"Is that the sun's radiance, or are those rocks the fabled
'Cliffs of Opal' men have searched for in
Vain?" We often sat in a
wonder of delight gazing at the scene, until the sun sank out of
sight, taking the "opal cliffs" with it, and leaving us only with the
dream.
On the shores of the lake the beach is covered with golden sand and
studded with innumerable little stones, clear as crystal, which
scintillate with all the colors of the rainbow. Among these pebbles I
found several arrowheads of jasper. In other parts the primeval
forest creeps down to the very margin, and the tree-roots bathe in
the warm waters. Looking across the quivering heat-haze, the eye
rests upon palms of many varieties, and giant trees covered with
orchids and parasites, the sight of which would completely intoxicate
the horticulturist. Butterflies, gorgeous in all the colors of the
rainbow, flit from flower to flower; and monkeys, with curiously
human faces, stare at the stranger from the tree-tops. White cotton
trees, tamarinds, and strangely shaped fruits grow everywhere, and
round about all are entwined festoons of trailing creepers, or the
loveliest of scarlet mistletoe, in which humming-birds build their
nests. Blue macaws, parrots, and a thousand other birds fly to and
fro, and the black fire-bird darts across the sky, making lightning
with every flutter of his wings, which, underneath, are painted a
bright, vivid red. Serpents of all colors and sizes creep silently in
the undergrowth, or hang from the branches of the trees, their
emerald eyes ever on the alert; and the broad-winged eagle soars
above all, conscious of his majesty.
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