The day had now fairly broken, and the sun was just rising over the blue waters of the Gulf.
His rays, prinkling over the waves, caused them to dance and sparkle with a metallic brightness; and it was only after shading my eyes that I could distinguish the tall masts of ships and the burnished towers of the city.
To the south and west stretched a wide expanse of champaign country, glowing in all the brilliance of tropical vegetation.

Fields of green, and forests of darker green; here and there patches of yellow, and belts of olive-coloured leaves; at intervals a sheet of silver--the reflection from a placid lake, or the bend of some silent stream--was visible upon the imposing picture at my feet.
A broad belt of forest, dotted with the lifelike frondage of the palm, swept up to the foot of the hill.

Beyond this lay an open tract of meadow, or prairie, upon which were browsing thousands of cattle.

The distance was too great to distinguish their species; but the slender forms of some of them convinced me that the object of our search would be found in that direction.
The meadow, then, was the point to be reached.
The belt of forest already mentioned must be crossed; and to effect this I struck into a trail that seemed to lead in the direction of the meadow.
The trail became lighter as we entered the heavy timber.

Some distance farther on we reached a stream.