A little distance off we saw the edge of the forest; the open country was dotted with clumps of trees; on the other side of the arm of the sea was an easy declivity covered with trees of luxuriant foliage and vast dimensions; farther away on one side rose the icy summits of impassable mountains; on the other side there extended the blue expanse of the boundless sea.

The spot where I lay was over-shadowed by the dense foliage of a tree which was unlike anything that I had ever seen, and seemed like some exaggerated grass; at our feet a brook ran murmuring to the shore; in the air and all around were innumerable birds.
The situation in which I found myself seemed inexpressibly sweet, and all the more so from the gentle face of Almah.

Would it not be well, I thought, to remain here?
Why should Almah go back to her repulsive duties?
Why should we return to those children of blood, who loved death and darkness?
Here we might pass our days together unmolested.
The genial climate would afford us warmth; we needed no shelter except the trees, and as for food, there were the birds of the air in innumerable flocks.
I proposed this to her; she smiled sadly.

"You forget," said she, "this season of light will not last much longer.

In a few more joms the dark season will begin, and then we should perish in a place like this." "Are there no caverns here ?" "Oh no.