Paul and Virginia . with their green and dark stars, 110 PAUL AND VIRGINIA. and tufts of wave-leaved harts tongue, suspended likelong ribbons of purpled green, floated on the wind. Nearthis grew a chain of the Madagascar periwinkle, the flowersof which resemble the red gilliflower, and the long-podded capsicum, the seed-ves-sels of which are of thecolor of blood and moreresplendent than them, the herbbalm, with its heart-shaped leaves, and thesweet basil, which hasthe odor of the clove,exhaled the most deli-cious perfumes. From the precipitous side of themountain hung the graceful l
Paul and Virginia . with their green and dark stars, 110 PAUL AND VIRGINIA. and tufts of wave-leaved harts tongue, suspended likelong ribbons of purpled green, floated on the wind. Nearthis grew a chain of the Madagascar periwinkle, the flowersof which resemble the red gilliflower, and the long-podded capsicum, the seed-ves-sels of which are of thecolor of blood and moreresplendent than them, the herbbalm, with its heart-shaped leaves, and thesweet basil, which hasthe odor of the clove,exhaled the most deli-cious perfumes. From the precipitous side of themountain hung the graceful lianas, like floatingdraperies, forming magnificent canopies of verdure on theface of the rocks. The sea-birds, allured by the stillnessof these retreats, resorted here to pass the night. At thehour of sunset we could perceive the curlew and the stintskimming along the sea-shore, the frigate-bird poised highin air, and the white bird of the tropic, which abandonswith the star of day the solitudes of the Indian PAUL AND VIRGINIA. Ill Virginia took pleasure in resting herself upon the borderof this fountain, decorated with wild and sublime mag-nificence. She often went thither to wash the linen ofthe family beneath the shade of the two cocoa trees, and thither too she sometimesled her goats to she was makingcheeses of their milk sheloved to see them browseon the maiden-hair fernwhich clothed the steepsides of the rock, andhung suspended by oneof its cornices as on a ped-estal. Paul, observing thatVirginia was fond of this spot,brought thither from theneighboring forest a greatvariety of birds nests. The old birds, following theiryoung, soon established themselves in this new , at stated times, distributed amongst them grainsof rice, millet, and maize. As soon as she appeared thewhistling blackbird, the amadavid bird, whose note is so
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Keywords: ., bookau, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidpaulvirginia00sain
