunger;and these Maroon negroes have brought us home.'--Madame de la Tour embracedher daughter without being able to speak; and Virginia, who felt her facewet with her mother's tears, exclaimed, 'You repay me for all the hardshipsI have suffered.' Margaret, in a transport of delight, pressed Paul in herarms, crying, 'And you also, my dear child! you have done a good action.'When they reached the hut with their children, they gave plenty of food tothe negroes, who returned to their woods, after praying the blessing ofheaven might descend on those good white people.
"Every day was to those families a day of tranquillity and of happiness.Neither ambition nor envy disturbed their repose. In this island, where, asin all the European colonies, every malignant anecdote is circulated withavidity, their virtues, and even their names, were unknown. Only when atraveller on the road of the Shaddock Grove inquired of any of theinhabitants of the plain, 'Who lives in those two cottages above?' he wasalways answered, even by those who did not know them, 'They are goodpeople.' Thus the modest violet, concealed beneath the thorny bushes, shedsits fragrance, while itself remains unseen.
"Doing good appeared to those amiable families to be the chief purpose oflife. Solitude, far from having blunted their benevolent feelings, orrendered their dispositions morose, had left their hearts open to everytender affection. The contemplation of nature filled their minds withenthusiastic delight. They adored the bounty of that Providence which hadenabled them to spread abundance and beauty amidst those barren rocks, andto enjoy those pure and simple pleasures which are ever grateful and evernew. It was, probably, in those dispositions of mind that Madame de la Tourcomposed the following sonnet.
SONNET
TO SIMPLICITY.
Nymph of the desert! on this lonely shore, Simplicity, thy blessings still are mine, And all thou canst not give I pleased resign, For all beside can soothe my soul no more. I ask no lavish heaps to swell my store, And purchase pleasures far remote from thine. Ye joys, for which the race of Europe pine, Ah! not for me your studied grandeur pour, Let me where yon tall cliffs are rudely piled, Where towers the palm amidst the mountain trees, Where pendant from the steep, with graces wild, The blue liana floats upon the breeze, Still haunt those bold recesses, Nature's child, Where thy majestic charms my spirit seize!
"Paul, at twelve years of age, was stronger and more intelligent thanEuropeans are at fifteen, and had embellished the plantations which Domingohad only cultivated. He had gone with him to the neighbouring woods, androoted up young plants of lemon trees, oranges, and tamarinds, the roundheads of which are of so fresh a green, together with date palm trees,producing fruit filled with a sweet cream, which has the fine perfume ofthe orange flower. Those trees, which were already of a considerable size,he planted round this little enclosure. He had also sown the seeds of manytrees which the second year bear flowers or fruits. The agathis, encircledwith long clusters of white flowers, which hang upon it like the crystalpendants of a lustre. The Persian lilac, which lifts high in air its gayflax-coloured branches. The pappaw tree, the trunk of which, withoutbranches, forms a column set round with green melons, bearing on theirheads large leaves like those of the fig tree.
"The seeds and kernels of the gum tree, terminalia, mangoes, alligatorpears, the guava, the bread tree, and the narrow-leaved eugenia, wereplanted with profusion; and the greater number of those trees alreadyafforded to their young cultivator both shade and fruit. His industrioushands had diffused the riches of nature even on the most barren parts ofthe plantation. Several kinds of aloes, the common Indian fig, adorned withyellow flowers, spotted with red, and the thorny five-angled touch thistle,grew upon the dark summits of the rocks, and seemed to aim at reaching thelong lianas, which, loaded with blue or crimson flowers, hung scatteredover the steepest part of the mountain. Those trees were disposed in such amanner that you could command the whole at one view. He had placed in themiddle of this hollow the plants of the lowest growth: behind grew theshrubs; then trees of an ordinary height: above which rose majestically thevenerable lofty groves which border the circumference. Thus from its centrethis extensive enclosure appeared like a verdant amphitheatre spread withfruits and flowers, containing a variety of vegetables, a chain of meadowland, and fields of rice and corn. In blending those vegetable productionsto his own taste, he followed the designs of Nature. Guided by hersuggestions, he had thrown upon the rising grounds such seeds as the windsmight scatter over the heights, and near the borders of the springs suchgrains as float upon the waters. Every plant grew in its proper soil, andevery spot seemed decorated by her hands. The waters, which rushed from thesummits of the rocks, formed in some parts of the valley limpid fountains,and in other parts were spread into large clear mirrors, which reflectedthe bright verdure, the trees in blossom, the bending rocks, and the azureheavens.
"Notwithstanding the great irregularity of the ground, most of theseplantations were easy of access. We had, indeed, all given him our adviceand assistance, in order to accomplish this end. He had formed a path whichwound round the valley, and of which various ramifications led from thecircumference to the centre. He had drawn some advantage from the mostrugged spots; and had blended, in harmonious variety, smooth walks with theasperities of the
soil, and wild with domestic productions. With thatimmense quantity of rolling stones which now block up those paths, andwhich are scattered over most of the ground of this island, he formed hereand there pyramids; and at their base he laid earth, and planted the rootsof rose bushes, the Barbadoes flower fence, and other shrubs which love toclimb the rocks. In a short time those gloomy shapeless pyramids werecovered with verdure, or with the glowing tints of the most beautifulflowers. The hollow recesses of aged trees, which bent over the borders ofthe stream, formed vaulted caves impenetrable to the sun, and where youmight enjoy coolness during the heats of the day. That path led to a clumpof forest trees, in the centre of which grew a cultivated tree, loaded withfruit. Here was a field ripe with corn, there an orchard. From that avenueyou had a
Paul and Virginia from the French of J.B.H. de Saint Pierre Page 6