The kingdom of the 'White woman' a sketch . ba,* a perfectcone of snow, sparkling twenty thousandfeet above us. The rift grows wider as * Mountain of the Star. 18 The Kingdom of the the rising sun sends more power into itsrays. Shortly there appear the gray rocks ;then the light green tops of the highermovintain trees, followed by the dark, glis-tening foliage of the tropics on the lowerhills; then, as with a last effort, the mistis banished completely, like the falling ofa curtain, the entire panorama spreadsbefore us. Long dunes stretch from thebase of the mountains in waves of sand,until th
The kingdom of the 'White woman' a sketch . ba,* a perfectcone of snow, sparkling twenty thousandfeet above us. The rift grows wider as * Mountain of the Star. 18 The Kingdom of the the rising sun sends more power into itsrays. Shortly there appear the gray rocks ;then the light green tops of the highermovintain trees, followed by the dark, glis-tening foliage of the tropics on the lowerhills; then, as with a last effort, the mistis banished completely, like the falling ofa curtain, the entire panorama spreadsbefore us. Long dunes stretch from thebase of the mountains in waves of sand,until they seem about to overwhelm thesleeping city of Vera Cruz, lying over thereall pink and green and white in the earlysunlight. Silence most intense, save forthe sound of the dancing waters of thegulf, reigns over all. The view is mostbeautiful, yet it is intensely melancholy,for all is so white and hot and desolate,while the moaning of the wind seems withthe waves to be chanting a solemn requiemover this city of the True Cross,—this spot n. White Woman. ig where Cortez first set foot in the ancientkingdom of Montezuma. There is no harbor here nor anywhereelse on this coast, only an open roadstead,on one side of which rises the fortress ofSan Juan d UUoa, while on the otherstretches the low-lying Terra Caliente, withthe city of Vera Cruz encircled by its per-fect walls in the middle foreground. Thehouses are truly Spanish with their flatroofs and gayly-colored walls. Up onestreet we catch a glimpse of the plaza andcathedral, around which, the only signs oflife are the vultures. To the very gatesof the city the sand has blown in greathills, and we do not see what is to preventa fate like that of Pompeii overwhelmingall. It is hard work enjoying all this when 20 The Kmgdom of the we are forced to cling to the railing andrigging, the ship rocking constantly beneathus, while the wind never ceases. A howlingstorm, with clouds and darkness, thunderand lightning, has something awe insp
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidcu3192402042, bookyear1894
