PREFACE.

I HAVE proposed to myself an object of no mean importance, in composing this little Work. I have endeavoured to paint in it, a soil, and vegetables different from those of Europe. Our Poets have long enough composed their lovers to rest, on the banks of the rivulets, in the flowery meads, and under the foliage of the beech-tree. My wish is to seat mine, on the shore of the Sea, at the foot of rocks, under the shade of cocoa-trees, bananas, and citrons in blossom. Nothing is wanting to the other Hemisphere of the Globe, but a Theocritus, or a Virgil, in order to our having pictures at least as interesting as those of our own Country.

I am aware that travellers, of exquisite taste, have presented us with enchanting descriptions of several of the islands of the South-Sea; but the manners of their inhabitants, and still more those of the Europeans which frequent them, frequently mar the landscapes. It was my desire to blend with the beauty of Nature between the Tropics, the moral beauty of a small Society. It was likewise my purpose, to place in a striking light certain truths of high moment, and this one in particular: That human happiness consists in living conformably to Nature and Virtue.

It was not necessary for me however to compose a romance, in order to exhibit a representation of happy families. I declare in the most solemn manner, that those which I am going to display have actually existed, and that their History is strictly true, as to the principal events of it. They were authentically certified to me by many respectable Planters with whom I was acquainted in the Isle of France. I have connected with them only a few indifferent circumstances; but which, being personal

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personal to myself, have on that very account the same merit of reality.

When I had formed, some years ago, a very imperfect sketch of this species of Pastoral, I besought a fine Lady, who lived very much in the Great World, and certain grave personages who mingle very little with it, to hear it read over, in order to acquire some pre-sentiment of the effect which it might produce on Readers of a character so very different: I had the satisfaction of observing that it melted them all into tears. This was the only judgment which I could form on the matter, as indeed it was all that I wished to know. But as a great vice frequently walks in the train of mediocrity of talents, this success inspired me with the vanity of giving to my Work the title of, A Picture of Nature. Happily for me, I recollected to what a degree the nature of the climate in which I received my birth was strange to me; to what a degree, in countries where I have contemplated the productions of Nature merely as a passenger, she is rich, various, lovely, magnificent, mysterious; and to what a degree, I am destitute of sagacity, of taste, and of expression, to know and to paint her. On this I checked my vanity, and came to myself again. I have therefore comprehended this feeble essay under the name, and placed it in the train, of my Studies of Nature, to which the public has granted a reception so gracious; in order that this title, recalling to them my incapacity, may likewise preserve an everlasting recollection of their own indulgence.

PAUL

PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

On the eastern declivity of the mountain which

rises behind Port-Louis, in the Isle of France, are still to be seen, on a spot of ground formerly cultivated, the ruins of two little cottages. They are situated almost in the middle of a bason formed by enormous rocks, which has only one opening turned toward the North. From that opening, you perceive on the left, the mountain known by the name of Mount-Discovery, from which signals are repeated of vessels steering for the island; and at the bottom of this mountain, the city of PortLouis; to the right, the road which leads from Port-Louis to the quarter of Pamplemousses; afterwards the church of that name, which rises with it's avenues of bamboos, in the middle of a great plain; and beyond it, a forest which extends to the farthest extremities of the island. You have in front, on the brink of the Sea, a view of Tombay; a little to the right Cape-Misfortune, and beyond that the boundless Ocean, in which appear, on a level with the water's edge, some uninhabited little isles, among others Mire-Point, which resembles a bastion in the midst of the waves.

At the entrance of this bason from whence so many objects are distinguishable, the echoes of the mountain incessantly repeat the noise of the winds which agitate the neighbouring forests, and the roaring of the billows, which break at a distance upon the shallows; but at the very foot of the cotGg 3 tages,

tages, no noise is any longer to be heard, and nothing to be seen around except great rocks, as steep as the wall of a house. Tufts of trees grow at their bases, in their clefts, and up to their very summits, on which the clouds settle. The rains which are attracted by their peaks frequently paint the colours of the rainbow on their green and dusky sides, and constantly supply, at the bottom, the sources of which the small river of the Lataniers is formed. A profound silence reigns through this enclosure, where all is peace; the air, the waters, and the light. Scarcely does the echo there repeat the murmuring sound of the palmists, which grow on their elevated stalks, and whose long arrow-formed branches are seen always balanced by the winds. A mild light illuminates the cavity of this bason, into which the rays of the Sun descend only at noon day; but from the dawning of Aurora, they strike upon the brim of it, the peaks of which, rising above the shadows of the mountain, present the appearance of gold and purple on the azure of the Heavens.

I took pleasure in retiring to this place, where you can enjoy at once an unbounded prospect, and a profound solitude. One day, as I was sitting by the platform of these cottages, and contemplating their ruins, a man considerably advanced into the vale of years happened to pass that way. He was dressed, conformably to the custom of the ancient inhabitants, in a short jacket and long trowsers. He walked bare-footed, and supported himself on a staff of ebony wood. His hair was completely white, his physionomy simple and majestic. I saluted him respectfully. He returned my salute,

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and having eyed me for a moment, he approached, and sat down on the hillock where I had taken my station. Encouraged by this mark of confidence, I took the liberty of addressing him in these words: "Can you inform me, Father, to whom these two "cottages belonged ?" My son," replied he, "these ruins, and that now neglected spot of ground, were inhabited about twenty years ago "by two families, which there found the means of "true happiness. Their history is affecting: but "in this island, situated on the road to India, "what European will deign to take an interest "in the destiny of a few obscure individuals? Nay, "who would submit to live here, though in hap

piness and content, if poor, and unknown? Men

are desirous of knowing only the history of the "Great, and of Kings, which is of no use to any "one." "Father," replied I, "it is easy to dis"cern from your air, and your style of conversa"tion, that you must have acquired very extensive experience. If your leisure permits, have thé goodness to relate to me, I beseech you, what you know of the ancient inhabitants of this desert; and be assured that there is no man, how"ever depraved by the prejudices of the World, "but who loves to hear of the felicity which Na"ture and Virtue bestow." Upon this, like one who is trying to recollect certain particular circumstances, after having applied his hands for some time to his forehead, the old man related what follows.

In the year 1735, a young man of Normandy, called De la Tour, after having to no purpose solicited employment in France, and looked for assist