1851.] A DESCRIPTION OF JAVlTA. 177
Lie hid, o'ershadow'd by th' eternal woods,
And trickle onwards, — these to increase the wave
Of turbid Orinooko ; those, by a longer course
In the Black River's isle-strewn bed, flow down
To mighty Amazon, the river-king,
And, mingled with his all-engulfing stream,
Go to do battle with proud Ocean's self, '
And drive him back even from his own domain.
There is an Indian village ; all around,
The dark, eternal, boundless forest spreads
Its varied foliage. Stately palm-trees rise
On every side, and numerous trees unknown
Save by strange names uncouth to English ears.
Here I dwelt awhile the one white man
Among perhaps two hundred living souls.
They pass a peaceful and contented life,
These black-hair'd, red-skinn'd, handsome, half-wild men.
Directed by the sons of Old Castile,
They keep their village and their houses clean;
And on the eve before the Sabbath-day
Assemble all at summons of a bell,
To sweep within and all around their church,
In which next morn they meet, all neatly drcss'd,
To pray as they've been taught unto their God.
It was a pleasing sight, that Sabbath mom,
Reminding me of distant, dear-loved home.
On one side knelt the men, their simple dress
A shirt and trousers of coarse cotton cloth :
On the other side were women and young girls,
Their glossy tresses braided with much taste,
And on their necks all wore a kerchief gay,
And some a knot of riband in their hair.
How like they look'd, save in their dusky skin,
To a fair group of English village maids !
Yet far superior in their graceful forms;
For their free growth no straps or bands impeJe,
But simple food, free air, and daily baths
And exercise, give all that Nature asks
To mould a beautiful and healthy frame.
"Each day some labour calls them. Now they go To fell the forest's pride, or in canoe With hook, and spear, and arrow, to catch fish ; Or seek the various products of the wood, To make their baskets or their hanging beds. The women dig the mandiocc^ root, And with much labour make of it their bread. These plant the young shoots in the fertile earth — Earth all untill'd, to which the plough, or spade, Or rake, or harrow, are alike unknown.
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